Using Bias Tape To Hem A Peppermint Twirl Dress

Dove Originals Trim’s premium bias tape is not just for enclosing the neckband or armband of your favorite shirt. It can also be used as drawstrings to bags and sweatshirts, button loops on the back of cute dresses, or our favorite, trim! If you have ever struggled with hemming your favorite woven dress or skirt, then bias tape may be the perfect item for you!

Candy Castle’s Peppermint Twirl Dress is one pattern that calls for bias tape to trim the skirt as an alternative to hemming. In this tutorial we will show you just how easy adding bias tape to a hem can be.

We are using Dove Originals ½” Double Fold Premium Bias Tape to hem the Peppermint Twirl skirt, but you can use it for any woven dress or skirt hem! Hemming with bias tape does give the bottom a bit more stiffness, but that just adds even more pronounced volume to your skirt or dress!

What You will Need for This Project:

• Dove Originals Trim’s ½” Double Fold Premium Bias Tape.  We have dozens of colors to choose from, so we are guaranteed to have the color you need!
• A sewing machine or a coverstitch machine
• Your unfinished favorite woven skirt or dress.

Step 1: Attach Bias Tape to Hem of Skirt

We are using the double fold bias tape as we think it makes hemming that much easier, but you could always use single fold as well. To start, we are simply going to attach the bias tape to the bottom of the skirt. We are doing this by unfolding the middle crease of the bias tape and then placing the hem of the skirt on that middle crease. We then fold the bias tape so that half of the bias tape is on the front side of the skirt and the other half is in the back of the skirt. If you wish, you can either use clips or pins to attach the bias tape to the hem. Securing the bias tape to the hem first would guarantee that the bias tape does not slip and that you get an even hem every time. However, if you feel confident in your sewing, you could always skip securing the bias tape and just start sewing the bias tape directly on the hem.

Step 2: Sewing Bias Tape to Hem

We are using a normal sewing machine to sew the bias tape onto the hem, but you can also use a coversitch machine as well. We have our single needle on a straight stitch, but if you would like you could always put your sewing machine on a more fancy stitch. You should start sewing the first piece as close to the end of the bias tape as possible. You do not have to backstitch, as you will be overlapping the bias tape at the end. Carefully and steadily sew your bias tape onto your hem. Make sure that you continue to check that the bias tape is securing on the backside of the skirt as well.

Step 3: Ending One Piece of Bias Tape and Starting a New One

If you run out of bias tape, which you can avoid by purchasing a bulk spool, all you have to do is finish the one piece by sewing it to the very end of that piece of bias tape. After, you will take the new piece, open the middle fold, and fold it over on the edge about a ½ inch in. Place that new piece of bias tape on the original piece while overlapping about a ½ inch. You want to make sure that you start sewing a little bit before the new bias tape to secure it runs smoothly.

Step 3: Finishing Your Hem

You will end the hem this same way. When you get to the end, simply cut about an inch more than what you need for the rest of your skirt, open the middle fold, and then fold the end about a ½ inch into itself and lay it over the raw edges of the original first piece of bias tape. Finish your hem by sewing a bit more past the last piece of bias tape.

That is it! You have easily hemmed a skirt that will have beautiful volume using double fold bias tape! Now all you have left to do is try it on yourself or your favorite model!