Are you one of those who usually stops when it comes to binding? You are not alone with this! We are a huge community that is so eager to finish a quilt but binding. When it comes to binding, the last step, I usually stop there, wait for a while, wait a little bit and finally I finish when I have to.
Binding is the final step when creating a quilt. It prevents the raw edges from unraveling and fraying. What's more, this final touch makes the quilt more beautiful. Binding is made from several strips of fabric, sewn together which makes a strip long enough to cover around the quilt.
The easiest and quickest way is machine binding. With this tutorial learn how to bind a quilt in an easy and quick way.
Step-by-step tutorial for machine binding
1. Prepare the strips
The most common width for quilt binding is 2 1/2".. Measure around the quilt and add around 10" more to the length of the strip. I cut the strips and sew them together to get the length needed. Fold the 2 1/2" strip in half and press with iron.
2. Attach the binding strip to the quilt back
You need to start by attaching the binding to the back of the quilt. Start from the middle of the long side of your quilt. Line up the binding and quilt raw edges.
3. Clip or pin to the quilt back
Leave a 6" tail from the beginning of the binding which will be needed when you attach the binding ends. Start sewing with 1/4" seam allowance.
4. Pay attention to the corners
The secret of beautiful machine bound quilts is perfectly mitered corners. So please pay attention to these steps. Before you get to the corner, stop with the neddle down and mark the binding 1/4" from the edge. Sew until you reach this line and sew off the quilt at 45 degree angle.
Fold the binding up and away from the quilt at a 45 degree angle. So you will see a triangle in the corner. Fold the binding back down over the corner and line up the raw edges. Pin to hold. Begin 1/4" from the top.
Continue attaching the binding in this way. Stop stitching when you are around 10" from the starting point.
5. Join the binding ends
There are several methods for joining the binding ends. I attach the binding using a 45 degree seam.With this method you get a beautiful, seamless finish. Start with trimmnig the binding tails. In this step you should be precise. Binding strips should overlap by the same length of their width. In other words if your binding strips are 2 1/2" wide, they should overlap by 2 1/2".
Mark the cutting line and cut off the excess piece. With wrong side of the quilt facing up, flip the quilt so the two binding tails are pointing away from you and open up the two binding strips. Pay attention to the placement.
Overlap them at right angles- right sides together. Pin them together, draw a diagonal line from corner to corner.
Stitch the two ends together on the marked line and trim the seam allowance to 1/4". Press the seams open and align with the raw edge. Finish sewing the binding to the back.
6. Binding to the front of the quilt
Wrap the binding to the front of the quilt. From the middle of the long side begin securing with pins or clips, around 6" apart until you get to the corner.
7. Preparing to miter corners
Fold the bottom binding up and over the seam line and go straight across, make a fold where it meets the other side. Bring the other side over to meet at the corner, pin to secure.
8. Sew the binding
Using a 2,5-3 mm stitch length sew along the binding. When you get to each corner, take one stitch past the corner point, drop the needle and turn the quilt. Continue sewing all around the quilt.
This binding method is beginner-friendly and tried to explain every step in detail. I hope it is helpful for you. If you have further questions, please do not hesitate to ask.
Hatun Çomak
I'm Hatun from Turkiye. I love quilting and patchwork and this is my patchworld. I share my projects, process, patterns and tutorials here in my blog. .
Website: https://www.mypatchworld.com/
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