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Tutorial: Continous bias binding, plus a calculator

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Tutorial: Continous bias binding, plus a calculator When making bias tape, you’ll need looooong strips of fabric (unless you’re binding off a very small project, that is).  One way to make the long strips is to make continuous binding, where you cut and fold and sew the edges of a square together just right, so you can then cut it into one long continuous strip.  Deb from So Sew Easy shares a tutorial showing how to do it.  And, in another post, she shares a very handy calculator to help you figure how big a square you need to make in order to get enough bias tape for your project.  Go to her continuous binding tutorial to find out how to fold and cut the square.  Go to her handy continuous binding calculator to see how big a square you need.

[photo from So Sew Easy]

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  1. Thank you so much for sharing my links. Making the bias tape was new to me, but it turned out so well I just had to share! I’ll soon be adding this to lots of new projects and thinking of projects just so I can use the (hundreds of yards of) tape made so far.

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Have you read?

DIY Kids Gingerbread House Bag with Free Pattern

I am just smitten with this felt gingerbread house bag.  This would make such a sweet special Christmas accessory for a kid.  It’s a free pattern at Benzie Design, designed by Gracie from Hello Gracie Makes.  It’s packed with adorable gingerbread house details, like swirls and stripes and scallops adoring the doors and windows. 

And while all those details might seem like this would be a complicated pattern, it’s actually not.  The bag itself is made from felt, which makes finishes edges unnecessary.  (All of those scalloped edges are just cut from felt, no edge finishing required.)  The strap is super simple, made from rope with knotted ends.  And all those details are made with some basic hand embroidery stitches.  Sparkle felt makes it extra cute.

The striped scallop roof is actually the top flap of the bag. A magnetic snap makes it a secure closure.  The rope straps are attached through felt loops at the side of the bag. 

They rate this project as an intermediate level, and it should take about 6 hours to make start to finish.  That’s doable for a Saturday project or a couple of evenings.  Full color photos step you through the entire process.

The project includes a shopping list for all of your supplies.  They’ve got a shop so you can order all of them from Benzie if you like and get exactly the supplies used in the project.  I noticed it includes a pair of scallop shears, which makes cutting all the scalloped edges for the roof and around the door a breeze.  

Finished dimensions of the little felt gingerbread bag are approximately 6 ½” wide x 7 ½” tall.  That’s the perfect size to hold a small book, a small toy, or a notepad and some cute pens.

Go to Benzie Design to get the tutorial and free pattern for the felt gingerbread house bag.

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