How to Make Binding

Today I will show you how to make your own binding! Quilts and blankets tend to use wide binding, such as 1" wide double fold, while clothing edges more often use thinner binding.  My personal favorite is 1/4" binding because it just looks so crisp on sleeve and neck edges.  Today's tutorial will work for single fold or double fold binding of any width.  

Binding is actually a type of bias tape, which you can certainly buy pre-packaged at the store. Sometimes, however, it can be fun to make your own out of a unique fabric, a perfectly matching color, or maybe you just don't have time to run to the store! 

Bias tape is cut on the bias of the fabric, meaning at a diagonal or 45 degree angle.  By cutting on the bias, the tape has more flexibility to ease around curves and sit perfectly on the bound edges. Don't worry though, cutting on the bias isn't difficult at all!  After you see it once, you'll be all set! 

Let's go with the tutorial!

Take the fabric you want to use for your binding and lay it out with the selvages on the sides. Fold the top left corner down so it meets the bottom edge, creating a triangle. Trim off the extra fabric on the right side, as shown above. You want to end up with a perfect square that is folded into a triangle. 

Next, you will turn that folded square into two triangles! You can do it with a rotary cutter or scissors:

If you have rotary cutter, place a ruler really close to the folded edge and barely trim off that edge, so there is no longer a fold there. You will have two triangles stacked on each other. 

If you are using scissors, simply cut along the fold of the fabric.  It may help if you lightly iron the fold first so you don't get off the line while you're cutting. When you're done you will have two triangles stacked on each other. 

Now for my favorite part!  Since I am making double-folded bias tape, I need to cut bias strips that are 4 times wider than I want the binding to be, so in this case I am cutting 1" strips to create 1/4" binding.  To cut the 1" strips, I will measure over 1" from the diagonal edge. This is easiest to measure with a clear ruler, as shown.  If you don't have a rotary cutter, you can use a ruler to draw lines and then cut with scissors. 

After making the first cut, it will look like this!  This gives me two pieces of bias tape.  

Slide your ruler another 1" (or whatever measurement you are using) and cut on the bias again. Repeat the cuts until you have enough strips, or until you get tired of cutting (ha), whichever comes first. The strips do get smaller and smaller as you move down the triangles, but that is okay because we are going to connect them all! 

To connect all your bias strips, you will be sewing the ends together but you want to do it a specific way so they will lay smoothly on the finished project.  You will notice that all the ends are slanted, which is exactly how you want them to be.  

Take the ends of two different bias pieces (I use the longest strips first) and match their short edges, with right sides together.  Slide the edges over so the points of the edges extend a beyond on both sides. Look closely at the photo above. On my 1" strips, I extended 1/2" beyond on each side. 

With the raw edges lined up, sew straight across the center of where they meet.  In my example, that was 1/4" from the edge. 

Open out the tape so it is a straight line.  The wrong side of the fabric should look like this, with the seam at a diagonal. Notice that the side edges make a straight line, above and below the seam.  If yours do not make a straight line, you need to try again with a different amount of overlap or seam allowance. 

Notice that the seam allowances still extend beyond the edges on each side. Use an iron to press the seam allowances flat, then trim off the extra points so all you have left are straight edges on both sides. 

Repeat with all your other pieces, until you have as much bias tape as you need. 

If you just need flat bias tape, you're done!

If you're making single fold bias tape, simply fold your strip in half all along the tape, and iron to set the fold. That's it! 

If you are making double fold bias tape for binding, continue below.  

Take the strip and fold it in half, using an iron to set the fold.  Do this all along the length of the tape. 

Open the tape back up.  Fold the top raw edge to meet the center fold, and iron to set the new fold. Then fold the bottom raw edge up to meet the center fold, and iron to set the new fold. Your tape is probably pretty long so this will take a bit of time but it will be worth it!  After setting the three folds, it should look like the photo above. 

Refold all the folds you ironed, so the raw edges are folded into the center.  It will look similar to the photo above.  You do not need to pin as you go, I just used pins to help it lay flat for the photo. 

That's it!  You're done creating your binding!  

You can use this method to make binding for clothing, bags, quilts, or anything else that calls for single or double fold bias tape of any width. 

Have fun sewing!