Quilting - Mitered Corner Binding Instructions
Part One - Making Binding strip.
Please take note on photography, I took all pictures one handed with my cell phone. So it they are not the best please understand it is hard to shoot pics and sew!!
Today I was creating binding and attaching binding to a baby quilt and decided to post instructions as several have said it was so hard and thought I would share how I do it and get GREAT mitered corners every time.
First we need to make our "Binding". I personally use this technique on almost every quilt, pot holder, mug rug, table topper, table runner etc etc.. any thing that needs binding this is my go to way of doing it.
I make my binding out of strips the WOF [Width of Fabric from selvage over the fold and back to selvage]. And first thing you need to do is figure out how much binding do you need, and how many strips is that going to take to make that length of binding.
So I am going to show you my formula and explain it.
How many inches of binding do we need?
Example quilt measurements will be 49 wide and 50 long [don't ask how it got that size ..it just did!!!
So I will need binding on all four sides, so that would be 49 across the top, 49 across the bottom, 50 down the right side and 50 down the left side..... THEN I need fabric for my mitered corners. I saw one of the Quilting Guru's video and she said add 24 inches and your always safe. Guess what? I have yet to run short by using 24 inches on any quilt in Baby, Twin, Bunk bed, Full, Queen or King size. [IF I was doing a table topper or mug rug I just try to figure out what I will really use, for example if I am using 2.5" wide binding, I add that in twice for each corner then add 6 more inches. But this I only do on small stuff.]
Ok back to making Binding Strips. Ok so 49" + 49" + 50" + 50" + 24 = 222" of binding.
How wide to make the strips?
Now how wide are we going to make these strips? The standard width of strips is 2.5". BUT.... When I am doing quilts, I just think 2.5" is a bit skimpy so I use 3" wide strips.
[Why does it look skimpy? Well 2.5" gets folded and ironed in half so it becomes 1.25", then you put the raw edge against the quilt edge and sew it down with a 1/4" seam allowance, so you have now lost 1/4" in SA so that 1.25" becomes 1" then you fold that to the back, so you have 1/2" on each side. I just like it a bit wider, especially on any thing Full sized to King size.]
With 3" wide strips you end up with .625" wide binding on each side.
3" folded in half makes the binding 1 1/2" wide, Sew raw edge of binding to Quilt, loose a 1/4", Fold binding over to back leaves you .625" wide binding which is between a 1/2" and 3/4" and I just think that little 1/8" on each side looks better on bigger quilts.
BUT There are no quilting police... you need to do it as wide or as narrow as you wish, it is your quilt and your piece of art.
How many inches of binding do we get out of our WOF?
At the fabric store they will say the yardage is 45" wide. But you will need to cut the selvage off both WOF because you don't want to use selvage in your binding strips, or in your quilt at all. So that 45" WOF becomes 43" of useable fabric after selvages are removed... So my rule of thumb is that after selvages are removed 42" is what I count, any extra is just a safety amount and I don't count it.
How many strips do we need for our quilt?
We need 222" of binding, our WOF's length is 42". Formula for strips is:
222 ÷ 42 = 5.2857 strips. Because I use a rotary cutter and matt, any partial amount above a solid number, I round up to next solid number. So we need 6 strips 3" wide to make enough binding for this quilt.
[I am not going to get a pair of scissors and cut a strip .2857 long. I save any tails left over and use them when I am making multicolored or striped binding on another quilt. So it doesn't go to waste.]
How do we make our binding strips, from the strips we cut?
We will be sewing end to end our strips, but in a diagonal fashion. Why Diagonal? By doing a diagonal seam the seam tends to disappear and not stand out. It also gets distributed over a wider space so not so bulky at the seam line.
To make a diagonal seam in our binding strips, you place the ends of your two strips "Right sides together" like is shown in the following photo. When placing them allow the bottom strip to stick out just a bit from the one on top. And allow the top strip to be a bit above the edge of the bottom strip. Secure with a Pin.
[Why? because if you don't, when you sew them together there is more odds of it not being even when you open the sewn fabric. I have never figured out how come it does that, but I know every time I don't leave a bit above and a bit beside my binding is a little narrow on one side and you loose that to sew on.]
Now place your pinned binding strips on point where your needle will start sewing at the corner that is made where the bottom strip and top strip join. And you are going to sew to the opposite side where your seam will be centered on the bottom point.
In the below picture I have a Sew Easy attached guide on my machine presser foot. The solid line on the guide is where my needle is going to sew and the dotted lines are 1/4" markings. This Photo has an error, but I do not have a replacement and this binding is now on the quilt so I can't go back. BUT... Notice at the bottom the solid line on the "Sew Easy Guide" is right on the point of the lower piece of strip... THAT IS NOT WHERE YOU WANT TO SEW!! [this is not a HST] ... Do you see to the Left <<< of that point where the top and bottom strips create a notch? or inverted corner? That is where your seam is going to end. On the top you start at that point or notch. And your going to end at the bottom at that notch. You will see it sewn in the next picture.
The next photo is an example of how it looks after I have sewn that diagonal line. See how you sew from the notch on top to the notch on the bottom... NOT from the corner tip to corner tip like in a HST.
"Proof" your diagonal seam. Pull your top binding strip over to the right where it becomes straight with the strip on the left. This is how it should look before trimming and pressing.
Now fold top strip back to original position, and we are going to trim off the right top corner leaving a 1/4" seam allowance past the sewn line.
On the photo below you will note I used my 6.5" x 6.5" square up ruler, because on two of the edges it gives a clear 1/4" line so you can measure your seam allowance. In this instance I am lining up my 1/4" seam line on the ruler on top of the actual stitches. If you look closely you will see the sewn line under the line on the ruler.
Once it is aligned [ruler to sewn line] then I use the edge of the ruler and my rotary cutter to cut the excess off.
In the following photo you will see the excess cut away from the 1/4" sewn seam line.
Once you have trimmed the diagonal seam, you will need to "press your seam open".
Now lets discuss that.. "Press your seam open", which means you take your finger and open up the two sides of the seam allowance and with your iron you press those seam allowances towards the fabric strip they are part of. Which causes each side of the seam allowance fabric to lay towards its appropriate strip, and the sew seam balanced between them.
Another way of pressing the seam allowance is to press both sides of the seam allowance to one side. Problem with using that technique on binding strips, is that it adds bulk and a bump in your binding strip when sewn down.
Now repeat attaching your binding strips together with diagonal seams, as you did the first one. when finished you should have 6 binding strips sewn together with diagonal seams.
Once all strips are sewn together, it is time to form our binding strip. To do that you will need to fold your binding strip in half "wrong" sides together [Right sides on out side]. Then press down the entire length of binding strips.
You now have made your binding strip to use on the quilt. In Part Two We will attach and finish the binding strip on the quilt.
Happy Sewing!
Becky
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