Tutorial : Patchwork Quilt : Part Three

Here is the third and final part of my patchwork tutorial series, which will show you how to bind your quilt. Take a peek at part one and part two to learn how to sew your patchwork top and then how to quilt it to your backing fabric.

For this tutorial you will need a sewing machine, fabric for your binding, some thread to match your binding and backing fabric, a rotary cutter, a self healing mat and quilting ruler and your patchwork quilt. As with all the fabric in the previous tutorials, you will need to wash, dry and iron your backing fabric before you start sewing.

To make your binding you need to cut strips of your chosen fabric. I use the longest length of my chosen fabric so that there aren’t lots of joins. I cut strips of fabric that are 3.5 inches wide and this results in binding that is approximately 3/4 of an inch wide. To work out how much binding you will need, simply measure around the edge of your quilt and then add an extra 10-15 inches to allow for the corners and finishing.

I am going to show you how to join your binding with a diagonal seam, as this spreads out the bulk of fabric and looks really neat. Lay your strips down, right sides together, to create a right angle.

Then you need to draw a diagonal line across the square where the fabrics touch, from the bottom left to the top right. This will give you a line to sew along. Pin either side to secure in place. The photo below shows this.

Sew along this line, then chop off the excess fabric.

Then you need to press open this seam, resulting in very neat binding! Sew together all your strips in this same way. When all your strips have been stitched together, fold your piece of binding in half widthways, with the raw edges and wrong sides together, then press neatly all the way along.

Press the raw edge of one end of the binding under by 1/4 of an inch so that you have a neat edge. Now your binding is ready you can attach it to your quilt. Lay your quilt on the table and halfway along one side lay the end of your binding, with the raw edges of your quilt in line with the raw edge of your binding.

Open up the binding and sew 4 inches along the raw edge, using a 1/4 inch seam allowance. Pin along this edge to hold everything in place and to mark out where to stitch to.

Once you have done this, fold the binding shut again and mark with a pin where you ended your stitching underneath. Sew through the binding, along the edge of your quilt from this point onwards until you are 4 inches away from the corner. The photos below show this.

When you have sewn to this point you need to prepare the binding for your corner. You need to fold your binding down and away from the quilt at a right angle, as shown below.

Keep this fold in place whilst folding the binding back up and in line with the next side of your quilt.

This is what your binding will look like if you let go of the corner that my finger is holding down in the photo above.

Pinch your corner as in the photo above and pull the fold over to the left so that it looks like the photo below. Pin this in place.

Draw a small line diagonally out from the corner, this will follow the ridge of fabric from your fold underneath. Sew along to this line, when you reach it, stop sewing and pop your quilt back on the table.

Take out the pin and flip the fold downwards so that it lies on top of the stitching you have just finished and pin it into place.

Now stitch this into place by catching the edge of the fold and then continue sewing in a straight line along the edge of the quilt.

Continue sewing this side until you reach the next corner and repeat the previous steps to stitch your next corner into place. When you are about 6 inches away from where you began, fold the end of the binding underneath the first section that you stitched down – this is why you left the gap at the beginning.

Pin into place and stitch down, over the top of both layers.

Now that you have attached the binding to the back, you need to pull your binding around to the front of your quilt. When you get to the corners fold them neatly and pin the binding into place all the way around.

Now is the time (if you haven’t already) to use your matching colour thread. Stitch down your binding, keeping nice and close to the edge.

This is what your finished corners will look like.

And this is what the back of your quilt will look like once you have finished stitching. The aim is to “stitch in the ditch”, so that your stitching will lie in the crease of your binding. Don’t worry if its not exact, practice makes perfect and after all it is handmade!

Now your quilt is finished and you can admire all your hard work!

Thank you very much for following this tutorial, I hope that sewing a quilt now seems straightforward and that you enjoy dreaming up new designs. I would really love to see your finished quilts. Happy Stitching!

If you fancy making your own quilt then you can buy most of the supplies from Amazon. If you purchase anything through the links in my post you are helping to support my blog as I get a small referral fee from Amazon. Thank you!

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