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Quiltville
Custom Quilting
http://www.quiltville.com
Binding
Tips!
(Click here for printer-friendly .pdf file!)
Close up of blindstitch:
Mitering Corners:
Other "Irregular" Bindings!
http://www.quiltville.com
(Click here for printer-friendly .pdf file!)
Double-Fold
Binding:
Carefully
remove basting threads or safety pins. Baste around quilt 3/16"
from
the edges if desired. Trim batt and lining even with the top. It is really important
that the
corners of your quilt be square at 90
degree angles.
Cut
binding
strips 2 1/2" wide on lengthwise or crosswise grain of fabric. Place
end
of two strips perpendicular to each other forming an 'L', right sides
together.
Stitch diagonally as shown below. Join all strips end to end
continuously by bringing up the free end of the previous strip just
sewn, placing the next strip against it to form the 'L' again.
Trim excess to 1/4". I save these triangle
scraps for other projects! Trim the "dog ears" and
press
the
seam allowances open.
Fold the binding strip
in half lengthwise, wrong sides
together, and press. Fold the top edge of the binding over, aligning
the top edge with the left side. Place a pin as shown. This pin is to
mark 2.5" from the top of the strip. We will use this marking
when making the last join on the binding.
This is my set up! I bring the ironing board to the left of my machine to support the extra weight of the quilt.
Lay the binding strip on the right side of the quilt top, aligning raw edges of the binding and the quilt. See the pin again? Start with the end of the binding where the pin is part way down one side of the quilt, with the beginning end (the pin end) of the binding about 12" from the corner. This will stop you from having a join right at the corner of the quilt that might interfere with your miter. I start stitching about 6" to 8" below the pin.
*note* I apply my binding with the walking foot on my bernina machine. I also use a seam guide that screws onto the throat plate of my machine, and push it right up against the side of the walking foot. This gives me an extra "fence" to help keep my seam allowance even as I am wrestling with putting binding on a big unwieldy quilt. My binding actually comes out at about 3/8" wide instead of 1/4" wide (because the walking foot is wider than my 1/4" foot) so I pivot at 3/8" at the corners instead of 1/4". Because my seam is 1/8" wider, I have a very nice full binding when I turn the binding to the back of the quilt to stitch down.
Stop sewing 1/4" from the first corner; backstitch. Remove the needle from the quilt and cut the threads. Fold the binding up, then back down even with edge of the quilt.
Begin stitching at the edge of next side, backstitch to secure and continue sewing. Repeat at all corners. Stop sewing about 6" to 8" from where the binding strip started on the first side. We are in the home stretch here, with one more join to go! Trim the excess binding straight across at the level of the pin. For an extra snug binding, trim it 1/8" above the pin. I find this helps to keep puckers and pleats from that last little bit. Experiment with it and see what you need to do for how your machine works for you.
Trim the excess 1/4" beyond the seam and fingerpress the seam open. Refold the binding in half and finish stitching the binding to the quilt!
Need A Hanging Sleeve?
This is my set up! I bring the ironing board to the left of my machine to support the extra weight of the quilt.
Lay the binding strip on the right side of the quilt top, aligning raw edges of the binding and the quilt. See the pin again? Start with the end of the binding where the pin is part way down one side of the quilt, with the beginning end (the pin end) of the binding about 12" from the corner. This will stop you from having a join right at the corner of the quilt that might interfere with your miter. I start stitching about 6" to 8" below the pin.
*note* I apply my binding with the walking foot on my bernina machine. I also use a seam guide that screws onto the throat plate of my machine, and push it right up against the side of the walking foot. This gives me an extra "fence" to help keep my seam allowance even as I am wrestling with putting binding on a big unwieldy quilt. My binding actually comes out at about 3/8" wide instead of 1/4" wide (because the walking foot is wider than my 1/4" foot) so I pivot at 3/8" at the corners instead of 1/4". Because my seam is 1/8" wider, I have a very nice full binding when I turn the binding to the back of the quilt to stitch down.
Stop sewing 1/4" from the first corner; backstitch. Remove the needle from the quilt and cut the threads. Fold the binding up, then back down even with edge of the quilt.
Begin stitching at the edge of next side, backstitch to secure and continue sewing. Repeat at all corners. Stop sewing about 6" to 8" from where the binding strip started on the first side. We are in the home stretch here, with one more join to go! Trim the excess binding straight across at the level of the pin. For an extra snug binding, trim it 1/8" above the pin. I find this helps to keep puckers and pleats from that last little bit. Experiment with it and see what you need to do for how your machine works for you.
