CraftM8 › QuiltM8 › Calculators › Binding
How much binding?
Continuous double-fold binding for any quilt: how many strips to cut and how much fabric to buy — with the join loss most calculators skip. Run it on the finished size, after borders.
Perimeter: 264" · Cut in total, joins included: 295" · Joins: 7 joins · Lost per join: 3" · Lost to joins: 21" · Usable binding after joins: 299"
Show the maths
| 1 | Perimeter — 2 × (60" + 72") | 264" |
| 2 | Lost to joins — 7 joins × (2 1/2" + 1/2") | 21" |
| 3 | Binding needed — 264" + 10" (corners) + 21" (joins) | 295" |
| 4 | Strips — 295" ÷ 40" = 7 3/8 → round up | 8 |
| 5 | Fabric used — 8 × 2 1/2" | 20" |
| 6 | Fabric to buy — 20" → round up to the next 1/8 yd | 5/8 yd |
Cross-grain binding, cut across the width of fabric. Every join costs a strip width plus two seam allowances, and each extra strip adds a join.
Where the formula comes from
Perimeter plus an allowance for corners and joins; strips from the usable width of fabric, not the printed bolt width; fabric rounded up to the eighth of a yard, the smallest cut most shops sell. The precise model itemises what each diagonal join really costs and solves the resulting fixed point — each added strip introduces another join.
- Continuous cross-grain binding. Perimeter plus an allowance for mitred corners and the starting tail. The precise model then itemises the join loss — each diagonal join consumes about a strip width plus two 1/4" seam allowances — and solves the resulting fixed point, because each added strip introduces another join.
- Flat allowance (books). The 10–15" lump allowance printed in most quilting books is a small-quilt approximation that ignores per-join loss; it under-buys by one strip on every case tested (60×72, 120×120, 36×36, 104×116). Retained as an option for pattern-matching.
- Usable width of fabric. Quilting cotton is sold on 42" bolts; 40" is the planning figure after selvage removal and shrinkage.
This is the app's own arithmetic running in your browser, put through the same worked examples every time this site is built.
A worked example
The worked example is the how-to walkthrough quilt: 60″ × 72″, 2 1/2″ strips, on the book-style flat allowance. The same case is a committed test vector.
| 1 | Perimeter — 2 × (60" + 72") | 264" |
| 2 | Binding needed — 264" + 12" (corners & joins) | 276" |
| 3 | Strips — 276" ÷ 40" = ≈ 6 7/8 → round up | 7 |
| 4 | Fabric used — 7 × 2 1/2" | 17 1/2" |
| 5 | Fabric to buy — 17 1/2" → round up to the next 1/8 yd | 1/2 yd |
Works with
- How wide do I cut the borders? — Binding wants the finished size — borders first.
- How many strips, and how much fabric? — Turn the strip count into cuts across the fabric.
In the app, this answer joins a quilt
Save it to a project, add the other tools' answers, and the shopping list totals every fabric with one rounding — then prints a cut sheet for the table. Offline, no account, one payment, yours forever.
In development A closed test on Google Play is the next step.