terriamn

When you make baby quilts do you sew one side of the binding down by hand? I usually do and it was suggested to me with all the wear and tear of a baby quilt it is best to machine stitch both sides down. If you do sew both sides down by machine do you use a decorative stitch?

Thanks Terri

quilterpurpledog

I have done it both ways. I always use a bias binding because it wears better. If I do the second side by machine I start by sewing the binding to the back side and turning it to the front. If, after you stitch it on the back side and press it good it is not difficult to have it look nice when you stitch it down on the front side. Sometimes I have used a docorative stitch but it was not done to hide poor stitching. The miters look good also.

Tartan

I usually sew the binding to the back by hand. If I want a completely machine sewn binding I use Charima's QB tutorial, Quick Machine binding with flange.

PaperPrincess

I always sew all my bindings on everything by machine. Everyone at the LQS is horrified, but I'm making them for daily wear & tear, not shows. The only time I don't is if it's an odd shaped item, like a curve or star.

luvstoquilt301

I used to make Quilts For Kids. Sewing the whole thing by machine was a requirement. Once I tried it--I was hooked for all quilts.

I sew it to the back first. Then I pull it around to the front and stitch it down with a serpentine stitch. I think is adds another design element to the quilt.

If I were to make a quilt for a show, I would do it the traditional way. I would love horrifying people at the LQS...lol.

tessagin

yep I do it the same as. BAck side first then to the front. I have yet to sew a binding by hand. OMG Yes the horrors of it all. None of mine which were gifts were ever for show.

Jeanne S

I do it both ways, depends on the gift and how much time I have.

ManiacQuilter2

I never really noticed any hand sewn stitches in binding wearing out. I use quilting thread for sewing the binding because it tangles a little less than normal sewing thread. I have always done it by hand because in my opinion, it just looks much nicer.

Doggramma

I used to sew all bindings by hand (on the backside) but now I do all my binding by machine. I sew it down first on the back, then use a blanket stitch on the front.

Sewnoma

I machine stitch all of my bindings, always. That's how both of my grandmothers did it - I didn't even know you were "supposed" to sew it on by hand until recently!

I don't think it's usually a problem to hand-stitch for baby quilts, though, as long as you do a proper job of it. I recently re-sewed the binding onto a baby quilt for a friend of mine; it was a quilt she was given in the hospital when her daughter was born - there were some complication so she had stayed in the hospital an extra week. The original quilter attached the binding to the back by hand but the spaces between each stitch were so big that the baby caught her hands and feet under the binding in between the stitches and pulled some stitches out in several places so my friend put the quilt up not long after getting home from the hospital. She was okay with me machine-sewing it back on for her and now the quilt can be used for her brand new (surprise) son! Her daughter is 9 now but swears she remembers the quilt from "when she was young".