Hey y’all! Welcome back! Today we are diving into Part Two of our coaster making adventure. Remember, we are using this project as a stepping stone to larger quilts and projects! Dust off that sewing machine, order just a few minimal supplies, and you can get going!
My family is here visiting — my mom, sister Bri and I have been sewing and creating like crazy. Harlow’s babysitting her cousin Kadley and doing a wonderful job. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her quite as excited about someone visiting as she is about Kadley being here! Everything Kadley does is THE BEST THING EVER! Even just waking up from naps! AH! The excitement! It’s awesome.
And yes. Kadley’s wearing a Tesla onesie. She’s kind of a rockstar babe.
Mom and I have been attacking a duffle bag for each of us. I am loving how it’s turning out, but I’m making a ton of modifications to the pattern — so I shall keep you posted! I posted the photo below, and you all were extremely kind about the straightness of my quilting lines! I made a note to do a quick post about my tips for quilting straight and even lines! My DZ1500 has a lot to do with it — at least I think it does!
Bri has been the designer and planner extraordinaire for our quiet books we are making for the girls! She prepped all the files and colors and pages, and we embarked on a massive shopping trip yesterday for a few supplies. Andy and I cut out almost all the little pieces yesterday for us to start assembling today!
Because of the quantity of books we are making, Andy and I cut out the tiny shapes via a laser machine, but the ScanNCut would be amazing for quiet/activity book creation! I hope to show you more felt cutting on my ScanNCut very soon!
Well, a bit of rambling updates! Let’s get started with part two!
Bias tape is such a fun product to use! It comes it great colors and sizes, and it’s ready to go out of the package. It is wonderful for beginners who want to learn the basics of binding, but maybe don’t have all the supplies to make cutting your own binding strips easy. I also love using it for projects like coasters and placemats!
The first thing we are doing to do is Square Up our coasters.
1|| I’ll cover squaring your quilt down the road, but we will quickly square our coasters before adding the binding. Lay out your coasters and determine your final size. I decided to trim these colored coasters to a 4″ x 4″ square.
2|| Using a rotary cutter and a square, line up your coaster to be cut. I like to use the angle marking on my ruler square — in this example, I quilted 45º lines, so I was able to line those up with markings on my ruler square.
If you don’t have a rotary cutter and/or quilting square, simply use a ruler to mark and measure the first side to be trimmed. Connect to create a cutting line, cut carefully with a pair of sharp scissors. Using that first cut edge, measure an adjacent side, connect the dots and cut. Repeat on all four edges.
3|| Continue trimming each coaster. Remember to use your quilted designs to help determine and align your edges.
Okay! When all of your coasters are trimmed and square and ready for binding, we can begin!
1|| Pick up your bias tape at your local fabric store. You can also make your own bias tape, but that’s another tutorial for another time.
I recommend using the Extra Wide Double Fold .5 in Wide tape for binding — especially if you are just beginning. Thicker is great too, but for tiny “mini” quilts like these coasters, thicker will be a bit more difficult.
Just to change things up, I used an even skinnier bias tape for the two examples below: Double Fold .25 in Wide tape. It’s a bit tricky to use as it’s very thin, but it does provide a really delicate binding edge for such a small project like this.
2|| The double fold describes the way the bias tape is folded — I know, kind of obvious. Whoops. But it’s because of this double fold that it is so great as an edging for quilts or small projects.
3|| Line up the edge of your open bias tape with the edge of your coaster. Pin and mark 1/4″ in from the edge with a fabric pen.
4|| I like to shorten my stitch length when attaching binding of any kind. I love that my DZ1500 keeps all my settings as I have them even if I need to turn of my machine because nap time is over!
5|| Starting about 1-1.5″ in from the end of your binding, stitch along the crease of the binding at the edge of your coaster. It’s better to be slightly closer to the outside edge of the crease than the inside of the crease — we want to utilize the pressed seams of the bias tape.
