How To Make Bias Tape At Home Without Waste

For seamstresses, but also for those who enjoy creative sewing, the use of bias tape is essential. It is useful for finishing the insides of any type of garment, but also for defining the hems of kitchen sets (pot holders, oven covers, etc.), nursery sets (bibs, towels, etc.) and much more other.

On the market you can find them in different heights (6mm, 15mm, 25mm, 35mm, 40mm, etc.), colours, materials (cotton, satin, polyester) and patterns. The bias tape is nothing more than a continuous ribbon of fabric formed by a series of pieces cut on the bias (i.e. obliquely with respect to the weft of the fabric) and always sewn together transversally. This cut allows you to sew the bias perfectly, especially when making curves or corners. A strip of fabric cut along the lines of the weave (horizontally and vertically) would not allow you to obtain a good result because the fabric, when applied in the curved sections of the project, would create unsightly bulges.

A free and easy tutorial for making bias tape at home

Cut out a square of fabric and cut along the diagonal.

To establish the length of the side based on the amount of tape you need, you can apply the following mathematical formula: multiply the length of the bias tape you want to make by its height, extract the square root and then add 3 cm of security, approximate the result to the round figure. The value obtained will be the length of the side of your square.

Recompose the triangles to start getting the bias tape

After cutting along the diagonal, position the two triangles obtained as you see in the photo, inside out, and sew by machine along the joining side, leaving a seam allowance of approximately 0.50/0.75 cm.

Once you have obtained the diamond, place it in front of you with the longest side as the base and trace, with a fabric pen or pencil, a series of parallel lines distant from the height you have established for your bias tape.

At this point, still remaining on the wrong side of the fabric, take the two corners (the one at the top right and the one at the bottom left) and join the two obligatory sides of the rhombus, matching the drawn lines as if they continued in continuity.

Attention : when you align the lines you don’t have to respect the sequence you see on the edges of the fabric, but stagger by one otherwise you will not get a bias tape.

After making sure that all the rows on the left continue to match the rows on the right, pin the two sides and machine stitch.

Using scissors, cut starting from the free end, as you see in the photo, and continue along the drawn line to the end of the fabric.

Here is the tape to pack the bias tape you need!

Iron the bias tape

On the market there are tools called “bias cutters”, which, starting from the fabric ribbon of a certain height, allow, by ironing, to obtain a perfect bias ribbon, ready for use!

The bias tapers on the market allow you to obtain bias tapes with heights ranging from 6 to 25 mm and more. This way you can prepare all the bias tape you need at home!