HOW TO finish raw edges - option 1.

Raw edged perfection!

A couple of years ago I bought the cutest little cotton shirt; it's in a sort of washed out denim colour printed with tiny white dots.  The neckline, placket and hem are all finished with bias binding but with the edges left raw.  Casual and very cool, here's how they did it...

Option 1. 
DOUBLE LAYER RAW EDGE

1. For this example I used a 50mm wide strip of bias binding which I ironed flat and then in half.  Don't iron out the folds completely as these are a great guide.

2. Working with the right side of your fabric facing up and with the right side of the binding facing the wrong side of the fabric stitch together 1cm from the edge.  For this example I followed the left fold line in the bias binding which was about 1cm from the edge of my fabric.  If you're stitching along a straight edge take care not to stretch your binding however if you use this method around a neckline you should stretch the binding just a little around the curves.  

3.  Trim away half the seam allowance, in this case 5mm.

4. Press your fabric and binding following the sequence below

Finally press your binding in half (wrong sides together) with the raw edges of the binding coming together evenly.

 5. With the right side facing up stitch close to the folded edge of your binding; for my sampler I used heavy top-stitching thread and if you've never tried it a HOW TO can be found right here.

6. Press on the right and wrong side.  As you can see the edge of your garment is now enclosed in the seam so you will never have to worry about threads coming off.

 7. To encourage the bias binding to fray I run my finger nail along the edge and then throw the garment in the wash a couple of times; the more you wash it the better it looks.