A Totally Tipster Bias Tape Tip!

Published on by Tracy @ It's a T-Sweets Day!

I am making A LOT of 1/4″ inch bias tape to use as vines for my Down the Rabbit Hole Quilt. Yes. You read that right. This bias tape finishes at 1/4″!

My, oh my that is teeny! But never fear. With the right tools it is easy to make bias tape is many different sizes.

I’m sure many of you have heard of or even own a bias tape maker. They are easy to come buy and work so well. They come in different sizes to make different widths of tape.

The picture above is my 1/4″ tape maker. I cut my green fabrics in 1/2″ strips along the bias. You don’t really have to cut on the bias, but I want these little vines to curve this way and that, so I definitely cut on the bias:)

The next step is to snip one end of a strip on an angle and push it into the metal.

On the bottom side is an opening that you can use a straight pin to drag the fabric out just a bit. You only want it a little way out because you want to be able to iron it as it come out.

If you place your tool with the flat side against your board and your iron right up against tip of the opening, you can pull the tool very slowly by the hook and move your iron slowly at the same time.

It works GREAT!

Just look at those cute perfectly folded little edges! It was easy to make a pile of tape in no time at all:)❤️

But how do I remember the size to cut my fabric the next time I want make 1/4″ tape and how can I store these handy tools?

Here is a Totally Tipster Tip for you— I mark my bias tape makers with a scrap piece of fabric!

On the back of the fabric I write the size of strip I need to cut and the finished size it will make. Then I cut a small slit in one end and thread the other end through the slit around the pull. PERFECT!

Now it is easy to know which bias maker to use for the width of tape I want to make.

I have attached sticky hooks to the inside of my cabinet to hang them on. They are easy to find and take up no room at all. Now that is Totally Tipster for sure!! In fact, I call it SWEET!❤️❤️

I hope this Tip is helpful to some of you. Thank you so much for dropping by today. Until tomorrow,

28 thoughts on “A Totally Tipster Bias Tape Tip!”

  1. Perfect timing for this post.I am making Dreamweaver by Michelle McKillop and have just purchased a 1/4 inch bias maker for it. My project for tomorrow is to make the strips.Never used one before but thought 1/4 inch bias was going to be a bit of a battle without one so these tips are great.Thanks for sharing and supporting fellow quilters.
    Later this week I am helping a friend with her first quilt for first grandchild.Quilting is a lovely connecting craft.

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  4. I have three or four of these in different sizes. I wrote on the plastic with a fine point Sharpie, which works too. I have them all together on a big keyring I hang on my tool board. If I have anything at all to add to this great tutorial, it’s to take it slowly so the iron keeps up with the tool’s creasing action.

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    2. Hi Kate! Yes, once you try one size, you buy another every time the pattern calls for a different size:). Writing on the plastic is a good idea. I tried writing on the metal, but it just faded off. I am going to update my post with moving the iron and tool slowly. That is definitely a key instruction. Thanks for pointing out my omission:)❤️❤️

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      1. I like them for dressmaking too, using the same fabric as the garment to make the binding invisible – I hate facings, so I use a lot of bias binding for necks and armholes, and for bias hemlines.

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