candi

Hello you all talented quilters,

So I am thinking about using the backing fabric to do the binding on the quilt I am working on. I searched and found some tutorials and explanation but I am confused about a couple of things. First, I want to say that I do want a double-folded binding and I do want to miter the corner (or attempt to anyway :mrgreen: ). Does anyone know of good cutting measurements for this? I've only done traditional double-folded binding with strips cut to 2.5 inches and sewed with a 1/4 seam. Also, do I need to leave extra batting extending beyond the quilt top? How much?
I am trying to follow these instructions here
http://how-to-quilt.com/cms/index.ph...=143&Itemid=39
but not sure how much backing to leave to double fold. Can anyone help me, please?

Thanks in advance and happy and safe Fourth to all!

dotcomdtcm

I'm trying to do this too. I can fold & press it but I thought you cut out the corner to make a miter. Will keep looking!

MadQuilter

I usually cut my binding at 2 1/4" and sew the strips until I have enough for the entire circumference. (Of course, I fold in half and press) Generally, I sew it to the front, pull the finished (folded) edge to the back and sew it down by hand. Now I have managed (on occasion) to make the binding even but most of the time, the part that gets turned to the back is slightly wider than the part that is on the front.

I have followed the mathematical guidelines and they NEVER seem to work out. So the last few quilts, I did a bit of trial and error. I pinned the binding where I thought I would sew and pulled the remainder to the back. If it ligned up well, I used that line, if not - I adjusted the seam allowance.

I would suggest to play with a piece of binding and a scrap piece of quilt.

...and I just checked the link only to realize that you are talking about "self-binding" and I am very sorry but I don't know about those. The math should be OK. If your binding is 2.5" then you need to subtract the amount you need to turn under and divide the rest in half. You would need to leave that amount of batting all the way around the quilt.

dotcomdtcm

Someone wrote that she did this with extended batting so the binding was filled too.

ktbb

according to the instructions on the link, self binding is one layer only. I tried playing with a piece of paper to get a double fold self-binding, but while it can be done, it is really bulky (if batting is used to fill the binding, or very wimpy (if you trim the batting).

In addition, the double binding makes the corners double bulky when you follow the instructions on the link.

If you want to do it double, I may be able to figure out the numbers but you need to tell me how wide you want the finished binding to be...how much backing fabric do you want to have visible on the front.

ktbb

dotcomdtcm, you can easily use this self binding method on your woven top. It appears that you've already stitched the woven part to the blue background. If that is correct, follow the instructions on the link in the original message and yours will work out fine with single layer self-binding. The diagonal cut on each corner is the only cut you make on the fabric for mitered corners and this is to eliminate the bulk of too much fabric.

candi

Thanks for your reply. I think when I do traditional binding, 1/2 inch shows, so I guess that is what I want to show doing the self-binding as well. That being said, I don't think I want to do the self binding if you think that the double-fold would be too bulky. And I am worried about doing just single layer of backing fabric that the binding wouldn't hold as well. Is there anyway to do double-folded self binding with mitered corners? If not, I think I'll just do the traditional binding. :shock: I like the look of it anyway.

Again, thanks all for the replies. And dotcomdtcm, good luck to you with your quilt.

candi

Mad Quilter, this is what I generally do( generally here means the few quilted pieces I did so far), but I thought I already have the backing and it is made of the fabric I am going to cut for the binding anyway and I heard of the slef-binding so I thought I'd give it a try, but I guess it is more complicated than I thought, I guess I'll stick with what I know for this quilt and play with scraps to figure it out later.

mom-6

I like doing the backing as binding. To me it's really easier. I leave the batting sticking out around the edges a little wider than I want my binding to end up so it makes a kind of puffy edge. Trim so it is even. Then I fold over the backing so it is even all the way around just past the edge of the batting. This usually means it ends up pretty much like a double regular binding would be. Then you just stitch the binding to the front of the quilt by either hand or machine. Super simple! Oh at the corners it does help to do a diagonal cut to eliminate the bulk.

dsb38327

One of the best tools I had was this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wprg5vzkuGw which came from one of the Quiltingboard posts from 2009. http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-17400-1.htm.
/Regards, Dorothy