not on the bias
I did some experimenting and my answer is, Yes. And . . . No.
see how it's all bunchy?
As you can see in these first two pictures, I did not cut the fabric on the bias because I didn't have enough of the solid. I thought I would make do with the little that I had. It didn't work and I ended up ripping off the trim stitch by stitch.
So when adding bias tape to any type of curve, you really do need to cut the fabric on the bias. I ended up buying some fabric and using the diagonal line of my cutting mat to make that perfect 45 degree angle.
on the bias
It turned out much better.
But I had to buy a 1/2 yard of fabric to get nice long strips (I don't like lots of seams on my bias tape). I needed about 3 strips for this project and had two bizarre triangle shaped pieces of fabric left over. What a waste. If you're like me and you rarely use bias tape around a curve, I recommend that you just buy a pack of bias tape in a color that's close enough. You'll get about 3 yards for less than $3. That's much less than the cost of 1/2 yard of nice quilt-weight cotton and you won't have fabric left over -- just extra tape to keep on hand for future projects.
If you're using the bias tape for a hem (even a sleeve cuff), not cutting on the bias is going to work out just fine and it won't waste so much fabric.
Edit: One of my friends just asked me what bias tape is. I forgot that not everyone who reads this sews! My plan wasn't to make Project: Project all about sewing but the weather has had other ideas and I've done little else since January.
Anyway, bias tape is that orange stuff in the pictures. It is basically 2" strips of fabric with three folds that create a clean little way to cover up the unsightly edges of a project. It is usually used for binding the edges of quilts. Quilt bindings need to be cut on the bias so that one single thread of a piece of fabric isn't the one getting all the wear. If the fabric is cut on the bias, or the diagonal, then many threads make up the edge, prolonging the life of the binding. Quilt binding does not need to be cut on a true bias (the 45 degree angle); it just shouldn't be cut on the square (or parallel with either direction of the weave of the fibers).
For clothing purposes, I cut my bias for the experiment on the true bias so that it would have the maximum give and stretch. But like I learned, if you're just adding some trim to a cuff or a hem, any way you cut it is going to work.
Hope this helps!
I am a finalist in the Lil Blue Boo & Dharma Trading Design Challenge! How exciting. Go vote for me here. There are 15 other entries and they are pretty good so I'm going to need all the help I can get.
Why does this happen? And it happens a lot. Right when I start to sew, the machine gobbles up the thread (it's the top thread pictured there on the bottom side). Sometimes it's so bad it gets all wound up in the bobbin case and I have to open that up and pull it out. It does not matter what thread I'm using, what type of needle I'm using, or the fabric. In this case I was sewing two pieces of knit cotton together with the appropriate needle. I also had my machine serviced recently. If I start with the needle up, needle down, new needle, old needle, in the fabric a bit, at the edge of the fabric, it's all the same and it's driving me nuts.
Yeah, I know. I've gone cape crazy over here. But this one was for a gift. Our friends are like way cooler than us and they're really into bikes (um, almost as much as Mr. Lemon and his entourage). I knew I wanted to make their kid a cape using recycled (upcycled?) t-shirts but I had NO IDEA I would find this awesome t-shirt with bikes all over it. Somehow there was another t-shirt at the thrift store in the same color (to do this, you'll need two shirts).
I used red Hello Kitty ribbon that I bought at Target in those fabulous dollar bins (actually this took the entire spool but there were 4 spools in the pack). Zadie is currently enchanted by this kitty -- so much so that she is finally letting us brush her teeth because we are using a Hello Kitty toothbrush so you know it's a big deal.
The inside is that same organic cotton fleece that I bought for the cloth diapers that I never sewed but used for that bird jacket instead. Perfect for slightly chilly Spring days but not too hot. The pattern, once again, is from the awesome Grosgrain blog. I used it to make this and will definitely be using it again. I'm going to do some math and alter the pattern to make a 3 for next year. Such an easy pattern and such clear directions! Like last time, I reinforced the armholes with a little tacking stitch but this time I did that last. I do like to learn from my mistakes (see earlier post).
I bought these awesome apples and trees from Alice Kennedy's Timeless Treasures line. Like yesterday's post, these looked great together online but in person, it's way too busy. I can't put Zadie in something with this much print in it. Can you think of something to coordinate? Yesterday I showed prints with solids but I really prefer to mix prints. The owl print is this line is probably too much as well. I have in mind some sort of vintage dress pattern for this one.
This is "Granville" from Alexander Henry. He is absolutely one of my favorite designers. But what the heck do I do with this? As you can see from the type on the selvedge, the pattern is huge. There is an identical print in a smaller pattern but I really like the larger one. I don't really care for the snakeskin-like print in this collection that is supposed to match. So what are you fabric gurus pairing with this one? I'm thinking it would make an awesome skirt. 
I have to buy a lot of fabrics online so I'm never really sure what I'm going to get. Something that looks blue on the screen may be green and prints are often a different scale than what's in my head. I bought these two prints on Etsy. The red and white print is from Valori Wells' Del Hi line for Freespirit. While the collection is rather large, I couldn't find anything that was meant to go with this. I love the look of the paisley and the dahlia drawings and I love the quality of the line. I ended up finding this light blue solid from one of the local quilt shops. Nice. I think that light blue/aqua and red go together really well and are only starting to gain some cred.
The second print is from Robert Kaufman. There are two other prints in the line that go with this but I'm not into either of them. I don't think you'll ever see me using checks (I don't know why) and I'm just not feeling the little seeds. At that same quilt shop, I found this almost hot pink flannel to go with it. Pink is not in the design at all but it's a perfect complement to the blues. As long as a color is the same value (like this one is with the body of the birds), you can often make it work. I still don't know what I'm going to do with either of these but it's a lot easier to get to work on a project when you don't have to run out for supplies or wait for something to come in the mail. I like having coordinating fabrics on hand. What do you do when you buy something online that's not exactly what you were expecting?