Take both ends of the
binding, and lay them together
forming an "L" again just as when you were joining the strips
before. Pin to match edges...the binding will want to twist out
of alignment if you don't. Start stitching in one corner to the
opposite corner, on the diagonal across the binding strips as shown.
Trim the excess 1/4" beyond the seam and fingerpress the seam open. Refold the binding in half and finish stitching the binding to the quilt!
Need A Hanging Sleeve?
The
fastest way to eliminate a 1/2 yard from your stash is to attach a
hanging sleeve to a bedsized quilt! *LOL* Attaching a hanging
sleeve is easy. I've even used up "questionable" poly blend
fabrics by using them as the hanging sleeve. I don't feel that
they will damage the quilt at all, and it keeps the fabric from hitting
the landfill before it serves a purpose. Measure the width
of your quilt. Determine how many lengths of fabric cut from
selvedge to selvedge you are going to need to equal this amount. In the
case below, I needed to cut 2 strips to get the length I needed.
I cut my strips 9" which will give me a 4.5" rod pocket.
Stitch
the 9" lengths together end to end and press the seams
open.
Subtract 4" from
the width measurement of the quilt. Trim
the
sewn hanging sleeve strip to this length. Stitch a simple rolled
hem
on both ends, and press the sleeve in half with any raw edges to the
inside of the sleeve.
Pin the sleeve to the back of
the quilt, centering the sleeve and matching raw edges. Pin here
and there to stabilize. Using the walking foot, stitch the sleeve
into place. Your seam will be right on top of the seam you just
stitched for the binding. When you stitch the binding down, the
raw edges of the sleeve will be encased in the binding. To finish
the sleeve, blind stitch the folded loose edge to the back of the
quilt. That cow jumping over the moon fabric? I must have had a whole
bolt of that, it shows up in lots of my projects, USUALLY on the
back! The hanging sleeve fabric is a poly blend oxford cloth that
was donated to me by a sweet little lady who knew I loved sewing with
shirt fabrics. I just had to use it, even though it was a blend,
so it has been the sleeve on many a quilt!
Turn
the binding to back of the quilt and blindstitch to the
lining,beginning about 6" away from a corner,
covering
the previous line of stitches. Fold the corners as shown and
blindstitch. I
work my stitches from
right to left on the quilt back. Keep the
needle parallel to the fold on the binding, and the stitching line on
the back of the quilt. Take small stitches, directly across from where
you exit the previous stitch. Pull thread. The thread travels inside
the fold of the binding, and along the stitching line on the quilt
back. When the thread is tightened the stitches should be
virtually invisible. (Sorry the pics are blurry, it isn't easy to
hold the quilt with one hand, and the camera with the other and shoot!)
Close up of blindstitch:
Mitering Corners:
Work
stitches just beyond the binding seam line of the corner you are
turning and take a couple tack stitches to anchor the thread. Bring
needle back out at the seamline. Fold corner over as shown, and
continue stitching the binding down the next side of the quilt until
you reach where you started! Again, not the clearest pictures, and if I
can get better ones, I'll update this page.
Other "Irregular" Bindings!
Wendy
writes:
Sounds like you already know
how to
miter the "outside" corners, but
need help with the inside ones! Inside corners are actually easier than
the outside ones. There is less folding, and you don't even have to
remove the quilt from the machine.
I love your web site and
find it very useful. I have a question
for you. I am binding a charm quilt which has a zig zag
edge. I have the mitered corners down but since the quilt has a
zig zag edge, I will have /\ corners and \/ corners, if you understand
what I mean. Any hints on binding these? --Wendy
Wendy,
Wendy,
When you come to the
inside corner, stop stitching right in
the corner where the seam allowances (imagine them in your mind) would
cross. Have the needle in the "down" position through the binding and
the quilt, right at the junction of the imagined seam allowances and
pivot the quilt top. Align the binding along the edge of the quilt
again. When you
begin sewing again, you are headed to the next outside corner. Continue
around the quilt, stopping to miter your outside corners as usual, and
pivoting to miter your inside corners all the way around the quilt.
Turn the binding to the
back side of the quilt and hand
stitch the binding down. When you come to an
inside corner, pin the binding at the corner adjusting it to form the
inside miter. It will naturally want to fold this miter on the
quilt front, and you just mirror it on the back side. This miter fold
can be whip stitched closed later if so desired. Continue sewing
the binding
to the back until finished.
Questions
or Comments? I would love to hear from you!! © Bonnie K Hunter & Quiltville.com 1997-2011 All Rights Reserved. No part may be used, copied, sold, distributed or otherwise
altered without express written permission from the author/webmaster.