The final step of constructing a quilt is adding the binding. A quilt’s binding is a strip of fabric sewn around the edge of the quilt sandwich to help keep the quilt’s layers in place. Though there are a few different ways to make a binding, the most durable binding is a double fold binding, a long strip that’s been folded along its length to produce two layers. To create a double fold binding:
- Prepare the quilt for binding.
- Make the binding strips.
- Sew on the binding.
Table of Contents
Prepare the Quilt for Binding
The backing and batting of your quilt should be just a bit bigger than your quilt top. To prepare the quilt for binding:
- Square the quilt top corners: Compare the corners of your quilt top against the corner of your rotary cutting ruler. If they aren’t square, trim them.
- Baste: Baste the three layers together.
- Trim the batting and backing: Trim carefully so that the backing and batting are just 1/4″ wider than the edge of the quilt top.
Make Binding Strips
Making binding strips involves first cutting the strips and then sewing the strips together. The first step, though, is to choose a finished binding width, the width the binding will be when sewed onto the quilt. The width of the binding often depends on the loft of the batting, though it’s generally easiest to work with a binding that will be 1/4″ wide. The formula for how wide a double fold binding strip will be once sewn onto a quilt is: 2 × [1/4″ seam allowance + (2 × finished binding width)]. For instance, to make a 1/4″ binding, you need 2 1/2-inch-wide strips.
Cut Binding Strips
You can cut the strips either cross-grain (at right angles to the selvage edge) or on the bias (at a 45° angle to the selvage). Cross-grain strips tend to be better for straight edges, whereas strips cut on the bias are better for curved edges.
Assemble Binding Strips
After you’ve cut the binding strips, sew them together to create a single long strip.
- Arrange two binding strips so that their right sides face each other, and so that they lie at right angles to each other, with their ends overlapping. Pin together.
- Mark a diagonal line that extends from the top left point of intersection between the two strips and ends at the bottom right point of intersection. Hand- or machine-stitch a seam along the line. Remove the pins and trim away the fabric beyond the seam, leaving a 1/4″ seam allowance.
- Press the seam open and arrange the joined strips so that they lie in a straight line. Trim off the small triangles that extend at the point of the seam
Continue joining strips until you have a length of binding that’s equal to the sum of the four sides of the quilt plus about 12″. Press the entire length of binding.
Sew on the Binding
To sew the binding, follow these four main steps:
- Start the binding.
- Miter the corners.
- Finish the binding.
- Sew the binding to the backing.
Start the Binding
- Unfold the binding so that it lies flat, then fold only the end so that the corner is flush against the upper edge of the fabric. Trim off the fold you just made, leaving a 1″ seam allowance
- Without folding the binding, lay it down so that its top edge is flush with the edge of the quilt top, and so that it is about 1/3 of the way along the edge from a corner. Pin it in place. Begin stitching through the three layers of the quilt, 1/2″ before the binding begins along the 1/4″ seam allowance. Continue sewing for about 4″.
- Fold the binding together. Some of the folded-up binding will now cover the stitches you just made (the stitches labled “beneath fold” in the image). Continue stitching from the spot where you stopped, but stitch on top of the fold (the stitches labeled “above fold” in the image). Stitch along the length of the quilt edge, stopping when you’re 1/4″ from the corner.
Miter the Binding’s Corners
- Work a backstitch 1/4″ from the corner.
- Fold the binding up so that it’s perpendicular to the edge of the quilt along which you’ve been sewing.
- Fold the binding back down so that the top edge of the binding aligns with the top of the quilt.
- Continue all the way around the quilt, stitching along the edges and mitering the corners.
Finish the Binding
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- Stop sewing just before you reach the point where you started sewing. Trim the remaining binding so all that’s left is just enough to tuck into the “tube” created by the fold at the beginning tail.
- Tuck in the tail, then stitch up to the starting point.
- Secure the diagonal fold where the two ends of the binding meet with a blind stitch done in a thread that matches the binding.
Sew the Binding to the Backing
- Trim the backing and batting so that they’re even with the quilt top.
- On one side of the quilt, lift the folded edge of the binding up and over to the back of the quilt. It should cover the seam you sewed to attach the backing to the quilt top. Pin the binding to the backing.
- Sew the binding to the backing with a blind stitch that goes into the batting but doesn’t pierce the quilt top.
- Create mitered corners by folding in the corner of the binding and then folding down the sides of the binding over the backing
- Continue the blind stitch around the entire quilt
