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One of my favorite things to do when making an item that requires bias tape is to make it myself. It can be made from matching or coordinating fabric or a contrasting fabric, whatever I choose. I am not limited to store-bought. I love the freedom of that!
Start with a square piece of fabric and cut it exactly on the diagonal as shown.
Put right sides together and pin.
Stitch a 1/4″ seam. Press it open. Now press the straight edges under by 1/4″, not the diagonal edges. Then start making a line at your desired width. Mine is at 1″ because I am making narrow double fold bias tape which will end up being 1/4″.
Continue making lines all the way across including the folded down part.
Now put the 2 folded edges together with right sides together, make sure to stagger the seam though.
You will see all your markings line up. Pin it and stitch a 1/4″ seam. You can try to press the seam open if you can. Then cut on your line and you will have a continuous bias strip.
Now to make the binding just fold the long edges to the center and press. This would be single fold bias tape and in my case here, it would be 1/2″. If you press it in half again you have double fold bias tape.
It isn’t exactly the same as store bought kind. For instance, the 1/2″ store bought variety doesn’t start out at 1″ wide like mine does, it’s more like 7/8″. So the edges don’t meet in the middle. No biggie, it still ends up being 1/2″. And likewise, store bought double fold tape isn’t folded exactly down the middle. You can do it that way if you want to, but I don’t think it’s necessary. And of course the big difference between store bought and handmade is that the handmade is going to be much cuter and will match your project much better. BTW, one fat quarter will yield about 4 yards of 1/2″ double fold bias tape, while a 12″ square will yield over 3 1/2 yards of 1/4″ bias tape.
Here is one thing to do with your new handmade beautiful bias tape, use it as a facing to finish armholes and necklines.
For more tips and creative ways of using handmade bias tape, including facing armholes as shown above, please click the link for the tutorial.
I’d love to hear your favorite ways of using homemade bias binding, please comment below!
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