bias tape Archives - Tracy Lynn Crafts

I am so excited about my square bowl cozy! I used it today for the first time and what a difference it made in heating up my lunch at work. It sounds like a silly thing to be excited about but it really turned out great and I am eager to tell you about it!

Maybe I should have picked a more attractive lunch for taking this picture. LOL I don’t know how food bloggers take pictures of food! 🙂 This is my homemade cabbage soup made from my own stock. It’s one of my favorite lunches!

(This post contains affiliate links to one or more of the items I used in this project – which means, if you make a purchase after clicking a link I will earn a small commission. There is no added cost to you!)

So, why are all the bowl cozy patterns for round bowls? I really needed a square bowl cozy. Almost every day, I take my own lunch food to work so I can eat healthy. The latest news is that heating up your food in a microwave in plastic containers is bad and glass is good. It made sense to me so I switched to glass.

I usually pack my lunch in the 30-ounce or 26-ounce GlassLock® containers. They are square glass containers with a plastic locking lid and they fit in my lunch tote so much better than the round containers. The drawback is the glass gets so hot in the microwave. The first few times I used them I rolled up some paper towel to get my container out of the microwave. Then I started using an old potholder. That worked a little better but I am often worried that the container will slip off the pot holder, especially when I’m trying to take it out of the upper of the two microwaves at work (seriously, why do the really tall guys use the bottom microwave?).

Then I thought a “bowl cozy” might work better than a pot holder. I have seen a lot of bowl cozies on Pinterest but none of them were for square containers.

Time to DIY!

Since I could not find a pattern for a square bowl cozy I decided to make my own! And, I’m going to share it with you because no one needs burned fingers carrying a hot glass container to a lunch table or a desk for lunch. My pattern even has carrying handles!

The pattern I created is designed around the GlassLock® 26 and 30 ounces size square containers. Since I don’t expect to only have those containers, I made it a little loose to accommodate something a little larger for when I acquire more glass food storage containers. If your glass containers are similar in size, they will likely still fit. You can take the pattern and scale it up or down to fit your square glass containers.

Materials and Supplies to Make Your Own Square Bowl Cozy

You will need the following to make your own square bowl cozy.

Fabric
Cotton batting (do not use thermal batting – it is not safe in a microwave)
Thread
Bias Tape
- Make your own: Using my instructions for making bias tape, plan for 60″ of 2-inch wide bias tape, or
- Purchase: You will need 1 package of bias tape (extra wide-double fold)
Scissors
Straight pins — optionally, you can also use Sewing clips (these are great! for the top edge)
Sewing machine
Pattern – The pattern is available from my free Resource Library

If you have fabric scraps from other projects, you probably have enough to make this project. You could also upcycle old jeans or old cotton flannel shirts. I dipped into my stash of scraps to make this square bowl cozy. If you need to buy fabric you will need a third of a yard (to account for shrinkage of the fabric when you pre-wash it).

I made my own bias tape which meant I also needed a 13″ square of fabric.

Constructing the Square Bowl Cozy

Step 1 – Cut out the Fabric and Batting

Using the patterns in my free Resource Library,

Inner Layer: Cut 1 on a fold
Outer Layer: Cut 1 on a fold
Batting Layer: Cut 1 on a fold

My pattern pieces reference cutting on a fold because there is not enough space on a sheet of paper for you to print a whole pattern. You can print two copies of the pattern pieces and tape the “fold” edges together.

Step 2 – Mark the Corners

For both the inner and outer layers of fabric, you will stitch a dart in each of the four corners. To make this easy, mark the dart. I poke a hole through the paper pattern at the point of the triangle. Using a pencil, mark the corner then and draw the lines to the points.

Step 3 – Stitch the Corners

With right sides together, fold the fabric and and stitch along the dart marks. Repeat for all four corners on both the inner and outer layers of the square bowl cozy fabrics.

Press the seams to the side. You should press them so when you put the layers together, the darts from the inner layer are not folded in the same direction as the outer layer. That would cause you to have to stitch through too many layers of fabric on one side of the dart. In the picture below, the dart from the inner layer is folded and pressed in the opposite direction as the dart for the outer layer.

