How to Use the Sasher Collection Mini Set 2: Fold Crisp Binding Strips Without Burnt Fingers
Folding long strips of fabric into neat, even binding can be fiddly work — especially when your fingers have to stay close to a hot iron to keep the folds in place. The Sasher Collection Mini Set 2 from Pauline's Quilters World takes the struggle out of that job. Instead of pinning, pressing, and re-pressing by hand, you feed your fabric strip through a Sasher tool and iron it as you go, producing a crisp, evenly folded strip ready to edge your quilt or project.
What Is in the Set
The Mini Set 2 consists of two different sized Sashers: one that finishes a strip at 1 1/8 inches wide, and one that finishes at 1 1/4 inches wide. These smaller sizes are made for creating creative bindings to edge all of your quilts and other projects. The tools work with both bias-cut and straight-grain fabric strips, so you can choose bias for curved edges that need a little stretch, or straight grain for most straight-sided projects.
The clever part is the shape. You will notice that the sides of each Sasher have a curved profile. That curve is designed so the curved edge of an iron can fit neatly against the Sasher as you push it along. Your iron does the guiding work, your hand stays back on the tool, and there are no more burnt fingers from chasing a fold. Pauline recommends using a mini iron, as it fits perfectly in the curve of the Sasher.
Why Quilters Use a Sasher
Consistency is the big win. Hand-folding a long strip tends to drift — a little wider here, a little narrower there — and those wobbles show up in finished binding. A Sasher folds both edges in by the same amount for the entire length of the strip, so your binding starts even and stays even. It is also fast: once the strip is started through the tool, you simply slide the Sasher along and follow with the iron, pressing the folds in as they form.
How to Use the Sasher: Step by Step
- Choose your finished size. Decide whether your project calls for the 1 1/8-inch or the 1 1/4-inch finished strip, and pick up that Sasher. The size marked on the Sasher is the finished size of the folded strip.
- Cut your fabric strip. Cut your strip twice the finished width. For example, if you require a 1 1/4-inch finished size, cut the fabric 2 1/2 inches wide and then put it through the 1 1/4-inch Sasher.
- Feed the strip through. Thread the start of your strip into the Sasher so the raw edges fold inward evenly as the fabric passes through the tool.
- Press as you slide. Set your iron into the curve of the Sasher and push the tool slowly along the strip, letting the iron press the folds flat as they emerge. Work in comfortable lengths rather than rushing the full strip at once.
- Check your fold. Pause after the first few inches to confirm the folded strip measures the finished width you chose and the edges meet evenly, then continue to the end of the strip.
- Attach your binding. Your folded strip is now ready to use as binding to edge your quilt or project in your usual way.
Practical Tips
Make a short practice strip from scrap fabric first whenever you change fabric weight or switch between bias and straight grain — a minute of testing saves unpicking later. Cut your strips accurately, because the Sasher faithfully follows the width you give it. Keep a steady, unhurried pace with the iron so the folds set crisply, and press the finished strip once more before sewing if it has been sitting folded for a while.
Care and Storage
Sashers ask for very little upkeep. Wipe them clean after use so no starch or fabric residue builds up, and store the two tools together in your binding kit so the pair is always to hand. Keeping them with your mini iron and binding clips turns binding day into a quick, grab-and-go session.
Project Ideas
Reach for the Mini Set 2 whenever a project needs a clean folded edge: quilt binding, of course, but also table runners, placemats, mug rugs, tote bags, and other smaller makes where a neat, evenly folded strip gives a professional finish. Because the set covers two handy finished widths, you can match the binding weight to the project — slightly narrower for small pieces, slightly wider where you want the edge to make more of a statement.
Shop the Sasher Collection Mini Set 2 at Linda's Electric Quilters.
