Bacon binding?
 

Sometimes my finished quilts have wavy binding. It is especially noticeable when hung on the wall. What causes that? What can I do to make quilt binding taut?

I've had this problem in the past, and I think it could be many different reasons. One could be that we accidentally stretched the quilt edges while applying the binding. Have you tried washing and blocking the quilt? I think that might eliminate the wavy binding.

Measure your quilt at each end & in the middle; take the average of those 3 numbers and cut your binding to that length.

As far as hanging on the wall, the bottom will always be a tiny bit wavy. The only solutions I've seen for that are to sew in a weighted bar or to use a narrow sleeve & bottom mount (Caryl Bryer Fallert does that with her wall quilts to keep them from "waffling"). http://www.bryerpatch.com/faq/storage.htm#bottom

Just recently I accidently sewed on my binding with my walking foot, wow lots of waves. I had to remove it then reapplied it with my 1/4 foot, no problems.

Gee.....i always sew my binding on with my walking foot...never had the wavy problem.

Bobblehead.....Are you using bias binding??

I use a walking foot. I am going to use my 1/4 foot next time and see if it comes out better. I cut the strips WOF. Thanks for the help.

Never had that kind of problem, but I don't cut binding or borders to length first. I make longer binding than I think I need and just "lay" the binding on the quilt and pin about 6-8" from the needle down, moving the pin as I sew. Never had waves, puckers or any problems, same with borders. Hope this helps.

(Use my walking foot for everything as it is built in.)

Do you have your binding wrapped around a spool? Make sure it's flowing
freely while you sew it to your quilt.
I've had my share of wavy wall-hangings too. I blocked my last wall-hanging
and I'm happy to report that it's nice and flat...no more waving. I hate that.

Wavy bindings? Make sure your binding strip is on top of the piece. The feed dogs gather the bottom fabric quicker.

Was it wavy before or after it's laundered? Did you use cotton batting without preshrinking it?

If the cause is what I think it is, your binding fabric is stretching as you apply it. What helps me is (1) heavily starching the binding fabric before cutting it into strips, (2) not pressing a fold into it before applying, (3) sewing with a regular sewing foot instead of a walking foot, (4) sewing with the binding on top, and (5) sewing on a cutting line I have marked on the quilt with permanent marker and trimming the quilt **after** sewing the binding on.

I know it seems counter-intuitive to not press the binding strip in half before applying, but this actually helps the binding lay smoother. This is because when you go to turn the binding, the outside layer of binding requires a little more fabric and the inside layer of binding requires a little less fabric. This adjustment happens automatically if you have not first pressed your binding strip in half. You just need to be careful at the beginning of sewing to make sure that your binding edges match; just takes a few seconds to hand fold a length to make sure you are starting off right.

Starch stiffens the binding so that the binding fabric is much less likely to stretch as you sew.

Marking the cutting edge (I use a permanent Sharpie) and using the mark as a "virtual" edge helps me a **lot**. I don't have loose backing to get folded under as I sew. Just be very careful not to cut the binding at the corners when you do finally trim the quilt. I decided to trim the corner seams once and ended up with holes in my binding! If I want to trim a corner now, I do that after trimming the entire quilt and then trim away only the quilt sandwich at the corner, not the binding.

I measure my quilt - top, centre & bottom, take the average then I subtract 1/2". I never have wavy binding. Works for me.

I agree with Prism - you might have been pulling the binding too taught as you were sewing it on (been there, done that, got the t-shirt), and don't press your binding in half before sewing on.

I think the people who said to measure and take an average are referring to borders, not binding. You can't really cut your binding to size before attaching it (at least I don't think you can) because you need some overlap when you join it. You can get a perimeter size and add about 10 inches to figure out how much binding to cut.

I always baste about 1/8" in from the edge of the quilt before applying the binding. It keeps the quilt edge from stretching out as I put the binding on. That may help with the waviness.

Leslie

Folks here are saying measure in centre etc is for borders. I wonder if your border is too long and when the binding is attached it results in a wavy edge. I would look at the border first..

Thank you Dunster! I was wondering what I was missing! I don't normally have wavy bindings.

Interesting - how we have different ways of trying to arrive at the same place.

I trim the sandwich before applying the binding. I also "stay-stitch" the three layers together before starting to apply the binding.

I cut bias strips about 2-7/8 inches wide and my finished binding is about 7/16 inches wide. I like a wider binding and that's the width that "works" best with the leftest needle setting on my machine.

I do not starch the strips - I do "loosely fold" the binding and machine baste the raw edges together. I also DO NOT press a crease into it for the reason Prism99 stated.

With the quilt edges sewn together and the binding edges sewn together, I only need to fret about lining up two sets of edges.

