Recently, Quilted Joy got in stock a new product, pre-made bias binding from Moda. Now I have bound quilts with other pre-made binding before. I was not a fan. The stuff I used before was cheap quality, not cheap price, and I paid dearly for it with my time. The material was inferior and the construction, and pressing in particular, sub-standard. The whole purpose of buying pre-made was to save me time, but the poor construction made it more difficult to sew on straight. I am very happy to report that my experience with Moda's bias binding could not have been more different.

Quality Product from Quality Cloth

The first thing I noticed was that this pre-made binding looked exactly like the binding I make for myself. They made it with the same width, same diagonal seams, and the same single fold. The fabric is the same that I have come to expect from Moda, thick, soft, 100% cotton, and great quality. Other products I’ve tried were thin and over starched so that what stretch there might have been from the bias was just about lost.

There are lots of different color and print options available in Moda’s bias binding! We have 40 different bindings currently in stock. And the fabrics come from lines you might recognize – Bella Solid, Moda Marbles, Kansas Troubles, and Grunge. You can browse them all here.

The second thing I noticed is there wasn’t an over abundance of seams. The individual strips were long and consistent, unlike homemade binding that would have seams at irregular intervals. It sewed on like a dream and looked amazing when I was done. 

The Cost is Worth the Ease

There is not much difference in the price. If I was to make enough bias binding to go around a twin quilt I would need at least half a yard of fabric, which would result in a lot of seams. I would have to use all of that half yard right down to the corners. Who wants to do that? Instead, I like to buy twice as much, use a folding method to cut long strips right out of the middle, and just have some odd shaped scraps to add to my stash. At $12 a yard, making my own binding cost me $12 with left over.

Moda’s pre-made bias binding is $1.50 per yard. I can buy exactly enough for what I need and it costs me $13. I have fewer scraps, and a whole lot less work for much the same result. Obviously, making your own binding will always be the cheaper option, but your time is worth something to you.

In short, having perfectly matching binding is great! I’ll still sometimes make my own binding for many of my projects. But when you just want something simple to finish a project, this pre-made binding is awesome. It looks and feels like you made it yourself, without the time and hassle of making it yourself. Next they need to come out with some cute striped pre-made bias binding…. that would be amazing!

And if you’re not sure about how much binding fabric you’ll need, we’ve got a calculator on all of our binding products! Tell the calculator your quilt’s dimensions and it’ll tell you how many yards of pre-made bias binding fabric you’ll need for your quilt. Want to give Moda’s pre-made bias binding fabric a try? Click here to browse the colors and prints currently available!