I have been asked how I use Elmer's Glue for basting blocks and binding. So while putting binding on today I snapped a few pictures to demonstrate how I do it. The glue washes out easily, it does not gum up my needle, and I have tried hand sewing through it and had not trouble with that either.
Keep the glue in the seam, if it leaks out it will wash out of the fabric, no problem....but I do not care to clean my iron's sole plate any more often than necessary :wink:
It is very helpful to have this small applicator tip...you only need a very fine line or very small drops. Coming out of the regular bottle's tip is too much and hard to control. I got this bottle for 49 cents at a thrift store. You can refill these bottles with regular Elmer's White School Glue. Another alternative is to squirt some glue out onto a piece of aluminum foil and use the tip of a toothpick...I tried this in a pinch, but it does take longer doing it this way. If it is just to align/match seams, it works fine.
To align/match seams, I only DRY IRON for a quick 3 count...for bindings sometimes to 5...check and see how long it takes to set the glue.
I used more than necessary to match the seams in these pictures so that the drops showed up...3 small drops...if you shift it, gently peel them apart and reglue and iron.
Practice on some orphan blocks like in the picture...mine are pinned down just to free up my hands to take the pictures. I match the seams, glue and pinch the area with my fingers and then hit it with the iron.

Binding sewn onto the back and ready to be glued down.

I place the glue dots where they will not come out past the binding after being ironed.

Iron to the count of 3-5 seconds....on a setting to match your fabric and NO STEAM.

You can see even my mitred corner is started here, too. Everything is basted down.
Now I add just a drop more the the corner of the mitre to hold it in place when folded down and iron.

More dots of glue and iron the binding down.

The mitred corner looks pretty good, huh? 8) Even better in person without the shadows picked up by the camera :wink:

Continue all the way around your quilt and then sit down and sew it by hand or machine and now worries about getting poked, sewing over pins, or the pins hanging up on the quilt.

Thanks so much for sharing. Good photos and directions!

THANKS :lol:

Thank you Amma :-)

ok. YOU are my hero!

i glue baste, too, when doing narrow bindings. but no matter how hard i try i simply cannot get the sharp, crisp, perfectly angled mitres you make.

i bow in awe and wonder. :shock: :P :P :P

What a great tute!! Thanks!
And I am so envious of your mitered corners, mine never look that good!!!
I will try harder :roll: :roll:
I like this, especially for the bigger quilts that i do, no pins, I am always sticking myself :shock: :lol: :lol:

Hurray! was basting last night and my hand slipped...yup, jabbed pin right up under left thumbnail :shock: :evil: :!:
Now I got me some pictures, I am gonna become a glue basting fool :mrgreen:
No more jabs for me...maybe :oops:
Hugs for sharing Amma. Your corner looks awesome! :wink:

Amma, can I ask you a question? This is probably a stupid one, but do you stitch down the front first then glue down the back followed with additional stitching? If so, does the stitch show on the front? I'm confused. So sorry to ask so many questions. Thank you in advance.

Thanks for the tute. This looks a lot easier than pinning. Will try it on my next binding.

Thank you for the tute! I actually tried glue basting on a baby quilt a couple of months ago and really liked it! I haven't used it to match pieces but I may just have to give it a try!

There is no reason why you could not sew the binding on the front and then flip it to the back for handsewing the binding down.
Since my machine stitches are going to show on both sides of the quilt, I flip the binding around to the front, to keep track of the edge of the binding, while I am stitching it down. That is just my preference.

Thank you all :D :D :D
For the mitres, I press a crease in before adding that little drop of glue.
Don't get me wrong, they don't turn out this crisp 100% of the time, but I am pretty happy with them most of the time.

Awesome job on the tute!!!!!!!!! I am not sure that I will be using but you never know when it may come in handy!!!!!!!!

What a fantastic tutorial. Thanks sew much!

That looks awsome. I need all the help I can get with binding.
Judy in Ohio

Great tute! So much better than basting those seams together - over and over! Ditto for the mitred corner. Thanks Amma.

You are all very welcome :D :D :D

Thanks Amma,

I saw a tutorial on glue basting online recently and recognized the bottle and thin needle spout while out shopping with my sister.

Now that I have the gear, and your pic-tu-torial, I am ready to glue up my next binding!

Thanks again for the shot of confidence.

Amma, I see two lines of stitching where you sewed the binding on. Do you stitch down the binding twice or use a double needle?

I like to do a stay stitch around the edges before sewing on the binding. This is the only way I have found to keep my edges laying flat, and I was having issues with the fabric edges folding over in places while sewing on my bindings:oops: :roll: :lol:

You will be happy to her Amma that I sort of used your Tute!!!!!!!!!!


