It's a good thing that your quilt gift is so well loved that this is what the binding looks like.
This is from the wedding quilt I made my Brother and Sister-in-Law. They didn't quite get it in time for their wedding, but it is still 14 years old. It lays on their bed and gets used every single night. My SIL is from New Orleans and even in the summer in Alberta she likes to have the weight and warmth of the quilt on her.
When I was visiting them a few weeks ago my brother pointed out to me that the binding is quite worn out. Yes, yes it is. That means I need to replace it. The original was a double fold binding, hand stitched to the back. One layer of the binding is worn through, as you can see.
Would you remove the original binding first or put a new one over it?
21 comments:
I would place a new one over the top of the old one. Bias binding is suppose to last longer, not sure how the first one was cut but 14 years seems like a long time with everyday wear.
The correct way is probably to remove the old one but... Reasons not to remove it - any time you are seam ripping there is risk, it may get put aside and take a lot longer to get done, and last it is a whole lot easier to put the new one over the old one. The only real downside is the bulk.
I took out two recently (they were both on the grain and I swore at them the whole time, pet peve! ) remove them so there is not bulk and replace with a bias binding! That way if a spot begins to Frey it only covers in inch or two and does not spread down the whole quilt! (Sorry I feel very strongly about this! I mean if we go through all the time and $ and want them to be loved we want them to last as well!! Right!! )
I'd worry about the bulk by leaving the old binding on. Would it be simpler to remove the hand sewn side and snip the unfrayed layer at the fold and at least get half of it off? I second or third or whatever the number is up to now about bias binding. It really does wear better and given this quilt is really used I think is worth the extra effort.
I like Marcella's idea. And I would cut the new binding on the bias, for sure. Such a pretty quilt! Of course, you could make them a totally new, and bigger one, also :-)
I'm sorry if this idea is a bit too scandalous. Is there a critical part of the design in the outer 1/2"? I can't tell from the picture. If I didn't mind shrinking the quilt a tad, and it wasn't detrimental to the design, I'd cut the binding off entirely to save a good deal of time. Then I'd add the binding to the new outer edge.
I would just cover it; definitely wouldn't remove it. If I wasn't feeling lazy, I might zig zag around the edges to flatten out any of the areas that are split open.
If it does not compromise the design, I would put the new binding over top of the old one but make it slightly bigger (cut your strip maybe 2 7/8" instead of 2 1/2". Or, if the quilt is big enough, and again only if it does not compromise the design, I agree with Afton Warrick above: just cut it and put a new one. I would not bother with removing the old binding.
I too like Afton's idea, whack off the old, an on with the new, as long as it doesn't take off too many points in the quilt design. "I" would have to remove the old one before putting on a new on, or at least trim it down.
I would trim the worn out binding and apply new over it. I don't square up my fabric when cutting my binding, so I cut slightly oo grain. Benefits of bias without the hassle.
Thank you for asking this question and thank all who have answered. I'm new to quilting so haven't thought far enough ahead to think of this future problem.
I just re-bound a quilt recently and I removed the old binding. I didn't want to mess with it being in the way.
I'd be worried of breaking the old fabric while removing the binding since it's probably burried in there quite well by now. I think I'd just take scissors and remove whatever I could of the frayed binding and then do a new one overtop. However, I understand how some could see bad quilting manners in that one.
I would trim away the old one with scissors as best as I could and rebind or cut a new edge and rebind. I love how well they love your quilt, I always tell folks my quilts come with a life time guarantee - I'll either patch them or replace them, and I see a future of doing that too.
Yeah, I'd pick out the hand stitching and cut back to the machine stitching, then sew a slightly wider bias binding on in the opposite direction OR (if you think that the stress of pulling at a hand-sewn edge would kill it) maybe this is a time to consider machining the binding on both sides. Aesthetically it's not my favourite option, but for a heavy-use quilt it might be your best bet.
I agree with Lauren. Pick out the hand stitching. Carefully remove whatever shreds. Then trim fabric right up to the machine stitching. You might find that gently pulling from the other side of the machine stitching will remove the remainder of the fabric in the quarter inch seam allowance area.
If the thread you used to originally sew on the binding is not too thick, leave it and sew on the new double fold bias binding. If the thread seems loose now it can be removed before rebinding. I would not use too small a stitch sewing on a new binding. If necessary this go around I might round the corners of the quilt a bit and not do bias edging at each corner. I really do not think removing the original binding will be that time consuming with these suggestions. It is kind of a Zen thing once you get started.
I would have said--remove it and apply a new binding--but now I think I like the idea of cutting it all off and then reapplying it. This will make the quilt somewhat smaller but if it doesn't affect the design it will probably make the quilt stronger as you will not be resewing it on the same place. I would make it a straight of grain binding--I see no advantage in a bias binding on this quilt.
After 14 years of love, this quilt probably has other worn spots. I would just hack off the old binding with a rotary cutter and add new binding to the smaller quilt. If it is used every day, it is not an heirloom. Save your time for a new quilt.
I have nothing useful to add to this conversation. It just makes my heart happy to see a quilt so well loved and used. This is why we make them n'est pas?
I'm curious...with so many excellent ideas...what did you decide?
Is this your awesome New York Beautiful quilt that you posted in July of 2009? That quilt is my all time favorite quilt and I would very much like to attempt a similar one I love it so much. Do you remember where you got the pattern from? I would love to know :)
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