Sunday, January 24, 2010

Continuous Bias Binding - Tutorial

I thought I would share my technique of making bias binding for my quilts. It is a really easy  method and it makes buying the exact quantity of fabric you need easy. I always tend to make more than I need as then I have some ready for small projects or for trimming skirts or dresses.

Firstly you need to measure the circumference of your quilt then multiply it by the width of the bias binding you want. I usually go for 2 1/2 inches width and use it doubled.
 So for the frock quilt  it was 50"x 2 by 62"x 2 = 224" circumference. Then multiply this with the width of your binding ( 224 x 2 1/2 = 560). Then using a calculator find the square root of 560"and you should get 23.66. Round this up to 24" and this is the size of the square of fabric you will need to make binding for your quilt.

Using a rotary cutter cut the square from corner to corner making 2 triangles.


Place triangles right sides together as shown in above photo and sew 1/4" seam and press open.


Using a quilters ruler and fabric pen mark lines of 2 1/2" apart starting along the longest edge on wrong side of fabric as shown above.


Now this is the tricky bit to explain. Bring together the shorter sides and line up your marked lines leaving one strip out from the edge at each end as shown above.

Now pin right sdes together lining up your marked lines as you pin so the pin intersects the lines 1/4" in. Sew a 1/4 " seam and press open. You will now have a joined 'tube' of fabric

Starting with the strip that wasn't included in the last seam, cut along the marked lines. You will be cutting in a spiral around the tube.


Just keep on cutting until you reach the end. Now all you have to do is press in half and your bias binding is all ready to attach to your quilt.


Using a 1/4 seam, sew binding to quilt stopping 1/4" in from the end.


Turn quilt and fold binding back as shown above.


Then fold back as shown above and line up edges. Repeat for remaining corners. This will leave a nice mitred corner once its folded back over.


Fold over to back of quilt and stitch in place using a ladder stitch.

I hope you found this tutorial helpful and easy to follow. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact me via the comments or email.

13 comments:

J-me said...

when you are sewing it on a 1/4 from the edge, is it already folded? and then you fold it again to do the next side? I was used to having the bias tape open when i sewed it on one side.

Lara said...

That's an awesome method to make binding Catherine. I will have to give it a go!! I love anything that saves time :)

Catherine said...

J-me, yes it is pressed in half then sewn onto your quilt so you're sewing a double thickness of bias tape and your quilt layers. Then you fold again to the back of your quilt so you have a nice folded edge to hand sew down which makes it nice and easy to do the ladder stitch.

Jennifer said...

This is a great tutorial. Thank you so much for the instructions on how to figure out how much fabric is needed for the binding. That is such a handy tip!

georgie said...

hi catherine what a great tutorial on my 1st and only quilt so far i had some advice but wasn't sure i had really done it right and i can't wait to try your method.

Lauranie said...

Wow girl...I came back around just in time!! I am about to make a potholder for the first time and actually quilt it and will need to make some bias for the binding!! YOU ROCK!! I am not sure why I haven't added you to my Reader yet...but doing it NOW, before my scattered-brain forgets!! :D

Leslie said...

oh my goodness...this is genius. i had heard of it before but never really understood...this was easy to understand and the pictures are really helpful.

Valerie said...

Much thanks for the math! I like learning a technique that can be applied across the board... *grin*

Mary said...

I'm just now learning to sew a little more than i use to so hopefully i can learn alittle something from you!!

Unknown said...

I am new at sewing and only wish you were here to hold my hand and show me what you gave for instructions. I am totally confused.

Catherine said...

Hi Susan, can you tell me what your confused about and maybe I can help you out. 😊

Unknown said...

Thank you for great instructions.

Unknown said...

Thank you for great instructions.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...