Step 4 – Assemble the Layers

I found this easiest to do by laying the inner layer on my GlassLock® container, then positioning the batting layer, and finally the outer layer.

Place the “right” side of the inner layer against the glass container.
Lay on the batting layer, lining up the cutout to the darts.
Place the “wrong/back” side of the outer layer against the batting layer, making sure you have those darts positioned so they are not on top of each other.

Pin or clip the layers together. If you have read my previous posts on making pot holders or pan handle holders, you know how much I love using these little clips.

Step 5 – Quilting Stitches

To make sure the batting layer does not shift around over time, I did some quilt-like stitching. You can do this with your sewing machine, do it by hand or even just stitch/tack it down in a few places with needle and thread. I prefer to do it with my sewing machine.

Find or mark the center of the square base and place into your sewing machine.

Start your stitching from the center and work out toward the straight edge. Move the needle back to the center and stitch to another edge. Repeat for the next two edges.

Optionally, you can add stitching from center of the base to the four corners.

Step 6 – Top Basting

Using a basting stitch on your machine, stitch along the top edge using a 1/4″ seam. You can see here that my darts are pressed in opposite directions in the corner.

Step 7 – Adding the Bias Tape Around the Top Edge

If you are making your own bias tape, head over to my instructions for making your own bias tape before proceeding.

Open the bias tape and attach it to the inside of the square bowl cozy. Pin or clip into place. Make sure the starting point for the bias tape has a fold that is about 1/2″ deep. This gives you a finished edge instead of a raw edge. This is NOT a required step. It’s “just” a bowl cozy. Mine isn’t fancy. It’s functional! 🙂

Stitch along the first fold line in the bias tape.

Fold the bias tape over the edge of the square bowl cozy, lining up the fold in the bias tape to the stitching you can see that you just made. Pin or clip into place. Stitch close to the folded edge.

Step 8 – Adding the Bias Tape Handles (Optional)

The handles, if you choose to add them, require around 30″ of bias tape — if you use bias tape.

I wanted the handles to match so I just used the bias tape. Bias tape is, as the name describes, but on the bias — at an angle to the straight grain of the fabric. That means it can stretch, which is why it is so useful for going around corners!

I don’t want my handles to stretch. You could use some strapping left over from another project or make your own fabric tubes for the straps. But, if you want to use bias tape, like I did, you can “stabilize” the bias tape by stitching it. I stitched three rows into my bias tape. This picture is a close up so you can see what I’m describing.

I wasn’t super-precise in the positioning of the handles. The only part I was careful about was the length of the handles so they were the same length. You might want a longer handle. I wanted to be able to carry it with one hand from the microwave in the kitchenette to my desk.

Stitching the handles to the cozy is just something you have to do patiently because of the 3-dimensional nature of the item. Take your time and it will turn out fine.

Your New Square Bowl Cozy is Now Complete!

I made this on a Sunday and took it to work the next day. This turned out great! I don’t know why I didn’t think to make a square bowl cozy sooner. My fingers are nowhere near the glass now so I can’t burn myself. It’s so easy to take it out of the microwave and carry it away using the handles. I think I will make another one so I can have a backup cozy for the days I need to take the cozy home and toss in the laundry… because sometimes I have boil-over in the microwave. 🙂 Any ideas how to prevent that!?

I noticed an unexpected benefit that it keeps my food warm longer because less heat is escaping from the container into the table. It’s insulated by the cozy. Bonus!

If you make this, I would love to see yours. Post it in my Facebook group.

If you want to remember this post so you can make your own square bowl post, pin this to your favorite Pinterest board.

A very long time ago, I learned to make quilts from an amazing quilter who made her own bias tape for binding her quilts. Her method did not require any special tools beyond scissors and a sewing machine. She taught me how to do it and I continue to use what she taught me to make my own bias tape for most of my projects that need some sort of binding. What’s cool about this is you aren’t limited to the few selections in the stores.

In this post, I will teach you how to make your own bias tape using the same technique she taught me.

Materials and Tools to Make Your Own Bias Tape

Fabric (determine the amount using the calculator below)
Seamstress chalk or a pencil
Ruler
Scissors
Sewing machine
Iron

How Much Fabric Do You Need?

