Bias Tape Blunder

bias tape by hand

Sigh. So…while working on the Sorbetto tops, I was ready for the bias tape section and to finish them off.

You know, when I plan out a project, that includes a mental timeline of how long things will take. While I have no problem making bias tape by hand the slow way, and I’m pretty darn good at it, I thought I’d try out a handy dandy Clover tool instead to cut my time down. I’ve seen them used on blogs and they seem so easy and carefree….yeah. Sounds good.

clover 12
clover 12

You know where I’m going with this?

Standardization of labeling bias tape needs to happen. Seriously.

Bias tape, say, if it’s a 1/2 inch, that can mean folded or open 1/2 inch. It really needs to be consistently labeled on ALL things OR we as a sewing community need to decide that a 1/2 inch bias tape is ALWAYS folded or ALWAYS open. I don’t care which of the above options it is. Really. I don’t.

See this spool of bias tape I bought from Dove – it’s marked. 1/2″ …and see the D-F? Double folded.

dove spool
dove spool

And this labeling needs to include bias tape tools. And patterns.

The Sorbetto pattern states a 1/4 inch seam allowance and 1/2 inch bias tape without differentiating between folded or open bias tape. Looking at the photo, I guessed 1/2 inch folded and made and executive decision to go with 1/2 inch folded for my own aesthetic reasons. I think for the most part, we can assume we mean folded. I would think so anyway.

Not so with Clover. JUST SO YOU KNOW….a 1/2 inch bias tape tool means 1/2 inch open.

See, I made a pile of 2″ strips for my 1/2″ folded bias tape…

2 inch strips

I figured my time to make it to be about a half an hour…

clover tool
clover tool

That’s right. That’s a 1/2 inch coming out of that tool. Without the center fold. Sigh.

See….this line up…The Dove 1/2″ spool, 1/2″ bias tape made by me by hand, 1/4″ bias tape made with the 1/2″ Clover tool (see what is wrong there?), some 1″ bought from Dove as well, and a WHOLE BUNCH of hand made 1/2″ bias tape.

bias tapes
bias tapes

But, hot damn, I make fine bias tape. Even if it does take me awhile.

bias tape by hand
bias tape by hand

I had plenty of time while making the bias tape to geek out in my head about the physics of bias tape, versus cutting on the grain. It’s pretty neat when you think about it….the weakened edge of the diamond shape flexes better around curves of a garment. Where as, if you cut with the grain, you’re fighting the square of the weave if you try to ease it around a curve…this is why, when binding a quilt with square edges, it’s not such a big deal to cut on the bias in many quilters’ opinions…you can make binding with grain-cut strips and it may even be sturdier for the whole quilt….Pretty neat to geek out on if you ask me.

I should draw something in Illustrator to show what I mean, maybe? I dunno. I assume people get the physics of it, but you never know.

Binding Foot Review

close up from above

I have a lovely, glorious, beautiful Husqvarna Viking Sapphire 835 that I bought last fall. It took a lot of money, for me, and a lot of mommy guilt to get over on spending that much on myself so I must refer to it as the lovely, glorious, beautiful….you get the idea.

I went in to the dealer a couple months later to get a walking foot, for knits and quilting, and a binding foot (aka adjustable bias binder) because I read a great review on See Kate Sew. In fact, I highly recommend the See Kate Sew blog, she does lots of cute stuff and regarding the binding foot, she took some great, detailed photos. In fact, she even did a follow up binding foot review for another manufacturer.

Anywho, I love bias tape but have done my share of swearing getting it lined up perfectly, or even close to perfect, all in the name of not having to hand-sew it on. I got this adorable 1-inch binding on clearance at Dove for these procrastination placemats …and they’re back in the procrastination pile because I just can’t stand simple placemats taking a ton of effort on my part.

Procrastination Placemats
Procrastination Placemats

So the magical binding foot is going to cure all my binding woes….well, not quite.

It’s a simple foot and with my machine’s click on shank, it pops on pretty easily.

binding foot
binding foot next to regular straight stitch

You’ve got to feed the bias tape into the foot, adjust the gauge to the right size so it continues to feed correctly, attach the foot, move your thread into position through the foot, then slide your fabric in-between the bias tape sides into position to start. Takes some finagling – so much for simple, pop-on shank….

close up from side
close up from side
close up from above
close up from above
close up of feed
close up of feed

Once you have it all lined up and ready to go, it’s amazing. AH-Mazing-ING. I can’t sew this close and straight on my best day, even with a glorious machine. Do you see this perfection?

perfect overlap
perfect overlap

Ok, and now for some caveats. The dismount. Sigh. This is a pair of baby pant hems, so I tried 2 different ways to finish the circle of the cuff. Sewing straight through isn’t going to happen…it just gets hung up on itself and you get this funk:

cutting before end
cutting before end

It seems taking the whole dang thing off, attached to the garment, taking it apart, then lining up and sewing it is the best plan…

 

removing and finishing after
removing and finishing after

The pants turned out adorably and are often worn.

 

Pants of Cute
Pants of Cute

The other issue is that there’s no way one can do a mitered corner with this foot. I don’t even want to think of what a pain that would be…yeah…don’t want to think about it. Now, the procrastination placemats (TM) are oversized and I could conceivably round the corners which I just may do and use the foot….later…

Overall, I’m happy with the purchase. It was under $30 I think, or somewhere in there, and I can see how binding a large (rounded corner) quilt could be very satisfying with being able to pretend I had something to do with my stitching lining up so perfectly. If it was anymore than what I paid, however, I’d be a lot more sour about it.