The kdis are working on their doll quilts today for the swap, I know, nothing like the last min, and to get the binding to stay for them, I helped them out and glued them for them, I should have had them but time was of the essence. Two of the kdis are done them, K-M is still working on hers, I may just get her to do that for her binding as well. We will see if she actually gets her top done tonight, it is getting late so who knows.

I love glue basting. I use it a lot when sewing binding strips together.
1.fold the corner of strip 1 back on a 45 degree angle and press.
2. glue the angle edge with a line of glue
3. lay strip two on the glue making a straight line.
4. press the two together
5. continue on joining strips.
6. at the sewing machine peel the binding back to reveal the crease made by the 45 degree press.
7. sew in the crease.
8. cut the ears off!

No slipping or trying to pin and sewing over pins!

amma...I love this method! I first tried it a couple of months ago since I am having trouble with my hands and can't hand sew all that much. I do the same thing as you, then I am trying out lots of different decorative stitches to hold the binding down, sewn from the front. It really seems to add something to the quilt....and its fun! :D :D

Thanks Amma, I have my quilter serge around my quilts after she is finished.
I/m going to try that Elmers, just as soon as I can find a tip for the top

Thanks, amma, for a great tute! Have never used glue b4, but will try it.

Thanks, mamagus, also for your technique too! Will try that also.

Just FYI, or if anyone is interested, there's a product out specifically for gluing applique pieces with an elongated tip by Roxanne called "Roxanne's Applique Glue." It's a refillable bottle so when you run out, you can always replace it with Elmer's or SoHo, another great fabric glue. I like to use Alene's Tacky Glue. It's great for fabrics! :-) :-)

They give great tips on using the glue and preventing the glue in the applicator tip to dry by blowing out the glue @ this link:
ozquilts.com/au/roxanne's-glue-baste-it-2oz if you are interested. :-) :-)

This is a method that Sharon Schamber shows on her web site. just go to www.sharonschamber.com and click on the free stuff and she has lots of free videos and this is one of them.. It's the angel binding... great ideas.
I don't machine sew much bindings except for babies... and this is the best method around if you sew the binding to the back and then bring to the front and glue down you won't believe how straight your stitch is ... but Sharon recommends Elmer's School glue because it is washable.
J :D

n2scraplr: I tried several times ,unable to access, so when typing it in again with Google, I left out the 2ozand got a listing for it. This is what I use, but will use Elmer.s School glue in the future. Thanks for the info.

Your welcome! After looking at grandmajuki's suggestion of sharon schamber's website on Elmer's, I think I will use that too! So sorry that url listing didn't pull it up for you but that you got to read it anyway. :oops: :wink:

You can find the tips at different hobby stores and they will screw onto a regular bottle of elmers glue. I found mine at a thriftstore still in the packaging for 49 cents.

Thank you for adding the additional information here!!! I love this method and love the extra tips!!! :D :D :D

Hi, Just for the foreigners, are you talking about PVA glue, as I am not sure what Elmers glue is? I love the idea of lining up the blocks like that. Thank you.

Oh, thanks, amma, for the add'l info on getting those tips @hobby stores! I am forever getting thread caught in pins sewing binding on so will want to try the glue with a nice syringe top like yours~!! :D ;)

Elmers glue is a glue that washes out. In the US it is used a lot in school, I guess because kids will be kids and get it on their clothes.
Hope this help to understand about elmers.
What is PVA glue?

Hi again, PVA glue is a gloopy white glue that is used everywhere here from Schools to crafts to mending things, you can buy it in tiny pots at stationers or by the gallon in DIY stores, because you can also use it to prime a surface to help adhere render etc.

It is thick and looks like yoghurt or cream, but sticks beautifully. I think it might be worth trying it on a little bit of scrap and seeing if it will wash out, that would be the main thing, wouldn't it?

You wouldn't think there would be a language barrier between two English speaking nations would you?

best wishes

Elmers school glue is a starch based glue...completely water soluable. It dries clear and rather transparent. It does not work well on hard surfaces...it would basically peel right off.

You didn't say if you were impressed that used it!

I AM cutie!!! I AM :D:D:D AND I am glad that it worked so well for the kids, too!!! :D:D:D:D:D:D:D

Glad to hear, it made it easier for the kids to do their bindings with out me there with my hands in the middle of it.I tried to get them to do as much of it as they could without my help, I held rulers etc and watched this and did a little of that.

I never thought to "tute it" as an aid for kids!!! Do you think that little ones would do better with a mini iron like a Clover and the glue?
I can see where not having to worry about pins would make it easier for them, as well as not having to start and stop so much. Besides, little ones love gluing things, right? :D:D:D