Every time I show a quilt that has a machine-finished binding, I’m asked how it was done. So, here it is! Let’s start with what it looks like at the end. (Sorry for the not-so-great photos, I didn’t take them with the intention of publishing them!)
First, you need to select two fabrics for the binding. One for the outer binding (pink) and one for the little flange (orange) that lies between the binding and the quilt. Cut enough binding to go around the entire quilt with a 12-16″ overlap for joining. Cut the outer binding 1¼” wide. Cut the flange fabric 1½” wide.
Join the lengths together as you would for a regular binding – do this once for the outer binding and once for the flange so you end up with two lengths of fabric.
Press the seams open and trim the seam allowance. With the seams offset, stitch the two lengths together, right sides facing, with a ¼” seam allowance.
Press the seam allowance toward the outer binding fabric.
Press the binding in half – wrong sides facing as you would regular binding – matching the raw edges. I lightly spray the wrong side with starch prior to pressing so the binding doesn’t shift as I attach it to the quilt.
Attach the binding to the WRONG side of the quilt with a ¼” seam. Form the corners as you normally would. Leave long tails at the beginning and the end with an unsewn area of about 10″ for joining.
To join the ends, lay one tail down. Cut it about half way into the unsewn area.
Lay the other tail on top. Take the piece that you cut off and lay it cross-wise on top of the tail to mark the overlap of the two tails. The overlap should be the same width as the binding.
Stitch the ends together. Press open. Trim. Stitch down.
Turn the binding to the right side of the quilt and stitch in the ditch formed by the flange and the outer binding. If you keep it snug, the stitch line will fall beyond the binding on the back side.
I don’t use this method often – I still prefer to hand stitch my binding down. But, when I’m in a hurry it’s my go-to method!
