Practical Solutions - Bias Binding

Want to create nearly 100 inches of bias binding from just a 10 inch square of fabric?  Read on my friend (and sorry for the crappy photos!)

Jessie Chorley's altered books

I hate wasting fabric and am always looking for wise ways of using offcuts.

Of course, quilting was the traditional way of making the best use of small pieces of fabric and I have also been inspired by the likes of Jessie Chorley, Janet Clare and Mrs Bertimus who do amazing things using applique, mixed media and found objects.

And whilst these creative persuits are all on my list of things to explore further, I'm a sucker for a bit of practical creativity.

So, when I discovered a way of using a small bit of fabric to create bias binding....well, I was off!

2 x 10" squares

Sew straight edge, rights sides tog

I had some lovely bits of Liberty Tana Lawn hanging around so cut 2 x 10" squares.

Then cut them in half diagonally and with right sides facing sewed the bottom edge to create two parallelograms.

Draw 1" lines - 

I drew 1" lines on wrong side of fabric, lengthwise, and made them line up so that they were actually creating a spiral.


Sewed a 1/4" seam with right sides together to make a kind of uneven tube.

Then I cut along the line, remembering to cut the fabric as a continuous ribbon.

I ended up with about 2 metres of bias binding.  I just ironed mine in half as my little binding gadget in the photo was for a much wider cut of fabric...

(Perhaps Santa might put a 1/2" bias binding maker in my stocking this Christmas?)