Okay we are finished up at the ironing board and now its time to sew those strips down. I leave a tail about 10" long for the last join. I use one pin to hold it in place, and then start to sew it down. I sew within 1/4" of the end and stop! I use my walking foot and allow the outside edge of the foot to sit along the edge of the quilt. After I have sewn the binding down and zig-zag the entire side again. this helps to hold all the fabrics together and makes the binding easier to turn.
At the end of every side I do the exact same thing. I place a large pin at the end of the binding. I hold onto this pin and bring the binding back to the side that I have just sewn the binding too. The next picture will show you what I mean.
Look where the orange flower pin is now. This I guarantee will give you a perfect corner......on both sides. I do this for every corner. I know I repeated that.
You are now at the end. Take both ends of the binding strips and meet them in the middle. Pin them in place and then take to the ironing board and press them so that you can see the crease. That crease will be critical for the next step.
You are now going to trim one of the binding strips. Take the right one and pull it out flat on your cutting board. Place your ruler at the 2 1/2" measurement mark on the crease and trim away the excess fabric.
(I have a little bulletin board that I use for this next step.) Mark a sewing line from the top left corner on a 45* angle to the bottom right where the crease line is. Lay the fabric marked left (on the photo from above) flat RIGHT side facing UP. Now lay the binding from the right hand side on top of the other strip RIGHT SIDES TOGETHER.
Pin on the stitching line, and then see if what you have pinned together lays flat. Do this before you sew the two strips together. This way you will see before you sew if you have twisted your strips, something that is easily done.
Sew it together, trim away the excess using a 1/4" seam allowance, press the seam open and then stitch the rest of the binding down. You are now done!
 |
 |
| Make a photo slideshow |
When I have a lot of cutting to do I mark my ruler with masking tape very near the line that I will be cutting on. Your eye will travel to that tape every time and there is less chance of you making a cutting error.
