Bias Bonanza!! The Experiment Continues....

OK so my bias tape experiments were getting pretty interesting. It’s much easier to make the tape that to use it. I looked online and tried all these methods people we suggesting. Here it goes……


1. Iron your bias tape after pinning it. Alright you’re supposed to stitch in the fold but after I ironed it my fold was gone.

2. Iron it into a curved shape before attaching. The more I curved it started to overlap on itself.

3. Ironing also melted the plastic tops on my straight pins.

4. I found 1 video on sewing “Bias on a Curve” and it just whizzed on through the tutorial with no close-ups of the machine. What’s up with that?

5. Attach your bias tape on the back first. All I can say is no cause then when I folded it over the back looked better than the front.

6. Buy a bias tape maker. I did but my bias came out all wrinkly.

7. Scrunch the tape so there’s extra in the back when you fold it over. Huh? All it did was give me folds in my bias tape that ended up getting stitched down and showed when I folded it over.

8. Lots of pins. OK now that helped.

After many attempts and lots of strange looking experiments I decided I needed to start from the beginning. I got a new yard of fabric out of my closet and made sure I cut 45 degrees of the salvage. I used an iron and my see-through ruler, lined up my ruler along the bottom of my tape and ironed it in place folding over where I wanted my bias fold to be. I took it to my project and pinned my tape in place. When I didn’t have to pull, scrunch or fold….it just laid down so nice and flat…..I jumped for joy. I didn’t want the back to get folded and wrinkle so I pinned on the front, turned it over and pinned on the back so the bottom straight part of the pin helped hold the loose fabric down. I did not sew inside the fold of the tape. Instead I watched to make sure I stayed at 5/8th of on inch that’s on my sewing machine. I it for a straight stitch and my smallest stitch length and it WORKED! Oh all this fussing and it worked. I brought it into work so show a friend and brought it to my mom to show her. Now it’s time to try it on my full size project. And I know can make my own working bias tape. What a relief.

 
Keep on Craftin :D

The Night Of Bias Tape

Tonight I decided to learn how to make double folded bias tape.  I have never made a single fold tape let alone double fold bias tape.  My most recent project requires some bias tape around the edge but the largest size my local fabric store had was only 7/8" wide double folded.  My project is about 4 layers thick and that size bias just wasn't cutting it.  I consulted my mommy craft guru and she suggested I make my own.  So I went to the craft store (it's closer to my house than the fabric store and didn't want to drive during rush hour) to buy a new rotary blade and 2 of those plexi-glass see through rulers. Learning something new is a great excuse to buy new fun craft toys.  I grabbed some scrap fabric from my closet, grabbed my self healing mat and got to work.  Of course I needed my thinking T.V. show, Top Gear on BBC America.  I don't know what it is about that show but I always have it on in the background.  Those 3 guys crack me up!  It could also be because it is on all the time.  So.....got my supplies, got my guys and started looking on the internet for help.  First I tried a continuous bias tape, ok too advanced for a beginner.  I found a lot of videos on cutting bias tape but not a lot on making bias tape WITHOUT a bias tape maker.  That little metal foldy thingy.  I wanted old school crafting ingenuity.  Pins, Iron, Scissors and nimble hands.  After about 5 million websites, blog posts and videos I put all my knowledge together and pieced it together and I was pleasantly surprised with the outcome.  I need to use larger fabric but I was able to achieve the size I wanted...1 1/4 inch wide when finished (picture above).  I haven't sewn with it yet but I am already feeling hopeful.  The best advice I can give is keep your pieces the same width and patience.  One of the reasons I watch Top Gear is because they make me laugh which helps keep the stress to a minimum, especially when they do funny challenges.  But please if you have any suggestions, advice or helpful tips people gave you please share!  As for my night of bias tape I look forward to the variety of fabric I can now choose.