Tuesday, September 30, 2008

A tutorial on binding ~ part 2

Continuing the binding lesson. This is the step described in the last part of lesson one. It's my finger holding the little triangle fold in position. This is what yours should look like, if you turned the corner using this method. The method is descr in full detail in the Fons and Porter Quilters Complete Guide. I use that book alot.
 Alright, you've sewn all the way around now, and done a small overlap to end the binding strips. Cut it off just beyond that first folded over section. On a flat surface(or in your lap if you are talented like me *G*) press the binding out beyond the edge of the quilt. It looks like this.
 Fold over, in the neighborhood of 1/4" of the binding down onto itself.And fold over again to pin to the back of the quilt. Do this all the way around, or just as you come to that part of the hand stitching. Here it is finger pressed and pinned to the back of the quilt. Stitch down by hand if desired.
 And here is what the type of narrow, flat binding I make looks like on the front of the quilt. It works for me! It has a very neat look. Even if you like doubled binding, this method is excellent for small quilted objects like pot holders, doll quilts and very small quilts. It seems more in scale with the size of the quilt on those.
Of course, as with everything, you may run into a glitch or two as you work on various quilts. I often have to trim abit of batting away for the 1/4" to cover it. I could cut the binding wider, but then I get a little extra pooching of excess binding at the edge, and I don't like that look. Please feel free to ask me questions or for more details if needed.
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9 comments:

The Calico Cat said...

Thanks for the tutorial. :o) (If I ever get the hand sewing part done on several quilts, I may give this a try.)

Unknown said...

Interesting. Thanks for showing us what works for you. Traditionally bindings are done double fold because the bindings take the most wear in a quilt. I can attest to this as my husband has a beard and you can definitely look at the binding on our bed quilt and know which side is his!

There are some tricks to getting a double fold binding to lay nice and flat. First is press well. Second, do NOT cut away the excess batting before applying the binding. Also, stay stitch in the seam allowance before applying the binding.

I generally cut my bindings 2.25" and apply them using 3/8" seam allowance. This leaves just enough "extra" to compensate for the thickness of the batting.

Hunter said...

Finn, thank you for taking the time to document how you do binding.

I'll sit down with my next binding job and see how close my way is to your way. I can't tell until I have fabric in hand. Isn't that funny?

Thanks again.
Darilyn

scraphappy said...

Thanks so much for the tutorial. I always to double fold binding, cut to 2.25 inches, but I can see how this would be less bulky on something small or delicate. I'll have to give it a try.

nannergirl said...

Finn this may seem like a silly question, but do you cut your strips on the bias, or just use regularly cut ones?
Thanks for the tutorial!

jacquie said...

thanks for sharing this method. i'd like to try this on some of my small quilts...double fold is too bulky on those. oh, and i finished another quilt for the challenge...wooo hooo! thanks for the motivation!

Danetta said...

Thank you for the tutorials. Please stop by my blog and check out the quilter's giveaway I am participating in with about 40 others starting tomorrow. There are some really great gifts to be had. Good luck!

Myra said...

Thanks for showing us how you do your binding Finn! 8-)
Happy stitchings!

Carol E. said...

Finn, I loved seeing your hand in that photo! Your thumb looks just like my mom's thumb!!!