Sample Board Teaching: Bias Tape versus non-Bias Tape

I teach a class called Sewing 101. In that class I spend 3 hours in an interactive lecture format giving students all the nitty gritty on the lingo of sewing. For example: What is bias, and why do I care? Clearly, there are a lot more things we talk about, but anatomy of fabric is a big one.

I’ll admit this. I had been sewing for almost 15 years before I finally ran across a description of what the bias concept was in a way that I understood. From those who’ve taken my class, my personal experience is hardly unique. There are a huge number of self-taught sewing enthusiasts out there who wing it all the time, and then wonder why the results they got aren’t as good as the picture on the package.

A question I get fairly regularly is “Do I really need to use bias tape for this project?” That’s when I pull out my sample board and point to the curve which results when I used a genuine bias tape and when I use on-grain binding tape.

It’s pretty darn obvious here that if the project I’m working on requires that the binding be shaped in pretty much any way other than straight lines or clear angles, then yes – I really do need to use tape cut on the bias of the fabric. If I’m putting a binding on a quilt, then no – I really do NOT need to use tape cut on the bias of the fabric. There’s no curve there on a standard quilt edge, or table runner edge, or placemat edge, or potholder edge, or … etc. No curve means I don’t need the flexibility of the aspect of fabric anatomy dubbed “bias” in order to achieve the look I want. Many times instructions call for Bias Tape when really they just mean Binding Tape. Let the project tell you which one it needs.

I know that I did not answer the question of “what IS bias”. I have a whole mini-lecture on the anatomy of fabric and it includes some demonstrations and hands-on work. Perhaps that will be my first video…

Until next time, Happy Sewing!

– Dravon

Related posts:

Sample Board Teaching – Best Stitch For Sewing In Elastic Sample Board: Pre-Washing Example Joining Binding Tapes – Sew on the angle or Sew it straight? Sewing 101 – A Pre-Sewing Fundamentals Lecture Class