I have a pretty healthy stash of bias tape scored from estate sales and fabric store discounts. But by far and away, my favorite bias tape is still the stuff I make myself. Bias tape from a stripe or a polka dot is generally so much more delicious than a solid from a very limited palette at the store. Heather from The Sewing Loft shares a pair of tutorials about making your own bias tape. The first shows how to make a looooong strip of continuous bias using just one seam. The second shows how to calculate the amount of continuous bias you’ll get from a piece of fabric. She includes some handy charts showing how much fabric you’ll need to use to create different lengths of bias tape. Go to her continuous bias tape tutorial. Go to her post showing how to calculate continuous bias.
[photo from The Sewing Loft]
I love making my own too. It’s just always much prettier!