After buying the fabric and notions for the blouse (Butterick pattern B6097 View A), I realized I wasn’t happy with the idea of using the white bias tape I bought to finish the armscyes. I knew that it was possible to make bias tape on your own, so I set out to youtube. This video was super easy to follow and led me through the process. I even picked up my own bias tape maker and am pretty sure I will never buy bias tape again.
Bias tape is not something new to me, but it has been something I’ve struggled with making look really nice. Before attaching it, I reviewed some videos to remind myself how to do it and see if I could pick up some tricks. This video is pretty clear and even shows how to turn a 90 degree corner.
I used the “stitch in the ditch” strategy, which is what I have done in the past. The trouble I have previously run into is that my stitching doesn’t catch on the underside. What I did, once I attached the bias to the one side and before I folded it back over, I trimmed the seam allowance to 1/4 inch. Taking off the 1/8 inch allowed me to fold the bias tape over just a little bit more and to ensure that my stitching caught. This worked pretty well and I’ll be doing my bias tape this way in the future.
[…] close to 10 metres of bias tape out of the coordinating solid green (using two fat quarters). If you haven’t heard, bias tape might be my new favourite thing to make and I fall more and more in love each time I find a use for […]
[…] **Newbie Note!** If you are buying fabric for this project, you have a few options. Walmart and other craft stores often sell pre-cut pieces that will absolutely work for this. You can also go to a fabric store and get some cut. If you’ve never been to one, the fabric is sold on a bolt (a big roll) that you have to take to a counter to be cut. Fabric comes in two widths, 45 inches and 60 inches. Depending on your project, you might need to pay attention – the pattern will tell you how much to get of either. For this project, if doesn’t matter. When you get to the counter, you will ask for a certain length of fabric. Depending on where you go, they will measure in either meters or yards. Generally, the smallest amount of fabric a place will cut is 0.1 metres (10 cms or about 4 inches) for this project, I reccomend 0.25m or a quarter of a yard. Some places will also cut a “fat quarter.” If you ask for a quarter of a metre (or yard) at a fabric store, you will get a rectangle 45 or 60 inches long by a quarter of a metre long. A fat quarter is a square of fabric a half metre by a half metre. They both give you the same amount of fabric, but the latter tends to be better for crafts (or making bias tape – yay!) […]