How to make flanged quilt binding

I recently finished this cute little Scrappy Love baby quilt, and couldn't decide what colour fabric to use for the binding. I polled my readers and got lots of votes for scrappy binding using both fabrics. Apparently I'm not the only indecisive one here. But a couple of readers also suggested the idea adding a flange to the binding and I love that concept.

Flanged binding is a fun way to add some extra flair to your regular quilt binding, and it's much simpler to do than it looks. 

What is flanged binding?

A flange is an extra little bit of fabric that looks as though it's peeking out from under the binding.

There are actually two methods of creating this look, a "true" flange using two separate strips, and what is sometimes referred to as a "faux flange".

I'm using the faux flange method here. It's called "faux", or false, because it's just a binding strip that's made up of two strategically sewn together strips of fabric, rather than adding an actual separate strip and then the binding over top.

How to make flange quilt binding

Flanged binding is much easier to make than it looks. You'll need two fabrics for the binding, but both strips are cut narrower than regular binding, so you only end up using a little bit more in total than for regular binding.

There are two sizes of flange you can do, a wider one that's 1/4" wide, and a narrower one that's 1/8" wide. I tried out both on some scrap fabric to see which look I would prefer.

I ended up deciding on the narrower 1/8" flange. I could see the 1/4" flange working better on a larger quilt, but I was making binding for a baby quilt, so I wanted to keep it in proportion. Also, the flange will be "floppy" or "loose", if you will, meaning it won't be stitched down. So depending on the look you're going for, you may prefer a wider or narrower flange.

So, let's go through the steps of making the flanged binding.

Flanged binding tutorial

1. Iron your fabrics, and calculate how many binding strips you'll need for your quilt. That number doesn't change, you'll just cut that amount twice. Once from the binding fabric, and once from the flange fabric. 

Note: I'll be referring to "binding fabric" and "flange fabric" throughout this tutorial. They are both part of the binding, but in order to distinguish them, I'm calling the part that makes up the flange (the tiny bit peeking out) the flange fabric, and the main part of the binding that you'll see going around the edge of the quilt I'll call binding fabric.

2. Cut your fabric strips. The flange fabric will be the wider one, and the binding fabric will be the narrower of the two strips (it's a bit counter intuitive). 

• For a 1/4" flange, cut the flange fabric strips  1 3/4" wide, and the binding fabric 1 1/4" wide.
• For a 1/8" flange, cut the flange fabric strips 1 5/8" wide, and the binding fabric 1 3/8" wide.

If you're cutting 1/8" increments, it may be helpful to put a piece of washi tape or some other way of marking the ruler so you don't accidentally cut wrong.

3. Sew all the flange strips together into one long strip, and all the binding strips into a second long strip. Sew them together on the diagonal like any normal binding strip. Place two strip ends right sides together, one turned 90 degrees to the other, and pin. Mark a diagonal line across the overlap and sew along that line.

4. Once all strips have been sewn together, you should have 1 long flange fabric strip and one long binding fabric strip. Cut off the excess fabric at each joint, leaving a 1/4" seam allowance, and press the seams open.

5. Place the two strips right sides together, with one of their long edges matching up. Sew them together with a 1/4" seam.

6. Press the strip open, making sure the seam allowance is pressed toward the narrower of the two strips (your binding fabric). Do not press this open or to the other side.

7. Fold the strip in half lengthwise, wrong sides together and with the two long edges matching, and press.

8. Now it's time to attach the binding strip to the quilt. We're going to start on the back of the quilt, and then fold the binding to the front to finish up.

So start by placing the binding strip on the back of the quilt, with the binding fabric facing the back of the quilt and the flange fabric being on top. Sew the strip on with a 1/4" seam, all the way around the quilt. 

9. Once the binding is attached to the back of the quilt, press the binding away from the quilt, towards the front.

10. Flip the quilt so that the quilt top is facing you, and pull the binding around to the front. You can pin it in place, use clips, or do what I did here and use glue to baste it in place. This is plain white school glue, which will wash out, and it won't gum up your needle if you use it sparingly.

Place small dots of glue along the edge of the binding, on the side that will be facing the quilt. Pull the binding around and press it in place with your fingers, then press it with a hot iron to set the glue.

11. Once it's basted, stitch the binding in place. Stitch in the ditch between the flange and the binding fabric so that the stitches will be almost invisible. 

12. And that's all there is to it! Well done!