I hand sewed four placemats and a tablerunner. My fingers are sore. I usually sew the top portion and hand sew the back. Any tips on sewing both sides? I am willing to give it a try to save my poor fingers!

Thanks for your advice.

I sew the binding to the back, bring it to the front and stitch. I usually use a fancy stitch. I can't hand sew yet after carpal tunnel surgery. I don't know if I will ever be able to, so I just sew the binding.

I sew the binding to the front, turn binding to the back & pin. Then (back on the front) top stitch in the ditch with a kind of zig zag stitch with clear thread. You just have to stop every few inches to make sure you are catching the edge turned to the back.

For placemats and table runners I use single thickness for binding. I machine sew it on the front. I use 1 1/2" wide strips. I turn to the back foldingover the raw edge to the edge of the placemat, then fold again just covering the binding stitches. I pin then use a decrative stitch I stitch in the ditch from the top side. Hope this helps. I did different methods til I found a method that worked for me. There is no right or wrong.

If I don't feel like hand sewing I sew the binding on the back and use a decorative stitch to attach the front.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MRfADz_pyg

surefire machine-sewn on both sides binding method! just got it from reading one of the threads here.

I am not fond of hand sewing either, so I always sew my binding to the back and then flip it to the front and sew with a decorative stitch! It works great.

Thank you so much for the link. It looks so much easier to do than the traditional way.

Same here. I use that method for my utility quilts. Fancier quilts are still done the hand way.

I agree with most here. Sew to the back, then decorative stitch on the front. And for special quilts, still hand sew.