As a sewer and maker of beautiful bias tape I have probably cut, sewn, and ironed over ten thousand yards of bias tape in my professional career, and whenever I sell in person the question that comes up time and again is- What is bias tape?  Even my sewer pals are a  bit intimidated and confused by bias tape, what the heck it is, how you make it, what it’s really called, and what it does.  And it’s no wonder because there are so many different terms and ways to make binding, and so very many unfortunate misdirections along the way!  So I’d like to show you what’s what and what does what!

What is bias tape? What’s the difference between bias and straight binding?
Binding is a folded fabric trim which is sewn over the raw edge of fabric.  Bias tape is a kind of binding made from strips of fabric that are cut on the bias (diagonal). There are many names for bias tape, and bummer-drag, they are kinda confusing. 

What I refer to as bias tape is also called bias binding by some.  Cross grain refers to  binding which has been made from fabric cut horizontally, or widthwise.  Straight grain binding is made from fabric cut vertically, or lengthwise.  Because of potential for confusion, I’m just going to stick with Vertical, Horizontal, and Bias for the purposes of this post. Whichever name you use, each binding has its own qualities which you’ll learn to recognize as you use them.

As you can see with the striped fabric, the way you cut the fabric makes a big difference in the final product. The difference is not as obvious when working with solid or all-over pattern fabrics, but with the stripes you can really see how different the cuts are and you get a good idea of how the grain of the fabric affects the binding when sewn.

The bindings are almost exactly alike when sewn onto a straight edge, but very different when sewn onto curves (The blue lines show you the vertical grain of the fabric).  The bias tape hugs the curves beautifully, while the horizontal  binding has less give, and the vertical binding has the least give.

If you’re making bindings for yourself, vertical cut, and horizontal cut bindings are the simplest to make, and work great for projects that only require straight edges.  They make nice, stiff edges for quilts, but don’t do so well on curves.  Bias tape is the most time consuming binding to make and it requires the most fabric of the three, but it’s my very favorite to work with.  Bias tape covers straight edges perfectly, hugs curves beautifully, and is actually the strongest of the three, because it provides the most thread coverage at the edge.   The triple-action duty makes bias tape my favorite of all bindings, and is the reason why it’s the only kind I carry in my shop!

When shopping for bindings pay attention to the direction of the threads in the fabric.  It might sound crazy, but if you look closely you can see the threads running diagonally on true bias tape, while the thread on straight bindings runs horizontally and vertically.  Can you see the diagonal threads in the bias tape below?

To find beautiful pre-made bias tape visit my Etsy Notions Shop or my Flagship Store.  You can also find Polly Danger bias tape in select craft and fabric shops.

We don’t often get guest submissions around here, but the very sweet Betsy from Bunny in the Blossoms has offered up this adorable felt flower tutorial.  I’ve seen these cuties around, and always thought they looked so tricky to make, but Betsy’s here to show us just how simple they really are!  Thanks, Betsy!

School’s still crazy busy for me, but who isn’t busy? These are my little felt flowers. Simple, simple let me tell you.  Not a lot of time needed! The world is opened for creativity once you make them!

Here’s what you need:

• 1 sheet of felt
• hot glue gun
• Scissors
• pearl beads ( optional)
• fun green fabric ( optional)

Step 1. Cut felt into a long strip about 1/8 to 1/4 of any inch thick.

Step 2. Holding the center, wrap it into a spiral.  Put little dabs of glue in between strips to make it stay together while wrapping (very handy if you have help at this point of the show).  If you twist the felt while you are wrapping, it makes for cool texture in the “petals”.

Step 3. To reinforce the bottom cut out a small circle of felt and glue it to the bottom of the flower. To make it pretty I glued pearl beads to the middle. Cutting out leaf shapes out of a fun green fabric can also add something to your little beauty.

Now it’s time to be creative! I made barrettes. What are you going to make?

If you’d like to see more sweet tutorials like this one, you can find Betsy’s work at the Bunny in the Blossoms Blog!

