This cowl nightgown has become a sewing staple of mine. I sell it in my Etsy shop. One of my favorite things to sew on this garment are the skinny shoulder straps or strings. The narrow bias string is a great couture detail to add to any of your garments. It is useful for making button loops, dress hangers, ties, and shoulder straps.

Recently, I came across some old couture lessons by the late Charles Kleibacker on YouTube. I was thrilled to discover these! In one of the lessons, he demonstrates how to make the skinny bias strings. After following his advice, I found a way to make my strings even skinnier.

See my before (black) and after (white) below.

Bias strings are really fun and easy to make. So, here are the steps. Thank you, Charles!

Supplies needed: rotary cutter and mat, see-through ruler, fashion fabric, silk/cotton thread, needle, sewing machine, loop turner, safety pins, iron (set on high heat and steam setting)

• Lay fabric on rotary mat and make sure selvedge edge and cross grain align with the perpendicular lines on the mat.
• Find and mark the true bias.
• Using the rotary cutter, cut the fabric on the true bias line so that you have one right triangle. Be careful not to move the triangular piece of fabric after it has been cut.
• From the cut bias edge, use the ruler to determine 7/8 inch from the edge (Charles suggests 3/4″, but I prefer 7/8″).

• Holding the ruler firmly in place as a hard edge, roll the rotary cutter along the ruler edge. Continue to do this step until you have the number of strips you need. The length should be based on what you are sewing. For the straps shown above, 16 inches is about right. Note: the strap will stretch significantly in length from the original cut length.
• Thread a sewing needle with silk or cotton thread but do not knot the end. Fold the bias strip in half (right sides together) and baste by hand as close as you can to the cut edges. You want to sew tiny stitches about 1/4 inch apart. After about 6-8 inches cut the thread leaving a long tail.

• Begin stitching about 1/4 – 1/2 inch back from your previous stopping point. Continue to do this overlap basting (without knotting) until you reach the end of the strip. The overlap basting is going to give you the control you need to stretch and sew the narrow strip on your machine.
• Using a normal straight stitch on your machine, center the basted strip under the pressure foot. Use the basting threads to hold the strip in place behind the needle and to prevent the strip from being chewed by the feed dog. Sew straight down the center of the strip. You will be pulling slightly from the back and front of the strap at all times while sewing. Charles says to “stretch like mad”. However, I have found that a firm stretch is fine. If you pull too hard your machine may skip stitches. Also, do not backstitch at the beginning or the end.

Video: Machine Sewing Skinny Strap

• Remove the basting stitches and press the stitch with an iron.

• Next, slide the strap onto the loop turner. Hook the end of the turner onto the end of the fabric. Slowly, feed the fabric back over itself to begin the turning. Put your finger through the end of the large hole so that you have some leverage as you use your other hand to manipulate and slide the fabric tube to the right side out. Once you have successfully turned the strap to the right side, it is time to steam and stretch it some more.

• With a safety pin, pin one end of the strap to your ironing board. Hold the other loose end with one hand. With your other hand, hover the iron just above the strap. Do not press down or iron the strap, just steam it. Steam the entire length of the strap while pulling and stretching. Do this one or two times up and down the strap.

Video: Steaming strap

• Stretch the strap to it’s maximum and pin the other end of the strap to the ironing board. Let it rest/dry for a few minutes. Then repeat the process one more time.

The skinny strap!

Here is the link to Charles Kleibacker’s video as well. Have fun!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLx2DH7ag_s&t=144s