Bias Tape Sewing Tutorial

With my recently completely quilt I have learned a new skill, sewing bias tape onto a quilt!  I had watched my friend Ellie sew it onto my bf's T-shirt quilt so I kinda had an idea of how it would work.

When it finally came time to sew the bias tape on I kinda freaked out.  I was so close to having the quilt done and now I was not sure I could made the tape look good enough (yes I am a bit of a perfectionist).

I started by laying the quilt out and slowly pinning the tape.  Once I arrived at a corner I worried again.  I tried to remember exactly what Ellie had done.

I lined up the two sides and prepared to pin.

I made sure to pin all of the way though all of the fabric without pulling or making a ripple in the fabrics.  That part was a little tough.

Then comes the tricky part... folding around the corner.  Hold the fabric tightly at the corner and slowing fold down and open the bias tape.

The bias tape will have some extra fabric, don't worry about that yet.  Make sure to line up the bias tape along the second side.

Now. Fold over the extra fabric (facing either side, it is your choice).

Carefully pin the second side so that all of the fabric is caught in the pin.  I did not pin the folded part, when I sewed it I just made sure to hold it flat as it went through the machine.

Here is an example of the completed corner all sewn up.  I decided to sew the bias tape three times (twice in brown and once in blue).  Some people like to sew it up only once, very close to the inside of the bias tape to hide it as much as possible.

Next I have to figure out how to make the crossover from one stripe of bias tape to the next look seamless.

Hope you're having a great day!!

Baby Onesie - Tie

Once I found out that my friend J (Baby Shower Gift Take Two) was having a baby I could not help to begin thinking of all of the different baby things I had seen on blogs and etsy.  I wanted to make ALL of them!  But I realized that I would have to start somewhere.  The somewhere I decided to start was by making a onesie with a tie.  In searching around the internet I kept seeing ties that were sewn completely onto the shirt.  I didn't think that would be as fun as if the tie looked and acted like a real tie.

So I set out to pick out Gator fabric (since they are very big Florida Gator fans) and the perfect orange color thread.

Sorry this is all I had left of the fabric I used.  I didn't think at the time to take shots of the fabric.

In all of the blog posts I never saw a template that I could just print and go.  I was at square one in making a pattern as I had never made one before.  Using card stock I sketched what I thought would be a good sized tie for the 3-6 month onesie.

My make shift pattern.  The red is to indicate the sewing allowance.

Using the pattern I cut out all of the pieces (two ties and two "knots").  Matching the right sides together I sewed the tie, leaving the top side open for turning.  Once it was turned right sides out and the corners were pushed out (with a chopstick) it was time to sew the "knot".  This was a little trickier because the fabric pieces were small and it had to be continuously turned as it was being sewn.

Pinned and ready to be sewn.

 Once both pieces were turned and ironed nice and crisp it was time to attach them together.  I hand sewed the tie to the "knot" making sure the thread did not show through on the front of the "knot".  With the tie and "knot" now in one piece the "knot" part of the tie can be sewn onto the onesie.  I tried to catch the top of the tie while I was sewing the "knot" to make sure it would stay in place.

In making several of these, I have learned that it is best to go around two or three times to really secure the "knot" to the shirt.  Since the tie is movable it might become a target for little fingers to grab and mouths to chew, so the extra security is a good thing.

I am hoping to make a few of these to bring to the craft fair I may be going to with Ellie in April.  I just hope that people will think they are cute enough to want to purchase.