How To Bind A Quilt – Binding the blanket is the final stage of finishing. Before binding, you need to “quilt” your blanket in some way. This means attaching the front and back pieces with batting in between. Now I usually machine stitch my quilts (or have someone else do it). There are good tutorials for this here, here and here. If you are going to machine quilt, you should use batting like Warm & Natural or Hobb’s Heirloom. I usually use a poly cotton blend.
If you’re going to hand quilt, use a lighter batting or your wrists will hate you.
How To Bind A Quilt
The first step is to cut off the excess bat. Personally, I like to cut all the way to the edge of the quilt. Using a long quilting ruler and rotary blade will give you the best results.
Easy Self Binding Strip Quilt
You will need 168 inches of continuous binding to finish this 42″ x 42″ baby blanket. (In this post, I’ll show you the easiest way to do this first – with a straight cut. We’ll talk a little about the slanted cut.)
If you need more binding for a larger quilt, find the perimeter measurement (outside measurement in linear inches) of your quilt and divide that number by 42. (42 inches is the width of the fabric you are cutting from). the number of strips you need. If the answer is 7.6833, 8 strips will be required. So you need 8 strips that are 2.5 inches wide, so you need a total of 20 inches (just over half a yard). Does that make sense?
The fabric requirement for this baby blanket is 10 inches (just over ¼ yard). If your quilt shop is good, you can ask if they will cut you 10 inches. If not, ask for ⅜ yard.
Binding & Blind Stitching Tutorial
You need to cut FOUR 2 ½ inch strips across the width of the fabric. (To cut strips from the end of a piece of yardage, be sure to line up the fold of the fabric along a straight line or edge of the rug. This way, when you cut your 2 ½″ strips , they will be straight. No V shape.)
Cut the sides of the strips right sides together and sew them together to make one long strip. Use a ¼ inch seam allowance.
This time you want to sew the seams. Then fold the entire strip in half lengthwise and press.
Slice Of Pi Quilts: Machine Quilt Binding Tutorial
Then take your strip and starting in the center of one side of the FRONT of the quilt, leaving about 4 inches, attach your strip to the edge – raw edges of the binding strip along the raw edge of the quilt. (Sewing the binding by hand will greatly speed up sewing and prevent the edge of the quilt from curling.)
And fold again, matching the folded edge to the edge of the blanket. Continue pinning.
You should have a small triangle between the two pins at a 45 degree angle. This is called “cutting your corners.” Pretty cool, huh? It will be very easy to sew and when you are done it will look so beautiful!
Quilt Binding Tip: Making Perfect Corners
When the strip is back to the beginning, fold the ends so that the strips meet. Press with the iron to create a crease on both folds.
Open the last seam, fold in half like the rest of the binding, and pin the raw edges to the raw edge of the quilt. Now you are ready to sew the binding to the quilt.
Starting in the center of one side, sew the binding to the quilt, using the edge of the presser foot (¼ inch seam allowance) as a guide.
How To Bind A Quilt
At this point I would highly recommend a walking foot as it will make your border look a bit nicer, but if this is your first quilt or you don’t plan on making a lot of it, a walking foot can be expensive be investment. Your normal leg will work well enough.
When you get to the corner, sew up to the first corner pin. It should be about ¼ inch from the edge of the blanket. Lift the presser foot and needle and turn the quilt over. You don’t have to break the wire. *Important* Now turn the small triangular valve so that it faces the other direction. (See photo)
Start sewing the next side from the edge and continue with a ¼″ seam allowance. (I know some of you are panicking because I left my pins. I just do it and don’t seem to break too many needles.)
How To Finish A Quilt
When you have finished sewing all four sides, fold the folded edge of the binding over the back of the quilt and pin it. (You can also use these metal clips that look like hairpins if you don’t like the idea of lugging around something that could potentially stab you.)
Now it’s time for hand sewing. Please don’t be afraid of it. It’s a lot easier and faster than you think – just pop on a good movie, do some silly sewing and you’re done in no time – especially with this little baby blanket. This is another reason why I pin (or clamp) everything at once before I start sewing. Get the job done much faster.
(For this part of the demo, I used white yarn so you can see what’s going on. When I actually bound the quilt, I used brown yarn to hide my stitches.)
In Praise Of Single Fold Binding (a Tutorial Of Sorts) » First Light Designs
Tie a knot in one end of the thread and pull it through the backing fabric under your folded binding, then insert the needle through the very bottom edge of the front strip and attach it to the backing fabric just below the needle. passed Then push the needle through the lining fabric behind the binding strip and bring the needle out from the bottom edge again. This creates a blind stitch. Repeat!
The bias binding is made from 2 ½″ strips cut at a 45 degree angle. There are many guides on downsizing here and here.
Technically, bias binding is stronger because the fabric fibers run diagonally rather than parallel to the edge of the quilt. (Don’t worry if it doesn’t make sense, just trust me on this one.) It also has more stretch – good for scalloped or rounded edges. (But for this reason, the bias binding works much better with the walking leg.)
The Easiest Way To Connect Quilt Binding
Once the lace strip is folded, use the same method as above to sew the binding to the quilt.
After quilting, I like to wash my quilt to give it that wrinkled, vintage look. (Also, machine quilting can make your blanket stiff until it’s washed. And who wants to wrap a baby in a stiff blanket?) I usually don’t pre-wash the fabric (and if you use a charm pack). , definitely don’t pre-wash it, or you’ll end up with a bunch of shriveled, tangled squares.) Most high-quality quilting fabrics are good enough that you don’t need to pre-wash ahead of time. I throw in the Shout Color-catcher sheet when I wash the finished quilt, just in case. (You can find this at your grocery store’s laundry room.)
I hope tying the blanket wasn’t too painful and I hope it was a lot of fun and you can be really proud of yourself!
Tutorial: How To Bind A Quilt
Please feel free to provide feedback – especially if you have additional questions or there are parts of this quilt binding tutorial that need clarification. Machine binding a quilt can save you a lot of time and make the quilt last better with repeated washings. Today I’m going to teach you how to hem a quilt with a sewing machine, using a special trick that will create great straight seams every time!
First, I want to say that I know this technique is not for everyone. If you prefer a hand-stitched quilt, that’s perfectly fine. However, if you ever need to machine stitch a quilt, I think this post will help you a lot.
I have machine knitted a LOT of quilts over the years. Mostly because I was always pressed for time. I’ve tried many different methods, but I keep coming back to this one.
Master Machine Binding
This includes sewing the binding to the back of the quilt instead of the front and using an edge stitch foot to get the perfect finish!
There are a number of reasons why you might choose to machine quilt over hand binding. First, if the blanket is for a baby or young child and needs frequent washing, I find that machine binding holds up better with frequent washing.
Another reason is that hand quilting is difficult for people with arthritis. I have arthritis and I realized I quilted by hand and sometimes my fingers hurt for days. I can’t do it. I have found that machine binding is much easier for me.
How To Bind A Quilt · Sweetbriar Sisters
There are two ways to fasten a blanket. The first is to sew the binding
How to bind a rag quilt, how to bind a quilt corner, how to bind a quilt for beginners, machine bind a quilt, how to bind corners on a quilt, how to bind a quilt by hand, how to bind a scalloped edge quilt, how bind a quilt, how to bind a quilt tutorial, how to machine bind a quilt, how to bind a hexagon quilt, ways to bind a quilt
