material needed for binding
 

I'm new at this and I have watched alot of videos on youtube on how to do binding. I don't know how to tell how much material to buy to finish this baby quilt. If you have some suggestions I would appreciate it.

You can get what you need out of a yard of fabric with lots left over . Or, you can buy your binding. Check out some of the tutes here. I think there was one this week on the front page of the newletter. Looks like an ad. But, it is a link to a tutuorial.

I cut the strips for binding at 2-1/2" by the width of fabric (WOF). If the quilt is 50x70 inches, you need a total of 240" of binding. that works out to 6 strips by the 2-1/2" and because I am slightly compulsive, I would cut 7 strips. Sew end to end with diagonal seams to avoid too much bulk in one place. Does that make sense?

I would take top and side measurements, times 2, divide that by 5 inches less than WOF... that will tell you how many strips you need, and yes, make sure you sew them together an an angle... it really helps
( if your fabric width is 45 inches, divide by 40 inches)

I add up the length and width of the quilt to get the total length of the binding. 40 inches is always your base width of fabric number. So divide the total length (length+length+width+width=total length) by 40 and your answer is how many strips you need. If you get something like 6.3 you should just cut 7 strips. If you get an answer like 6.8 you may need a little more than 7 strips.

I never knew how much fabric I needed to do my binding either. Thanks gals for the info. Now I don't have to buy a bunch of fabric that I don't need.

To follow up on the example -
7 strips at 2.5 inches/strip = 17.5 inches for straight grain - so you can get by with 1/2 yard.
7 strips at 2.25 inches/strip = 15.75 for straight grain - so you can breath easily with 1/2 yard.

I'm not sure how to translate to bias cut strips for the same amount of binding as so far I've only done bindings using straight grain.

I have a book on drafting quilts which is helpful in determining fabric amounts, and my favorite is Harriet Hargrave & Carrie Hargrave's books - Quilter's Academy series as they walk you through calculating fabric amounts.

Cheers, K

I add up the width and length twice and add 20. Then divide by 40 to get number of strips needed. You do need a little extra for the corners plus fudge factor. So for a 50X70 I would get 240 + 20 = 260 divided by 40 = 6.50 and round up to 7 strips. Hope this makes sense. The amount of fabric need would be the size of strip (2 1/2") by number of strips needed plus one. So for 7 strips, I would say (7 +1) = 8 X 2.5 = 20 inches.

if you are interested in bias bindings, and you should be, they're stronger...then just use what you buy for straight of grain...there are more 1/4" seams in bias, but the square inches needed for binding any size are exactly the same...you will just have more pieces to sew together before you begin...once you put on a double chanel bias binding, you won't go back...they always lay flat and have a double layer and the bias will allow you to work in all the folded edge as flat as can be. it also allows you to round the corners off and go round with the bias with no mitering. but of course, if you do miter, they lay beautifully. the only reason i would use a bit more material than you have figured here is that i use 3.5" to end up with double layer 1/2" bindings.

2length + 2width = perimiter
WOF/3.5" = 10 strips = 400" (using 40 as WOF)
you will have 400 running inches at 3.5

WOF/2.5" = 14 strips = 576" (using 40 as WOF)
you will have 576 running inches at 2.5

this will only be different when cut on the bias because you will have more seams...but they will all be on the bias and lay flat and allow the rest of the binding to lay flat too. so multiply on the straight to find out how much you will get but cut on the bias.

PS..the reason bias binding is stronger is that many threads go over the folded edge as you apply it, because of the 45 deg angle. With straight of grain binding, only one thread follows the edge and when that edge wears, the one thread starts to go and very soon, you have a slit running the length of your quilt with all the raw edges inside. I'm sure you have all seen this on old quilts. I promise, if you need 'X' amount of inches to bind anything, it is the same inches on the bias.

So - deemail - if I am reading correctly - when planning to cut on the bias, I'm shooting for the same end result in inches, but in cutting on the diagonal, I would end up with a different number of strips to end up with the same number of inches. I'm probably saying this badly - I am a visual learner and can draw it out fairly easily.

Cheers, K