I consider myself a lousy hand sewer and I really hated doing bindings and I did not think they looked nice at all. This has been said many times here, but I machine sew on the back and turn to the front and machine sew with a decorative stitch. Sometimes I use a contrasting thread so it really pops out. I am going to try the idea of invisible thread sometime. I really think it makes a stronger edge to the binding to sew it down with a zig zag. I also use 3 or 3 1/2 inches for binding. I like the bolder look