I’m over the moon excited to host a project contest!  I’ve seen some really wonderful projects using my bias tape and buttons over the past few years, so I thought it would be great to get them all in one place and give a little lovin’ to the creative people who make them!  Find the contest details below:

Click here to email a submission.  Have a question?  Drop me a note at Contest@PollyDanger.com And as always, you can find supplies for your projects at the Polly Danger Flagship Store or the Polly Danger Notions Etsy Shop

A small pillow for my back is just what my big sewing chair needed, so I decided to share this tutorial for anyone who has ever wanted to make a super easy but super cute pillow.  I love this project because traditional pillow trim can be tricky for the beginning sewer (and for me, too!), but bias tape trim is cute and super duper simple!

Materials:

• Fabric- 2 pieces 12″ x 12″
• Bias tape- 1 1/2″ yards
• Button- 1 cute button of your choice
• Stuffing- Use your choice of filling (this is a great way to reuse stuffing from tired pillows!)

Step 1. Use a coffee can lid, or glass, to mark rounds on the corners of the fabric with a marker.  Turning the corners round will make applying the bias tape even easier!  Repeat for all corners.  Cut with scissors.

Step 2. Fold each piece of fabric in quarters and mark the very center with a tiny dot.  This marks where your button will be attached in the last step.

Step 3. Place the fabric squares right sides out and baste all the way around, leaving a 3″ opening for filling.  Now you can begin pinning your bias tape.  Start the bias tape about 2″ before the opening, as shown in the photo (the pin in the picture was just so that I could keep the tape open for the photo).

Step 4. Leave a 3″ opening in the same place as the opening in your basting.  Pin all the way around the pillow. To go around the corners: Hold the fabric flat with the non-working hand, pull the tape slightly, and pin as you go.  Once you get to the end, leave about 2″ extra and snip the excess bias tape.

Step 5. Fold the end under about 1″ and pin right on top of the raw edge of the starting bias tape.  Press the corners with an iron to help seal the curve.  Now you can begin stitching your bias tape closed, starting after the opening.  It might help to use different colored pins at the opening to help you keep your place. Make sure to back stitch at the beginning and end.

Step 6. Press your stitches in place and start stuffing your pillow with small clumps of fiber fill.  Fill your pillow until it feels right, or until it looks like this:

Step 7. Pin the opening closed and stitch it with the machine, overlapping your previous stitches about 1″ in each direction.  It can be tricky to hold the pillow, full of stuffing, in place, but with a small 3″ opening it shouldn’t be too difficult.  The main goal is to try and match your stitches as closely as possible (patterned bias tape helps hide any funny stitches!). Now you’re ready for the button!  Simply start stitching at the dot you made in Step 2 and make sure to pull tight, and make a good knot!

All done!  Now you can put your pillow on your favorite chair and get to work making one for everyone else in the family!

Visit the Polly Danger Shop to purchase some of the materials used in this tutorial:

Blue Faux Patchwork Bias Tape

Field of Tulips Buttons

Spring is on its way, and boy am I looking forward to it!  Six months ago Eric and I moved into a house with a sadly neglected garden, so I’m basically starting from scratch.  I’ve been enthusiastically collecting and buying seeds over the last month and realized that they were collecting in utter chaos.  So I decided to make and share a few tools to help my fellow gardeners get organized for the growing season ahead! PDFs can be downloaded at the bottom of the post.

1. DIY seed organizer

My first step in seed organization was to condense my overflowing box of seeds into something uniform and easy to navigate.  The tidy box of seeds you see before you was once a shoebox full of   supermarket seed packages, Ziploc baggies full of seeds from neighbors, specialty seed packets from Etsy, you name it- it was a mess.   Now my seeds are organized in coin envelopes, by planting month.

Materials:

• PDF Gardening Tabs
• Sticker paper (optional)
• 12 index cards
• Box to hold seeds and index cards (recipe boxes work great)
• Coin envelopes, which you can get at any office supply store.

Step 1. Download my Gardening Tabs, which are color coded by season.

Step 2. For super easy application, print onto sticker paper or full sheet label paper, then cut out.

Step 3. Place tabs onto individual index cards, spacing them out so that each season is easily recognizable (as shown in the photo).

Step 4. Place the contents of each seed packet  into your coin envelope (or just fold the packet up and put into the envelope) and write the name on the front.  I also made a note of the month to plant in the upper, right hand corner.  You can also write planting instructions on the back.

Step 5. Now you can just slip your seeds into the organizer according to planting times!  So handy.

