Quilt Binding Calculator

This calculator sizes the binding for a quilt from the finished measurements of the top. Enter the width and length, the strip width and the fabric width, and it returns the number of strips to cut, the length they make once joined, and the yardage to buy rounded up to the next eighth. It counts what each diagonal join takes out of the strip, which the usual shortcut of dividing the perimeter by the fabric width leaves out and which costs a whole strip on a large quilt. Continuous bias is handled as well, and a second mode goes the other way and says what size quilt a piece of fabric you already have will bind.

Calculator Type
Measured In
Applies to every measurement on this form and to every measurement in the answer. The joining identity is a sum of lengths, so the unit cancels straight through it.

Enter the finished size of the quilt top. The binding has to go round all four sides, plus enough to turn the corners and close the loop where the two ends meet.

2.5 in is the standard double-fold binding; 2.25 in gives a tighter finish and 2 in is for thin batting only. In centimetres the standard is 6.5 cm. Left blank it takes the standard for the unit picked above.
Each width is listed in the unit it is actually sold in. A 44 in bolt and a 110 cm bolt are different cloth, not the same cloth converted, so both lists are here whichever unit you are working in.
Both edges together. The tight woven edge comes off before the strips are joined. Left blank it is 1 in, or 2.5 cm.
Used both for joining the strips on the diagonal and for stitching the binding to the quilt. Left blank it is 1/4 in, or 0.75 cm.
10 to 15 in, or 25 to 40 cm, is the usual allowance. Most of it goes on the tail you leave loose to close the loop. Left blank it is 12 in, or 30 cm.
Per yard when the measurements are in inches, per metre when they are in centimetres, matching the quantity the answer says to buy.
Widget
Measured In
Applies to every measurement on this form and to every measurement in the answer. The joining identity is a sum of lengths, so the unit cancels straight through it.

The other direction: you have a piece of fabric and want to know how much binding it makes and what size quilt that goes round.

In yards when the unit above is inches, in metres when it is centimetres. A fat quarter is not this shape: enter the length along the bolt of a full-width piece.
Each width is listed in the unit it is actually sold in. A 44 in bolt and a 110 cm bolt are different cloth, not the same cloth converted, so both lists are here whichever unit you are working in.
2.5 in is the standard double-fold binding; 2.25 in gives a tighter finish and 2 in is for thin batting only. In centimetres the standard is 6.5 cm. Left blank it takes the standard for the unit picked above.
Both edges together. The tight woven edge comes off before the strips are joined. Left blank it is 1 in, or 2.5 cm.
Used both for joining the strips on the diagonal and for stitching the binding to the quilt. Left blank it is 1/4 in, or 0.75 cm.
10 to 15 in, or 25 to 40 cm, is the usual allowance. Most of it goes on the tail you leave loose to close the loop. Left blank it is 12 in, or 30 cm.
Widget
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