Teacup

I have a friend going through a rough patch and thought I'd make a lap quilt to let her know I'm thinking of her. I'd like to use fleece for the backing so that it's extra cuddly and I will skip the batting. Since I've not done fleece before, I'll probably use a good quality polar fleece but avoid Minkee since some have said it's extra challenging and slippery.

But how do you bind with fleece backing? Use the traditional cotton binding? Do you need to cut it any wider to allow for bulk? Any tips?

GailG

I've never done a fleece backing, but would assume that if the seam is thicker it would require a wider binding. It's a kind thing you are doing for your friend.

Joset

i have used fleece at backing and yes the seam is thicker i used a 4 inch binding
but i think a 3 or 3 1/2 would be good enough

judylg

I use 2 1/2 binding with fleece, have not had a problem, with no batting it is not too thick. When I bind a quilt with cotton, front and back I normally press the binding, I skip this step when using fleece.

patchsamkim

I used a 3" binding when I did the fleece quilt I made. Very nice of you to be making a quilt for your friend!

mom-6

I've done the binding as usual with 2-1/2" strips or with just pulling the backing to the front.

Both ways worked great.

It is not any more bulky than binding a quilt having batting.

dd

I just folded over about an inch of the backing and use the blanket stitch on my machine. Yes, it showed on the back but everyone I showed it to just loved it, including the person who received it. I wasn't interested in stitching thru all those layers of fleece.

grammyp

I have always folded under 1/4 - 1/2 inch around the top and sewn it down to the fleece. Then trim the fleece about 1/2 inch wider than the top and left it unbound. Sometimes I cut fringe on the sides. Since fleece doesn't ravel it works well for me.

sewplease

I just finished 2 kids quilts using fleece for the back plus batting. I used a 2.5" binding which I sewed to the back and then machine top sewed to the front, also another first for me which I loved. I was concerned about binding mine, too, but they turned out great.

Sally J

I've done them both with cotton and fleece. The cotton binding was 3 inches. I sewed the edges of the quilt before I attached the binding in both cases. I also did one with the fleece, I only use a single fold binding, cut it 3 inches, sewed on the front as usual and hand stitched the back. Both ways were fine but I liked the look of the fleece binding.