Category: Tutorials

But first, you need to know how to make bias tape.  You can buy it…. but that stuff isn’t so great, it tends to be crunchy, comes in a limited number of colors and designs, and can be difficult to find the exact width that you want.  There are a gazillion tutorials for cutting bias tape and debates between continuous and pieced.  I tend to do pieced bias tape since I don’t often need more than a yard or two.  So google, find the tutorial you love and cut your strips.

Now comes the fun part – pressing!!!!!!!!!!!  I just want you all to know that you can make bias tape without any special tools.  All you need is an iron and your fingers – just don’t touch the two, cause that hurts!

Lay out your strip on your ironing board.  Fold the edges in towards the center and press.  Keep your fingers running at least 2-3 inches in front of your iron and work along the length of tape.

By pressing the edges in towards the middle, you have created SINGLE FOLD bias tape.  Single fold bias tape  is perfect for hems or to cover an exposed seam at a collar.  It can also be used decoratively in a number of ways.

Now I probably use double fold tape the most.  To make double fold bias, take your single fold tape and fold it in half along the length and press well.

I love using double fold bias tape to encase seams, to bind facings, to hem skirts or sleeves where I want a pretty edge or a contrasting pop, to finish the top of a decorative pocket, and so on.

So what am I going to use this pretty bias tape I have just made on???  Well a new pattern of course.  I thought it appropriate to show off this pattern for the first time here at PR&P becasue this pattern was first created while I was sewing for season 6, but the timing never came together for me to draft it out for real until now.  The sleeves and neck are both bound in double fold bias tape for a delicious finish.

So get that iron out…. whip up some bias tape, and watch the professional finishing on your garments come to life.

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To start I took a skirt of my daughter’s to use as a pattern. I chose a thick gray knit as the fabric for the skirt (it was left over from my Superhero Circle Dress from Week 1 of the Sew Along). I just made a simple A-line skirt with no seem allowance for the top since I planned on using 1.5 inch elastic for the exposed waistband.

After the front and back of the skirt was cut out, I sewed one of the side seems together and laid out the skirt flat. Next I drew out the butterfly design, I used the skirt shape to dictate the cropping on the butterfly.

Take your design and trace it on to Iron-On Fusible Interfacing, make sure that you reverse the image!

Iron the butterfly onto the black fabric.

Next- cut it out.

Peel off the paper from the back of the butterfly, you will need this for a template in a minute.

For my butterfly I wanted a rainbow, but at this step you could use a cute print or a solid color. I choose my colors and sewed them together in 1.5 inch strips.

After the strips are sewed together and ironed flat, use the paper backing off of the Iron-On Fusible Interfacing as a template and cut out the wings.

Iron the black part of the butterfly onto the colors. Take another piece of interfacing and iron it onto the back of the entire butterfly. Then iron that piece onto the skirt.

Next you have to zigzag around all the black raw edges. I sewed with black thread…

but with a gray bobbin thread so that I didn’t have to line the skirt.

I sewed the skirt together at the other side then I attached the 1.5 inch black elastic as the waistband.

The skirt turned out very eye-catching with the bold, big butterfly but it is a really simple jersey knit skirt with very limited sewing skill needed (the zigzagging around the pieces of the appliqué takes the most practice.) 

I took these photos with her wearing a black leotard as her top but a 3 year old wearing a leotard all day is really not ideal for going to the bathroom. So I refashioned a slimming black tank top from an old (very old!) tube top if you hop over to my blog you can check out the tutorial!

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