Tips & tricks

Make your own bias binding – even from scraps

You don't need to buy bias binding. Make it yourself from scraps, old shirts or pillowcases: cut on the bias, neatly joined and double-folded.

Left: the corner of the fabric is folded so the crosswise edge lies on the selvedge, the fold forms the 45° line. Right: a set square against the selvedge with a chalk line along it

You need bias binding to finish edges, necklines and armholes. In shops it usually only comes in a few colours, and often none of them really fits.

Yet it's quick to make yourself, and you don't need to buy anything. Fabric scraps are enough, and so is an old cotton shirt, a pillowcase or worn-out bed linen. That way the binding matches your project exactly, and the leftovers don't end up in the bin.

How to sew the finished binding on is shown in Binding edges with bias tape.

What you need

Fabric scraps, an old cotton shirt, a pillowcase or old bed linen
Ruler and chalk or a disappearing marker
Set square or patchwork ruler with a 45° line
Rotary cutter and cutting mat or sharp fabric scissors
Pins, sewing machine and matching thread
Iron, a bias tape maker (if you have one) or a piece of card
A piece of sturdy card for winding

Step 1

Why on the bias? So the binding goes round curves

Left: a strip cut on the straight grain sticks out and wrinkles at a curve, right: a bias-cut strip lies smoothly around the curve

Woven fabric barely gives along or across the grain. But if you cut it on the bias, at 45° to the selvedge, it stretches a little. That's exactly what a binding needs if it has to go round curves.

A strip cut on the straight grain wrinkles or sticks out on a curve.
A strip cut on the bias gives and lies smoothly around a neckline, armhole or rounded corners.

For long, straight edges a straight strip would do at a pinch. As soon as there's a curve, use bias binding.

Step 2

Find the right fabric – scraps are enough

An old shirt with the back and sleeves marked with diagonal lines, next to it a pillowcase, fabric scraps and a crossed-out T-shirt

The best choice is thin woven cotton, for example poplin, chambray or shirting. It folds and presses well and doesn't add bulk at the edge.

You don't need to buy anything for it:

Old cotton shirts (not T-shirts): the back and sleeves give you long pieces.
Pillowcases and old bed linen: lots of fabric, often nicely washed soft. Leave out any spots that are worn thin.
Scraps from other projects, even small ones. You'll sew short strips together later.

Stretchy fabrics like jersey and very thick fabrics like denim or corduroy don't work. They get too bulky when folded or they distort.

Step 3

Find the 45° line

You need a corner whose two edges are exactly on the grain: the selvedge and an edge at a right angle to it. For scraps without a selvedge, pull a thread out of the fabric. The line it leaves is exactly on the grain, and you cut along it.

Then fold the corner over so that the crosswise edge lies exactly on the selvedge. The fold you get is your 45° line. Press it briefly and trace it with chalk.

A set square works too: place one side along the selvedge and draw along the diagonal side.

Step 4

Mark and cut the strips

Fabric with parallel diagonal chalk lines at equal distances, a ruler along one line and a rotary cutter running along it

The width is easy to work out: strip width = 4 × finished binding width. For a 1 cm double-fold binding, cut 4 cm wide strips.

Place the ruler on the 45° line and draw parallel lines at the same distance with chalk.
Measure each distance again from the last line, not just once at the start.
Cut with a rotary cutter and ruler. It's the quickest way and gives the straightest result. Sharp scissors work too.

How much you need: measure the edge you want to bind and add about 20 cm.

Step 5

Sew the strips together

Left: two strips right sides together at a right angle with a diagonal seam and a trimming line. Right: the joined strip from the front and from the back with the seam allowance pressed open

The strips aren't simply sewn edge to edge, but on the diagonal. That spreads out the seam allowance, and there's no bulky spot in the binding.

Place two strips right sides together at a right angle.
Sew diagonally from corner to corner where the strips cross.
Fold open briefly and check that the strips form a straight line.
Trim the seam allowance to 6 mm and press it open.

For many metres there's the continuous method: you sew a square of fabric into an offset tube and cut the binding off in one long spiral. That saves a lot of individual seams.

Step 6

Fold, press and wind up

Cross-section in three steps: flat strip, edges folded to the centre, then folded in half. Next to it a card with binding wound onto it

Now the strip becomes a double-fold binding. First press both long edges to the centre, then fold the binding in half and press again.

With a bias tape maker: thread the strip through and press right behind it as it comes out folded.
With card: cut a strip of card as wide as the half-folded binding (2 cm for 4 cm strips), place it on the wrong side and press the edges over it.
With a pin: push a pin into the ironing board cover so that it forms a 2 cm wide bridge. Pull the strip through underneath with the edges folded in and press right behind it.

Wind the finished binding onto a piece of card so it stays smooth.