Sewing piping to doublet

[Lady Leo]

I'm making a doublet for my husband and found a really nice piping that compliments the fabric but I'm a bit unsure excactly how I should finish the end where the piping will end. I'm using McCall's patttern 4695 view E.

Any advice would be helpful.

[Lady Kathleen of Olmsted]

I love to add piping to most anything I sew.

1)When sewing piping, I find it best to use an older style zipper foot that will sew close to the corded part as to not show the braid strip.

2)I usually underline the doublet fabric in a light weight and colored cotton for more body and to use as a sewing guide for when adding lining be that collars, cuffs, waist treatments, the main body. Most times, I uses 1 layer of  Cotton Canvas to underline Shoulder, waist treatments, and collars for extra support.

3) Pin securely the braided edge to the outer edge of the fabric. Sew as close to the Corded part as possible.

4) Then pin your lining. Sew pin side down along the sewing line when the piping was first sewn on. This is your guide. Turn inside out. You should not see any of the braided part. If so, stitch more.

5) When sewing around corners, it helps to snip the braided part a little to work around sharp or rounded edges for the piping to shape nicely.

[gem]

Wow, Lady K--those instructions are perfect! Pinning this....

[Ser Niall]

I have a piping question perhaps some of you fine makers of costume could answer.  I am starting a new doublet this week, and I would like to pipe it.  I've seen doublets where the piping from the collar extends down the front opening and into the waist treatments as one piece, even though these are separate parts that are sewn together.  How do I achieve this look?

This is an example I found online as a reference.  I want to replicate the gold piping on the collar and front of the doublet.

Thanks in advance!

[Lady Kathleen of Olmsted]

 Check out the Decorator section for nice piping that will work and stand out even nicer against the Burgundy.

[isabelladangelo]

For that type of piping, I'd use a bit of gold bias tape with a very thin (maybe crochet thread?) cord on the inside.  I'd sew it right sides together to the fashion fabric and then either edge the entire doublet in black bias tape or add just a couple of inches of fabric - right sides together again- and then iron it out flat.  I know it sounds confusing but I think there are a couple of youtube videos that show this style of piping.

[Ser Niall]

Thank you everyone for the replies.  However, I think I chose a bad example above, as I'm not trying to achieve that double layered piping look (didn't look closely enough at the picture, I thought it just had a single layer of gold piping).   My question is a bit more general, I'll try to restate it below.

The collar and the waist treatment are separate pieces on the double, however there is a single, unbroken piece of piping that goes along the collar, down the front, and down onto the skirting.  How is this achieved as these are 3 separate pieces?  Do you first sew all of these pieces together, and then somehow insert the piping later?

thanks 

*edit*  Perhaps this picture will help, I circled the areas I'm confused about.  It looks like the piping is one continuous piece, but there are seams at the circled areas that are sewed separately, I'm not sure how to achieve this.

[isabelladangelo]

Again, bias tape.  The piping is seperate from the red fashion fabric. You just stick a piece of very thin cord in the bias tape.  You sew the bias tape around the finished doublet before the lining is attached. 

[Lady Kathleen of Olmsted]

Sir Niall...

The area in question are two seperate pieces. As with the collar being a seperate piece, so is the peplum or skirting. Just be sure when applying the piping, make sure it all lines up. You could also apply the piping to the entire peplum for a nice informred look that frames it. Piping adds class.

[Ser Niall]

Thanks isabelladangelo and Lady Kathleen     I think I get it now.  I agree, piping does add some class and this will be a noble's outfit so class is a must!

[Lady Kathleen of Olmsted]

Sir Niall...

Be sure to reread my post on sewing Piping, especially around pointy corners.

[gem]

Isabella's teeny-tiny binding theory is a good one. That's how we bind corsets, after all, with all their multiple seams and tabs & things... although the binding is generally a bit wider.

When I did the piping on this bodice (which has seams down the center back and at each shoulder, midway down the back), I sewed the entire bodice together first from the fashion fabric. I then applied the piping (made from bias tape with cording inside) to the edges, in one continuous strip. AFTER that was done, I put the lining in last, by hand. This photo is not terribly edifying, but it shows the piping (black), and the grey lining concealing the "lip" edge.

...What I don't recall, alas, is what I did with the edges of the purple bodice before/when applying the piping. I am quite certain I installed the piping by machine, but I don't remember exactly the order of construction--which is probably the bit you need to know! It must have been something like the technique shown in this blog post.

It's also possible that the piping is cord applied along the edge, and not a lip-cord sandwiched in the seams. That's a hand-sewing project, but it's easy to do. See this tutorial for instructions on one method of applying cord to an edge. (This was the first thing I thought of--a tutorial for finishing a small piece of needlework, not really a sewing project--but just scroll down to where she applies the cord to the edges.) I actually haven't used the ladder stitch to attach cording; I usually just whipstitch it, but the ladder stitch is a great idea! It's strong and invisible, and a really good stitch to have in your repetoire.

The other thought I had, which would be harder to do neatly, would be if the garment is bag lined (ie, lined all in one piece--you make one entire "outer doublet" and one entire doublet from the lining, and then sew them together) instead of lined in pieces. I haven't made a doublet with a collar like that in a while, so I'm not sure how easy it would be to line the whole thing in one piece, though.