Please Note: this machine was given to me by Simplicity for review, but I have done my best to provide an unbiased evaluation. Today we’re going to talk about the Simplicity Bias Tape Maker machine. It’s a machine that folds and irons bias strips for you. Of course you still need to cut and sew the strips together. But it eliminates the need for you to stand next to the iron for a 1/2 hour, trying not to burn your fingers as you make bias tape. Hooray!

Last month we talked about Understanding Bias Tape, how to make your own tape, and most importantly… how to sew on bias tape (both the cheating method and the proper method).

You definitely know you’re a sewing nerd when you get excited about yards and yards of freshly pressed bias tape! NOTE: I wound a 1/2 yard of fabric strips around the wheel and it was a little tight, but still worked. If you plan to make very long strips of bias tape, you might start winding in the middle of your strip, run it through the machine, and when you get to the end…roll the other end around the wheel and start the process again.

Okay, feed the end of the fabric into the machine. If the end of the fabric is cut on an angle it goes in easily. Otherwise, use a seam ripper or something skinny to help pull the fabric through the hole. The winding wheel is on the right. And the ironing machine and tip are on the left. It’s a very simple machine and nothing to be intimidated by. It’s actually smaller than I thought (from the online pictures I’d seen). It’s about the size of a box of wet wipes. And it’s pretty light too! I love that. Makes it easy to store in my work space and pull out when I’m ready to use it. If you think you’ll make bias tape more frequently for quilt binding, clothing, home decor…then this machine is actually pretty cool. Place the end of your long bias strip into the clip and start rolling the fabric around the wheel. It winds faster if you put the wheel into the machine and roll it (by hand). And if you have the Simplicity Winder (a separate machine), it goes ever faster! When you’re done winding you’ll have a big ole roll, ready to be folded and ironed by the machine (not you!)Ask yourself the questions at the top of this review again to determine how much you’ll use the machine. But don’t cut yourself short. Look around at your projects and see how often you really do use (or could use) bias tape. It’s such a fun trim for all types of sewing projects! Next you’re going to feed it through the “iron”. The machine iron is a hot plate on the bottom and a hot iron on top. As the fabric passes through, it’s ironed on both sides! But regardless, the tape was still easy to make and in little time I had 9 yards of double fold bias tape! The tip I’ll probably use the most is the 1 1/4 inch wide tip on the left (the 1 inch tip is on the right): Decide which tip you’re using (make sure you decide this BEFORE cutting your fabric strips, so you know how wide to cut your fabric!) The tip snaps right into place on the machine. Like this:

BUT….it wasn’t as easy as it sounds. The “folded” tape seemed to shift on the feeding end as it went into the iron. So, I had to stand there and feed it with my hands to keep it all in place. I had to periodically stop the machine to adjust the fabric and then start it up again. It was still easier than doing it the other way, with my standard iron. But I sort of envisioned that I would wind the tape, hit Run, and (sort of) walk away–of course you should always supervise what’s going on with the machine, but you know what I mean. It makes about 2/3 inch wide double fold bias tape, which is very similar to 1/2 inch wide. But I like having that little extra bit of wiggle room; it helps when wrapping the tape around the edge of a quilt or bulky fleece fabric. The Bias Tape Maker is made by Simplicity, the same company that makes all those patterns you see in the fabric shop. I’ve wondered about this machine for about a year now. Picture my face standing really close to this pile and just smiling!…happy that I’m not spending 30 minutes pulling yards of fabric through my own iron.So let’s do it, using the handy Simplicity Bias Tape Maker. Follow all the same steps in our tutorial HERE (for cutting strips and sewing them together). The widest tip is 1 1/4 inches, which means you can’t make 1 inch wide double-fold bias tape…which is one of my favorite widths for blanket bindings.