seam allowance when binding on quilt
 

Ok now I may be a problem, but I have another question about quilting. I have googled so many ways of putting binding onto a quilt, and I am really confused. I always thought you put your 1/4 inch seam foot on sew on the binding as normal, when finished turn over the binding and sew. But i just googled one and it said to have a wider sewing seam, as when you turn your binding to the back, you must Never have any emptyness within the binding. It should feel fat! what is right, please help me as i am fairly new to quilting, and have in the past made a couple and have noticed that the binding when turned feels empty?

Idle Di

You do want your binding to be full. It will last longer that way, and look nicer. But there are many ways of accomplishing that. You can cut the binding smaller, or increase the seam allowance, or cut the batting a little further out from the quilt top after quilting. Experiment with how you want to do it, and it may be different for each quilt you make.

I don't trim off my batting until after I've put on the first machine stitching of the binding, and I use that seam for my measurement.

I cut my bindings a bit fuller than most, at 3" and so I trim .5" from that seam line for a nice full binding. When we say "full" that doesn't mean round, just the same as the body of the quilt.

If you have a half inch finished binding and you trimmed everything at 1/4" that means half your binding is empty.

You can add in little wisps of left over batting if you need to.

Edit: It's not that big a deal really, but if you want to show your quilts it is expected (along with mitered corners). Doesn't impact the kindness of a gift or the durability of the quilt. For the first couple of decades of my quilting I used straight bindings with butt joints. Decided to switch to bias French double fold binding and miter corners because that was the expectation/standard but mostly I just say Boo to the quilt police :p

This is the way I do it too. When I was a new quilter, my bindings were really ugly... it took time to learn my favorite way.

I watched a you tube on “facing” a quilt so I will be trying that on the I Spy quilt top I just completed.

Welcome to the binding decisions group. There are many different techniques for binding. Take some time to discover your perfect way.

Binding 101 has been a process for me but it does get easier. I suggest some practice samples first on some blocks. Mark right on the block the cut binding width and the stitch settings.

For 2 1/2 inch binding, I use a 3/8 inch seam allowance on the first side stitch down.

For 2 1/4 inch binding, I use a 1/4 inch seam allowance on the first side stitch down.

Typically, I stitch the binding to the back of the quilt and bring to the front. I can see where I'm stitching the binding edges and get a fairly straight line.

I don't press binding in half. The crease is in the wrong place for the final fold over when you look at it lengthwise.

This is what I do. I trim the binding and back just enough so that there isn't so much in my way. I sew the binding on with a 1/4 in seam. (Sometimes that is very necessary to save points.) Then I measure from the seam I have just sewn for the correct width to make the binding full after it is turned to the other side.

The only advice that I would add here is that if you use flannel for binding, increase your seam allowance to about 1/2" since flannel tends to fray more easily.

I also wait to trim the batting and backing. 1/4 inch seam is necessary to keep the block dimensions. Although if you have a plain border it wouldn’t matter. After putting the binding on I will trim batting and backing a bit wider than just the 1/4 inch allowance. You can figure out by trial how much excess you need to fill your binding depending on the binding width you prefer to work with.