Pressing Quilt Binding Before Final Sewing
 

Do you press a quilt binding after you sew it to the front of a quilt but before sewing it to the back? I don't; I just flip the binding up after I sew it to the front and start hand sewing. I was wondering if it would be helpful to take the time to press the binding before final sewing.

i finger press the seam. the binding strip i have pressed before i sew it on ..finger pressing the new seam seems to work fine for me. and has for many years.

Funny you mention this as I'm ironing some binding right now. I do the French bias method of making binding, so I fold the raw edges together as I press. I pin the heck out of it as I put it on -- raw edges of binding and quilt together, I sew on the top of the quilt and fold over and hand blind sew on the back. When I'm doing the hand sewing I don't use any pins or hair clips or anything, too many gouges in my thighs from the pins and just didn't like working with the clips.

I've never seen nor heard of anyone ironing while it is on the quilt, seems like a really good way to gunk up an iron if you use poly batts, but no issues I guess with warm & natural.

I don't. I press binding in half before sewing it to the front of the quilt, then hand sew to the back. I like the way the binding turns out with this method so I'm not tempted to change it. There are people who don't press the binding in half before sewing, just fold it in half and feel that it makes a nicer binding that way. That method always sounds interesting to me, but so far I go back to my tried and true method.

This is exactly what I do. I had no idea so many did not iron the binding after attaching it to the front. Actually, I don't remember this ever coming up before.

Same here, for the same reason.

Tartan and Prism 99 - do you only use 80/20 or 100% cotton?

I do not press after sewing to the back. I flip to the front and sew it down. I fold binding in half raw edges together and press before sewing it on. I only sew by machine holds better for donation quilts.

Aha!! I agree about the "ridge" thing. I'm going to try the "press before I sew" method on a 44 inch charity quilt I'm finishing up and see how things go. Thanks, ladies.

FWIW, I learned from someone here to NOT press the binding and that works out much better for me for better handling of the binding.