Binding finishing tips

Quilt guilds are great places to make friends, see beautiful quilts in show and tell, and learn new things. I belong to a local quilt guild and at the last meeting there was a round robin of different quilt techniques and patterns. I was asked to demonstrate how to finish the ends of the binding. I demonstrated two ways; one very easy and one that looks hard but is actually easier than you think.

I started with the easier method (of course). 

Method one
Step one: Trim the edge of the binding strip at 45º.

Step 2: Press edge under about 1/2" and trim overlapping tip.

Step 3: Fold binding strip in half, wrong sides together. Match raw edges of binding and quilt. Sew from beginning edge of binding strip. It is important to secure the whole edge.

Step 4: Complete sewing the binding around the quilt edge, mitering corners, and stop sewing about 3" from beginning edge. Trim the ending edge of the binding straight, to about 1/4" or closer to the diagonal open edge. Place end of the binding in the pocket created by the beginning fold. Finish sewing through, sewing over the previous stitching. Fold binding to the back and hand sew. I place a pin to secure the edges where the fabric overlaps, before sewing to the back, to help hold the edges together. If you want, you can hand sew the opening closed with a slip stitch after sewing it to the back of the quilt.

Method two

Step 1: Starting with an 8” tail in the beginning, start sewing 8" from edge. Sew around the quilt, mitering corners, and stop sewing about 16” from the beginning stitches.

Step 2. Pin inside edges to quilt. Fold the right side of the strip down towards the right, so that the fold touches the edge of the beginning strip. Crease edge.

Step 3. Draw a line along the crease on the back side of strip, then cut the width of the strip from the drawn line. Ex: for a 2” wide binding strip, cut 2” from line; 2-1/4” strip, cut 2-1/4” from line.

Step 4. Draw a diagonal line from corner to corner in the square. (From the right side of the drawn line to the top left corner.)

Step 5. Lay left side of binding flat, right side up and flip the right side under and wrong side up. Placing right sides together, line up corners with the edge of the left strip. Pin and sew along drawn line.
This is similar to sewing the ends of the binding strips together when connecting all of the strips.

Step 6. Trim seam to 1/4’” and press open.

Step 7. Fold binding wrong sides together, pin to quilt. Sew down from end stitches to the beginning stitches. Fold binding to back, miter corners and hand sew down.

My own preference for the size of binding is 2" wide. This creates a perfect 1/4" finished binding with 1/4" seam. If you prefer a 2-1/4" binding, then sew with a 3/8" seam for a 3/8" finished binding.

I hope this helps the next time you put your binding on!

For the free pattern of the day check out my Hoffman Asuka pattern.
I am anxiously awaiting the fabrics so I can sell the kits!

Well, time to get back to writing another pattern. Not my favorite activity (I'd rather be designing or quilting) but something that has to be done! As always, do what you love and love what you do.