2. Printable Planting Guide

Now that you’ve got your seeds organized you might realize, like I did, that there are some seeds that you can already start sowing!  So to help keep track of what gets planted inside, what gets planted outside, what to prune, what to transplant, etc.  I made a planting tracker, which is also available for my lovely readers.

Step 1. Download the Planting Guide and print out 12 sheets, one for each month.  Fill out the fields according to your seed organizer, the directions for each seed, and any other special notes you have for your garden.

Step 2. Apply the second set of tabs (from the Garden Tabs PDF) to the side.  Keep your tracker in a binder, or pin to a bulletin board near your planting area.  I plan on keeping mine in the kitchen, by the back door so that I can see it whenever I go outside!

3. DIY Flag Plant Markers

And finally, I managed to pot up a few of my early sowing seeds, but my old metal markers were just bleh.  So I made some cute waterproof flags in a jiffy!  Here’s how to make your own:

Materials:

• White paper
• Permanent markers
• Contact paper
• Clear tape (shipping tape works great)
• Bamboo skewers or floral wire

Step 1. Download and print out the PDF Flag Plant Markers

Step 2.  Fill out the names of your plants with permanent marker.  Cut out the flags, just outside of the colored lines.

Step 3. Cover the flags with contact paper, front and back.  I did all of mine at once by laying them face down on a sheet of contact paper, about 1/2″ apart, and then adding another sheet to the back.  Make sure to get out air bubbles.

Step 4. Cut out your flags, about 1/8″ from the edge of the paper.  Use your nail or a bone folder to get the air out of the edges. This will keep excess moisture out of your markers, so be thorough!

Step 5. Attach the flags to your skewers or wire with the tape.  Again, use your nail to press the tape close to the top and sides of the skewer .  All done!  Now you can mark your seedlings in style!

I really hope these helpers come in handy!  Enjoy.

I love sugar body scrubs!  I love feeling clean and soft  and smooth and pretty-smelling, but I don’t love spending thirty-five bucks for a tub of scrub!   That’s why I’m sharing this super simple, super quick sugar scrub tutorial with you!  You probably have all of the ingredients already in your kitchen right now.  Use this scrub as pre-Valentines pampering, or just as part of your weekly beautifying routine!

Time: 5 minutes

Skill level: None

Ingredients:

• White sugar- 1  1/2 cups
• Poppy Seeds (optional)- 2 tablespoons
• Olive oil- 2 tablespoons
• Essential oil of your choice- 2 drops

Step 1. Mix the sugar and poppy seeds together in a bowl.  Stir with a whisk so that they’re mixed evenly and there are no sugar clumps.

Step 2. Add the essential oil to your olive oil.  Olive oil tends to have a strongish scent, so if you want your scrub to smell strongly of your essential oil try substituting the olive oil for sunflower oil.  Add the oil mix to the sugar/poppy seed mixture.  Mix thoroughly with a whisk and spoon.

Step 3. All done!  Now spoon your scrub into a jar, or other container.  Keep the container out of the shower (it looks quite pretty on the counter or on a shelf) and bring into the shower as needed in a small bowl.  In tiny jars this makes a really pretty gift!

post script: I used my scrub made from this exact recipe on Saturday, and it rocks!  My poor skin hasn’t had a sugar exfoliation all winter, but now I feel smooth and super soft, hubs noticed, too.  I should probably also mention that there are some poppy seeds still on the shower floor . . .  mostly just because I was in such a rush to pick Eric up from the airport!!

My sister recently bought me these very cheerful kitchen towels, which I love, but which unraveled at the edges the first time I washed them.  So I used a bit of new bias tape and rick rack and blam!  Cute kitchen towels got even cuter.  I also added a little loop for easy hanging.  Yay!   For an even cuter version of this tutorial check out the Happy Hostess Dishtowel project in Sew Darn Cute.

Here’s how to fancy up your own towels:

Step 1.  Measure side of your towel and add 1″, per side.  Cut bias tape to measure.  Cut rick rack or other trim according to the width of the towel.  Attach trim across width, about 2 1/2″ from the bottom of the towel.  If you’d like a loop, cut 3″ of bias tape and stitch closed along both edges.  Fold into a V, pin to the towel and baste in place.

Step 2.  Trim frayed edges.  Fold bias tape edges over and stitch along the edge of the towel, about 1/8″ from the fold.  Press with an iron and voila!    Super duper cute towel.