Thank you for all your wonderful comments about my fabric ric-rac. Someone asked what I was going to do with it~ there are a lot of things I can think to do with it~ towels, purses, quilts, clothing, etc. But I can't show you yet what I did with it. I will later this week. ;-)
It really wasn't that difficult to make. Maybe a little time consuming, but even that wasn't so bad. I would be thrilled if I could find really big ric-rac ready made, but until then, I'll make do... and it is a bonus that it coordinates with my project. ;-)
I started by folding paper and cutting it. Just like making those paper dolls I'm sure we all did when we were younger. (I actually made a quilt for DD when she was small with fabric paper dolls around the border. I have no idea what happened to it! :-o I'll have to look)
I fiddled with the paper and tried a few different 'looks' before I settled on one that looked like this~~ bottom paper...
Then I traced it onto template plastic. I tried to figure out where my quarter inch spot would be~ but the dots I made on the template were not accurate; I sewed deeper. Then I flipped my paper template and lined up the center of a curve with the above 'point part' so it looked like rounded ric-rac. I left about 1.25 inches between them~ if I lay my ruler on my template~ the row of points on top has a space of 1.25 inches between the row of points on the bottom~ does that make sense? I think next time, I will try 1.5 inches.
Then I took my fabric and cut off 3.5 inch selvage to selvage strips. (the width of my template plus a little more) I needed more than one, so I sewed a few together just like you would sew binding together on the diagonal. When I had the length I wanted, I did it again, but cut off about 12 inches from the beginning so my diagonals would not be in the same spots. I put my fabric strips right sides together and traced my template on one side. I used pins. ;-)
Then I sewed my seam 1/4 inch or less from my traced lines. On the inside points I took a few small stitches like a 'U' instead of pivoting on the points. Trim it all up so you have a little less than a quarter inch seam allowance~ more like a fat eighth. ;-) And cut very carefully into the middle of the 'U' all the way to your stitching. Then I slit the back thru the center. :-) The whole length~ and turned all my tops right side out.
Since I was planning to stitch it down, the slit doesn't matter. If I was worried about it, I could always put a strip of Steam-a-Seam tape down the length when everything was turned and pressed. Or you could turn the whole thing from an edge, like a tube. But the slit worked for me. ;-)
The next time I make some, I am going to make my 'points' a little more rounded, the 'U' was a bit of a bugger to turn. And I will leave 1.5 inches between the top points and bottom. I'm thinking some fabric ric-rac that is 4 inches wide would be really cool on a bag. :-)
If you try to make your own ric-rac, please come back and let me know how it worked for you! I would love to see your project. :-)
Until next time~
Happy stitching!
