Bias Binding help - picture attached!

[TooTiredTodayOk]

I'm new to sewing, I'm trying to sew a bias binding edging onto a piece of vinyl material (with a sewing machine) for a project I'm doing. It keeps sort of gathering/ruching.

Any tips or advice on how to get it nice and smooth and flat please?

Are you pulling the fabrics as you sew?
Bound to something on you tube

No expert but I suspect that it is due to the different fabrics creating an uneven tension when you sew, hence the bunching. Options are hand sew, go slowly by machine and also iron the hell out of it first.

Essentially the issue is that bias binding is designed to have a bit of stretch in it, so that it will go around curves.

Vinyl will have absolutely zero stretch, so that long bit of bias is naturally stretching.

It's a difficult combination, there's no magic trick to it, it's just experience. Have you tried gently pressing it after it's sewn? A little bit of steam might encourage that bias to lie flat. Watch you don't melt the vinyl though!

Thanks folks. I've spent the evening watching you tube videos. I think it's my fault - I think I'm stretching the binding trying to keep everything straight as it goes through the sewing machine. It doesn't help that it's such a long piece of material I'm working with.

I should have picked a much smaller project to start with

I'll try again tomorrow.