Options for Binding Your Quilt
Putting on the Finishing Touch to Protect Quilt Edges From Wear
Binding fabric covers your quilt's raw edges and helps keep them from getting worn as you use the quilt. Learn about five different ways to bind your quilt.
A quilt is like a sandwich, with a top layer of fabric, a middle layer of batting, and a bottom layer of backing fabric, all joined together by stitching. The quilt binding is the fabric that covers the raw edges of the quilt sandwich and protects them from wear. Putting on the binding is one of the final steps in finishing your quilt.
5 Options for Binding Your Quilt
Most quilters are familiar with quilt binding made from fabric strips, usually in a color that contrasts with the body of the quilt. The quilt in the photo was bound with continuous fabric strips. But there a number of other ways to finish and protect the edges of your quilt.
- No binding (pillowcase method). Sometimes also called "birthing" a quilt. This is the simplest way to finish your quilt. Instead of applying a binding, you simply sew around the edges of the quilt sandwich as if it were a giant pillowcase, leaving an opening on one side that's big enough to turn the “pillowcase” inside out. Then, turn the quilt right side out and blind stitch or topstitch the opening to close it. Instead of using hand or machine quilting to hold the quilt layers together, this type of quilt is usually tied with yarn, buttons, or decorative stitching. The pillowcase method can be a good way to assemble a quilt when you’re in a hurry or if you know it’s not destined to become an heirloom. For instance, you might use it for a quick charity quilt or a nap quilt for your preschooler that will be treated roughly and washed often. Get step-by-step instructions.
- Self binding. In this method, the backing fabric also doubles as the quilt’s binding. Self-binding is less time-consuming than creating fabric strip binding. It can also show off an especially beautiful backing fabric. The disadvantage: the binding is only one fabric layer thick. If your quilt will get a lot of use, consider fabric strip binding instead. To self-bind a quilt, you cut the backing fabric a couple of inches larger than the batting and top on all sides – large enough to allow for however much backing fabric you want to show on the front of the quilt (usually ½” to ¾”), plus a ¼” seam allowance for turning under the raw edge of the backing fabric. To bind, fold the backing fabric up over the raw edges of the quilt sandwich, fold the raw edge under, and stitch the backing in place on the front of the quilt, either by hand or by machine.
- Continuous fabric strip binding. The most popular binding method is to cut strips of fabric, then sew and fold them into one long, folded strip that goes all the way around the outside edge of the quilt. There are several different ways to create fabric strip binding: straight-grain binding, cross-grain binding, and bias binding. All three types are made from fabric strips, but each one is cut from the fabric in a different way.
- Prairie points. Your quilt’s edges can be finished with triangular, folded-fabric embellishments called "prairie points." While they require more work than ordinary strip binding, prairie points give a special quilt a beautiful, saw-toothed finish. The folded triangles can be nested or overlapped and spaced close together or widely spaced, whichever best fits the quilt's dimensions.
- Ruffled bindings. When you want a frilly, feminine look, finish your quilt with ruffles. You can buy ruffled binding strips that are prefolded to make them easy to sew to your quilt.
Why not try binding the quilt you're working on now in a new and different style you've never tried before?
