This week we are going to talk about adding binding to your quilt to finish it off! There are two methods to apply your binding, and you can choose whichever one works best for you! Binding finishes off a project by giving a clean, straight finish, if applied properly. The process is very easy.
We finished off last week by cutting the excess fabric from the edges of your quilt, using the rotary cutter and ruler. To make the binding:
1. Cut enough 2.5" strips of the fabric to cover the perimeter of your cot quilt (to figure how many strips you need, measure the perimeter of your quilt and divide by 42 (this is the average length of quilting fabric). This will be the number of strips you need to cut).
2. Trim the selvages and sew the strips together to make one long strip of fabric
3. Iron the seams open and then iron in half, wrong sides together.
4. Pin the binding on the edge of the FRONT of the quilt, raw edges together, leaving a 2" tail of fabric. (don't start in the corner, or you will find it very difficult). You can either pin the binding first or sew it straight on using 1/4" seam allowance. Don't forget to use your walking foot!
5. When you get to the corner, you will need to mitre the corners. To do this, fold the strip back on itself to create a 45 degree fold. Then fold it back to down to run parallel with the next edge of the quilt. Repeat for all edges of the quilt. When sewing this, reverse stitch in a diagonal off the corner of your quilt. Do the folding, replace the foot and keep sewing. It is important that you don't cut the fabric at any point.
6. When you reach the beginning, fold the strips back so that they meet in the middle. Pin and sew together along the seam. Trim to 1/4" and iron flat.
7. If you are going to attach the binding using machine stitching, Makes and Takes have a fantastic tutorial to follow. I prefer to hand stitch my binding, as it gives each a quilt an individual, unique finish but it does take a little longer. To do this, start in the centre of an edge and fold over your binding t cover the seam you stitched earlier. Using a needle, with thread matching your binding, attach the binding to the quilt. Simply tie a knot in the thread and insert the needle into the backing of the quilt (to hide the knot) and then into the crease of the binding. Then insert the needle into the quilt, directly underneath where it came out. While the needle is between the fabric, turn the needle and aim so that the needle exits through the crease of the binding about 1" down from your starting stitch. Repeat until finished.
Voila, your quilt is finished!! You should be very proud of yourself :) A job well done.
Phoebe
xo
This post is a part 6 of a 6-part series, see below for other posts in this series.
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