Machine Binding Video Tutorial
Binding, binding, and more binding! It always seems there are quilts to be bound in my house. In fact, I am sure if I were to venture to where most of my quilts are, I could find several quilts just waiting to be finished.
I used to bind all of my quilts by hand until about 2016. Why 2016? This was the year my second fabric line came out. I hosted a “binding party” and invited over my mom, aunt, and grandma to help me hand bind my quilts. I served them lunch and we had a grand old time chatting, binding, and eating. It was fun!–but, I also realized that I needed to come up with a faster binding method.
I had tried machine binding prior to that but had never been happy with how the binding turned out. Usually the front looked fine but the back did not. In 2013, I shared a faux-piped machine binding tutorial here on my blog. This was the first time that I had machine bound a quilt from start to finish and been happy with the result. But I didn’t want this type of binding on all of my quilts so I still continued to hand bind almost all of them.
When I started having to bind so many quilts in a year, I knew I wanted to figure out a method that worked for me. There are a lot of approaches to machine binding, and a lot of different tricks we can use. Really, it’s finding the right combo that gets the results you want. Different combinations will work for different people.
I’m thankful for all of the different machine binding tutorials available so I could try different things until I found what worked. Cutting my binding strips at 2″, sewing to the back of the quilt, and finishing on the front with a top stitch on the very edge of the fold of the binding works best for me.
One of the most requested video tutorials on my YouTube channel was for a machine binding video. So, I have put together a video that shows exactly how I do my machine binding. You will find that video here.
Being able to machine bind a quilt saves me so much time!
I hope you find this video helpful! If you want to practice machine binding, start with something small. It will take practice to get things just right. Pillows, table runners, mini quilts, or table toppers are great projects to start with. And tweak your technique until you get it just right for you. Quilting is awesome because we have so many different ways of accomplishing the same task. This means we can completely tailor each thing we do when making quilts so it’s perfect for each one of us.
Just a couple other non-binding things to let you know about:
I added a few Beautiful Day scrap bundles to my shop. These sell quickly so snag one right away if you’d like one.
And lastly, just a few more days to snag the March $5 pattern of the month, Cotton Frock, in my Etsy shop.
Cotton Frock, March 2022 $5 pattern of the month
Enjoy your weekend! Corey
I wish I lived close to you, I would happily do all your bindings. It’s my 2nd most favorite thing about quilting (piecing is the 1st). I had to learn machine binding when the arthritis in my hands got too bad for hand sewing.
It’s fun to do, isn’t it! I think piecing is my favorite also…or choosing fabric. =)
Hi Corey, I also used to hand bind my quilts and sometimes today I’ll sew the back side and hand sew the right side but it depends on the quilt and what I’m going to do with it so sometimes I’ll sew the top side too. It is a little tricky but taking time it always comes out good. I also use the Edge foot for a guild when sewing down the top side. I like your videos.
Thank you so much for watching my videos! I agree that hand binding always looks so nice and tidy. Machine binding takes a bit more practice in my experience. =)
I loved your tutorial on machine binding . . . you have such a nice smile and happy voice. Your advice on using 2 inch bindings is a big help. I have arthritis in both hands and I have a hard time hand binding. thank you for a great video.
Thank you so much for your kind comments!
Enjoyed your machine binding video. I learned a few pointers. Also, loved the red wholecloth. Can you share where to purchase that fabric. Thank you so much ~
That panel is included in my Beautiful Day fabric line and would be available at shops carrying Moda fabrics that purchased it. Those fabrics are in quilt shops now–if you don’t have a local quilt shop carrying them, they can also be purchased online.
I love the quilting in the second photo on this blog post. Is this big stitch hand quilting or done by machine? If by hand, what weight thread/ thread type do you use? If by machine, is it a special type of sewing machine for such large stitches?
By hand, either an 8 weight or a 12 weight perle cotton works beautifully.
Corey, Thank you for the Machine Binding tutorial. I have never been successful with this method in the past but you have given me the incentive to try try again.
I hope the video will help out with future bindings!
Thanks so much for your binding tutorial. I am anxious to try it since I hand bind and it is very time consuming.
Machine binding is nice to be able to do when we might not have time to hand bind.
Thank you for your tutorial. On binding. I do the back on machine then do the front by hand. I’ll
Try your way next time.
It’s nice to be able to machine bind rather than bind by hand when you want to!
Thank you for your tutorial, I watched it last night ,what great timing I was just about to bind a quilt the normal way ,so I quickly cut my 2 1/4 inch binding down to 2 inches and attached ,I had my machine with its walking foot on so I use that as I sewed the top stitch,it turned out perfect.I have never had much luck with machine stitching binding before. I thank you for the tip to press the binding , I do reckon that’s a big TIP……..It really helps get that nice finish. Sharon from Australia 🇦🇺
I’m so glad my technique helped with your binding! It’s so nice to be able to machine bind if you want to.
I want to make your beautifully charming quilts. I like both color ways but I think I would add a skinny inner border of red on the gray and a gray on the red.
That would be pretty!
I could not find the link to the binding boards you used to press your strips. Would you please post it?
Whenever I post a video on my YouTube channel, I link to the things I talked about in the description of the video so you can always find the information right there. The binding boards can be found here: https://kwiltit.bigcartel.com/product/binding-board
Love your striped bindings. I’ve been quilting since 1976 and I love to create the quilt tops and sew the bindings on. But I HATE basting the layers and machine quilting as I can only do stitch in the ditch. Never learned free motion on my regular sewing machine.