Binding Tutorial Posts Perfect Binding Basics Post #1 Binding Flange Basics Post #2 - Bias Binding How to bind curves Basics Post #3 - Scrappy Bias Binding How to bind 120° angles Single Fold Binding (for mini quilts & small projects) What do you want to know about binding? once i found out from friends... fellow quilters in classes i taught & took... that many people did not know how to finish the binding off without wrapping one around the other.. or a hot mess... i knew i had to do this tutorial! i hope it helps you out a bit! start with cutting your strips... many people {and patterns} say 2.5" but i usually do 2.25" they can be bias or straight of grain. i do bias most of the time... but i also do straight when the fabric design calls for it. {bias will make the binding last longer over time} either way.. piece your strips together on a 45 degree angle take one end and cut it at a 45 degree angle. do this before you iron. & before you sew it onto your quilt. do it now. iron your seams open. {to avoid bulk} iron binding in half... wrong sides together. you should have a nice pile like this. start sewing onto your quilt... using the end you cut at 45 degrees leave a 8" or so tail sew the binding to your quilt sandwich a 1/4" seam on the right side of quilt raw edges of binding to raw edges of quilt. stop 1/4" from the corner. backstitching helps. {be precise here.. mark it if you have to... it'll make things perfect.} fold binding over itself 90 degrees... basically opposite of where you want to sew it to next. then fold it back to look like this. continue sewing the binding on... being careful at all corners. till you get 12" away from where you started. you should have something looking like this. take the piece you just ended with {left} and line it up where you would have continued to sew. open it up towards the quilt like this... then take the piece you cut at 45 degrees earlier {right} and lay it inside the open part like this. open the 2nd piece {right} like this. now use a pencil or thin pen to draw a line where the 45 degree angle piece {right} lands on the first piece {left} take the excess binding off the quilt top from the left... and lay it on a cutting mat... like this. cut the excess binding off 1/2" past the line you drew. that will provide you with the 1/4" seam allowance needed on each piece. it should look like this. put the two ends together & pin sew with 1/4" seam allowance removing pins as you go. iron the seam open. & then iron the binding back in half onto the quilt the binding should lay perfectly flat on the quilt. sew the remaining part onto the quilt & nobody will ever know where you started putting your binding on.. it'll be perfectly smooth! fold the binding around to the back & hand stitch in place! be happy that you have a quilt that is almost finished!! Edit 1/31/11 Want to know how to hand sew the binding to the back of the quilt and finish your corners perfectly? I've added a new post that goes over just that! It also includes a video where I show the hand stitching steps of binding. -- want to link to this tutorial? grab a button! {144 x 144} {250x250} enjoy!! -- In addition to this tutorial I have two other binding tutorials. Binding Basics goes over tips and tricks for binding and includes a video. Binding Flange shows how to add a flange to basic binding. -- © 2009-2022 Julie R. Herman. All rights reserved. No part of this tutorial may be reproduced without written consent of Jaybird Quilts.