Seams Sew Creative: Satin Blanket Binding

After trying to talk my mother in law through stitching on sating blanket binding to a baby blanket, I thought it would be a nice thing to do a mini tutorial on the subject :) So here it is. My way to attach sating blanket binding, without pinning!

This blanket is going to another little boy who has to have surgery. My mother in law picked out the fabrics, super cute! The giraffe print is a super soft almost fur/velour fabric. What is trickey about it is it is a knit, and therefore has a bit of stretch. If you are combining fabrics with different stretches, make sure the stretchier one is on the bottom, you will be less likely to pull it with your hands, and when strait stitching, the feed dogs help to ease the stretch a bit.

Personally I really hate working with the satin blanket binding. It is slippery as all get out, snags on everything, and attracts all kinds of velcro in the wash. But it definitely has its place. Sometimes there is just no better way to finish of a blanket than with a nice, soft, shiny binding.

My way is a bit unorthodox, but it works for me. First I start by laying the blanket binding (now on referred to as BB) open, and overlapping the edge of the BB with the edge of the quilt about a 1/4 of an inch, like so.

Then I begin sewing on top of that 1/4 inch overlap. You'll notice I am using a Bernina #10 presser foot, it is called an "edge stitch" foot or "stitch in the ditch foot." It makes the process a whole lot easier, well worth the $28.00. Start in the middle of an edge, not at the beginning of a corner. This will make it easier to tie the edges of the BB together at the end. When you get to your first corner, stop about 1/4 from the edge of the blanket. Back stitch, and cut your threads

Then fold the BB back in half along the crease that is already there, and create a mitered corner. You can see in the pic below how it should look. This fold will help you determine how much fabric to allow for your corner when you start sewing again.

Next mark your corner with pins, if you look in the picture below you can see where I place my pins. You need to put one pin as a marker for the two points of the corner. Make sure you are only going through ONE layer of BB, not BOTH, or you will not be able to unfold the BB to stitch it down.

When you unfold the BB it should look something like this.

The pin in the middle of the BB is the outer corner, the pin on the bottom is the inner corner. Now comes the tricky part, fold the BB so the pin on the bottom meets the bottom corner. In the picture I have below you can see the pin marking the inner corner and the pin I have to hold everything in place.

Again, make sure you are only sewing through one layer of the BB. Back stitch and sew down the next side.

Repeat for each of the corners until you come back to where you began the BB. Below is a pic after I have sewn it down.

When you get the the end of the BB, fold the raw edge under and stitch it down.

Now turn the blanket over and begin the next side. First stitch down the raw edge about 1/2" past the over lap, and back stitch back the 1/2"

Then fold the BB over, and stitch it down. I try and line up the BB with the stitch I can see from sewing down the other side. If I fold it over about 1/8" past that stitch line, you can hide your stitching and do a straight stitch around the blanket.

Another option is to do a zig zag stitch or a satin stitch around the blanket, which works well too. I usually let the weight and loft of the blanket determine what kind of stitch I am going to do. The thicker and lofty-er the blanket, the more likely I am to do a zig zag. This particular blanket did not have a layer of batting, so I went with a straight stitch.

Once you have finishing attaching both sides of the BB, it is time to tack the corners. I first make sure both sides are lined up, and then do a zig zag stitch on zero length for about 10 stitches right in the middle of the corner. This prevents it from coming un-tucked. If you look closely in the pic you can see the tack. But its pretty tiny, and is hidden well.