How to Make Bias Tape

This bias tape tutorial post contains affiliate links.

A few months ago, Jessica at Me Sew Crazy, held a contest for a bias tape maker … and I won!  With the craziness of the holidays, it’s just been sitting in the box waiting for a test run.  This week I dug it out, read the directions, and made my first homemade bias tape.  I decided to share a simple tutorial to show you how to make bias tape with this fun machine!

I’ve never wanted to make homemade bias tape in my life until I bought the book, Oliver + S Little Things to Sew.  The projects in this book are all so stinkin’ cute.

Suddenly, homemade bias tape in adorable prints seemed like something I just had to have.  I was so excited when I won Jessica’s contest and became the owner of the Simplicity Bias Tape Maker.

With a little project in mind for Lila and Tate, I used some fabric from my stash for my first bias tape experiment: a printed flannel and a cotton print.

I cut the strips and sewed them together in one long piece as per the directions in Oliver + S {if you don’t have this book, I’m sure you can find great directions online}.  Because I was using scraps from the stash, my pieces between seams are shorter than normal but I decided it really wouldn’t matter for this project.  Cutting the strips and sewing them together was somewhat therapeutic for my ruler-loving, symmetry-adoring personality.

Once the strips were cut and sewn together …

… I followed the bias tape machine directions and ran the strips through.

It’s crazy how fulfilling it is to see the folded bias tape being spit out the other end.

I will say, I had a bit of trouble with the flannel.  I think it was just a bit too thick and the seams got caught at times.

The cotton ran through perfectly though.

I wrapped the bias tape around pieces of cardboard to keep them wrinkle free until I use them …

… and now I have some really cute bias tape in my stash just ready for a fun sewing project!

Have you ever tried making bias tape?  If you like custom sewing projects with cute details, a bias tape machine is a must have!