 

 

Online Ordering Part 2: Fabric & Notions

As mentioned, I like ordering online. It frees up some of my very limited time. I don’t have to drive to multiple stores, tinker around until I am satisfied with what I want while maneuvering around other people doing the same thing…I can just tinker with an online cart and it will be sent to me.

For my next experiment, I ordered fabric and notions from 3 different online companies: Fabric.com, Fabricworm and Dove Original Trims. I can’t stand it when they take forever to actually ship from the store. Can’t stand it. I ordered from Zulily.com once and it will only ever be once because of that very thing. I like simple, clean websites with very easy navigation. A great website with a janky Yahoo store is a pain. Using Paypal also makes me cringe – I know how much money is going to Paypal and can’t help but wonder if the prices would be lower if it wasn’t for that or maybe the hard working crafters would at least get more (hello Etsy).

So, without further ado, here’s the fabric online ordering list.

Fabric.com

  • Selection. Huge, ginormous online selection. Ginormous. This can be a hindrance in the organization category. I searched for chevron fabric. I could see by the breadcrumb/navigation trail that they listed it as ‘zigzag’ first. Ok, resubmitted search for zigzag pattern. Then I found two options in yellow that I was looking for: one was an outdoor fabric and one was a cotton slub – neither are good for the baby blanket I’m going to make. Now, due to the option of looking through thousands of ‘pattern’ fabric or just using this janky search, I can’t say for sure that there wasn’t another cotton option, but this is about saving my sanity, not spending all day on a website. This is not a kill for me, just an observation that adds up. (PS, I feel validated in saying janky when I put in a search for “organic” and get PUL (Polyurethane Laminate) as an option.) However, you can get just about anything your heart desires. If you know you like Amy Butler for example, and who doesn’t, she’s easy to find with her own icon right on the front page. You can also search by designer. I ordered a ton, well, 4 lbs. of gingham. it all came neatly rolled onto a sturdy cardboard tube. I have no complaints.
  • Shipping. Ok, so there is free shipping over $35. That’s really good. So when I made an order for $71.64 on June 6, 2012 at 11 PM (so granted that’s more like June 7), I’d reasonably think they’d arrive by the 14th. I got a shipping notification on June 13th, 2012 and the package didn’t arrive until June 19th. That’s a bit too long for me. If I really don’t want the fabric I ordered for almost 2 weeks, and I don’t see myself thinking that way, or I just have to have something that only Fabric.com carries…maybe I’ll order again but right now they are on a back burner for me.
  • Cart. Eh. I don’t love their purchasing cart. I have an ‘account’ but for some reason as I enter the purchase process again, it doesn’t remember my addresses. What a pain. Paypal is an option if that’s your thing but I have no Paypal love.

Overall satisfaction: C

Fabric.com order

Fabricworm.com

  • Selection. Cute. Boutique-y, and priced accordingly. The most adorable patterns and options. They had my yellow chevron fabric, and when I emailed to ask if the 100% cotton was slub or not, just to be sure, I got a response in about an hour. They price the fabric at 1/2 yard, which is a little weird, and I’m sure it has something to do with using a Yahoo cart, but it’s not that big of a deal. They have good sales sprinkled with great sales – especially when you consider the caliber of fabric. I love the clean(ish) layout, the way the sections are broken up and the general navigation.
  • Shipping. I have ordered twice from Fabricworm and shipments have shipped in about 24 hours and arrived in about 3 days. That is perfect for me. Both orders were in the $60 range and shipping was $5.50. They do giveaways and have coupons/sales often enough to make me feel like I’m getting that $5.50 back, so I’m ok with it – especially with that delivery speed. The fabric comes neatly folded in a ziploc bag via USPS.
  • Cart. Eh. I don’t like Yahoo carts. It’s a pain to go back to the store and in the instance of my second order at Fabricworm.com they items from my first order were still in the cart when I made my second order…that’s janky. I concede Fabricworm is small and, like I mentioned, boutique-y, so I shrug it off. I also used Paypal for my order. Eh. If that convenience is there – it’s sort of like going to Burgerville – I might go there for convenience but I really don’t feel that good about it and everyone is a little poorer as an end result.

Overall satisfaction: A- (only because I don’t like Yahoo stores. If I had to consider price I might drop it a bit more, but my tax bracket level isn’t Fabricworm’s responsibility.)

Bonus: They’re on Twitter.

Fabricworm.com order #2

DoveOriginalTrims.com

  • Selection. Amazing. If you love rick rack like I do or have learned how much of a pain it is to make bias tape but hate paying $6 for a few yards, then you will love it too. I bought a spool of 50 yards of white bias tape and some lavender bias tape that was on clearance (!) in one order and a huge roll (12 yards) of 1 inch elastic in another. I am very happy with both.
  • Shipping. The roll of elastic shipped out the day after my 2 pm order on 6/22 and arrived on 6/25. Can’t complain about that. Shipping was $4.45 on the elastic order, $6.45 on the bias tape order, but at her almost-wholesale prices and speed, I can’t complain too much.
  • Cart. Well, I get the impression this store-site is a one-woman-show. While I’m not going to take the time to look at her source code, it looks like some purchased turn-key site from over a decade ago. At her prices, selection and speed, I can deal with it. The site is pretty easy to navigate, and well, again used the evil Paypal. It’s true.

Overall satisfaction: A

Bonus: Flo is on Twitter AND she posts some wacky/fun links sometimes.