Come Bind with me!

Welcome to my tutorial on Double Sided Binding. I love this method and I think you will too!

Start with choosing the fabric for the binding that you would like to see on the front of the quilt and then choose the binding fabric that you would like to have on the back of the quilt.


Now measure the perimeter of your quilt. Add 15" to the total. This is how long the completed binding strip needs to be.

From the fabric that you have chosen for the front binding, cut 1" strips to equal the length you need.


From the fabric chosen for the binding for the back of the quilt, cut 2" strips to equal the length you need.


Sew the 2" strips together by laying the ends of the strips over each other right sides together as shown above. Then sew a diagonal line, corner to corner. Cut away the outside corner 1/4" from the sewn line and press.



Now repeat this step for the 1" strips.




Sew the 1" and the 2" strips together as shown above.

Press


Fold the binding strip in half, wrong sides together, as shown above and press.



Square up your quilt. Whenever a quilt is machine quilted, it has a tendency to shift close to the edge and sometimes the straight border edge that you started with moves a little bit. I always square up my quilts with a pencil or very fine fabric marker, measuring from the border seam over to the edge.

This little quilt sample was trimmed. I usually leave about 3" of batting and backing on my quilts when I am binding and then I trim the quilt once the binding is sewn on.


Sew the binding on using a 1/4" seam with the front binding face down on the quilt top as shown above. Align the raw edge of the binding against the pencil line.


Note: Make sure to start in the middle of one of the sides of the quilt and leave a 5" piece of binding at the start.


When you get to the corners, stop 1/4" from the drawn line and fold the binding up as shown above, making sure it's nice and straight, and pin.



Fold the binding straight down and continue sewing the 1/4" seam. Make sure you remove the pin before you start to sew ... you don't want it to get caught up in your machine.





Continue all the way around your quilt until you come close to where you started. Trim the tails so they overlap 2 1/2". I use a small rotary mat -- at 5" by 7" it's the perfect size.



Open the two ends and overlap them. Sew a diagonal line corner to corner. Cut away the outside corner 1/4" from the sewn line and press flat. Continue sewing the binding onto the quilt with a 1/4" seam.



Trim the quilt 3/8" past the sewn line. This will give a nice fullness to the finished binding.

Pin the binding down on the back of the quilt and hand stitch in place. Instead of pins you might like to try using binding clips that can be purchased at most quilt shops.


I hope that you've enjoyed my Double Sided Binding tutorial and that you'll have fun trying this technique!






28 comments:

  1. Thanks Margot for the tutorial. I have used this technique when I don't have enough fabric to make it from one fabric, and it has been handy, now I have nice clear directions and pictures to help me.

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  2. I've been months trying to figure out how to use my honey bun of Fresh for binding on my quilt! Now I know I'll use it with white and make a double binding! Super cool!!!!!!!

    You just saved my quilt lol!

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  3. Thank you -- I just finished a quilt that this technique would have worked so well. I just noticed your pony pics... I drove our pony around the circuit for five years... much time out in those fields in all kinds of weather! My pony girl is an adult - still riding - and our pony is retired across the street in 'her' barn. Great memories.

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  4. that is fantastic. I never thought of that...so happy you put this tutorial up...really.

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  5. Oh, the possibilities! I have a quilt to bind and wanted to add lace to the binding. Now I know exactly how to do it :)

    Thanks for the tut !

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  6. Anonymous12/05/2009

    Could you please post a picture of the completed quilt? It looks adorable. And if you could post the name of the pattern, that would be wonderful too! :-) Thanks for the tutorial.

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  7. That is pretty cool! I love the idea of having two different sides to your binding. Thank you!

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  8. Hi Margot,
    thanks a million for this great tutorial! I wish I've had it earlier ~ it would have been very handy for some quilts...and now I see it's so simple (I somehow shy a way from doing the math for that...silly, I know...)
    Wishing you a great 2nd Sunday in Advent,
    Julia

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  9. Nice and clear tutorial.

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  10. Great tutorial - hope to use it in the new year. Always fun to try something new.

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  11. oh that is fabulous. Thanks for sharing. I am so going to try it.

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  12. Anonymous1/04/2010

    I really really like this. I'm going to go make a sample to put in my idea notebook.

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  13. I love this binding. I've put it on my "must try" list for 2010.

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  14. Anonymous1/07/2010

    I hope to try this one day, thanks for sharing.

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  15. Great tutorial!

    Thanks,

    Billie

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  16. Thank you Margot for such a clear tutorial for binding - the link to your tutorial was given to me when I was having problems with insufficient fabric left to do my conventional double binding on a quilt I am making for a friend's 60th birthday.
    Thanks again from Sandy in Geelong, Australia.

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  17. I can't wait to try this!

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  18. Thank you so much for this tutorial Margot - I'll be using it on my next quilt!

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  19. Love it! The look, the clarity, the tut. Fantastic, again.

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  20. Wow, I've never seen this before and certainly would never had thought of it myself. Thanks very much.

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  21. Thank you for this tut, it´s a very cool idea, I´m sure going to try it someday.

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  22. Thank you for your idea, I just tried it on a baby
    quilt I just finished, It looks awesome..!!!!!!

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  23. Awesome tutorial..thanks!!

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  24. Hi, great tutorial! Thanks for sharing us!
    Hugs from Italy, Emanuela

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  25. enjoyed the tute! will make use of it soon! thanx a mil!

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  26. Thanks for the instructions, I had seen this done before but couldn't remember how to do it. I am doing a table runner for a
    friend and wanted to do the binding red and green. Now I can complete the table runner.

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  27. Anonymous3/29/2014

    I finally found a nice picture that actually shows how to sew the two ends of the binding together, and explains it correctly. Now I wish the picture were of a solid color binding instead of a two color one. It would show up better. Also, Jenny Doan shows how to clip the quilt into a fold at that point to make it easier to sew. Very helpful!

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Thank you for leaving me a comment, I love to read them!
Margot