Holice

There was a post recently about binding wider than the normal 1/4" or so. There appeared to be some question as to whether or not it could be done. A cut binding of 2.5" was mentioned etc. I tried it this morning and you can do larger than the normal 1/4" or so.
General guide lines are as follows: The cut binding for a double fold should be 6 times the width of your seam allowance. This is a guide line and not absolute as factors effect it.
The sample I did was for a 1" wide binding. I cut the binding fabric 6" and folded it. Your seam allowance (width of binding) will now be 1". You may need to adjust this for folds in the binding and depth of your batting. I found that about 7/8" seam worked well. Apply the double folded binding as you would for any other size, mitering at corner etc. I suggest you try a small sample first to adjust your seams.
It worked fine. You must leave sufficient allowance on your sandwiched quilt to fill the binding. PM me if you have other questions. View the demo on QuiltersTV (under Quilters Cafe) for details of the binding)>

quiltin chris

Holice, thank you for the wonderful information you give us. Your instructions are always easy to understand.
QuilterTV is the greatest.

Thanks again
Chris

Maride

I remember reading about this somewhere a while back and from what I can remember is more a fact of fashion or trend more than if it can be done. I have seen older quilts with a very wide binding, some with the binding filled with batting and some with it not filled. Making it narrow is easier because we are used to the 1/4 inch seam allowance, since we have the foot for it, but doing it wider is possible if you mark it properly. You also need to think about it ahead of time while building the quilt, especially if you don't plan to add a border. You may end up covering part of the block. If there is a wide border it will not be a problem.

dakotamaid

I like this idea. Especially for those quilts that may not require a border. A wider binding would be the answer.

dunster

The 6x rule works if you place your binding edge even with the edge of your batting, but that will mean putting quite a bit of the binding fabric inside the quilt. You may want to do that for wider bindings, just to provide more stuffing in the binding area. I think the reason we've gone to narrower bindings is so that they can be stuffed more tightly.

I use a 2.5" strip to create a .5" binding. I do this by cutting my batting 1/4 inch wider than the quilt top, lining my binding up with the edge of the quilt top (rather than the edge of the batting), and making a 1/4 inch seam through binding, quilt top, and batting. You could do this for a wider binding as well, but the formula would be 4x the width of the finished binding + .5 inch. Example: if you want a 1" binding, cut the binding at 4.5", cut the batting 3/4 inches wider than the quilt top, and sew 1/4 inch in on the quilt top and binding.

It will also be important to pay a lot of attention to the mitering of the corners if you do a wider binding, because they will show up more.

This method solves the problems that maride brought up, since you're still sewing a 1/4 inch seam allowance, but you aren't sewing binding over your border or blocks.

ghostrider

Wide bindings can easily be done using a standard ¼" seam allowance and that way they do not change the block size or appearance of the top at all. For instance, any points on the edge of the top will remain on the edge of the top. You will not need any special math or be forced into using plain borders unless you want to.

Do not trim the backing and batting even with the quilt top before sewing on the binding. That is the only thing you need to do differently. Sew the binding on as you would normally do, mitering the corners as you would normally do, and joining the ends as you would normally do.

When all that is done, trim the batting/backing to the width of your binding by doing the following: From the binding seam line, measure over an amount equal to the desired finished binding width and cut off the excess batting and backing. (It will not be even with the raw edge of the top and binding.) Then fold over the binding and attach it to the back as you normally do.

The batting and backing fill the binding as they should, there is no change in the pattern on the top, and there is no need to have plain borders because of an extra-wide seam allowance.

The only math you need for double fold (aka french fold) binding of any width (using ¼" seams) is this: The width to cut the binding strips = 4 times the desired finished binding width plus ½".

dunster

This is exactly what I described in my post. What do they say about great minds thinking alike? LOL

CompulsiveQuilter

But my question has always been ---- do you still sew up to 1/4" from the corner, then fold 90 degrees? Or do you stop at the same width as your binding? Please help!

dunster

You draw a diagonal line from the corner and stop sewing where that diagonal line meets your sewing line.

(The diagonal line will be at 45 degrees from each edge of the quilt at the corner.)

ghostrider

Yes, sew ¼" from the corner of the edge of the top, folding up and down 90º just like always. It will not be ¼" from the edge of the batting after you trim it, it will be the width of your binding, so you'll be just fine. (It's the same thing dunster said, again :lol: , only described in different words.)