DIY Continuous Loop Bias Strip

Here is a little tutorial on how I make bias strips.

I start with a square piece of fabric. I cut it exactly on the diagonal as shown.

Put right sides together and pin.

Stitch a 1/4" seam. Press it open. Now press the straight edges under by 1/4", not the diagonal edges. Then start making a line at your desired width. Mine is at 1" because I am making narrow double fold bias tape which will end up being 1/4".

Continue making lines all the way across including the folded down part.

Now put the 2 folded edges together with right sides together, make sure to stagger the seam though. 

You will see all your markings line up. Pin it and stitch a 1/4" seam. You can try to press the seam open if you can. Then cut on your line and you will have a continuous bias strip.

Now to make bias tape just fold the long edges to the center and press. This would be single fold bias tape and in my case here, it would be 1/2". If you press it in half again you have double fold bias tape.

It isn't exactly the same as store bought bias tape. For instance, 1/2" store bought bias tape doesn't start out at 1" wide like mine does, it's more like 7/8". So the edges don't meet in the middle. No biggie, it still ends up being 1/2". And likewise, store bought double fold tape isn't folded exactly down the middle. You can do it that way if you want to, but I don't think it's necessary. And of course the big difference between store bought bias tape and handmade bias tape is that your handmade bias tape is going to be much cuter and will match your project much better.