Turn tiny fabric scraps into continuous bias strips

Anyone who sews long enough ends up with a basket overflowing with fabric scraps that are too pretty to throw away yet too small to use as a whole. Rather than letting those leftovers gather dust, the continuous bias technique transforms them into a long, flexible strip perfect for binding curves, finishing edges, and adding a thoughtful pop of colour to a handmade garment. This method turns even the smallest oddments into a single unbroken length of bias tape, which means less waste and a much smoother finish around necklines and armholes.

The trick relies on cutting strips at a forty-five-degree angle to the grain and joining small squares into one extended tube before slicing it open along a spiral. The result behaves beautifully around curved seams because bias cut fabric has natural give, so it lies flat without puckering. The following walkthrough covers fabric selection, the joining method, the spiral cut, and a few ways to store the finished strip so it is ready whenever a project calls for it.

Why bias cut fabric works so well

Bias cut strips behave differently from those cut on the straight grain. The diagonal threads have more flex and stretch, which is why the strip moulds around curves the way you want it to. A straight-grain strip pulls and twists when forced over a rounded edge, leaving visible tucks, while bias tape simply curves with the fabric. That flexibility also makes it a favourite for binding quilt edges, finishing hems on silky fabrics, and binding the neckline of a knit or woven top.

Beyond flexibility, bias strips fray less aggressively than straight cuts when they are folded and stitched down, and they tend to disappear into a seam for a tidy, almost invisible finish. Quilters in particular love continuous bias because a single joined strip can run the entire perimeter of a throw-sized quilt without a single join. Garment sewists rely on it for binding sleeveless tops and finishing facings on dresses, where a smooth curve matters more than structural strength. If you are aiming for that crisp result, the flat felled seam technique pairs beautifully with bias bound edges for a polished finish inside and out.

Gathering scraps from the right sources

The best fabric for continuous bias is a stable, lightweight woven. Quilting cotton from Spotlight is a forgiving choice for beginners because it presses flat and holds its shape. Voile, lawn, shirting, and lightweight linen also work well. Avoid heavy home-decor weight fabrics, thick denim, or anything with significant stretch, as the layers become bulky and the strip loses the fluid drape that makes bias binding so useful.

In Australia, scraps can be sourced from a surprising number of places. Spotlight and Lincraft both sell remnant baskets at reduced prices, and many local indie fabric shops, like The Fabric Store in Melbourne or Material Goods in Brisbane, offer end-of-bolt cuts at a discount. Op shops are also a treasure trove; Salvos Stores and Vinnie's often have donated sheets, shirts, and curtains that yield metres of usable cotton for the price of a takeaway coffee. Quilters' guilds in cities like Adelaide and Perth frequently host swap days where members trade small cuts, which is ideal when you want a coordinated palette for binding a quilt.

Cutting squares and joining them into a tube

Start by cutting an equal number of squares from your scraps. A 10 cm square is a comfortable starting size, though experienced sewists often work with 12 or 15 cm squares to produce longer strips per cycle. Place two squares right sides together and sew a quarter-inch seam along one diagonal edge. Press the seam open and trim the dog-ear corners, then repeat with another square, joining it to the opposite diagonal of the first pair.

Continue in this alternating fashion until you have a long chain of squares joined point to point. When you finish, bring the first and last squares together, right sides facing, and stitch their remaining diagonal edges to form a single tube. The tube looks like a flat diamond made of patchwork on the outside, with raw edges running along the top and bottom. Before you press anything further, give the seams a quick blast with the iron, since Australian summer humidity can leave cottons feeling slightly limp and the heat helps set the stitches.

Marking and cutting the continuous strip

Lay the tube flat on your cutting mat with one seam centred. Use a quilting ruler and a fabric marker to draw a series of parallel lines across the tube at your desired strip width. For double-fold bias tape that will bind a quilt edge, draw 5 cm lines; for a single-fold strip used to finish a neckline, 3 cm is plenty. The first line sits a quarter inch in from one edge of the tube so you do not cut into the seam allowance.

The magic happens in the spiral cut. Begin at one corner where the drawn line meets the raw edge and snip diagonally until you reach the marked line, then turn and follow the line all the way around the tube, cutting continuously in a gentle spiral. As you cut, the patchwork tube unfolds into a single ribbon that can stretch for several metres depending on how many squares you joined. Keep the tension light and let the fabric fall naturally into a pile beside you rather than pulling on it, which can distort the strip. If anything feels unclear at this stage, you can get in touch with photos or questions any time.

Pressing, storing, and putting the strip to work

Once the spiral is fully cut, feed the entire length through the iron to remove any creases and to set the bias grain. Run the strip through your sewing machine to join the two ends and create a true continuous loop, or leave it as a single length if you prefer. To store it, wind the strip around a piece of card, a wooden clothes peg, or an empty thread spool and tuck the loose end into a slit. Stored this way, the bias tape stays tidy and uncreased for months, ready to bind a quilt, edge a hem, or trim a handmade garment.

A continuous strip is particularly useful when binding projects that demand several metres without interruption, such as a hexagon quilted table runner or a full circle skirt hem. Many sewists in Sydney's craft circle scene, who frequent the Finders Keepers markets at Barangaroo, swear by making a fresh batch of bias tape at the start of each cooler season, when arvo sewing sessions return after the summer break. For sewists new to the blog, the about page walks through the kinds of indie patterns, traditional techniques, and project round-ups covered here, including regular Love Notions reviews and fabric recommendations.

A quick way to decide which width to start with is to match the strip to the project in mind.

Strip Width	Best For	Fold Type	Approx. Yield from 12 cm Squares
2.5 cm	Necklines, armholes, facings	Single fold	4.2 m per cycle
3.5 cm	Dress hems, lightweight quilt edges	Single fold	3 m per cycle
5 cm	Quilt binding, blanket edges	Double fold	2.1 m per cycle
6.5 cm	Heavy blanket binding, rustic edges	Double fold	1.6 m per cycle