I ordered a bunch of bias tape on Etsy, somehow not realizing that it wouldn’t come already folded. So Kevin cut me several 3 foot lengths, and then last night, I started ironing in the folds. He ironed the first lengthwise folds for me, and then I took over, as the next bit requires more dexterity, and he was fretting he was going to mess it up.
To make bias tape, you need to fold the strip of fabric in half, lengthwise, iron it down, then open that up and fold each side in again, lengthwise, iron that down, then fold the two sides together and iron them one last time. All that finicky folding and ironing is, as you might expect, a pain in the ass.
But at the end, you have a lovely ribbon that won’t fray, that goes beautifully around curves (not necessary for mask-making generally, but is important for armholes and such), that has some good stretch to it (which helps with ties around the head), and that can provide an attractive decorative contrast.
I’ve ordered a bias tape maker off Etsy which should simplify the process; fingers crossed. It’s supposed to arrive later today. I’ve also seen someone use a folded piece of paper to achieve a similar effect in a video, but that seems trickier to me.
It’d be super-easy to burn your fingers with steam while doing this, so please take care.
