Stitching With 2 Strings: "Martha's Roses" and How to Make Fusible Bias Tape

Wednesday, March 2, 2016

"Martha's Roses" and How to Make Fusible Bias Tape

The spring table topper is finished! . When I made that big center block, I wasn't at all sure how I'd use it, but I'm really pleased with how this table topper turned out. I've named it "Martha's Roses" after my mother.

"Martha's Roses" (21 ¾” x 21 ¾”)

Mother was an avid gardener, one of those who had plant magic in her fingers. Her garden was filled with flowers, and pink roses were her favorite. From the moment I designed the appliques, this became my mother's piece.

Last fall I worked with fusible bias tape on a stained glass quilt, "First Christmas". It made attaching the bias tape so easy! I had a particular fabric in mind for the bias tape stems on "Martha's Roses", so the commercial tape wasn't going to work at all. How hard could it be to make fusible tape from my chosen fabric?

Turns out it wasn't hard at all!

Homemade fusible bias tape on "Martha's Roses"

I rarely use commercially made bias tape anymore. It's expensive and the colors and widths available are really limited. If you have bias tape makers in various widths, the task is easy, but I prefer the flexibility of making bias tape of any size with simple tools.

Make bias tape.
No bias tape maker necessary.

You will need a hera marker, a straight quilt ruler, and a flat surface for this. Hera markers are inexpensive and readily available almost anywhere that quilting supplies are sold. I bought this one made by Clover for less than $5.00.

1. Cut bias strips 1/2" wider than the width you need for your finished tape. The tape used on "Martha's Roses" is 1/4" wide, so I cut the strips 3/4" wide.

2. Longer sections of tape can be made by sewing strips together exactly like you would sew strips of bias binding.


Place strips at right angles. Sew with a 1/4" seam. Press open. Clip triangle "ears".

3. When your bias strip is ready, lay it on a flat surface (I use my cutting mat.) with the wrong side facing up. Place your ruler so that it is 1/4" in from one long side of the bias strip. Mark by sliding the round end of your hera marker firmly along the edge of the ruler. The hera marker will crease the fabric and it will fold easily along the crease. Repeat on the other long side of the strip.

4. Finger press the edges down, then take the bias strip to your ironing station. Using your thumb and a forefinger, gently fold the two edges toward each other. Press the edges in and down with a hot iron.

5. The tape is now ready to use. You can use quilt basting glue to hold it in position on your quilt top, or you can make it fusible.

Add fusible web to the tape.

1. Slice strips of fusible web ever so slightly narrower than your bias tape. I found that it was easier to work with short sections of fusible web. Lay the fusible web, paper side up, on the bias tape. Iron to fuse to the tape in place.