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Binding 101: Step-by-Step Guide to Perfect Quilt & Embroidery Binding Techniques
Step-by-step binding basics: regular, bias, flange, and backing as binding for quilts and small projects.
I will be the first to admit that binding isn’t my favorite part of a project. In fact, it might be toward the bottom of my favorite things to do in a project. But it’s definitely an important part of the process. So today I’m going to show you how to bind a project, hopefully painlessly! I will show four different kinds of bindings that are used in different applications or for different looks. We will start with the basic kind of binding: a regular binding with mitered corners, using the backing piece of a project to bind. Then we will finish with two more advanced techniques: bias binding and flange binding.
Supplies
Check out the DBJJ team’s favorite supplies in the Designs by JuJu Amazon store.
- For the Regular Binding with Mitered Corners
- Project to bind
- Fabric for binding
- Thread to match binding
- Sewing machine
- For the Backing as Binding
- Project ready to bind
- Backing for project - a rough estimate is 2–3 inches bigger all around your finished project size
- Thread to match backing/binding
- Sewing machine
- For the Bias Binding
- Project with curves
- Fabric for binding
- Thread to match binding
- Sewing machine
- For the Flange Binding
- Project to bind
- Fabric for the main color binding
- Fabric for the accent color binding
- Thread to match project
- Sewing machine
- DBJJ designs used for these projects
Stitch-by-stitch Instructions
Regular Binding with Mitered Corners
This is the most basic type of binding. It works great for everything with straight edges and square corners. I will be making a little mat to sit on my piano. It’s small and easy, but I have used this method to bind a king-size quilt also.
To find out how much binding I need, I measure the edges of my project and then add some extra. I usually add 10–20 inches, depending on the size of my project. I will be adding some seam allowances and the mitered corners. I usually just finish out a strip of fabric if it has more than 10 inches and cut it off at the end. I’d rather have too much all made and ready to go than have to go back and make more to add at the end. My project measures 8” x 10”, so I have a total of 36” around. Add 10 to that, and I’m going to need 46”.
I like my binding to be a little short of ½” wide when it’s done. So I cut it 2.5” wide. If your project is very thin, you could cut 2.25” wide, and if it’s thick or you want a wider binding, you can cut it as wide as you’d like.
You will cut as many strips as you need to get the length of binding for your project. Make sure you’re cutting on the straight grain, perpendicular to the selvage edge.
If you haven’t yet, trim off your selvages.
If your project requires more than one strip, you will need to join them together. If you join them on the bias (or 45-degree angle) it spreads out the bulk of the joint so your binding won't have a thick, heavy spot in it.
Lay the strips at right angles to each other with right sides together and prepare to sew them together.
Take your strips to the sewing machine and sew along the line as shown. Make sure you’re going in the direction that I’ve shown in yellow. A few times I’ve been in a hurry and sewn the other direction, and it doesn’t work out the same way.
Repeat this until all your strips are sewn together. It doesn’t matter if you have two strips or five; just attach the new one to the end of the previous one.
Trim ¼” away from the stitching line.
Press each seam open.
You can trim off the edges if you prefer. They will be hidden in the seam, but if you like things to be tidy in your projects, you can do that now.
Now you are going to iron the strip in half lengthwise, wrong sides together.
Now it’s time to attach to the project. This method uses your sewing machine for all the steps. Start by pinning or clipping the binding to the front side of the project. If it’s a smaller project, I start on the long side and just a little from the corner. This helps me have a lot of space to connect the two ends when we come back around. I try to leave at least 5–6 inches unsewn on the side. If your project is larger you can leave more.
Now you can start sewing. Using a ¼” seam allowance, stitch the binding to the front of the project.
Stop sewing ¼” from the edge of the project. Stop with your needle down.
Lift your presser foot and turn your project 45 degrees.
Now sew off the corner and cut your thread.
Now you will make the miter for the corner. If you look, you can see the angle for where you want the fabric to fold. It’s right along the stitching lines.
Fold the binding fabric back against those stitches, and finger press it in place.
Now, using the edge of the project as a guide, fold the binding back over itself to line up with the next edge of the project. Pin that side in place.
Starting ¼” in from the corner, stitch the edge.
