Tips and Techniques

— for quilters and fabric lovers

Make a double-sided quilt binding

If you'd like to make a binding for your quilt that has one fabric on the front and another on the back, follow these directions. Fabric A will be the fabric on the front quilt and Fabric B will be the fabric on the back of the quilt.

• For a ½" binding, cut a 1" strip from Fabric A and a 1½" strip from Fabric B.
• Fold Fabric B in half lengthwise and sew it to Fabric A, matching raw edges and using a ¼" seam.
• Sew the remaining raw edge of Fabric A to the edge of the quilt front, using a ¼" seam.
• Mitre corners and finish as usual.

Here's the formula to determine the size of strips to cut for other sizes of binding:

• Fabric A: Finished width plus ½"
• Fabric B: (Finished width x 2) plus ½"

So, for example, if you want a finished width binding of 1", Fabric A would be cut 1" plus ½" or a total of 1½". Fabric B would be cut 1" x 2 = 2" plus ½" for a total of 2½".

For a finished width binding of 2", Fabric A would be cut 2½" and Fabric B would be cut 4½".

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