I LOVE just about every aspect of quilting,
but binding…
well, I have other things I enjoy more,
so over time, I had to figure out a way
to make it quick and less painful, lol!
So this is what I’ve been doing for last few years…
And to do this, I use Roxanne’s Glue Baste-It
…my favorite water based glue
and ideal for this process!
I also like this little measuring guide.
To get started, measure all four sides of your quilt and add 24″
For straight binding, divide that number by the width of your fabric
and you’ll have the number of strips you’ll need to cut.
I like the finished width of my binding to be around 1/4″
so I cut my strips 2 1/4″ by WOF
Next, lay your strips right sides together,
draw a diagonal line from corner to corner
pin and sew on that line;
trim excess leaving a 1/4″ seam allowance
and press open
Now fold the wrong sides together and press
Lay the binding on the quilt’s edge, aligning the raw edges.
Leave a tail about 7″ long and sew with a 1/4″ seam allowance
a distance of about 2″
Remove from the machine,
fold the binding to the back of the quilt
and check to see how far it overlaps the seam you just stitched.
You want this to be no more than 1/8″ which
in this case it’s larger, so…
I will move my needle position over to the left
giving me a slightly larger seam allowance,
but not quite 3/8″
Now it’s time to test again,
and now it looks just right.
Continue sewing until you are about 3″ from a corner
Using the Measuring Guide or a ruler,
find the 1/4″ from the end of the corner,
lay the binding over it,
pin at the 1/4″ mark,
continue sewing and stop at that point,
and back-stitch to secure your stitching.
Remove the quilt from the machine,
fold the binding back forming a 45°
and align the cut edge of the binding with
the cut edge of the quilt.
Now, fold the binding back down and
match the top fold to the top edge of the quilt
and the raw edges to the side of the quilt.
Continue sewing and repeat this at every corner…
Stop sewing about 10″ from the starting point
and mark the center between the tails with a pin.
Next, lay a little ruler next to the left tail
and overlap the other tail over the first one.
Because my binding strips were cut at 2 1/4″
mark a 2 1/8″ over from the edge of the little ruler
…I used a black pen so you can see it, but a pencil works best…
now cut on that line
ah… so many uses for the little glue stick!
Open the left side binding and finger press a corner down…
apply a little glue and..
bring the other binding tail and line up the edges,
fold the rest down
now grab the little point in the center…
open it and you’ll find the crease you finger pressed earlier
pin it and sew on that crease,
trim the excess leaving a 1/4″ seam allowance
and finger press open
It should fit perfectly!
Now sew the rest down and
turn the quilt over and press the binding flat at the seam
now let’s go to the back and using a small amount
of Roxanne’s Glue Baste-It,
glue the binding down
use an iron to speed up the drying time…
…almost there!!!
Now back to the front of the quilt…
Stitch in the ditch using a thread that matches the top for the top
and a bobbin thread that matches the binding
and you’re all done!
The results are close to perfect!
I hope you’ll give machine binding it a try!
Thank you so much! It's perfect!
I need to try this method as I usually do half by hand.
Great tips & tutorial Cherry.
SewCalGal
http://www.sewcalgal.blogspot.com
Great tutorial. Thanks for the information.
Thanks for the tutorial. I never thought of using the glue. I have never gotten it to look nice, but maybe this is the help I need!!!
Great tutorial, thanks! I've always wanted to do that 🙂
Great tutorial. I tried machine binding on 3 quilts earlier this year and was not appy with the results. I'll definitely give this idea a try. Thanks.
Thank you for your tutorial! This is exactly how I do my bindings. My daughter is away at college with her sewing machine and wants to make a mug rug for a professor who quilts. I've been searching for a binding tutorial to show her and this one is perfect! Thanks, again!
Both methods have pluses and minuses. Thick reports bound through Velo binding are difficult to lay out flat.