Here's a simple tutorial on how to calculate how much fabric you will need to bind your quilts: How much fabric to buy, and how many strips to cut.
In my quilt patterns, like the Fjord star in the blog post cover photo, I always include how much fabric you will need to buy when shopping for fabric or digging through your stash. However, some patterns don't include that – and maybe you've even made a quilt without any pattern at all? Don't worry, here's the formula you need!
How much fabric do you need to bind a quilt?
Let's use the Fjord star quilt as an example. This quilt is 72 inches by 72 inches. Let's say you want to use 2 1/2" strips for the binding.
1. Find the Perimeter of the Quilt:
- Perimeter = (Length of quilt + Width of quilt) × 2
- Example: (72+72)×2=288 inches
2. Find the total length of binding:
To find the total length of binding, you will need to add overage. Overage is the extra fabric you will need to overlap where you start + finish the binding. The standard is to add 10 inches to the perimeter of the quilt:
- Example: 288 + 10 = 298 inches.
3. Find the number of strips you need to cut for the binding:
To find the number of strips, divide the total length of binding by the width of fabric. The width of fabric (WOF) is measured from selvedge to selvedge. The WOF of most quilting cotton is 42-44 inches. When buying fabric, assume 42 inches.
- Example: 298 / 42 = 7.095 strips.
- Always round the number up. In this case to 8 strips.
4. Find the yardage needed for the binding:
Now, multiply the number of strips by the width of your binding strips.
- Example: 7 x 2.5 inches = 17.5 inches.
- Since 18 inches is a half yard, I'd order half a yard of binding fabric in this case.
When you're ready to bind, check out my tutorial on how to bind a quilt!
Still confused? There are several online calculators that will help you out or just make the calculation even quicker. My favourite one is Designed to quilt's online quilting calculators.
