How to Bind a Quilt with Professional, Mitred Corners
Follow this illustrated guide for neat, professional bindings once you have finished quilting your quilt and have trimmed the edges square. These instructions are for single binding, not double.
1. Cut binding strips 1.5" wide and join them together into continuous length, sufficient to reach all around the quilt with a little bit extra. Join using a 45-degree angled seam. (Cross your binding strip ends at 90 degrees, right sides together, then sew across the join at 45 degrees. Open, trim and press.) This joining method reduced seam allowance bulk. Please note: if you are using particularly thick wadding or if you prefer a wide finished binding, adjust strip width to 1.75".
Trim the seam allowances quite narrow.
Press seam allowances to one side and press binding open.
2. Start about 1/3 of the way up on the right edge of your quilt. Lay your binding strip edge on top of the quilt, edges meeting, and right sides together. Fold the top end of the binding over to the right, 90 degrees so that it hangs off the quilt and the fold forms a 45 degree angle, as shown below.
3. Align edge of presser foot with edge of quilt/binding. Position needle to desired width of seam. We favour a 3/8" wide seam. Adjust stitch length to 3.0. Start stitching at the folded edge of your binding and carry on stitching to the first corner, but stop your seam width (in this case 3/8") before reaching the corner.
4. Turn quilt 45 degrees and sew off the edge, aiming for the exact corner.
5. Fold the long unsewn binding up at 90 degrees to the sewn edge. Thumb press.
6. Next, fold the long binding tail straight down so that its right edge aligns with the next edge of your quilt. Starting at the top edge, stitch the next edge of the binding, again stopping your seam width distance before the corner and turning 45 degrees and sewing to the corner. Cut thread.
Your corners will look like this when you open them:
7. Continue in this manner until all four corners have been turned and mitred. Attach the binding to the remaining edge of the initial side. Stop sewing a few inches before you reach the point where you started.
8. Now for the magic finish! No measuring! Overlap the unsewn tail a few inches over the beginning of your binding. Trim excess binding length off at 45 degrees, making sure that you don't leave a gap. Be sure to leave enough so that the tail goes 2-3 inches beyond where the initial fold beginning is.
Sew right off the edge of your binding tail, taking care to sew exactly on top of the stitch line you created at the beginning of the round.
9. Cut the little starting tail off.
10. Your binding will fit perfectly. Open it outward and give it a light press for a crisp finish.
(Image above shown before pressing)
11. To hand hem the back, turn the quilt over and, starting in the middle of a long edge (not the starting edge with the join), roll the raw edge under sufficiently to achieve desired finished binding width. Often this will mean tucking the raw edge right into the seam allowance. Fold, then pin or clip 20" (50cm) or so at a time. Use a blind stitch to hand sew the fold of the binding to the back of your quilt, usually meeting or just covering the stitch line. Hand fold the corners to mitre them on the back so that they have a crisp mitred point and lay flat. Hem all the way around. When you reach the start/overlap point, it may be worthwhile to trim/layer the seam allowances to reduce bulk before you sew the binding down.
