Howdy! I was hoping to finish and actually model this kurta in this post, but did not happen. I should give up trying to hasten completion of garments. However, here is another newborn-baby step. I have hereby bound the neckline. Yay.

The silk charmeuse bias strips are not hard to work with at all, lest you think they may be too slippery and thus too troublesome. Nope, if you follow a certain methodology (fancy name for tricks and hacks). Mark the bias lines with chalk on the true bias and on the wrong side of the charmeuse (it has a crepier texture), then cut along those lines. Secret to no sliding? Place it on cotton, or other “roughage” (hahaha); paper and a well-used rotary mat (with lots of gashes) also works wonders as a fabric control agent. The cotton on my ironing board reduced the slippage considerably. Then, I used steel bias tape makers to fold the tape with ease.

Since the front ties are extensions of the neck binding, you must make sure that the length of the tape is appropriate. Personally, I like the ties on the long side for more drama.

While sewing, two factors helped to keep the charmeuse in place: the crinkly nature of the base material, and the whole pinning and then hand-basting shebang. After which, running a machine with your basting as a guide is a breeze.

When pressing the attached bias strip, use a pressing ham and keep the curve of the neck as much as you can while pressing. It is amazing how bias takes the shape of the neck —- especially if it’s a natural material. No ham? Roll up a towel instead.

After that, it’s a matter of trimming down the already narrow seam, turning over the bias tape to the wrong side, pressing and hand-hemming (!!!) it down.

The ties in front are extensions of the neck binding, and are folded and — hand sewn to close up. Ghoulish laughter is bubbling over in my throat thinking about all of you who groan at that much hand sewing. Just sit down and do it while watching election results on TV, or listening to a podcast or audio book.

Thank you for reading, my friends! Feel free to comment on this topic, or anything else. I’m open to it.

Samina