BIAS TAPE

I know I said I was done sewing clothes but I found some material that I just had to have. I also decided that the bias tape on this shirt needed to be a print that coordinates with the main fabric of the blouse. For a while now I’ve been searching on line for a good tutorial that shows in depth how to do this. I’ve mostly found just drawn diagrams from books that just aren’t very clear. This process can be a bit confusing and a drawing just doesn’t explain it very well. So I decided to photograph my process along the way and share it with you.

1. I bought a half a yard of this cute flower print that will become my bias. I cut it at 18” making it an 18” square.

2. Cut this in half diagonally.

3. You then need to turn your two pieces of fabric so that two 18” ends meet.

4. Place front sides together, pin and sew a 1/2” seam.

5. Press your seam flat. On the wrong side mark all the way across the width that you want your bias tape. I chose 2”.

6. This is just a close up of my drawn lines.

7. This is where things get a little confusing. You are now going to sew this into a tube again with a 1/2” seam. It looks really wrong while you’re trying to do this but it is right. You also need to make sure your lines match up when you do this. You also have to shift the fabric down one row so that you have an area to begin cutting your continuous bias. (Hopefully that makes sense. If not I think the photo does)

8. Iron your seam once you’re done sewing. You can then begin cutting along the line you drew. Just pick one end and continue cutting.

9. You should end up with one really long strip of bias. An 18” square will get you about 12ft. It’s crazy how just a little bit of fabric can give you so much.

10. I personally iron my bias tape by hand but you can use a Bias Tape Maker . You simply slide your bias tape you just finished cutting, into one end of this triangular object and then as you pull it out the other end it folds it all for you and then you iron it flat.