Bias Sewing Secrets: Elevate Your Holiday Wardrobe with High-Fashion Flair

Sewing on the Bias

Understanding the True Bias

The true bias lies at a 45-degree angle from the straight grain of the fabric. As noted in Bias Cut Dressmaking: A Step-by-Step Introduction by Gillian Holman, “bias cut” garments are technically off-grain. For garments to hang properly, the true bias should align with the center of the panel, or run through the center front and center back of the garment.

The Resurgence in 1970’s American Fashion

The bias cut saw a major revival in the 1970s, thanks to the influence of Halston in American fashion. His innovative designs often utilized the bias to create iconic garments with minimal seaming and beautiful drape.

If you’re interested in exploring his work further, consider reading Halston: An American Original. For more details and to see one of his fabulous bias-cut designs—a rectangular tube dress with minimal seaming—check out this blog post.

Halston’s use of the bias cut owes much to Akira Maki, a Japanese designer and pattern cutter who introduced the technique to the house in 1974. For more on Maki’s contributions, check out this Threads magazine article.

For bias garments, drapey and fluid woven fabrics like silk crepe, satin, chiffon, georgette, viscose, or rayon challis work best. Stiffer and heavier wovens tend to lack the necessary drape.

• For a detailed exploration of how different fabrics behave on the bias, check out this Closet Core article, which includes a “hang test” and demonstrates how fabric choice impacts drape.

• Additionally, for tips from Charles Kleibacker, a couturier known as the “master of the bias,” on mastering bias sewing, read this Threads magazine article by David Page Coffin.

Bias-cut garments can stretch over time due to gravity.

• For tips on handling distortion and hemming, check out this Sew Direct article.

• Madeleine Vionnet’s innovative methods for bias preparation are detailed in this Threads article by Betty Kirke

For those exploring bias-cut methods, here are two recommended books:

• Bias Cut Blueprints: A geometric approach to clothing design using a “bias tube” foundation.
• Bias Cut Dressmaking: Covers projects from French knickers to dresses with bias flounces.
• Find everything you need to know about working with the bias in the New Vogue Sewing Book .

Further Watching

• Galliano modernized corsetry by pairing it with bias-cut fabrics that fit like a second skin. For more on this innovative approach, check out this article.

• Galliano also shared insights into his design process at Margiela in an interview with System Stories. Watch it here.