At the next corner, again stop ¼” from the edge with the needle down. Do what you did on the last corner: lift the presser foot, turn the fabric 45 degrees, and stitch off the edge.
Repeat the process for this corner. Fold the fabric against the stitches and then back to line up with the next edge of the project.
Now repeat these steps for the last two corners.
Now that you have all four corners done, you will need to join the ends together. You will join this with a bias stitch to help spread out the thickness of the joint.
To make sure you have a perfect joint, you will cut one of the strips the same length of the width of the strips. I cut my strips at 2.5” wide, so I will overlap them 2.5” and trim the long one.
Next, open up the binding and lay the ends of the strip at right angles to each other. I try not to leave too much overlap and just get the edges lined up. It can be a little tricky to do this on a small project, but it is possible. The biggest mistake I find myself making here is twisting one of the edges so when I’m finished it doesn’t lay flat. But if this happens just pick it apart and try again.
Then sew the binding together.
At this point I like to “test” my binding. I fold it in half and lay the project down flat. It shouldn’t have any excess binding, but it should also not be “tight” and straining the project. Mine worked out just like it should.
Since mine works, I will trim the excess from the binding. If your binding is a little long you can rip out the seam you just sewed and overlap them a little more. If your binding is a little small, you may have to add in an extra piece of fabric just like you did in the beginning to give you the length you need.
Then press the seam allowance open.
Now you can finish sewing the binding to that side. I double over some stitches at the beginning and end of the stitches just to make sure everything is secure.
This is how your project should look at this point. The corners are a little flappy, and you still see your raw edges. I have a couple spots where the top of the binding gathered a little bit, but I checked the underside and it is still smooth, so I didn’t worry about fixing it.
Now, flip the project over to the back side. You can see the seam line (in red) where I attached the binding to the front.
Now it is time to flip the binding to the backside of the project. I try to ease out the corners a bit as I do this.
Start in the middle of one of the long sides again, and fold the binding over to the back of the project. Make sure you are covering the stitch line I pointed out before. You will be stitching on the front of the project on the same line you stitched before, so by making sure that line is covered, you know it will be sewn to the back.
Now for the corner. You want to get a nice, sharp crease in the edge of the corner. I find I can do this with a tiny pair of scissors that can get into that point and help me get a nice edge. I finger press it in place, but you could use your iron if you want.
Then fold that side into place to cover the stitches. I always try to pin or clip my miter at the corner to hold it in place until I sew.
Before I sew I like to measure around my project and make sure that my binding is even. Once I’m happy with it, I take it to my machine.
Back to the sewing machine. I flip my project over and sew from the right side. I do this because this is the side people will see and I want it to look the best. I like to sew just barely inside the edge on the binding. You can choose to stitch in the ditch if you would rather. Choose a thread that matches (or contrasts if you prefer) your project because, again, this is the stitch people will see.
When you get to the corner, stitch until you reach the edge of the next binding piece. Then stop with your needle down.
Pivot the project and continue on the next side. Repeat with every corner until you reach your starting spot.
When you’re finished, this is how the back will look.
There are different ways people apply binding. I know some people like to sew to the back first and then flip and sew the front down. I’ll do this later in the flange binding method if you want to try it. Whatever way you try, you will see it’s easy to do and finishes your project beautifully.
Backing as Binding
Sometimes I like to use the backing fabric as binding fabric. There’s less cutting, one less thing to choose for my project, and it’s fast. I find that it works a little bit better on smaller projects that can be squared up easily vs big projects like quilts because it can be harder to get them to square. But I have used the back as binding on many baby quilts over the years, especially with the cuddly, minky fabric. So let’s learn how to do this.
To start, make sure your project is square. My project didn’t need this as it sewed up very nicely with the pattern, but just check and see if yours does before you start. Then place your project on the backing, wrong sides together. Try to center your project on the backing as best as you can.
I like to sew my project to the backing enough to hold it in place. If you choose to stitch to the edge of your project, stitch only to the fabric edge and not beyond. If you go past the fabric of your project onto the backing, the stitches will show up in your binding. I chose to just do the white rectangle that circles the tree, Santa, and presents.
