Fab Fabrics: Hand Made Bias Tape

Hand Made Bias Tape

Store bought bias tape is usually not the most eco-friendly of products. Normally, it’s made of polyester, which is a petroleum product. Sometimes, though, you really need some bias tape to complete a project.

Fortunately, it’s not too hard to make your own!

When you’re doing it yourself, you have total control over the materials. Maybe you’d like to use vintage fabric or organic cotton. You can make it in solid colors or choose fun patterns! The possibilities are endless!

I ran across this video the other day from Erin Compton Design that illustrates a nifty trick for making a long, continuous piece of bias tape with much less effort than the traditional method. Check it:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/v/lDPlgSCLDMM&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6]

Pretty ingenious, right? It looks so much easier than sewing each strip together! From there, you could run your fabric through a bias tape machine or press the edges in and fold by hand.

Need a little more direction on how to turn that long strip of fabric into the bias tape you know and love? Over at Prudent Baby, Jaime shows you how to make bias tape both with or without a bias tape maker.

Do you guys use a lot of bias tape in your crafting? Does making your own seem like something you’d like to try? Tell us all about it in the comments!

[Image Credit: Creative Commons photo by splityarn]

7 thoughts on “Fab Fabrics: Hand Made Bias Tape”

  1. As much as I don’t like to make bias tape or bias strips for piping I love using it!!!! It’s worth the extra effort to give one’s creation a color punch/finished look.

  2. I have an old sewing book that uses this method for creating bias tape, but I could never understand it from the pictures and text. The video made it so much clearer. Thanks!

  3. I use TONS of bias tape to finish my pot holders and oven mitts and placemat sets. I find that homemade tape looks so much more unique and special. I just hate the tedium of making it!
    I haven’t bought the new-fangled bias tape maker or rotary cutter machines that Singer put out, but they are on my Christmas/birthday list.
    Has anyone else bought and used these?

  4. There is an easier way to apply bias tape to any garment or project, once the strips are cut. Cut strips should be 1 1/8″ wide. Fold the strip in half, wrong sides together, and press. (Instead of having the raw edges flush, one can fold and press just a bit off-center, so that one edge is 1/8″ of an inch from the other. This helps to reduce bulk, but is not necessary.)

    Next step is to sew tape to the wrong side of the garment edge, raw edges together, with a 1/4″ seam. (Garment seams should be trimmed to 1/4″.) Then, press bias to right side of garment and stitch in place, sewing close to the folded edge of the tape.

  5. Pingback: Youtube How To Make Bias Binding | Popzone

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