Binding question

Sandy, are you talking inside corners or outside corners? Assuming you are doing pointy outside corners, then how wide will your finished binding be? Say you cut the strips about 2.25" and double fold, and you are sewing with a 1/4"seam allowance to sew it on, then the finished binding will be about 3/8" or so, and no extra overlap is necessary. Just do it the same way you do a 90 degree corner. Mickie

Mickie, that's exactly what I'm doing, but of course folding the binding strip at the corner doesn't line up exactly the way it does on a 90° corner. As a result, I can't figure out how much to leave to make a nice miter when I'm doing the handwork after the machine stuff is done. :S

Sandy, I've never tried it - but I would expect some slip, slide, fudge and finagle are involved. You can probably treat it like you would a standard

90° with the SM. Since you'll have a little extra to tuck inside your miter, you may have to clip just the least little bit out to get rid of bulk. If I were you, I'd make a practice sandwich and save some grief while you figure it out. Do report back; it's a very interesting challenge. Polly

Polly, what makes it so frustrating is that I've done this before with relatively little problem. This time the corners just aren't cooperating at all. :S I think the practice sandwich may be the next step; otherwise I'll end up destroying the real stuff by undoing it so much.

Sew down to 1/4" from the point, then pivot and sew to the tip of the point. When you rotate and then do the "fold binding back on itself" bit, first fold along the diagonal stitched line, and then back down even with the raw edges of the next edge to sew. It should automatically line up the way it needs to be, with the diagonal stitches to the point holding it in place. Mickie

Thanks, Mickie. That's what I'm doing, but how much of a fold do I leave? I know to line it up evenly with the edge I just finished sewing on the quilt when it's a 90° angle, but what about a "fatter" angle? There's no way to line that fold up even with the edge; it's either going to match on part of it or on a different part of it. I know I sound awfully dense, but I'm really stumped here.

Line the binding up with the next edge you will be sewing it to.....not a 90 degree angle this time. Betty in WI

The fold will be even with the pointy tip. What's the question on a "fatter angle"? Aren't we talking about a sharper pointier angle here? A "fatter angle", say 112 degrees, you would do exactly the same thing, the fold on the binding will be even with the outside edge of the point of your corner Hope this helps. Now, and this is important, this only will work on your narrower binding, that is, about 3/8" finished. If you want wider binding (which is going to be the new thing soon) you have to do some measureing and math! LOL

Mickie

might be sandy is talking about the 62 degrees inside angle. the outside of that is 298 degrees. inside a square is 90, outside is 270. just how i read her original post. j.

"Mickie Swall" wrote... The fold will be even with the pointy tip. What's the question on a "fatter angle"? Aren't we talking about a sharper pointier angle here? A "fatter angle", say 112 degrees, you would do exactly the same thing, the fold on the binding will be even with the outside edge of the point of your corner Hope this helps. Now, and this is important, this only will work on your narrower binding, that is, about 3/8" finished. If you want wider binding (which is going to be the new thing soon) you have to do some measureing and math! LOL

Mickie

No magic formula. But if you fold your binding miter back at 45 degrees for a 90-degree corner, then it makes sense that the angle of the fold should be half of whatever angle the corner is. So about 30 degrees. But in practice, it works just fine -you stitch the binding to within a quarter inch of the end, lift the presser foot, turn the piece to the next edge, eyeball about half the distance and fold your binding back on that angle, then fold it forward again to line up with the edge. My advice: don't worry about the angles, just do it!

For >I've done this before, but for some reason I've drawn a total blank this

Thanks, Roberta! I figured it out -- eventually. ;S I simply had far too much bulk in the corners, and that's why nothing was working.

Thanks for all of your patient answers, Mickie. I've figured out where the problem lay. Since I'd put corded piping into the seam between the binding and the border, I had far too much bulk for those corners to turn nicely. Once I'd trimmed out more of the bulk, things worked much more easily. I'm ready to do the hand work now. :)

Thanks again!

Great! The piping --would-- make a big difference. Glad it all worked out okay for you. Mickie