How to Attach Binding to Your Quilt by Machine

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I thought I would take some pictures of how I attach binding to my quilts by machine. I used this method with my strings quilt. I know there are lots of methods of binding quilts…. I usually sew it by machine and then finish it by hand. I find it very therapeutic, but sometimes I am in a hurry and I do it all by machine. When I do decide to bind by machine, I use a decorative stitch and do it sort of backwards 🙂

I’m not going into the details of making binding. I use 2 1/2″ width when I am using this method. Measure and make sure you have enough to go around and then….

Step 1 – Sew the binding to the back of the quilt

Gotta to think about this step, lol! We normally sew the binding to the front of the quilt, then flip it over and sew it on the back. With this method you sew it to the back of the quilt:

~ Tip: Use Your Walking Foot! ~

Sew the corners like you would normally do it, on an angle to miter it:

Then flip the binding up and keep sewing:

I am sure there are tutorials out there if you are a beginner and don’t know how to do this step.

Then join the binding as you normally do. Again there are tutorials out there for that.

Step 2 – Flip the quilt around to the right side and start sewing with a decorative stitch

 

I like to use a herringbone style stitch, but you can really use whichever type you like. I’m sure your machine is like mine and has at least a 100 stitches that you never use! Here’s a chance to try them out!

The stitch I used on my Bernina 440 is #48, and it turns out a bit like this:

It changes a bit depending on how fast I go 🙂 I tend to always be in a hurry, so I speed up and pull the quilt rather than let the walking foot do its thing… naughty me. But I am still happy enough with the result. Note that the stitch I chose goes on the binding as well as the quilt top. I think it keeps the binding on nicely, and washes well.

Step 3 – Stitching the corners of the binding

This step is a little fiddly, but pretty straight forward once you get the hang of it.

Stop stitching with the NEEDLE DOWN about an inch away from the corner like this:

Fold the binding into the shape it should go:

Using small scissors or a quick unpick helps shape it into the right position, then holding the corner in place keep sewing until you reach the bottom binding.

Leaving the needle down, swivel the quilt around so that it looks like this:

 

~ Tip: Use the Needle Down function on your machine

for the whole binding! ~

 

Keep using your decorative stitch and sew right off the edge of the corner:

You can tuck these threads away into the binding later on with a needle.

Step 4: Keep sewing the binding from the corner

Start your decorative stitch again at the corner of both pieces of binding like this:

Then just keep sewing, sewing, sewing…. until you reach the next corner and repeat until the binding pieces meet.

You can see what the back looks like above and closer up below:

I probably should have used cream in the bottom but I was too much in a hurry, lol!

So there you have it, how to bind a quilt by machine, using a decorative stitch. Hope it is helpful to someone out there! If you have any questions just let me know!

Does anyone else out there use this method of binding?

 

 

 

 

 

 

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