Well I went to a binding class today. I finally know how to make the binding. I am so excited. But the class I took the teacher hand stitches the back. Well I have artheritis in my wrists. And having to stitch small stithes takes some time for me. Right now I am only about 1/2 way on one side. I am not a hand sewer. I haven't done this in years only sewing on clothes. One of the ladies in the class was almost done with one side before I could get a good start. My wrists are hurting some now so I guess I will have to wait to do more and put on them darn wrists braces again. She was going to show us how to sew it with the machine but we ran out of time. I will post a picture when I finish it.

Jeanette

Square up your top before putting the backing and batting on.
This is important to keep the seams straight when you stitch in the ditch.
I bought a stitch in the ditch foot for my machine and it makes it so easy to stay in the ditch.
I dont like to pin my binding so use Steam a Seam to hold the back binding in place before I sew it by machine.

steam a seam on the binding what a great idea, never would have thought of it :D

Wow that is so simple,I hate doing bindings because of that handsewing. Thankyou,Thank you.
Bill'sBonBon.

So do all of you machine stitch binding or hand stitch? I have the ditch stitch foot but haven't learned to use it yet. By the time I am ready for my next binding I'm going to machine it. I know it is alot quicker. But I am glad that I was taught this way too. The teacher was going to show us another way other than the ditch stitch.

i put a fine line of elmers washable glue in the middle fold of my binding the one that sits next to the unfinished edge of the quilt i hit the glue spot with a iron and it holds it in place

I machine stitch the front of my binding, but then hand stitch the back. I think it would be possible to machine stitch the back in the ditch though? maybe

I bought months ago something that helps you machine bind (but I can't figure out how to use it) Because I hate hand stitching all around the quilt, I would much rather use the machine for everything, boy am I sounding lazy.

I need a refresher course. Any tips u can pass on???
It is good to take classes and stay refreshed.

I do the exact same thing!

I machine stitch a double fold binding to the front, mitering the corners, wrap around to the back and hand stitch.

My understanding about binding applied by machine is that you do the opposite,, first stitch it on the back, wrap around and top stitch on the front. Although, I havent done it and Im not an expert in machine work...

Judy

I also have pain in my hands so each stitch I make is precious and I feel I shouldn't waste my efforts in something that only I will notice, so I sew my binding on the front, fold it over and stitch in the ditch. I use a matching thread just incase my stitches come out of the ditch. I do pin my binding though I'd never heard of the other stuff before. I only pin about 2 or 3 feet at a time so I can adjust it as needed.

I used the machine to bind potholders, but generally I do quilt bindings by hand. It's very hard to do it neatly by machine! You might experiment a bit to see if there is a more comfortable way for you to stitch. Turn your work upside down or hold your hand differently. I find that sewing the binding actually stresses my shoulder more than my wrist. A brace would be an excellent idea.

I agree with Loretta about wearing the brace at night. I wore it every night for a while, lately I have't had to wear it.

As for binding, mostly I do the backside by hand -- little by little. I know what you mean by others being faster. If I do by machine, I do a self binding. My sis does like Judy said-- stitch to back first. I have a hard time doing it that way which is why I self bind most of my charity quilts.

Quilterj: I also have arthritis and a calcium deposit on my right hand wrist bone. Sometimes this becomes very irritated and painful by doing hand sewing. My daughter sent me a elastized glove (Handeze) and it did help some, but I found a similar glove with a light weight velcro band that also wrapped around the wrist called a Thera-Glove in the Clotilde catalog. This one gives a lot more support but is still comfortable to work with. The latest catalog lists the Handeze at $19.95/pair and the Thera-Glove lists at $11.48 for one glove. I found the Thera-Glove provides a much better support and one glove is sufficient unless you have problems with both wrists/hands. Hope this helps you out.

Quilterj: Forgot to tell you that these gloves are also very comfortable and provides good support for when you are doing just piecing or sewing on your machine or serger. Your hands don't get so tired or achy.

What I've done to a couple quilts is stitch the binding to the back and then use a decorative stitch on the front - like top stitching. Honestly it was a bit tricky to get the stitching totally even - but since the quilts were for my granddaughter, and I knew she wasn't going to complain, they were good to practice on. I was very happy with the results, very pretty. And boy-howdy was it a quick way to get that binding on.

I use two different methods for binding. If the quilt is for show, a gift for a friend or myself I machine stitch it on to the front and hand stitch on the back. BUT if the quilt is for a child or the local nursing home then I machine stitch on the back first, fold it over to the front and machine stitch. I have a binding foot for my machine and it helps to get that front stitching very even and straight and close to the folded edge. My thinking is that utility quilts will get much heavier usage and the stitching needs to be real sturdy.

I like that decorative stitch idea, thanks.

I always stitch the back first, flip over and stitch the front with either a straight stitch or a small zigzag. It looks just fine

The standard way is to sew binding to the front. then fold over to the back then stitch in the ditch on the front.
The stitch in the ditch foot is so easy to use. Just set the metal bar that is in the middle of the foot in the ditch and start sewing. It stays in the ditch so much better than a walking foot.
I have used fusible thread and steam a seam to hold the binding in place.
Just bought wash out glue pen by Fons and Porter to try out.