But, this is how I make my quilt bindings. These directions are straight out of my Thimbleberries quilt books. Every time I make another quilt I have to go back to the books and refresh myself, so I'm putting this tutorial on my blog so that I can look at it myself for future projects and also in the hope that this tutorial will help someone out there in the blog world.
The first thing you have to do is decide how wide you want your finished binding to be. These pictures show the binding I made for the recent baby quilt I made shown here. I wanted a 1/2 inch binding, so I multiplied that times 6. Therefore, I cut the strips 3 inches wide. Measure around your quilt to see how long the binding needs to be to get a good idea of how many strips to cut. I cut mine the width of the fabric so each strip is 45 inches long.
Then you lay two of your strips right sides together like this, pin together and draw a line from point to point. I just use a ruler and a pen.
Then just stitch along the line you made.
After stitching, cut the excess triangle off leaving about a 1/4 inch seam
When you open it you'll see that you've attached your two strips together perfectly.
After you have sewn together all the strips you need to get the length you need to go around your quilt, fold the entire thing in half lengthwise, wrong sides together, and press like this.
Then unfold and cut the beginning end at a 45 degree angle like this.
Press the edge under 1/4 inch and refold the strip like this.
Part Two of this tutorial will show you how I attach the binding to the quilt and finish it.
****** PART TWO:
Begin attaching the binding along the bottom lower left side about 2 inches from the diagonal cut end using a 3/8 inch seam. My quilting foot was still on my sewing machine, so I left it on long enough to finish attaching the binding. It makes it a little easier, but is not necessary.
When you get to a corner, stop stitching about 3/8 inch from the corner. Clip the thread and remove the quilt from the machine. Fold the binding up and away from the corner of the quilt, forming a 45 degree angle. Refold the binding down so it is even with the raw edge of the quilt. Resume sewing at the upper edge. Do all 4 corners the same way.
When you get back around to the beginning, trim the end of the binding, leaving it long enough to tuck inside the beginning of the binding. I have been known to make my binding strip too short and then would have to attach another strip to the end while its all attached to the quilt. So make sure yours is long enough before starting.
After you tuck the end in, continue sewing until you reach your beginning stitches. Tucking the strip into the part of the binding that you made the 45 degree angle on makes a smooth finish where the beginning and ending edges of the binding strip meet.
The last thing you do is fold the binding over to the back, covering the stitching line and hand stitch it down all the way around. The corners will be mitered on the front and the back.
I hope this will be helpful!
5 comments:
That's how I make mine too, Debbie. I also have to go back to my book and check just about every single time I make binding.
Awesome--thanks! I might actually tackle another quilt with your tutorial. Either that, or I'll take out the St. Pat's one I started last year. The way I work, I might actually finish it by March if I start now, LOL!
Great tutorial.... I look forward to part two. I've never made my own binding, but would love to try it.
Thank you! I am 12 years old and My mom and I are making a 2 quilts for a nursing home near my house. We didn't know how to to the binding. Thank you so much!
Okay girl... I've never made my own binding before... I'm finishing up that baby quilt that I started, oh so long ago.... and I'm going to try this... AND.... I'm going to machine quilt. woo hoo!
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