Binding

Are you sewing the binding to the back by machine? That is what I do, but it does get tricky and takes some practice to get the binding to wrap over far enough to catch it consistently. You could try gluing the binding in place to the back with a basting glue or a water-soluble glue stick or even Elmer's School Glue. Let the glue dry and then stitch it down. The glue will wash out when the quilt is washed. Or you can do like a lot of people do and sew the binding to the back by hand.

Julia > I'm having a heck of a time getting my binding to look good. I have Eleanor

Sounds like you're doing your binding by machine. (Good for you! Keep those Quilt Police in a snit! LOL)

I'm not familiar with EB's book on binding, so I'll just tell you how I do it, and you can take what lessons you'd like from it. :)

First, I sew the binding on to the *back* side of the quilt and flip the folded edge around to the front. Then, to sew that edge down, I sew from the front side, just about two threads in from the edge. If I'm really being fussy about it, I use a thread in the top that matches the binding and a thread in the bobbin that matches the backing, but since I heavily piece most of my backings, I usually don't get that worked up about it. Yes, I wind up with a line of sewing on the back that's just a tad inside the binding, but I've never had a judge mark me down for it in a show.

My aunt also does binding by machine, but she has a different method. She sews to the front, flips to the back with lots of extra binding. She then uses a foot on her Bernina that she calls a Channel foot (as in Coco Channel), and sews in the ditch made by the binding on the front side, catching the binding on the back. I haven't been able to replicate that to my satisfaction on my Janome, so I don't use that method.

As to looking like a drunk sewed it, well all I can suggest is save the margaritas for AFTER you finish the binding. *grin*

LOL. Didn't know we had quilt police!

That sounds like a winner to me, Kathy! thank you very much!!!

snipped a little bit

I like your way of thinking!

Thanks again, Debbie

This is how I do mine:

Just an addition to this.....I have a wavy stitch on my machine that I use instead of sewing the front of the binding down with a straight stitch. Then straightness and staying on the binding on the back doesn't matter so much.

Betty in WI ">

Thank you for sharing all this binding info. I'll be the first to admit, I'm a lurker, but I'm newish to quilting and I'm gathering info. I have one quilt done so far, well except for the binding. For some reason, binding feels scarey to me. And this thread helped a great deal.

Thank you ! SandyFromNJ

Betty > Just an addition to this.....I have a wavy stitch on my machine that I use

I do it the same way as Sally, I hand stitch it to the back, depending on the size of the project I can take it to work and finish it on my lunch and breaks. I took me a while too to get it down right. Hang in there.

Marie

I do it by hand when it needs to look especially nice. And yes, practice will help with the machine stitching! When doing it this way, trim the raw edge of the quilt with ruler and rotary cutter after you sew the binding on. (I don't trim the excess batting and backing beforehand, and I cut half an inch from the seam line to make a nice plump binding using 2.5" strips folded in half.) When the edge is trimmed, press the binding away from the quilt on the right side. Turn everything over and press the binding "closed" as you fold so that it just barely covers the seam line. Sometimes it helps to trim off the corners of backing/batting to make a neat miter.

You can pin it before stitching, but I don't bother. Stitch right on the edge of the binding, using thread colors in top and bottom that match as well as possible. If you have pressed well enough, your line of topstitching will fall right in the ditch on the front side of the quilt. Roberta in D

"Debbie" schrieb im Newsbeitrag news:AZjPg.1253$wU4.1031@trnddc06...

Well Welcome Sandy, if greetings haven't been extended yet!

Binding has a tendency to terrify me as well, I think for me it is the fear that if everything has gone right until now I'd had to upset the apple cart at the last stage....however, bindnig is a skill we need to learn as well.....

Welcome again Sandy!

Tricia

Sandy wrote:

I use the blind hem foot on my machine when I do the stitch in the ditch from the top. It has a little guide on it that I adjust to be in line with the needle, so I guide the little guide-thing along the "ditch". It helps me to keep my stitching in the ditch.

Julia > I do it by hand when it needs to look especially nice. And yes, practice

Another option is WonderTape. It is a double sided basting tape that is meant to be sewn through, shouldn't gum up the needle. And it is water soluble so washes out.

Pati, > Are you sewing the binding to the back by machine? That is what I do,

Sally, except for the beginning/ending that is how I do mine. I like to seam the beginning to the ending so that it looks just like the other seams in the binding. If done correctly you can't tell where it started/ended.

Pati, > This is how I do mine: