I want to just machine bind my quilts. I really don't have a lot of interest in hand stitching the back binding down. (Call me impatient.....)

My question is this: how do I cut/measure the binding strips such that when I sew the folded piece to the front and then bring the fabric to the back, the width is about the same on both sides of the fabric? I need numbers!!!!

Does this make sense? Surely there is a way. I have a 2.5 inch strip on a quilt now, and want to sitd on the front to catch the back but cannot do it because the back is wider than the front and I would end up stitching onto the quilt front.

Sorry, hope this isn't confusing anyone. I'm still a newbie.

:)

Can you trim the seam allowance a little bit to allow more of the binding to reach the back?

I suggest you sew the binding to the BACK and bring it to the front, then stitch it down on the front. That way if the back is a bit off it won't be so noticeable.

Look at Eddies tutorial on scalloped borders and binding. He sews on the front, pulls the binding to the back and machine stitches in the ditch on the front to catch the back.

Now that just might work....! Why didn't I think of that?

But is there a number/formula that would work if I didn't attach it to the back instead, as mamagus suggested?

If you use a 2/5" strip, and a 1/4" seam you should have plenty to wrap around and stitch down.

You could use a decorative stitch and the front and back would both look good.

I bind most of my quilts by machine. I machine them onto the back, bring the binding to the front,then all you need to do is a neat row all the way round! It looks nice with a decorative stitch too.

Karen xx

I guess next time I'll sew the binding on to the back of the quilt first.

Thanks!

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.

:)

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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!

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.

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.

When I am sewing a binding on by machine I just increase the width of the binding from 2.5 inches to 3.0 inches. It has worked great for me every single time.

This is what I do. I can get a binding on by machine in less than 2 hours total. Hand stitching would take me several hours. Patience is not one of my virtues either. :wink:

[quote=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.

quote]

I stitch from the front in the ditch next to the front binding(pressed toward edge) with a slight zigzag that catches the back part of the binding. I use a top thread that matches the top, and bobbin thread that matches the binding. Careful pinning is a must in order to have the back binding in perfect alignment so that the stitching catches all the binding. If you're not careful with your pinning, you'll miss some of the binding on the back (ask me how I know that :( ).

Sharon Schamber's video on binding is great. It is one of the free videos on her website and is called Binding the Angel, I think. Check it out. :-)

I hate hand sewing, so I started sewing my binding on the back, lapping it over to the front and then using a decorative stitch, I sew it on the front. Sometimes I use a different color of thread so that it has a decorative addition to the quilt. It goes so much faster that way.

I was just going to suggest that you contact Eddie but I see that someone has already given you that suggestion. His turn out beautiful........

I have also had better results by sewing a decorative stitch on the front. It covers errors and looks good on both sides. I use a decorative stitch that goes with the quilt top i.e. a rodeo T-shirt quilt with multi colored thread & county-ish stitch.

How big is this quilt? I was going to suggest you mail it me and I hand sew it for you. I don't mind sewing the binding on, it's one thing I can do while watching TV.

Have you seen the Magic Strip Binding method? It is the one I use exclusively. Twice around the quilt and you're done. I found it in some quilting mag. that the wife had laying around.

great idea.

I use 2.25 strips for my binding and it's pretty close to the same width, though 2 may be closer, but you'd have to pull it pretty tight and precise. You figure when you sew it down folded, you sew 1/4 inch, then fold another 1/4 inch in front, then maybe a little less than 1/4 inch in folding over to the back and then 1/4 inch on the back. So that is a total of one inch, so you'd need a folded 2 inch strip. When I fold a 2.25 strip in half, I end up with a 1 and 1/8 strip which gives me a little fudge.

Hope that helps you with the math!

Rachel