Invisible Hand Sewn Quilt Binding

Hello! If you have popped over from the tutorial I did on Fussy Cut Binding or just wandered in, welcome! Let's talk about how to make your hand sewing invisible. I see many quilts that have the hand sewn side looking like this:

There is certainly nothing wrong with that. It’s neat and tidy, and just fine. But, you could have the hand sewn side of your binding look like this:

First, place the quilt in front of you with the binding closest to you and the bulk of the quilt away. (I often see posts of quilters binding with the quilt closest to them and the binding away. I think this makes it a lot harder to make an invisible stitch.)

Start with your knot within the seam allowance of the binding so it will be covered by the binding. Then come up just shy of where the fold of the binding will sit on the quilt:

Now, have the needle go into the fold of the binding just on the inside of the fold and between the two layers of the fold:

The key is to have the needle ride the fold slightly toward the inside. Then going straight across into the quilt, take a small stitch into the quilt:

Continue going back and forth from the binding to the quilt. Keep the stitch in the binding slightly towards the inside and the stitch in the quilt slightly below where the fold of the binding will sit:

Even with a contrasting thread, you can’t see the stitches:

Thanks for stopping by! Happy binding!