Saturday, December 5, 2020

traffic jam binding

Yesterday, I posted my traffic jam finish. Today, I want to share a bit about a new experiment in machine binding I have been doing. One of the presenters at a guild presentation, this fall, mentioned, that, he used steam a seam when attaching his binding. I was intrigued and went to Joann fabrics that night to find what he used.

This is what I chose using a coupon. It was 2.39. I had decided that if that was too expensive, I might use the BYT and cut it myself. The package came with 2 rolls. 



I tried it the first time on my Big easy Christmas quilt, and, I loved it. Someone asked if I would share how I used it. I used almost half of one roll for that quilt.


I began by sewing the binding to the back side of the quilt. I press my binding a little short on the top of the binding, so, I can see that I catch the underside. I used 2 1/4 inch binding on traffic jam. I decided, I like it better with 2 1/2 inch binding.


I like to press the binding with the iron. The black in the picture is a shadow.


On the right side, I began unrolling the tape and pressing it to the binding. It doesn't have to be perfectly even or straight on the binding.


I take the paper part of the tape of as I press the binding over. It's a little sticky, but, not much.


It works great and stays stuck, and takes much less time than pinning.


I use an edge foot to sew it on the front of the quilt.


I don't mind if I catch it on the back, as long as it looks like part of the quilt, or, is nearly invisible. 
I started out hand sewing my bindings. I love doing it, and I like that look the best. But, I like making quilts, and I just couldn't keep up, anymore. My friends use the machine, and, they are much better at this than I am. I tried their way, and I felt like it was just as time consuming as hand sewing. This is a good compromise for me. I am still wanting to tweak my technique at the machine. I need to do a better job of stitching it on in the beginning. I need a better guide than the edge of my presser foot...... next time.
 Traffic jam and Big easy Christmas quilts haven't even used one roll. So, I don't think it is too expensive.


How do you bind? any tips?

I am linking to:

rsc20 super saturday
oh scrap
UFO busting

8 comments:

  1. That is an interesting technique! Glad it worked so well for you.

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  2. I prefer to bind by hand because I like the look better and I actually like binding by hand. Some of the places I donate quilts require machine stitched binding so I sew to back and flip to front and usually use a decorative stitch to stitch down in front. I have become better at it over the years but used to hate the look of my machine binding. I use 2 1/4 inch binding if doing by machine and 2.5 if by hand because I leave a little extra quilt and batting to poof out the binding if I do it by hand. Never heard of the Steam A Seam method. I actually don't pin or use binder clips or anything else when sewing down binding by hand or machine.

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  3. Interesting method, Maggie. Thanks for sharing!

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  4. Hi, Maggie! I sew my bindings by machine now too. I got used to doing it that way for donation quilts. I use a 2 in. wide binding, and I don't double it. After sewing it to the back, I bring it to the front and press the raw edges to meet the seam, and then fold it down onto the front. As I press at the ironing board, I pin it, folding miters into the corners. Then it's one seam around, and done! It's sturdy, and faster than hand work. Good luck with your bindings, however you do them!

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  5. Hi,
    Great idea, I'll have to try that one out. Thanks for sharing. Love the quilt, so colorful. Have a great day!

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  6. I put my binding on the back of the quilt and bring it around to the front to do machine stitching. On occasion I use some Roxanne's glue but I generally use clips. After putting the glue on I iron it dry. It's a bit more time consuming, or at least I thought it was, so the clips work fine for me.

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  7. A friend of mine suggested I iron my binding after sewing it on. That was the best tip ever for decent binding to me. Now I think of Mary every time I do binding.

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