The extra sewing does take a bit longer - but it took me longer to undo and resew a layer that had bunched up when I did not do the extra sewing.

I find that the bias binding does "stretch" a bit while applying it - which results in a binding that "hugs" the edge and lays beautifully. (If the binding was cut at 100 inches, for example, I would have used 99 inches of it)

P.S. I always do a bit of a "practice/test run" for how wide to cut the binding and/or which needle position setting to use before cutting out all the binding and/or sewing the binding all the way around.

If I am going to hand stitch the binding to the back - then I want the binding to barely cover the machine stitching.

If I am going to wrap the binding to the front and then machine stitch it down, then I want the binding to overlap the first stitching by about 1/8 inch.

WOW, that is very wide binding. If you are working with bias binding, I usually starch the heck out of before I cut. If you baste your quilt prior to binding, that is when I would check the diagonal measurement of your quilt. Yes, we have many different ways to get a single thing done and it is important that each one of us find the best and easiest way to complete our quilts.

Wide binding - I like the look - but that may be just because I am used to it -

Bearisgray, that is exactly how I do bindings. Most of my quilts are for charity, so I stitch it to the back and bring it to the front. I use my stitch-in-the ditch foot to do the topstitching. It keep the row of stitches exactly the same distance from the edge.

Exactly what I was thinking.

-What stitch length are you using to sew on the binding? If using regular stitch, then suggest lengthening it a bit - say up to 3 or 4 You have a lot of layers of fabric and binding and the stitch length needs to be longer to accommodate the extra layers.Also make sure your seam allowance is consistent so when the binding is folded over, it is full of the quilt edge.

this would good advice to follow for borders but definitely not for binding. You will find yourself with only enough binding to go not quite half way around your quilt.

Whoops, yes I was. I don't cut my binding until the ends are matched up. Good catch. Thanks!

Oh, I thought it was binding made to look like strips of bacon.

That might be kind of cool for a quilt for a foodie...

What width do you cut the binding to make it this wide? And what size is are the seams? I like it!

I cut the binding "about 2-7/8 inches" - and the seam width is about 3/8 inch - I just set the needle to the furtherst left position and the edge of the presser foot is even with the edge of the binding and quilt.

The amount of binding showing on the front of the "jungle animals" quilt is about 1/2 inch and about 3/8 inch on the back.

My bindings are "stuffed" - I pull the binding over the edge tightly so that it feels "full."

Stay-stitching the edge of the top first helps a lot. It keeps any potential stretching of the edge to be bound to a minimum. It is especially helpful on bias edges.

I don't measure my quilts before applying bonding. I make sure I have enough though before applying it. I cut my binding about 2 1/8" and iron it on half and start sewing it down. I do the mitered corners and the binding comes out great. I've even been commented by a judge at how good my bonding is....not to blow my horn. : )

Stretch the binding.
Many people are saying to not stretch the binding when you are putting it on. But that is exactly what you need to do. It's the quilt top that is wavy. If you put your borders on correctly, there should not be too many waves.

When I put on binding, I lay the quilt under the needle, attach the binding with a few stitches, and give the binding a little tug. Just a little tug to make sure is is laying flat. The quilt sandwich may look a little wavy at this point. I hold this in place with my finger as it goes through the needle. Lengthwise binding can be pulled much tighter, since it doesn't stretch as much. I don't do bias binding. You will not want to stretch that at all, only make very sure the edges of the quilt are not wavy before you start.

I once took a binding off a finished quilt. (My daughter changed her mind and wanted it bigger.) Then we changed our mind again and had to put that binding back on the quilt. I really stretched that binding and had a few inches left over when I was finished. The quilt looks fine, and surely has no waves on the outside.

I, too, block my quilts and find that the quilt then lies flat; no wavy edges.

Lots of good reponses here, I am glad you posted this question. Don't have any suggestions for you, but glad to see the replies

Isn't that what you do to measure for the borders? I don't think you can cut the binding until you get it sewn on and the end pieces measured for seaming

Excellent advice....it makes perfect sense to me. I will do this next time.

Use a walking foot to sew binding on. Be careful not to stretch your binding.

I have a Pfaff machine with the IDT, built in full time walking foot. Since I bought the Pfaff , no more wavy binding.
Sharon in Texas

I think this could solve your bacon binding issue - I know because I have had the same problem and I'm going to give bias binding a try again...I did them that way at first and then got lazy!!

I don't have anything to add except the title of your thread....Bacon Binding....made me laugh! :thumbup:

Do you trim leaving any batting or do you trim to the edge before adding the binding?
Thanks so much for the information.

It is always interesting to learn how others do, sometimes we can pick up something that helps.