The binding. The final round we make around our placemats.
Preparing the Binding
To make a binding we need a few strips of fabric.
Cut your binding strips to the desired width. I like a thinner binding, so I cut my strips to 2 inch wide.
There is enough fabric to make it 2 1/2 inch wide. So go with what you like best.
We will need 2 strips for one placemat. Sew the strips together over the diagonal.
Cut off the excess fabric.
The fold the binding in half lengthwise.
Sewing on the binding
To secure the binding we will sew it twice. First we will secure it to one side. Then we fold it over and secure it also to the other side.
Front or Back
Normally I like to sew my binding to the front by machine and then hand stitch it to the back. This gives a lovely look where the stitches are almost invisible.
But for this project I chose to machine sew it to the back, and use visible stitches on the front. For the Christmas version I sewed it to the front with the machine. And for the winter edition I use the hand quilting thread and big stitches.
First Round Start
Start in the middle of on one of the long sides of the placemat. Sew the binding around the placemat with the open side aligned with the outside of the placemat. Leave a tail of a few inches at the start.
Corner
When you get to a corner, sew up to 1/4 inch from the end. Then turn your work and sew to the corner.
Fold the binding following the images below.
Continue sewing 1/4 inch from the edge until you get to the next corner.
End
When you get close to the beginning, you stop. Now we cut the binding. When you used strips of 2 inch wide, you need an overlap of 2 inch. I like to trim a piece of the binding and use this to measure the overlap.
Sew the beginning and end of the binding together over the diagonal. I like to clip the ‘gap’ together so it’s easier to bring the two ends together.
Trim the excess fabric, fold the binding back in place and sew the final part of the binding.
Second Round
Now we fold the binding over to the other side. I like to give it a good press so it already stays in place a bit.
Use the clips from day 21 to keep the binding in place.
I did not bring the thread all the way to the back. I stitched through the binding and through the front/batting of the quilt.
When you come up to the corner you stitch all the way to the end. I made two extra stitches in the corner to secure the thread. This will be under the binding, so these stitches won’t show.
Then fold over the next side and continue stitching.
Finished binding
And there we have a finished binding! Getting those corners nice and tight can be difficult at first. It will get better and better the more corners you make.
And this is what it looks like when you sew it by machine to the front.
On the back the seam landed just next to the binding, which looks nice I think. I find that part, machine sewing the second round, a bit tricky. That’s why I like to use smaller projects like this to practice this machine binding skill. Most of the times the line on the back will wobble a bit.
Can’t believe we already are on day 23 of Advent! Tomorrow I’ll be back with one last blog post.
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