6|| Stop stitching at your 1/4″ mark or slightly before. I always backstitch a few times and then trim the threads.
7|| Fold your binding up at the corner to create a 90º angle with a fold of 45º. You can use a small iron to press this seam, but I just use my fingernail to press it down a bit to hold.
8|| Holding your first fold in place, fold the binding down towards the next edge you will be stitching along. Line the fold up with the top of the edge you’ve already sewn. Pin into place.
Starting at the very edge of the fold, sew down the next side of your coaster.
Continue around stitching around each edge, folding at the corners and continuing until your beginning edge. Stop about 2″ from start of your stitching on side one.
9|| I’m going to show you a way of completing your binding quickly and easily. It’s perfect for beginners, a quick project and small pieces like these coasters. I’ll show you my favorite way to bind my quilts in a few weeks!
Overlap your beginning and end of the binding by about 1 inch and trim the end.
10|| Fold the end of your binding and lay it under the flap created at the beginning of your stitching.
11|| Starting with a few backstitches, pick up where you ended your stitching. Stitch until you meet up with your beginning stitches.
12|| Trim your threads — take a peek and see that pretty ending edge you just created!
13|| Now for my favorite part! Flip the binding around the edges of your coaster — you will begin to see how it all comes together!
14|| You can either pin prior to sewing, or tack down as you sew. I typically pin in a spot or two just to get started and then tack it down with my fingers as I sew.
Pin in a few spots, pulling the bias tape gently to the back of your coaster. You want it to be even and straight. You also want it to be a bit wider in the back than it is in the front — this small detail will come in handy as we stitch the binding down in the back.
If you are pinning prior to sewing, fold down one side of your corner and then carefully fold down the other edge — almost like you are wrapping a present. This will create a mitered corner on your coaster.
15|| Begin sewing around the perimeter of your coaster as close to the edge of the binding as you can evenly sew. I like to do a hair less than 1/8″ from the edge as you can see in the photo above.
Follow the steps below to see how I miter and sew my corners as I go.
a// As you approach a corner, stop about 1 inch from the end/corner.
b// Leaving your needle in the down position — which the DZ1500 defaults to — spin your coaster so the corner to be stitched is on the side of your sewing foot.
c// Straighten out the current side you are stitching and carefully fold the adjacent edge corner up. When you’ve created an even fold, spin your coaster back and drop your presser foot to hold that fold in place. Continue stitching until you reach 1/8″ into the corner. I like to backstitch once at each corner for reinforcement.
Lift your presser foot up — needle down — and spin your coaster to continue on to the next edge.
d// Voila! Beautiful corners and beautiful binding! I’m still blown away at the stitch quality of this machine!
Trim your threads and continue on each coaster! You just made some mini quilts! Great job!
I hope this two step tutorial helped you see how easy it can be to jump into some sewing and quilting projects! It doesn’t need to be overwhelming. I have so many more projects and tutorials down the pipeline — your emails and comments about specific requests have been so helpful! Please keep them coming! It helps me focus my attention on the questions you have right now!
Supply lists, tips and tricks, new projects and patterns — all coming at you hopefully soon. Does someone know a way to make my body not require sleep? :) Just kidding. Kinda.
Be sure to tag me or comment with a link to your coaster projects! I cannot wait to see the colors, quilting designs and final products!
xo.
I’ve searched and search for a good tutorial of how to use binding tape and nothing ever quite made sense to me… until now! I GET this!! Thank you!!!
Oh my goodness! You don’t know how that encourages me!! I always read through my tutorials what feels like a million times because I’m so nervous it won’t make sense or will lose people!! I’m so happy it made sense to you! Please let me know if you have any questions!!
Hello! I am loving your posts! I am just beginning my sewing journey and am looking for a sewing machine. What would you say is a great first option for me (not too expensive) I am looking to begin quilting!!
I have searched what feels like the entire internet looking for a great double bias tape tutorial. This is SO good. Thank you so much. Claire x