Quilt Binding: Double Binding... aka French Binding...

This is my favorite binding.  Hand sewing it to the back is a breeze because you're not having to fold a raw edge under and stitch.  And since the edge of the quilt is protected by 2 layers of fabric, it takes quite a bit of wear-n-tear to get to the inside of the quilt.

I start by cutting strips of fabric (cross-grain - from salvage to salvage) that are 2 1/4 inches wide.  If you have fabric that is supposed to be 45" wide, then add the length of all the sides together and divide by 40.  This will tell you the number of strips you'll need.

 

Next, sew them together with a diagonal seam.  I use a diagonal seam because the binding will be folded in half and this distributes the bulk of the seam.

Lay one of the strips face-up.

 

Then lay another strip face-down as shown below.

Draw a diagonal line as shown, and pin.

 

When all joints have been marked and pin, sew on the line.

 

(and yes, I did sew over those pins - slowly)

BEFORE you trim any excess, make sure you have all the pieces going the right way.  Then you can trim the excess ends off.

 

You should now have a very long, very narrow strip of fabric.  Take this to your ironing board.  With the iron on the correct setting for your fabric, fold and press the binding in half so that the wrong-side is facing itself.  And press those seam allowances (as you come to them) to one side or the other, just not open.

 

Now we're ready to put the binding on the quilt.  (Maybe reward yourself for getting this far)

I work with the quilt out in front of me, right side up, and work on the edge closest to me.

Depending on the size of the quilt will determine where you can start the binding.  We'll assume a larger quilt (smaller quilts, start near the corner).  

Starting on the left half of the side, pin the binding to the quilt front, matching raw edges together, leaving a tail 12-18" long on your right and the length of the binding off to the left.  

 

When pinning binding, I pull ever so slightly on the binding.  This helps prevent ruffled edges.

When you get to the corner, you need to mark 1/4" away from edge of the quilt.  I help mark this by placing 2 pins side-by-side as a "stop" sign of sorts.  Sew what you have pinned.  When you get to that end mark 1/4" away from the edge, you must backstitch.

 

That first part of the side should now be sewn.  Now the corner...  Lay the quilt so you're looking at the corner like this.

Fold the binding like this.

 

Then like this.

 

And continue pinning.  Remember to mark for the next corner.

When you start sewing this side, backstitch at the beginning and the end of the side.

Continue around the quilt until you are ready to go around the last corner.  Fold the binding for the corner and continue pinning down the side until you get about 12-18" away from where you started sewing.

Now to join the ends.  Take the tail that we let dangle in the beginning and pin it open like this.

 

And fold it like this.  And finger press.

 

Then bring the new end up and pin it open and fold like this.  Matching the two folds as close as possible.

 

Now hold those two tails together, and release the pins that held the binding open.  Line up the folds on top of each other and sew.  

 

BEFORE you cut the extra out, lay it flat against the quilt to make sure that everything is fine.  (We'll call this one of my own "hard lessons learned")

 

Trim out the excess "tails", finish pinning the binding to the quilt, and sew the binding to the quilt, backstitching over the existing stitches.

Trim off all the excess binding and backing from the quilt.

Handsew the binding to the back of the quilt.  I use a blind stitch and work with the back of the quilt facing me.  And the fold of the binding is easy to catch and sew down.

 

Fold the corner, placing this side down first.

 

Then folding the other side down.

 

This helps distribute the bulk in the corners.  I also stitch up the miter that appears in the corner.

 

Any questions, let me know.  :)

Happy quilting!

Comments

[Perrycounty]

Thanks, Kara....I do not know why but binding is the thing I dread after I finish a quilt. I always have a difficult time with it. That is a great tutorial, I will print it off and refer to it...