continuous bias binding - a tutorial
I've been meaning to share how I make my bias binding for a while, but always forget. then I tried to explain it to monet this weekend, which resulted in me looking crazy. then amanda was tweeting about wanting to learn bias binding and here I am taking pictures on a super dreary day (so I apologize for the photo quality). it was a good excuse to get some binding done for my sampler quilt.
I used to avoid bias binding like the plague. I always ended up sewing the strips the wrong way and basically getting lost. after learning this method from my local quilting ladies I stopped making straight grain binding, which seems mind numbing once you get the hang of this. this is a picture heavy post only because I think it's easier to see things than just to read about them. I promise this is a super easy way to make continuous binding.
you'll need:
1/2yd of fabric
scissors
ruler
fabric marker
rotary cutter
sewing machine
take your 1/2yd cut of fabric and square it up. cut off the selvage.
fold in half, selvage to selvage, with right sides together. pin around the three raw sides.
sew a 1/4" seam around the three raw sides. this is the only time you have to use your sewing machine! sweet no? press fabric again so it's nice and neat.
back at your cutting mat, mark a diagonal line from corner to corner (I just eye this up). in the photo above the folded (non-sewn part) is at the bottom.
clip both corners at an angle, cutting into the seam allowance a bit.
cut with your scissors along the line you drew. make sure to only cut the top layer of fabric!
now flip the rectangle and do it all over again on the other side. so draw a diagonal line again (from uncut corner to uncut corner), clip the two corners and cut the one layer of fabric.
when you grab the fabric from the cut edges, you end up with a tube like this.
