A Holiday runner and a question
 

Hey everyone,
I made this pattern from Bev McCullough of Flamingotoes.

Here's my question:
How in the world do you get the other side of the binding to look better? I have such a hard time with this. I usually hand sew the back of the binding but I wanted to get this one done quickly. No matter how carefully I sew, the back side never looks good. The last picture shows what I mean.
Any help is appreciated!

What about using dots of glue to hold it in place on the back and then stitch in the ditch from the front.

a friend of mine told me about self binding
tried to post video but didnt work you can look up
you cut your back larger and fold and only sew once
Gale

For 2.5 inch wide binding, I use a 3/8 seam allowance. The binding will be close to equal on each side.

I put a straight pin in the ditch to make sure the seam will hit the binding on the back. Then hold the binding as I stitch it down.

I don’t iron the binding in half. That fold isn’t where it’s going to fold naturally when you wrap it over the edge of the quilt.

Most of the time, I stitch the binding onto the back and bring to the front. Easy to make the corners nice and keep the stitches straight.

On nearly everything except quilts (wall hangings, table toppers, coasters, etc.) I use a single fold binding, cut it at 1 1/2", sew to the back, fold in half, press and tiny-dot glue it down. At that width it comes a little bit over the stitch line in front; I find the less bulkiness of the single fold helps everything to lay much flatter and look better.

ETA: Love the runner, it's so pretty!!

Such a pretty runner!

I've never had any luck stitching the binding down with the machine. I always finish by hand. When I do it by machine, it looks just like yours no matter what I do.

I've always disliked sewing binding on by machine for this very reason. After some practice, though, I've been getting a little better results by making the binding a bit larger ... I normally use 2 1/4, so I do 2 1/2 for this. Sew the binding on from the front as usual, then press that seam, pressing the binding away form the quilt. Use binding clips to fold the binding around to the back, clipping every 3 or 4 inches. THe binding should go past the seam line about 1/8 inch. Use a bobbin thread that matches the binding. From the front, stitch in the ditch. The back of the binding will have a line of stitching just in from the edge.

I have been quilting for more than 30 years and still have that problem from time to time. It is very frustrating. Being sure that all my strips are cut accurately helps. So I straighten the grain of my fabrics before I cut the strips. The other important things is being sure when you make your blocks that they too are cut correctly so the pieces don't get wonky or stretchy as you sew them together. These too things will almost grantee successful finishes. Also being sure to square up your blocks so they are all the same is a big help to this problem.

I’m interested in hearing how to figure this out as I always hand stitch my binding. I tried machine sewing - once - on a charity quilt and didn’t like it at all. Don’t gasp but I use binding cut 1-3/4 inches for double (called French) binding, it works for me as my batting is thin - I like Quilter’s Dream Request and have never had any trouble. Someone suggest dots of glue which is a good idea - heat-set the dots before sewing and that should hold it down. Or use the clips and sew slowly.

Sandy in Mooresville, NC