Puckering In Binding
 

I have been following Jenny Doan's way of putting on binding. I use 2 1/2 inch binding, fold in half, press and attach to quilt. When joining ends I measure 2 1/2 inches and cut the top strip, then make a diagonal seam and press the seam open and the binding down on the quilt. At this point everything is fine but as I am attaching the binding the first thing I know is there is a small wrinkle on the top half of the binding and the further I sew the bigger it gets so at the end I have a nice little pucker. What could be the problem since it lays so nice before I begin to sew.

I make mine really snug when I make the join. Even an extra quarter inch is going to show up later. Another thing, your feed dogs are what pulls the material through. You can get puckers on the top if both parts don't pull through equally.

Question, are you sewing all but the final foot of binding down before you do the join? That only gives you 12 inches for any extra anything to show up. Easy to see if you are going to have any extra. FYI...I still hate that join. I always have to sew it several times. I'm very good at ripping!

i have found this as well... but just recently. i think, in the future, i will cut the binding at the connection just a bit shorter.

Did you use a walking foot? I would give a walking foot a try if you haven't already.

Yes, I do use a walking foot. I have no trouble with the binding as I am attaching it to the quilt but when it comes to that last 12-15 inches is where the pucker happens. It is almost like the walking foot is not working properly, but it is OK on all of the rest of the binding, so I can't figure out what is wrong.

I'd try sewing a little bit bigger seam rather than cut it off shorter to begin with. It's a whole lot harder to add that little bit back than to cut off a bit more after you get the adjusted length correct.

Yes, I am sewing all of the rest of the binding down with a walking foot before I do the join. What do you adjust to get the walking foot to feed evenly with the bottom layer. It puzzles me that all of the other binding seems to go on without a problem. I am wondering if the diagonal join is giving that little bit of binding too much give as you sew it down. I wonder if a straight seam at this point would help any.

Be very, very careful to not pull the binding as you're attaching it to the quilt. I've learned this the hard way and got puckers too. I also second the recommendation of a walking foot.

I found that even if I am careful, the binding does tend to stretch just a tad bit. I cut my binding 2-1/4 wide, but cut it just a bit over 2 inches to allow for that tad bit of a stretch. This has worked well for me.