Hey guys! Oh em gee!! I am easily excited whenever I get new toys…I mean TOOLS (lol)..whenever I get new tools for my many hobby obsessions. I am so excited about this one, that I had to blog about it! This week its the OH SO MAGICAL 1 inch Bias Tape Maker from Clover. I’ve always contemplated making my own, but now that I’m taking pillow case dress orders for the little princess‘ I wanted to make sure the bias tape matched exactly with the tie….I’m just crazy like that. For those of you who don’t know what bias tape is – *cough cough Kendra cough* (lol) – Bias tape is a type of trim and it can also be used as a binding. It’s a long, continuous strip of fabric with neatly folded edges that make it ideal for finishing off hems and edges.
I mostly use bias tape for arms holes, as seen here:
I’m also very thankful for the community of sew sisters I have, because without them, I would not know half the tips and tricks I do now. One of my sew sisters shared with me her knowledge of bias tape making and the tool she was using, so I jumped on it and ordered mine online from amazon. (Link to the one I bought here).
(SIDE NOTE: Apparently it is not sold in stores – ask my hubby – he was darling enough to stop in at two Joann’s after work for me and neither of them carried it.)
The bias tape maker is a simple little tool, and if you didn’t know what it was for you’d think it was a door stop! lol I was so excited about how easy this was to use and how much more professional my items will now look since I can use fabric or ribbon that will match exactly with my garments. I am seriously never buying bias tape again. I wanted to share this excitement with you, and show you how easy it is to use, so below you will find a video. (NOTE: There is nothing wrong with your speakers! I intentionally took out the sound, because it sounded like a zoo with my two spirited children running around – trust me, you don’t want to hear all of that! lol)
Since my bias tape maker was to create 1 inch wide bias tape, I cut my fabric strips a little less than 2 inches wide so that I could have an even fold at each end. Now, the trickiest thing about using the bias tape maker is feeding the fabric through to the other end, and that’s pretty simple to do if you use a tool ( I used my seam ripper) to help take the fabric to the front. Once its at the front you can easily adjust the fabric so that the sides are even, and be sure to pin it in place once you even out the ends – this helps to keep the ends in place so it doesn’t shift while you are ironing. Move the bias tape maker along as you iron and its as easy as that! If you don’t have a bias tape maker yet, I strongly suggest that you get one – I can’t believe it took me so long to get one! It’s a great investment, and pretty cheap too! Links again below:
1 inc Bias tape maker: here
Oliso Smart Iron: here
Until I find something else worthy to blog about, Peace and Love to you all! XOXO