Watson

I've always sewn the back of the binding down by hand, but want to try (again) to sew a baby quilt binding by machine, using a decorative stitch. Whenever I've done this in the past, I've either missed spots or I've ended up with too much binding on one side....

Does anyone have pictures of what it's supposed to look like on the back when it's done well?

Tips appreciated, too.

Watson

Gay

Sorry, no photos of my binding, but I sew to the back first, then by machine to the front last, but have only used a straight stitch. Would assume that if you used a decorative stitch the back should look the same as the front, providing the tensions were right. Sometimes if the top tension isn't tight enough the top thread will poke through to the back and the stitches don't look so nice, so needs to be tested first.

Jingle

Youtube should have tutorials and videos for this. Our tutorial section on this board should have some also.

wesing

This is how I do mine

How I machine bind

Tartan

Have never been satisfied machine stitching and trying to catch the back binding. It really bugs me when the stitching lines is crooked along the binding. I think I would sew to the back and put a decorative stitch along the front where you can see to catch it all.
When I do machine binding, I always do the one with the flange and stitch along the flange with thread that matches the back.

cathyvv

Same here. It does take a bit of practice to get it right, but once you have mastered it you will love to do it.

cathyvv

Thread that matches or blends well with the back is also what I do.

Z

Sharon Schamber has three excellent videos on machine binding on You tube: Binding the Angel parts 1, 2, and 3. Since I have used her methods, my bindings have improved immensely.

Rhonda K

This is a great video that I recently watched.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQgjp4Upt8w

There is a "sweet spot" for that first stitch down. If you are using 2 1/2 inch binding, you need more than the 1/4" seam. It should be around 3/8". When you turn the corners you need to stop stitching at 3/8" for that perfect corner miter. Then fold and pivot as usual.

Are you able to move your needle on your machine? For my BL machine the setting is -3.0 for a 3/8" seam and the -2.75 is a shy 3/8" seam. I keep these settings on a small card by the machine.

Make some samples to try with your machine. Record the settings right on the samples for future use.

I stitch to the BACK first and bring around to front and use a decorative blanket or feather stitch on the front. It's easy to see where the stitches are as I sew. The back is already down and if the stitch line is off a bit on the back, no worries. My machine has a laser light so that helps me stitch a straight line.

Good luck!

PS: My quilter did the binding(by machine) on my last two quilts, easy and done. I had the quilt labels already made and she stitched those right into the binding at the corners. It was wonderful to receive completed quilts!

Watson

See? I've been doing it wrong! I need to sew it to the back and then bring it around to the front.

Quilting Board comes through again!

Watson