​A Simpler Way To Sew An Exposed Binding Armhole Finish

If you are looking to sew a bound armhole finish with exposed binding, you may find that the conventional, pre-packaged  double fold binding available  on the market tend to be quite difficult to stabilize and align at the abruptly curved underarm area. You may find that using a double layer binding, you not only skip a few sewing steps, you also have a lot more control during the binding alignment and stitching process. 

A double layer biding is a bias fabric strip that is folded once down the center, to self-finish one of its lengthwise edges with a fold. The initial bias strip is cut at 6 times the width of the finished bias binding application. For example, the finished exposed bound edge shown above is  1/4" wide, thus the initial bias strip is cut at 1.5" wide then folded down the center to in preparation for stitching. 

The double layer biding is aligned to the armhole edge form the garment's right side with all binding and armhole raw edges aligning. It is highly recommended taht in lieu of pins, you use a temporary hand basting stitch to keep the edges perfectly aligned as pictured above. The binding of the binding end is folded in underneath so taht when the binding is flipped over the armhole edge, the folded encases the other end of the binding left unfolded. 

It is important to note that when sewing an exposed bound finish, the raw garment's raw edge should have no seam allowance. The binding simply encase the raw edge without requiring any additional folding steps. 

Once the double layer binding is stitched to the armhole edge, all you have to do is flip the binding's folded edge to the wrong side of the garment to encase all raw edges as shown above. The binding's folded edge should align with the binding's connective stitch. This will ensure that the double layer binding is naturally folded lengthwise in half. The resulting fold should be ironed to  stabilize it.

It is incredibly helpful, especially if working with a thin binding application or flimsy fabrics,  to hand baste the double layer biding in its final position as shown above. The hand basting ca be easily removed once the binding is fully sealed. In terms of sealing the binding's open edge, you can either do this by hand or by machine. If you would like no visible topstitching on the garment's right side, blind stitch the binding fold to the garment surface underneath using a slipstitch as pictured above. The slipstitch is applied from the armhole's wrong side, catching the binding's folded edge and a few threads form the wrong side of the garment underneath. 

If yo prefer a machine stitched finish, topstitch the binding layer form the garment's face side, applying the stitch next to the binding seamline or inner edge as shown above. As you stitch, make sure you are catching the binding's open edge underneath.