Vintage sewing notions - Bias Binding

I have just uploaded some more Vintage Sewing Kits to my Etsy shop.  They are small collections of vintage sewing notions in a variety of colours.  It has inspired me to do some research!

I came across these lovely packets of bias binding complete with their original labels:

Rayon Bias Binding

Rayon itself is a fabric manufactured from cellulose.  Cellulose comes from wood pulp and goes through several stages of manufacture to become rayon.  First it is purified, then dissolved and forced through a spinaret to produce filaments.  The filaments are then chemically solidified, resulting in synthetic fibres of nearly pure celloulose. 

Rayon can be tricky to sew, as it is very light, drapey and slippery!   

Here's a blog post on the Colette blog about sewing with rayon challis, a luxurious, silky form of rayon.

Nowadays, Hug Snug make a rayon seam binding.  Here it is on Amazon

Laura Mae uses rayon seam binding here. It is very light and makes a lovely finish for inside your garment.

Nainsook Bias Binding

I had never heard of Nainsook before!  Wikipedia tells me that 'it is a soft, fine, lightweight form of muslin.  The word 'Nainsook' was first documented in 1790, and derives from the Hindu and Urdu 'nainsukh' which literally means 'eye's delight!'  Nainsook was often used to make lingerie items and babies' clothing up until the 1920s.  It was often used to make bias binding in the 1950s and 60s.  

Thus, it would be another lovely light binding for the inside seams of your garment.  

Here's a blog post with more information about Nainsook.

You can find the yellow rayon and the yellow nainsook bias binding in this kit for sale here.

And the green nainsook binding is in this kit available here.