Clover Fusible Bias Tape Maker
 

Hi everyone,

I need to make a lot of 1/4” flower stems for an appliqué quilt. I am trying Clover’s fusible tape maker because the non-fusible tape maker’s edges do not want to stay folded in place for a long time. I like to make a lot of stems at one time and leave them until later for use, so I need the edges to “stay put”.

I am not having great results with the fusible tape maker, however. The fusible tape is not always catching the edges of the folded over fabric. The fusible tape can’t be repositioned, so that section must be discarded. Also, I am not getting a consistent 1/4” stem, although it is fairly close to it.

I am sure that this is all caused by user error, but before I spend a lot of time trying to debug what I’m doing wrong, I thought I would ask my fellow quilters what you think after using this product first. In other words, is the final result worth the effort?

Thanks for your help!

I used the ready made fusible 1/4" green bias tape for stems. It worked great. Clover Quick Bias Fusible Bias tape. It use to be available in many colors. I haven't used any in a long while so hopefully it is still available. I know black and gold are still made, crafters use it.
Another option is the Fast to Turn tubes. It will make the narrowest no raw edge stem to the largest.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcwZoSH1EyE

A fellow quilter showed a technique to make really small stems. She had bias fabric and sewed it down with a machine along the raw edge. She then folded over the folded edge and stitched it down. She used a machine, but I hand stitched like binding. Give it a try, it might work for you too.

The method toverly explained is the way I make my stems for applique. But I also use the pressing bars inside to assist with the turning.

Make the 1/4 inch bias tape without the fusible.

Use a glue pen to hold the bias tape on the project.

You can use a wash away product like this. I have used the 1/8 inch tape but it harder to find. Easy to cut the 1/4 inch tape into 1/8 inch using a ruler and rotary cutter.

I brush starch on the fabric before running through bias tape maker. Use the iron to completely dry the starch as it is coming out of the tape maker. make sure that it is dry before pulling too much out. So I make it slowly. That will hold the folded shape.

So many different ways to get really nice bias stems! It had not occurred to me to make the modifications you all came up with! Thank you all for your help!

[QUOTE=Onebyone;8660687]I used the ready made fusible 1/4" green bias tape for stems. It worked great. Clover Quick Bias Fusible Bias tape. It use to be available in many colors. I haven't used any in a long while so hopefully it is still available. I know black and gold are still made, crafters use it.
/QUOTE]
I used to love using the green ready made fusible tape for stems, but it is no longer available according to the folks at Clover who I recently wrote to. They still sell only the black and gold. This is really unfortunate so I cherish what little green I have left on the roll!

Do you iron the stems after using the bias tape maker?

I took a class from Yoko Saito, one of the many things she demonstrated was how she makes narrow vines. You don't need to make yours as narrow as hers, the technique would still work. It sounds similar to what Toverly described. Here's a video of Yoko demonstrating her technique.

Yoko Saito! I bought a BOM quilt kit for one of her quilts. Beautiful Japanese fabrics. I want to start sewing it this winter.
"Sunflowers Road" In her book Past and Present My Quilting Life.