Alter Binding Seam - Without Removing?
 

I have sewn the binding to a quilt but now that I’ve looked at it I think the seam is too narrow - it’s barely 1/4 inch but I would like it to be wider. Can I re-stitch it without taking out the original stitches?
Would I need to unpick a few inches either side of the corners and reform the mitre?

Any suggestions?

Do you mean you have sewed the binding to the quilt, front and back? Or only one side? I am having a hard time visualizing the actual mechanics of sewing another, wider seam around the corners. I'm afraid if you unsew the corners and redo them, you might have a pucker where either the quilt or the binding is now too long.

It should work fine. Try it by ripping out around the corner, then pin baste the new seam to the corner where you would want it to be. Redo the miter and see if it works. I think it will. Wish I had a quilt ready to bind, because I could tell you really quickly.

Edited to add: Worst case scenario, you might have to rip further down the side, cut the binding and rejoin it, then complete with the new seam allowance. That would certainly be better than having to rip all the binding off.

Sorry my description confused you. I have only sewn it onto one side -the back.

You will need to take out the stitches around the corners and re-miter accordingly. If you use a 3/8 inch seam, then make the corners miter at 3/8 inch also. Fold carefully and use a dab of glue if needed to hold them.

Good luck!

If you try to stitch in deeper, your corners will not fit. You will not have enough fabric to form an adequate miter. The reason is that you used the amount of binding fabric necessary for the original seam.

One thing about ripping off binding: You can actually rip it quite easily. There are two layers in the binding and three more layers of top and batt and back. I have done that and it works well. Just be careful at the corners; they may have been back tacked, or if you sewed into the corner like some of us do, that will need to be started carefully again before you rip the next side.

Not with bias binding, however.

What she is saying.

Wow! Thanks for the info. I didn't realize that would be an issue.

It all needs to come off. If you are sewing the second time with a different width of seam allowance, the total "circumference" stitching is a different size than the first stitching and will hit the corners at different places.