After the project and batting are stitched together, trim the backing to 1¼” beyond the edge of the project. (NOTE: this is from the edge of the fabric, not from the edge of the stitching line.)
Do this on all four edges.
I like to move to my ironing board to do the rest. Starting in the middle of one of the sides, fold the edge of the backing to the edge of the project. Do this down to the bottom of the fabric.
Press it in place.
Next, fold again and bring the backing over to cover the edge stitching line.
Then iron and clip or pin into place.
To do the corner, keep the fold that you have already done in place, and fold it up at a 45-degree angle to meet the edge of the fabric. Press.
Now just continue like you did for the first side. Fold the raw edges to meet.
Then fold the backing edge to cover the stitch line. You can use a pin or something sharp to help keep your corner crisp and lined up. I like to make sure the miter comes together and there are no gaps. Sometimes you have to adjust it a little bit. Press and pin in place.
Finish the edges by pressing and folding, making sure your mitered corners meet and everything is pinned in place to take to the sewing machine.
Now at the sewing machine, stitch just inside the edge of the fold on the binding, all the way around the project.
When I get to the corner, I like to take one stitch on the second piece of the miter and leave my needle down.
LIft your presser foot and turn your project. Continue for the rest of your project.
Once you come back to where you started, you’re done. See how easy that one is? You will have new placemats for your holiday sooner than you thought!
Bias Binding
Bias binding is very similar to other binding methods, except for one big difference. Instead of being cut with the grain of the fabric, it is cut at a 45-degree angle to it. This makes it especially good for binding things with curves. It’s a little bit stretchy so it eases as you sew and fits perfectly, unlike a straight binding that would have some excess. Let's learn how to make it.
Measure the edge of your project to figure out how much binding you will need. My circle is 10” in diameter, so I could do some fancy math that involves pi and a bunch of other things, or I can use a flexible measuring tape and figure out that I need about 32” of binding. I add about 8” to my project to make sure I have enough to join the ends. So I will start with 40”.
You can get 4 yards of bias binding out of a fat quarter of fabric. So if you need less than 4 yards for your project, you can get away with one fat quarter. If you need more than that, you can buy yardage at 1/2 yard or more and get more than that.
Make sure that your fabric is square. If you buy a fat quarter, it may or may not be square already, so always check. If you’re using yardage, it is easy to square up against the selvage edge.
After your fat quarter is squared up, fold the fabric so the bottom edge is even with the side edge.
Finger press this line. Open it back up and cut along the line. If you have a ruler with angle marks, you’ll be cutting on the 45-degree line.
After the two pieces are cut, take the bottom piece and move it to the top so that the two straight edges are together.
Now fold the top piece over so that the right sides of the fabric are together.
Next, sew along the straight line with a ¼” seam.
Press this seam open.
Starting on one of the raw edges that is 45 degrees to the selvage, you will begin drawing some lines. The first line will be 2.5” from the edge, the second line 2.5” from the first line, and so on. I like a 2.5” binding to have a little less than a finished ½”. If you want a narrower binding you can cut your strips less than 2.5”. This also means you’ll get more than 4 yards of binding. If you want a wider binding you can cut them more than 2.5”. You would then get less than 4 yards of binding out of a fat quarter.
This is what the back will look like when you're done. If you have a strip at the edge that is narrower than the other strips, cut it off and discard.
You will now connect the straight edges that are perpendicular to the seam (The straight ones at the top and bottom of the seam.)
To do this the “magic way,” line up the strips just one off of each other. Pull the two edges into the middle, right sides together, and line them up so that the top edge lines up, making the first line of the top line up with the second line of the bottom.
To make sure they line up correctly when you sew, take a pin and place it ¼” from the raw edge on the line in the front, and then poke it through the back fabric ¼” from the raw edge on the line in the back. Pin or clip fabric in place.
Continue using the pin to line up the lines and pin or clip the raw edge of the fabric.
Now, sew that raw edge with a ¼” seam. You will be cutting through these stitches, so it is helpful to shorten the stitch length just a little bit so that they stay secure after cutting. When you have it sewn, press the seam allowance open.
When you are done it will look like this.
