TIP 1
It's important to get a full binding. By that I mean that
there's no excess flat fabric but rather the binding is full of
the three layers of the quilt. A good way to achieve this is
to cut the binding at 2″ or if you prefer 2⅛″. Most people
cut their binding at 2 ½″ which can result in a flat binding
at the edge of the quilt. I have always cut it at 2 ¼″ but
today I am going to cut it at 2″ and see how it goes.
After cutting the binding strips I sewed them together on
the bias to make one long continuous strip. In order to
ensure that the strips are even, you may wish to draw a
diagonal line to sew along.
Once sewn together trim the excess fabric to a ¼" at the
joins and press the fabric in half with wrong sides together.
I use steam when doing this to get a nice crisp edge on
my binding. This is the edge that will be hand sewn to the
back of the quilt.
Drawn line as stitching guide
Attaching the binding
TIP 2
It's very important to use a walking foot or a dual feed
action foot when sewing the binding to the quilt top.
Because the binding is being stitched through the layers
of the quilt there's extra fabric to move along under the
foot. With a walking foot or dual feed foot the fabric is
moved evenly and smoothly under the foot and over the
feed dogs making for a crisp clean stitching line to hold
the binding in place.
Crisp clean edge on pressed binding
Waling foot
and
dual feed foot
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