Machine binding question
 

I have always bound my quilts by sewing binding on the front with a quarter inch seam, turning the binding to the back, and hand stitching it down. I'm making a baby quilt and would like it to be as durable as possible, so am thinking of doing the entire job by machine. When binding is cut 2.5 inches wide, then folded in half lengthwise, then sewn to the front with a quarter inch seam and turned to the back, what's on the back is wider than what's on the front. Would you take a wider seam on the front so that the binding on the front and back would be the same width? I want the second stitching to show as little as possible on the front side. Thanks for any help.

I don't like doing binding by machine, I sew to front, hand stitch it down, then I top stitch the binding, just my method, I'm sure you'll have others giving their opinions.

I would do some practice runs to see what works for me.

Make a few sample sandwiches about 4 x 6 inches and experiment with various widths and techniques.

i have yet to get the second stitching to land in the ditch .

Why not do Charismah's Quick Machine Binding with Flange from the tutorials here? In this case, you first attach to the back, then flip to the front and sew "in the ditch" of the flange from the front.

I love the accent color of the flange on my quilts and have used her method for every quilt I've made in the past 10+ years. I match the top thread to the flange fabric and the bobbin thread to that of the quilting on the back.

You arent the only one to wonder about this - been there, done that!

I asked around to get some advice on this one and a friend told me that when she binds by machine that she sews the binding on the backside and flips it to the front so that you are machine finishing the binding on the front side. You dont need to change the width of your binding. You are making the front look nice and neat because you can actually see what you are doing. You will see those stitches on the back so just load the bobbin with thread that matches the back.

It wont be perfect (mine wasnt) but it looked much better than it would have if i tried to work blindly hoping i would somehow catch all the edges. It was always a big disappointment to me because i DIDNT. This works.

mkc and AprilM are both right. The flange binding is great and if you match your top thread to the flange, you don't even need to be exactly in the ditch. And matching the bobbin thread to either the backing OR the bobbin colour that was used in the quilting, disguises the line of stitching on the backing.

I like to use my Stitch in the Ditch foot when sewing binding on the front. I set my needle so that it is just to the RIGHT of the little metal divot on the guide and butt the binding against the guide. It works so well for me.

We make and bind so many donation quilts, that our fingers would be worn out if we hand stitched the bindings to the back. One member gave a great reason that we do it as we do. She said "I only hand stitch my bindings for people that I think are worthy of so much effort. So far, I haven't met one."

For some reason I can’t post the link but I mostly use Donna Jordan’s method. I use 2.5” cross-grain binding strips. I attach with wider than a quarter inch seam. It’s closer to 3/8” than to 1/4”. That leaves me the right amount of binding to wrap around. As someone else said, it’s a good idea to experiment with some scraps before you commit to a real quilt. Then KEEP your experimental piece and use a sharpie to write all the particulars on the fabric so you will always have a reference to go back to.

I sew the binding strip (2.5 inches) onto the back of the quilt using a 3/8 " seam. I mark the bottom corner and stop stitching at 3/8 inch. I take a couple of back stitches and lock the stitch.

Fold the binding to make the corner turn and again sew with a 3/8 " seam.

Fold Binding to the front and stitch down.

Love the flange tutorial! So easy. Binding is new to me because I learned to self-bind my quilts by extending the top layer and folding to the back. Now, I use a serpentine stitch on front when folding attached binding to back. That way, it does secure the back.

I also used to do my binding as you described but now my hands shake so badly and I had so many quilts to finish, I wanted to get them completely done as fast as possible but still look great. Now I stitch on the back side by machine and I use only a 2.25" binding so I don't have the empty space once I turn it over to the front side. I use a foot with the flange in the center, move my needle over enough to catch the edge and stitch away. You could also use a decorative stitch. Plus, if you are using the same fabric for the binding as on the back, the stitching won't show much at all. I watched a youtube video on how to use decorative stitches from our machines. She explains which ones not to use, check for the width of the stitch, practice to see which of your feet works the best for decorative stitching, etc.
On a baby quilt, it would be cute to have a decorative stitch I would think.

I cut binding at 2 1/4 inches and sew onto the backside of quilt then bring it to the front and move needle to the right one position and sew down just on the edge of front binding.

This is how one of my friends does her bindings especially on baby or children's quilts that will get hard use and many washings. She uses a decorative stitch to stitch it down and it looks great.

