How to sew bias tape on our garments

In this tutorial we are going to see how to sew a bias tape. A bias tape is a tape that has been cut diagonally to the warp and weft of the fabric, that is, diagonally to the edges, so it has more flexibility than a strip that has been cut parallel to the selvedge. You can recognize them because it is a tape with the two sides of the fabric edge folded inwards, you can see it in the photo to understand it perfectly. The bias tape is very good for tidying up seams, garment hems... although I like to use it a lot to decorate certain things.

Let’s sew a bias binding step by step!

Step 1. There are several ways to sew a bias tape but in this case we are going to see how to put it on the fabric.

Step 2. The first thing it’s to place the bias binding on the edge of the fabric, facing right sides together and opening the fold close to the edge.

Step 3. Stitch along the fold line.

Step 4. If we turn the fabric over we will see the backstitch that we have just made and that will serve as a reference line to sew the other side of the bias binding.

Step 5. We have to fold the bias binding over the edge of the fabric and sew it over the backstitch we have done before with a new backstitch that will be visible on top of the bias binding. Try to make sure that this new stitching is close to the edge of the bias binding as shown in the picture.

Now let’s imagine that we have to sew a hem or something where the outline is circular, that is, closed. If we start sewing the bias tape at the end you will find both ends. What do we do in that case? As you can see in the photo I have two ends of the bias tape facing each other. We are going to place a reference pin on the fabric where the two ends of the bias tape are supposed to meet.

We have to cut both sides of the bias binding 1 cm beyond the pin point. This centimeter will be the seam allowance when we have to join both sides of the bias binding. We cut first one side and then the other.