My love of bias has left me wanting one of these machines for the longest time.
My mother in law has just purchased one and has given it to me on loan - thanks Barb!
Here's how it all works.
- There are different sized tips. I'm using a 1/2 inch (12mm) so my strips are about 1 inch wide.
- Pressing your strips beforehand is a good idea.
- Turn your machine on and set it to the correct fabric setting (you don't want to scorch or melt your fabric)
- Slip your strip into the slit of the winding buddy and wind on evenly
- Place it back into it's holder
- Feed strip through tip. While it's not necessary and I didn't have one, there is a tool to help feed the strips into the tip. I would get one of these.
- Lift heater compartment
- Pull your strip through until it's past the roller
- Replace the heater compartment and make sure the green 'ready' light is showing.
- Hit 'run' and gently pull your strip through
- A beautiful pressed bias will result.
You can purchase a number of different sized tips to create different widths.
Verdict: This is a big investment. You will pay around $125 RRP in Australia plus approx $10 each for the accessories and tips.
I personally could justify purchasing one as I do use bias in my sewing a lot. Often when I could of used a beautiful handmade bias in a contrasting or match fabric I haven't. Instead I've used a pre-made blocked coloured bias for the sheer convenience.
It is a big hit with quilters who use a lot of binding.
Making bias this way is easy and fast - it's even and you won't burn your fingers on the iron.
It folds into a nice compact case which is very light weight.
A worthwhile investment IF you use bias on a regular basis.
5 comments:
I was really interested in your thoughts on this. I recently bought one and while it works great with the 1" tip my half inch tip doesn't seem to keep the fabric folded through the heating part and comes out ironed flat. Any thoughts on what I might be doing wrong?
Hi Sash,
As you know, when preparing a blog tutorial is takes ages - stopping to photograph, take notes etc. So when I was doing it, the ironing compartment would shut off and need to reheat. Without knowing I would think it was still on and try to pull through the binding so I would also get some flat bits on test runs. I found pulling through slower caused flat bits too. So I would check 1. the heat setting in right & ready and 2. pull through at a steady pace. But as you are successfully using the one inch I suspect you are already doing this. Make sure you start off the bias in a folded position, this may help too.
Hi, Do you have to cut all the fabric on the bias by hand? That's actually the bit I find harder than using one of the cheapy bias binding makers.
Thanks for the review.
Yes you still need to cut and join your bias as normal. This machine makes the pressing process much easier. Mind you, the cheapy Clover bias makers are still great but this is much quicker and easier.
Here is an old blog post showing an easier way to cut fabric on the bias :http://thehabygoddess.blogspot.com.au/2011/04/quick-tip-cutting-fabric-on-bias.html
Thank god for this tutorial! Ive just bought one myself and couldnt work out how to use it as the instruction booklet is a bit rubbish! Thank you :)
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