Binding a Jersey Neckband

I keep being asked how I do the binding on the necklines of my jersey sewn items

this particular little t-shirt caused a lot of interest!

I took a few photos today of the binding process as I was sewing a dinky little newborn dress today

The dress is by Max And Meena and is called The Maritime Dress

Anyway, for the binding, I apply 1.5″ strips of fabric, gently stretched. Right sides together and overlocked in place with 4 threads and the width on my Babylock Evolution set to 4.5

I find this width of binding gives me something to get hold of when I’m stitching it in place after folding it to the wrong side

I then lift the strip up and over the overlocked edge and clip in place with wonderclips

Then I change my settings on my overlocker to Cover Stitch using needless 2 & 3 so I can get as close to the binding as possible. I also use my lovely narrow Cover stitch foot which sits neatly up against the stitching line of the binding

The cover stitching secures the binding in place on the wrong side

A similar effect could be achieved with a twin needle. I’ve never tried a twin needle though, erm, that’s not strictly true, I did put one in my sewing machine once, and promptly broke that needle with the first stitch! Never tried it again lol

Or how about using the 3 step zigzag stitch on your sewing machine instead of the cover stitching?

After the cover stitching is done I trim off the excess binding close to the stitching, paying particular attention so I don’t cut the stutches

I find this method works well for most of the garments that need either a neck or sleeve binding

I usually work with fabrics with a good stretch across the width containing some lycra

There’s one layer less fabric using this method and it seems to lay flatter too. Particularly good for baby garments