Place Mats and Binding with Glue
Last week was all about my St. Patrick's Day table runner, but very little mention of the matching place mats, with the special four-leaf clover centerpiece.
With the wild week I had, it's no wonder they got lost! But at least I took pictures, and have another tutorial to share.
This one is all about the binding. I'm not a big fan of machine stitched binding, mainly because I always struggle to catch the edge on the backside, producing a wavy stitching line. Ugly!
Now, I do like the technique of stitching the binding to the back first, then folding it to the front, which is especially nice for producing a line of piping.
But that technique was not going to work here. These place mats really needed a traditional quarter inch binding, with no piping or flange.
So I bit the bullet, stitching the binding to the front with a quarter inch seam, then pressing the binding out to create a nice, crisp edge.
Then the magic. Using a bit of water washable glue, I tacked down the binding on the backside,
pressing with a warm iron for a few seconds to make sure it would stay in place.
When I got to a corner, the fold was treated as usual and a bit of glue was applied there to make sure it stayed.
Now the binding is all evenly tacked down, and ready to be sewn.
From the front, the stitch in the ditch was fast and easy. No worrying about catching the edge!
And the backside looks great! All edges are even, and the stitching straight.
Thank goodness for glue! It sure made a hair-pulling process go smoothly. I'll be using it again for my next machine stitched binding!
Hope you find this useful for one of your next projects!
Happy Quilting!
Great technique! I really like the binding with the accent color, but this is a great way of making a traditional approach work! Thanks for sharing!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tip about the glue! I hate binding for the same reason, I will have to give it a try.
ReplyDeleteis that stiff when done with the glue in there? I know it'll wash out, but wondering about using it on a quilt that won't be washed right away. thanks
ReplyDeleteIt's maybe a bit stiff, but hardly noticeable. If that bothers you, use a very, very fine line of glue, much less than I used.
DeleteGreat solution for a PITA of a problem - hate hand binding because of arthritis and I miss sections if I try to do it from the front in the ditch!! Thank you!!
ReplyDeleteI'm guessing you wait until the glue dries to stitch it, right? Does it gum up the needle? I do love the look of your binding--it's perfect!
ReplyDeleteHeat setting it helps speed up the drying. I only use a small amount, applying it between the binding seamline and the edge, so contact with the needle is minimal. Hope this helps!
DeleteI have heard of this before, but this is the first tutorial I've seen with such clear instructions and pictures. Thank you for that. I will definitely be trying this on my next project. I love the look of hand stitching the binding, but on a large quilt it takes me hours. This will be a time saver and looks nice too!
ReplyDeleteI bookmarked this post ages ago, and I'm FINALLY READY to attempt machine sewn binding tonight!! I checked out Sharon Schambers' method that also uses glue, but I feel like what she does -- while an awesome way to ensure amazingly perfect binding for a show quilt -- is too time-consuming for an everyday, I-made-this-for-longarm-practice kind of quilt, if you catch my drift. So I like the idea of doing it your way, sewing the binding to the front of my quilt without fussing with any glue, and saving the putzing around with glue and hot irons for securing the binding to the back of the quilt. You know, as I'm thinking this through in my head... I wonder if this would help me with the satin binding I like to use on baby quilts??? If I stitched myself a guideline along the edge of the trimmed quilt first, just a smidge narrower than my satin binding, couldn't I use that sewn line as a guide for gluing the satin binding in place on both sides of the quilt before securing it with a zigzag stitch? Added bonus -- glue doesn't run the risk of snagging and pulling the satin binding the way pins do. I just wonder how I would manage heat setting the glue on the back side of the quilt if I used a Minky backing that can't take a hot iron. Hmmm... Anyway, I'm off to bind my Tabby Mountain quilt now. Wish me luck!!
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