Continuous Bias Binding Tutorial

I'm editing this post so that you all know that this method of making continuous bias binding was not my original idea.  I found a tutorial on one of the quilting self help sites, and followed it step by step and came up with this. Actually I ended up with 2 of these "hats".....so I wrote my own tutorial.

This is not the traditional way of making continuous bias binding, but I always seem to get the triangles of fabric in the wrong place.  So here is a tutorial of a method that I found to make continuous bias binding that I think is quick and easy.

I first bought a 3/4 yard of fabric.  You need to begin with a square.  My square is 27".

Fold this square in half with right sides together matching the selvages.  Sew around the 3 sides using a 1/4" seam.  (Don't sew on the folded edge.)

Now you can turn your sewing machine off.  This is all of the sewing you need to do.

Draw a diagonal line from one corner to the other.

Clip the corners where you just drew the lines.....

You just need to clip enough in order to be able to get your scissors in between the fabric layers.

Now flip the square over and repeat the last step on the opposite corners (the ones that are NOT clipped yet).  After you've drawn this line, clip these two corners.

Carefully cut on the lines being sure to cut the layers separately.

Now pick the fabric up and form it into a tube. Press the seams.

Even up the edges.

Now draw lines on the tube the width of your preferred binding.  But, don't draw these lines all the way to the top....stop about 6 inches from the top of the tube. 

This is a better photo.  With your rotary cutter cut the binding strips stopping approximately where you see the line in the photo below.

Now pick up the tube and rotate it until the uncut portion is centered on the cutting mat. 

Draw lines to connect the strips on the bottom with the next one diagonally on the top as shown in the photo below.  Next cut on these lines with scissors. 

That step is hard to explain but hopefully the picture will help explain it. 

Press the binding in half.  From 3/4 yard of fabric I ended up with 8 yards 7 inches of binding. 

Below is bias binding that I made from a yard of fabric.  The piece at the left is left over from cutting the square and can go in my scrap bin.  The little pile in the middle is all of the waste from making the binding. 

I really like this method and hope you will give it a try. 

If you have any questions please don't hesitate to email me at krugla@gmail.com

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!