Now you get to cut the fabric into one long strip. Start where the fabric isn’t sewn and cut along the lines. You are cutting a spiral, so you won’t finish until you reach the end.
When you are done, you have about 4 yards of bias binding.
From here, the binding techniques are very similar to a regular binding. Iron your binding in half.
Then, pin or clip the raw edges to the raw edges of your project. I like to sew to the front of the project and then flip to the back, but other people like to do it the opposite. On a complete circle it ends up looking very similar both ways. When you get to the beginning of where you started, you will overlap 2.5” (or whatever your width is if you changed it) and cut the binding.
Lay the fabrics at right angles and sew together. Trim and then pin the rest of the binding in place, like you did for the regular binding.
Sew completely around the project with a ¼” seam.
Flip the binding to the other side.
Then pin the binding in place, checking as you go to keep the binding width consistent. I always think that I might have messed up and it’s not going to make it all the way around, but it always eases into it and works.
Then sew around the project again just inside the binding.
And then you're done. The bias binding is complete. This binding does work on square edges with miters too if you want to use it, or if your project has a mix of straight edges and corners with some curves. It’s pretty forgiving to use in a variety of projects.
Flange Binding
If I had to choose a favorite binding it would be this one. It looks super fancy for just a little bit more work. I love the little contrasting color that peeks through on the edge. I often choose to use it to finish out projects in my house. After you add in the second color, it’s done the same way as regular binding. Let me show you how.
To start, just like the other methods, you need to figure out how much binding you need. My project measures 22” x 18”, so I will need about 80” of binding. I’ll add 10” to it to make sure I have enough, so I’ll need 90” to complete my project.
Start cutting the accent color first. This is just the small piece we see. Cut it in strips 1¾” wide.
Then cut the main color in 1½”-wide strips. It may seem backward, but the accent strip is wider than the main color strip.
After you have all your strips cut, you will work with the colors individually at first and connect them the same way you have learned in the other tutorials.
Cut off the selvages.
Lay the strips at a right angle to each other and sew.
Trim ¼” from the stitching line.
Press the seam allowance open.
Repeat with the main color binding.
Now, sew the main color to the accent color. Line up the long edges with right sides together, and stitch the length of the binding together using a ¼” seam.
Once you have finished the long-edge stitching, press the seam allowance toward the main color.
After you have pressed, line up the long raw edges and press the binding. I like to put the main color on top so I can watch the width of the accent color and make sure it stays consistent.
Now you get to bind as for the regular binding. This time, start on the back side of the project with the accent color facing up. Leave a few inches before you start to sew so that you can connect the other end. Sew with a ¼” seam.
Do the mitered corners the same as you did in the regular binding. Stop sewing ¼” from the edge and lift your presser foot with the needle down.
Turn the project 45 degrees and sew off the edge.
Fold the binding against the sewn line and finger press.
Fold the binding back so the fold is at the corner of the project and the raw edges line up.
Start sewing ¼” from the corner and continue around the project.
When it comes time to join the ends, do it the same way as before. Overlap them 2.5” and cut off the end.
Open the binding and lay the ends at right angles to each other. Sew as you did when you were joining the lengths together.
Check your length.
Trim the excess off ¼” from stitches.
Iron the seam allowance open.
Then finish sewing around the edge.
Now you can flip the binding to the right side of the project.
Fold the binding in, making sure to cover the stitches from sewing the binding to the back. Fold your corners in like you did on the regular binding. It’s so fun to watch the accent color just line up!
Now sew. I like to sew in the ditch between the accent color and the main color. You may want to choose a thread that matches your back in the bobbin and a color that matches the accent color on the top. I just used red so I can see how it turns out.
The backside of your project now looks like this. You will see a small outline of the stitching on the back of this project. This is the difference in sewing to the back and flipping to the front vs sewing to the front and flipping to the back like you did in the regular binding.
Again, the flange binding method is one of my favorite ways to bind things. It looks fancy and doesn’t really require that much extra effort.
You are now ready to bind your next project, whatever it may be, big or small. We would love to see what you’re creating, so please join us in the Designs by JuJu Embroidery Blessings Facebook Group, or use the hashtag #designsbyjuju anywhere on social media to share with us. Happy crafting!
