Endless Bias Tutorial

Since folks requested it in the comments in my previous blog, here is a tutorial outlining how I make the "endless bias" for hong kong finishes and other seam binding. I don't purport to have invented this, I totally stole it from another tutorial online, but now I can't find it!!! So I can't link it here. It was on a quilting website somewhere, and no matter what I google I can't relocate the site. Who knows if the way I do it is even the "right" way? But, it works for me.

I start with a length of fabric, generally a fat quarter because they have some cute prints. I always prewash, because you never want your binding to shrink up and wrinkle your garment. After washing, press your fat quarter flat:


Fold one side over to make a right triangle, kind of like if you are going to make a folded paper hat or boat:


Trim away the excess so that you have a perfect square. While it is folded like this, press in the diagonal crease:


Open up the square and cut along the crease you just made:


Lay one of the resulting triangle right-side up, and place the other one on top, as shown:


Sew the two triangles together, using a very narrow seam allowance:


Press open the seam:


You will end up with a parallelogram with a seam running diagonally through the center:


Now, grab your chalk. On the top left "corner," mark in from the edge one inch (for a one inch wide bias strip):


Using a ruler, make marks down the fabric at intervals of one inch (or however wide you want the bias strip to be):


I like to do the same thing at a second spot on the fabric as well:


At your very first mark...in the upper left corner...cut the fabric for a short distance along the one inch marks, leaving the strip hanging:


Taking the edge of the parallelogram, bring the two short sides together. You will line up one edge with the spot where you have just cut away the strip. It will look all wadded up and screwy, but that is ok:


Sew again, using the same narrow seam allowance as before. You will end up with a one inch overhang, because remember, you lined up the edge of the fabric with the spot where you cut the strip away:


Press open your seam again, and you will see that now instead of a parallelogram you have a tube. You can see at the bottom left where the bias strip is started, and the overhang on the upper right:


Now, continue cutting where you have started. You will use the marks you made to keep your strip width regular, cutting around and around the tube in a spiral:


If all goes well, your end will finish where you have the overhang:


And here you have your finished bias tape:


I wrap it up on a piece of scrap cardboard and secure it with a pin:


And there you have it! How to get over 20 feet of bias strip from a single fat quarter!