Binding the Spiral Chair Pad

As I previously mentioned on a previous post, upon Deb and I arriving to her house after Woolley Fox, I was greeted by Deb's husband who presented me with a bouquet of flowers (she also had a bouquet).  This was the picture of the bouquet after coming home.  It is sitting on my newly bound Spiral Chair Pad.

The chair pad was hooked prior to the Woolley Fox trip but as my dear friend Deb was piloting my van I sat binding the Red Bird rug; on the trip home I bound the spiral chair pad.  What a great way to get an otherwise boring task done with a friend to chat with and music playing.

Once the mat was hooked and steamed I drew a line about 1" beyond the last row of hooking, sewed a seam around before trimming.  Then I serged around the edge ~ sometimes I zig zag but this time was feeling like speeding up the process a little.

Next it was steamed again as I turned the edge over.  I'd considered whipping the edge with wool yarn but wanted to maintain a single dark edge just as the rest of the spiral was.  To have whipped the edge would have made the exterior row appear thicker.  So, hand sewn cotton seam binding it was.

You may be aware that cotton binding has one edge which can be gathered for curvature of rugs.  Sometimes you need to pick at the thicker edge at the end to get just the right thread to pull, but it is there.  You can see the thread on my iPad and a little lightly gathering in the seam tape.

I hand sew the outside edge all the way around and gently gather a little as I go.  But after the entire outside edge has been hand sewn you will need that final adjustment of the gathering.

Have a great evening and thanks for dropping by.

Saundra