I usually sew both sides of the binding to the quilt at the same time. (5353) Binding Part 2 - Sewing on the Binding - YouTube

I've tried various things and am just happiest with the hand finished edge made with French Fold Bias Binding. I wash my quilts and know the edges do hold up. For years I really tried to simply the binding process especially since my hand work is agonizingly slow, the needle threading hard on my eyes, and so on. I also keep telling myself "a kiss with every stitch" to keep from swearing or sewing in tension to the project... I just never got quite the results I wanted with machine and decided to go back to my old way instead of learning new sewing skills.

But of the techniques I used, wide decorative stitches are also a possibility especially for baby quilts. This is the time for the repeating flower motif or whatever strikes your fancy. You might need a fairly hefty machine sometimes to get over the corners. Keeping the design along the inner edge of the binding will hold down whatever is going on in back.

Not an answer to your question but I typically make wider than usual bindings, it is my last chance to add fabric to a top and I am typically using something coordinated or contrasting. For my queen sized projects I also use a thicker batting than currently popular, and less quilting (again than is currently popular), and the wide bindings seem more appropriate. I usually cut them at 3" or larger, but sometimes it might depend on the width of stripe or other design element. I don't trim my back/battling until after the binding is sewn on at the normal 1/4", and measure from the seam out for the width I want. Then I cut the depth I need for my wider binding through the batting and backing.

I too use 3" binding strips. The extra width makes a perfect miter.

Great idea for the sharpie notes!

Another tip for the test piece ... make sure you use all the same fabrics/battings as the quilt. Different weights/thicknesses and you may need the seam a little wider/narrower to get things to line up just right!

A Wee Reminder ... if the outside edge of your quilt is not a plain piece of fabric/border and there happens to be stars/points ... changing the seam width could risk points being cut off. One way to work around that, is to trim the quilt edge a little wider than normal, so that you get the intended 1/4" seam buried in the now wider 1/2" (or whatever) binding seam.

2-1/2" binding works fine. Sew it to the back, the pull around to the front. You will see your stitch line. Line the front binding up so it just overlaps the stitch line and then top stitch it down.

Things that will affect what is seen later:
- thread colour used in the final sew-down (kind of obvious, but match both top and bottom
- how far from the edge your top-stitching is
- how well you line up the top stitching with the ditch on the back

I like to aim for the top stitching to land just alongside the back binding so the bottom thread colour may differ from the front which is matching the binding. I know this is not the preferred situation, but it works for me. Sharon Shambler has a video demonstrating this and how to glue down the top binding before stitching to ensure perfect placement of the stitching you see on the back.

[QUOTE=AprilM;8720598]You arent the only one to wonder about this - been there, done that!

I asked around to get some advice on this one and a friend told me that when she binds by machine that she sews the binding on the backside and flips it to the front so that you are machine finishing the binding on the front side. You dont need to change the width of your binding. You are making the front look nice and neat because you can actually see what you are doing. You will see those stitches on the back so just load the bobbin with thread that matches the back.

This the method I use too, that way I see only one stitch line on the front, and as mentioned, I match my bobbin thread to the color of the backing. I most common on my donation quilts just make my backing at least 2" wider all the way around, I then do my quilting, trim the batting even with quilt front with scissors, and then trim my backing to 1.5". I fold to quilt edge, 3/4" wide at that point, iron, and fold to front and iron, clip and stitch down. I use my stitch in a ditch foot to ride along the edge,, offset my needle a bit to stitch it down. I like this method too because I get a perfect miter corner, I set my binding top and bottom, then both sides, my corners are perfect. Either method works good for me.

I think I will try sewing the binding to the back and bringing it to the front. I am new to adding a separate binding piece, but I am loving the chance to add another layer to the quilting process.

I have always stitched the binding to the back first even when hand stitching. I am experimenting with lining the binding strip with very thin batting. I don't want puffy but completely filled.

[QUOTE=Onebyone;8720753 I am experimenting with lining the binding strip with very thin batting. I don't want puffy but completely filled.[/QUOTE]

Hmm, I know the look/feel you are trying for and am desperately curious if you figure out a method.

I have an unconventional way of getting a full binding that was taught to me by an experienced quilter. When I make the quilt sandwich the backing is the biggest, then the batting is the next biggest. The quilt top is smaller than the other two. After I have finished quilting, I square up the quilt by marking it with a pen. When I sew the binding on I use the pen marks for the edge where I line up the raw edge of the binding.

When I trim the quilt I place the half inch mark of the ruler on the seam line so that there will be approximately a quarter inch of batting to fill the binding when I turn the binding over to the back to stitch.


Attachment 654483

I found very thin 2 1/2" batting strips on Amazon.