How to Make a Bias Cut Garment
A bias is a sewing cut that runs diagonally and against the grain of the fabric. Learning to create a bias cut garment is generally considered one of the most challenging techniques sewing hobbyists can attempt. However, with care and practice, you can learn how to make bias cut items like a pro.
Instructions
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Start simple with a sleeveless shirt or plain tank top if you've never made a bias cut garment before. Complex bias cut patterns are not recommended for novice seamsters.
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Choose a natural fabric with layers, such as cotton, for your early attempts at making a bias cut garment. These fabrics are more yielding and easier to handle than synthetic fabrics like rayon and polyester.
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Work with a bias-specific pattern. While most simple patterns can be adapted to include a bias cut, it is much easier to follow the step-by-step directions included in bias patterns rather than wing it on your own. Once you master the bias cut, you can then move on to adding biases to non-biased pattern layouts.
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Pin the pattern together and try it on once you've cut your fabric but before you cut the bias. This is called tissue fitting, and it allows you the chance to demarcate the position of the bias cut with better accuracy. If you're sewing a garment for someone else, have them try on the tissue fit.
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Follow your bias cut pattern closely. If you are adapting a non-bias pattern to include a bias cut, you will have to re-mark the grainline (the folded line on which the fabric is cut) on the pattern piece. You do this by drawing a perpendicular line across the grainline and folding it over so the 2 lines meet where they intersect. This creates a diagonal fold. Repeat this process, folding diagonally in the opposite direction.
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Tack your bias cut garment together and let it hang for a day or 2 before you use your sewing machine to complete the seams. This will help to smooth your seams out and encourages the fabric to stretch naturally.
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Add a center seam once cutting and stitching have been finalized. This step will help ensure that your garment hangs properly, with balance in both the front and back.
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Tips & Warnings
Widen your seam allowances by adding an extra 1 to 1.5 inches. This will make sure that the fibers on the cut edges of the fabric don't open or hang.
Prewash and machine dry your fabric before beginning pattern tracing.
Stretch out the seams as you sew, using a 1/8-inch wide stitch. This will look very nice once you finish pressing out the garment.
