Secured Flange/Flat-piping Tutorial

Okay, here is the tutorial that's been asked for. I hope it helps explain how to add a flange (1/4" flat piping) to the edge of a quilt. It can usually be seen on the inside edge of any border, but I'm making it part of a block for this example.

Cut your flange/flat piping fabric 1" wide. Fold in half, lengthwise- wrong-sides inside the fold, and iron.

Open up and pin, right sides to right sides, to the edge of your border.

Sew slightly off the edge of the fold (not ON the fold), towards the raw edge.

I'm using pink thread so you can see the stitching. Unfortunately, I didn't sew enough OFF the fold, so when I closed up the fold (below) you can see it's not folded back EXACTLY in half. (There is a fix for this, so don't be dismayed if it happens to you-see below).

This is slightly off when re-folded .

Some of this was sew OFF-fold.

With the flange folded 'closed' and sewn to the border fabric, lay it on top of the quilt fabric (my sneaker fabric), right sides to right sides, with the flange between the two fabrics.

Sew a 1/4" seam. The stitching you see is the fold of the flange (that is really about 1/2" from the raw edges).

Here is the 'fix' mentioned above... If you want to ensure PERFECTION in having a 1/4" strip showing, sew 1/4" from the fold' stitching, not from the raw edge of the fabric.

This is how it should look once sewn to the fabric (quilt top).

Lay the fabrics with the border fabric on the table. Open the top fabric (quilt top) so that your 'thick seam' is laying flat under the quilt top (sneakers) fabric. Press. Even if your stitch just off-fold isn't straight, you still have a perfect 1/4" strip. 

This gives your quilt an thin accent fabric, without having to repeatedly iron it to keep it straight on your quilt.