Thursday 9 August 2012

Janome Binding Finish!

I have just finished a new quilt design, made using these fantastic fabrics
Perfectly Perched by Laurie Wisbrun from Robert Kaufaman fabrics.
Fun, fun, fun :)
Unfortunately, all I can show you is the back of the quilt,
the front will follow at a later date!
What I really wanted to tell you about is a new addition to my Janome Horizon - 
A Quilt Binding Set - yes a speedy way to attach the binding, 
front and back sewn at the same time!
Now when I first opened the packaging, I was totally daunted 
by all the bits and pieces that made up the set.
It's a substantial add on to the machine - my first fear was that I would
end up breaking something on my new machine, just by trying to get it to work!
But my fears were unfounded - I just followed the instructions!
here's how it works:
Firstly attach the binder foot, which comes in the set. 
 Next, remove the bobbin cover plate - nothing painful so far :)
This is the underside of the base plate -  notice the metal rectangle (support plate)
- this fits in, where the bobbin cover plate came off.
 Place the base plate on top of the needle plate,the metal rectangle should fit in neatly.
 Take the specified screw and secure tightly.
This bit of kit is what the fabric is fed through.
Fold out the wiggly wire bit (The tape guide!)
Feed the binding through the wiggly wire, wrong side facing you.
(Binding cut at 2" and end cut diagonally)
Then insert the binding into the guide tube, and use a pin or tweezers to
slide it on into the tube.
Place the binder on the base plate and secure in place with the
two screws supplied.
Pull about 2" of the binding out of the tube and pull at a right angle
to the binder, under the binder foot.
Place the edge of the quilt into the fold of the binding and start sewing!
Keep the edge of the quilt in the binding fold as you sew.
Keep an eye on how the tape is being fed in to the tape guide, 
it is important that the tape doesn't get stuck or distorted.
There it is - finished 1/2" binding in a fraction of the time it normally takes!
I must emphasize that I did practice on a few samples before I actually started on my quilt, but I did find this attachment very useful and certainly time saving!
I know a lot of people still prefer to hand sew the binding in place, 
and I guess if I were making an 'heirloom' I would too! 
But I think this is a great solution to speeding up the binding process on quilts.
Janome have some great tutorials on using the binding set, on You Tube.
The question is, do you machine or hand sew your binding?

11 comments:

  1. I never knew such a nifty contraption existed! Certainly looks like a time-saver. I've always handsewn the binding at the back of my quilts. How did you find it for the corners and for finishing?

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  2. how nifty is that??? great! I usually handsew my binding at the back like Sarah and I love the finish of it but there is always a place for machine binding both sides too!

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  3. Wow that would save some time...I also usually hand stitch my binding.
    Does it work on other Janome machines? I have a MC6600 Hope so...

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  4. I've seen these binders used for garment sewing but never thought of them for quilting. I just checked a box of old sewing machine attachments. I don't have a large enough binder, but I did find some hemmers I'd forgotten about. I have some blouses to shorten so will try the hemmers later today!

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  5. Oh wow, it may look like an instrument of torture, but the end results are fab!

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  6. I like to machine stitch on my binding but by sewing to the front as usual and then stitching in the ditch to catch it on the back.

    How did you do the corners with that attachment on?

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  7. Wow that looks all so tricky! The result looks good though =D

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  8. Looks great! I machine sew everything I can. I really only do hand sewing when I cannot get at a machine. My machine, your machine grandma smiths machine, I don't mind. Let me at it!

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  9. Looks like a complicated attachment but you detailed it really clearly. I have machined the binding as a two step process - first to the back and then top stitched it at the front with a decorative stitch (the opposite of when you attach binding for hand stitching) but that attachment would remove that two-step process. Thanks for sharing.

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  10. That's a serious bit of kit. I'm glad it came with instructions. When I bought my Janome walking foot it came with no instructions and I didn't think to google - how it had to go on just seemed so unnatural. I hand sew bindings down. I'm quite quick now and like to do it in front of the tv. That said the first few quilts I made I sewed on the binding on the machine. I think I must have read about it in a book and thought this was how you were supposed to do it. Not easy though to get the back and front to line up.

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