You won’t always need a sleeve on the back of your quilt (for displaying). But you should ALWAYS add a label! Follow along to learn how to do both! First of all, if you are like me, you’ll forget pertinent information about your quilt. But most important is to let others know about your quilt –
- WHO made the quilt?
- WHEN was the quilt made?
- Who was the quilt made for?
- What special techniques were used?
- What type of batting was used?
- Are there special washing instructions?
First let’s look at how simple it is to make a sleeve for your quilt.
- Sew your binding to the front of your quilt top.
- Measure the width of your quilt top.
- Add 5 inches to that number.
- Cut a piece of fabric 8 inches by the width of your quilt top plus 5.
- Double (or triple) fold the 8 inch edges, press and then sew. (You want the finished width of your sleeve to be slightly shorter than the width of your quilt top.)
- Fold the 8 inch piece of fabric in half, lengthwise, so it is now 4 inches. I like to put the edge seams on the outside so they are not caught when inserting the rod into the finished sleeve. Press.
- Line up the raw edge of your sleeve with the unfinished quilt top.
- Baste or use binding clips to attach the sleeve to the quilt top. It will be sewn onto the quilt top when you attach the binding to the back of your quilt.
Now let’s look at “one” way to make a label. You can get as fancy as you would like, but this is my quick “go to” method.
Quilt your quilt top, and attach the binding to the front. Take a leftover square of fabric and fold in half to make a triangle. Line up the raw edges of your triangle with one of the corners of your finished quilt top.
Take strip of fabric, fold in half lengthwise and press. Open, then fold the edges to the middle crease. Press again. Stitch the strip to the folded edge of your triangle. Lay the label back down on the corner and trim. Note in the example below, I used a leftover pieced strip of fabric. You can also use leftover binding strips.
Add the information that is important to you to the label using a permanent fabric pen. (You may want to do this before sewing on the trim, just in case you aren’t happy with your first attempt.)
You are now ready to attach the binding to the back of your quilt top, enclosing the sleeve and/or the label, or both!