ToucanSam

As I mentioned, I do have plenty to wrap around but if I machine stitch the part I wrap around, it won't be in the same place as the piece already stitched to the front; ie I can't sitd. I was just thinking there was a way to make the front binding the same WIDTH as the back binding.

:)

redrummy

That is what I did. I wanted to bind in a hurry, hand stiching is too slow, I sewed it to the back, folded it over, used a decorative stich and it looked great on both sides.

yourstrulyquilts

IMO, this is the best way to do a machine stitched binding. And to make it so it stays where you want it while sewing it down, I use 1/4" steam a seam ilte and iron it on to tne part of the the binding that goes on the front, then flip the binding to the front and press the binding on to the quilt. And then I stitch.
YTQ

Auntie M

not being a math wizard, here are my thoughts..whatever the width of the binding you want x 3 (and a little more)..that way you would attach with 1/3 the width, fold up (another 1/3) and over (the last 1/3), the little more would allow you to "catch" when SID. You would have to be very exacting in stitching to do this :) that's why I start on the back fold to the front and stitch like everyone has suggested.

Prism99

I really like this Youtube video on how to do an invisible all-machine binding:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wprg5vzkuGw

How wide you need to cut the binding strips depends on how wide a binding you like and how thick your batting is. A narrow 1/4-inch binding is fairly standard. Assuming an average batting thickness (less than 1/4-inch), then you would probably want to cut your strips 2-1/2".

Here's how it works out. You press the binding in half, so now it is 1-1/4" wide. Then you have to seam the binding to the front or back. That takes up 1/2" (1/4" seams, but two thicknesses). You have 3/4" of binding left to wrap around the edge. 1/4" of that is for the front side, 1/4" of that is for the back side, and the remainder is for the width of the batting.

Oh, and I just saw your problem with not having quite enough binding to wrap around. Just trim the quilt edge until your binding wraps correctly. Next time you might want to cut your binding a bit wider.

MadQuilter

If you use a fancy stitch, it looks like part of the pattern.

As for the math: If you start with a 2.5" strip, then you'll have a 1.25" strip after pressing it in half. if you sew it down on the back with a 3/8" seam allowance, that should give you approximately a 1/2" binding on the front. (For me the theoretical math and the practical application never work as planned.)

I would fold the binding in 3rds and measure where you need to sew it down.

dakotamaid

Yes, I agree, I also match the thread pretty close.

Dancing Needle

If I understand correctly you are saying there is a wider strip of binding on the back than on the front when you wrap it around, right? I had that same problem so started cutting my binding strips 2 1/4" rather than 2 1/2". That little bit seems to make it work out for me. I usually stictch my binding to the front by machine then hand stitch the back. I may try the suggestion of machine stitching to the back first and pulling it around the the front and using a decorative stitch to finish it off. I like that idea and it would SO much faster!

ToucanSam

No, I have enough to wrap around to the back. I sewed the binding to the front and have wrapped it around to the back. Now I can, if I wanted to, hand stitch it down but I have no patience for that. What I attempted to do instead was to go back to the front of the quilt (after pinning the binding over to the back side) and sitd down the FRONT. Unfortunately, this leaves a rough edge on the back, unless I stitch on to the quilt top itself rather than on to the binding.

So, what if I used Fabri-Tac on the back to tuck the raw edge under and then sitd down the front? Would that hold?

Alternative: pay someone to blind stitch the back binding or start over but this time sew the binding to the back first.

Judith

If you for go http://www.kayewood.com/tips/bindings.pdf she has a complete explanations of how to do this. I think with a 2.5 cut you need about a 3/8 inch seam allowance to get it to wrap around correctly. If you just increase your seam allowance a bit it should work really nicely. (Try it on just a short distance of what you have already sewn to see what works best.). Your binding strips should be cut 6 times the finished width, for a double binding (except for a finished width of 1/4). Hope this helps.