SusieQOH

I'm about to bind my Shakespeare in the Park quilt and have had trouble with wavy binding in the past.
The only success I've had is when I hand sew the back. Whenever I try to machine bind both sides I run into problems galore.
I was hoping to machine bind this one on both sides. I have a Bernina and a Juki so I could use either one, if someone knows of a special foot that might help.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks, Susie

Stitchnripper

Is your binding wavy all the way around or just near the join? I saw a tutorial once that had us leave about a 16th of an inch between the edge and the fold before you cut it. Then join, I don't get waves there anymore. If I am machine sewing a binding I sew the binding to the back and then sew it down from the front. I can manage a decent line of stitches that way rather than front to back and then front and try and do it in the ditch and catch the edge of the binding on the back. I don't usually do bias bindings. Good luck. I hope you get it figured out.

SusieQOH

Hi Stitchnripper, on my other quilt only part of it is wavy, I'd say about half of it. I really hate doing binding.
If I can't figure it out I'll just machine bind the front and hand sew the back. I would just like to get
better at doing it by machine on both sides.

Macybaby

I stopped getting waves when I stopped pressing my binding in half before sewing it on. I use my Juki 2010Q which is a straight stitch machine with a narrow foot.

I took a sample of binding with when I was looking for machines and loved how this machine handled it. I can line up the edge with the inside of the foot, and get a near perfect 1/16th seam around the edge. BTW - I quit pressing my binding in half before getting this machine, and it made a world of difference on regular swing needle machine.

SusieQOH

Cathy, what foot do you use? I have the same Juki

PaperPrincess

One way that the binding can become wavy is if it's stretched. Use a walking foot if you have one. Don't pull or push the quilt thru and make sure that the weight of the quilt is supported both in front of and in back of the foot. Also, what stitch length are you using? I use a bit longer stitch length , like a 3 or 3.5

newbee3

I do not press my binding either and definitely always use walking foot

MarionsQuilts

I machine sew the bindings and I haven't had any problems with waves. I press my binding in half, and then I machine sew it all the way around. I use the standard 2.5 to stitch it. Then I fold it over and press again ... then I pin - not a lot, just enough to keep it in place. When I sew it this time, I lengthen my stitches to 3.5 or 4, and I let my machine guide it.

Tothill

Are you using bias or straight grain binding?

Have you tried gluing it down before stitching?

Tartan

Have you tried the machine binding with flange that you sew to the back and machine stitch in the ditch of the flange on the front? I find it makes a firmer binding that is less likely to ripple.