I'm making really heavy weather of making bias binding

[Joolly2]

Does anyone have a table that tells you how wide to cut material to make bias binding? I have bought 4 little gadgets for making the binding - 8mm, 12mm, 18mm, and 25mm. I have tried to measure round the widest part of the gadget, I have tried guessing etc etc. All to no avail, I end up having to cut bits off and generally faff about. It should be so quick and simple but it is anything but.

Do the instructions in the packs not tell you the right size? Mine did - on way to work though so cant check it.

I haven't made bias binding with my makers for ages, but I think that with the smaller ones I'd double the basic width and take off a couple of mm and then the larger ones just use the basic width and decide how much allowance you'd like (5mm per side?) so the 18mm would be 28mm and the 25mm would be 35mm.

The best thing to do would be to cut a small amount and see what it does to be honest.

Hope this helps

I use the clover bias makers which come with a little grid. I find that the measurements given in the third column are too wide and usually cut 3 mm smaller, so basically almost the measurement of the second column, just a bit bigger.

Scroll down a bit and someone has kindly scanned it in to save me looking it up!

stonemountainfabric.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/navigating-notions-making-your-own-bias.html

The simplest rule of thumb that I've come across is the finished size will be 1/4 of the cut size.
So 50mm cut goes into half when you fold the sides into the middle ( or use the 25mm bias binder maker) and then when fold it over the seam it will have a finished appearance of 12mm ( Half of the 25mm). Or, put another way:
If you know what you want your finished finished tape to be then multiply by 4 !

Hope that helps....

Thank you everyone for your help. I did not have any instructions/or measuring grids when I bought the bias makers. I will have a go at all the suggestions and see which one suits me best. Thank you also for the link to the tutorial I will definitely be following that, I would never have thought of joining them at right angles . As you have probably guessed I'm new to sewing and have a lot to learn. Thank you again for your time.

If you know what you want your finished finished tape to be then multiply by 4 !

This is pretty much what I found via Google.

I bought bias binding makers after the first GBSewing Bee. I've not used them yet!!