Free sewing & quilting calculators
Quilt Binding Calculator
How many strips to cut and how much fabric to buy — with the corners, the closing join, and the fabric every diagonal seam swallows already counted.
How binding yardage is calculated
Binding wraps the whole way around the quilt, so it starts with the perimeter: twice the width plus twice the length. A 60 × 80 in quilt has a 280 in perimeter.
Then it needs more than that. Each mitred corner takes up a little length as it folds, and closing the loop needs a tail at both ends to seam together — the standard allowance is 10–15 in in total, and this calculator adds 12.
Strips are cut across the fabric width, so a 44 in bolt gives strips about 42 in long once the selvages are gone. The catch is the joins: strips are seamed end to end at 45°, which is stronger and less bulky than a straight seam but overlaps the two strips by their own width. Joining 2½ in strips costs about 3 in of length every time. Divide 292 by 42 and you get 7 strips; count the seven joins and you actually need 8. That single strip is the difference between finishing your quilt and driving back to the shop.
fabric length = strips × strip width — because each strip is cut across the bolt, it costs its own width in yardage, not its length. Eight 2½ in strips need 20 in of fabric, or ⅝ of a yard.
Choosing a strip width
| 2 in | A narrow, tight finish. Best on thin cotton batting and small projects — it's unforgiving to sew. |
|---|---|
| 2¼ in | A scant ⅜ in finished binding. Popular with hand-finishers who like a tidy, close edge. |
| 2½ in | The default, and the width most patterns assume. Roughly ½ in finished, and forgiving to stitch down. |
| 2¾–3 in | For high-loft, wool, or flannel-backed quilts, where the binding has more bulk to wrap around. |
These are all for double-fold (French) binding, where the strip is folded in half lengthwise before it's sewn on — the standard for quilts because the edge that takes all the wear is a fold, not a raw seam. Single-fold binding uses the same strip length but finishes narrower; it's for garments and items that won't be washed to death.
Straight-grain or bias?
These numbers are for cross-grain strips, cut selvage to selvage. That's what most quilters use, it's the most economical, and it has just enough give to turn a square corner cleanly.
Bias binding — strips cut at 45° to the grain — stretches, so it's the only sensible choice for curved or scalloped edges, and it's the durable choice for a quilt that will be washed constantly, because the wear falls across many threads instead of along one. It costs more: you're cutting diagonally across a rectangle, so expect to buy roughly 1½ times the fabric this calculator suggests, or use a continuous-bias tube to keep the waste down. Bias also matters for stripes and plaids, where cross-grain strips give you a binding striped the boring way round.
A note on measuring
Measure your quilt after it's quilted and squared up, not from the pattern. Quilting draws a top in — sometimes by an inch or more across a large quilt, and more with dense designs — so the finished perimeter is usually smaller than the plan says. Measuring the real thing costs you thirty seconds and saves you cutting binding for a quilt you no longer have.