Your starting piece of fabric to make bias tape needs to be a square. You need to know two pieces of information to determine how big of a square.

Total Length

You need to have an idea of how much length of bias tape you need. Measure all around your project and add about four inches. If you’re making multiple items, you’ll need to add the four inches for each item. If you are adding loops, like for a hanging pot holder, be sure to include that length in your total. On a seven-inch pot holder, that is seven inches for each side (total of 28″), plus four inches total for the loop, plus the extra four inches. That adds up to 36 inches. But, that is for only one pot holder. Let’s assume I’m making two. Now I need a total of 72 inches of bias tape.

Bias Tape Width

How wide do you need your bias tape? If I go back to the pot holder example, I want my bias tape to bind half an inch of the edges of the pot holder. But, I need to double that because it’s half an inch on each side (front and back) of the pot holder. Plus, I’m sewing it on to the pot holder with a 1/2″ seam allowance. All total, that width is two inches.

Calculate the Size of the Square

This is the formula for calculating the size of the square of fabric. The calculator below will do the math for you.

I also made a chart for doing some quick look-ups you can download from my resource library.

In my example above, I need 72 inches of 2″ bias tape. For the purposes of the calculation:

Length = 72 inches

Width = 2 inches

In my example, the result of the calculation is 14. That means I need a square of fabric that is 14 inches on each side.

Making the Bias Tape

Step 1: Mark-up the Fabric

For these types of marks, you do not need a marking tool that provides precision. You just need to be able to distinguish the marks from each other. A seamstress chalk works fine. I sometimes use a light pencil. I do not use any of the air-erasable or water-erasable markers because pressing them can set the color permanently.

On the back side of the fabric, make the marks shown below in the picture. The placement of the marks is important to indicate the edge you’re working with or aligning to in later steps. The positions of marks along those edges is not important.

Arrows (->): Against the left and right side
Circles/Dots (o): Along each side of the diagonal
Pluses (+): Against the top and bottom edges

Also mark the diagonal so you get a precise cut.

Step 2: Cut and Realign

Cut the square along the diagonal that you marked in Step 1.

With right sides together, line up the edges with the plus (+) symbols marked along the edge and secure. The points of the triangles of fabric will hang off each side by a quarter of an inch.

Step 3: Sew and Press

Sew the edge with the plus (+) symbols using a one-quarter inch (1/4″) seam allowance.

Press open the seam allowance and place the fabric on your work surface with the right side of the fabric down. Place the seam vertically as shown in the picture.

Step 4: Mark the Bias Tape Width

Along the left edge that is marked with the circles (o), measure in from the edge the width of your bias tape and mark it lightly for about 5 inches from the edge marked with the arrows (->).

Step 5: Mark the Off-Shift with Xs

You have two more marks to make.

Place one “x” in the corner to the right (as shown in the image) of the line you drew in Step 4.

Place the other “x” at the top end (as shown in the image) of the seam (from Step 3).

Step 6: Initial Cut

Along that 5-inch line that you marked in Step 4, cut along that line for those five inches.

Step 7: Reposition the Fabric

Turn the fabric over so that it is right side up and rotate it so one of the edges marked with circles (o) is closest to you and the cut you made is to your right.

Step 8: Fold in the Sides and Align the Xs

Take the left point and fold it over to the lower right end of the seam.

Take the right point and fold it over to the upper left end of the seam.

While still holding the right point (the one marked with the “x”, shift the point up to line up the Xs.

Place these edges with right sides together.

Secure the edges with pins or clips.

Step 9: Sew and Press

Sew the seam using a one-quarter inch (1/4″) seam allowance.

Press open the seam allowance.

Step 10: Turn, Mark, and Continuous-Cut

Turn the tube so that the fabric is facing right side out.

Starting at the point where you have the initial cut, using your ruler, continue to mark your bias tape width and cut along your marks.

Continue marking and cutting.

Complete!

You now have a continuous strip of fabric cut on the bias.

Fold the bias tape in half and press.

Optionally, you can now fold in each half again and press to achieve the final product.

Your bias tape is now ready for your project that needs binding.

A Square Bowl Cozy That Fits Square Glass Bowls!

Time to DIY!

Materials and Supplies to Make Your Own Square Bowl Cozy