Machine Binding - double fold

I'm here! Really, I am. It's just been a little, well, hectic of late. I'm back with another machine binding how-to, this one for double-fold binding applied to the front and back.

This one started with 2.25" strips of coordinating fabric, sewed end to end and applied to a trimmed quilt. Sometimes my seams matched beautifully and sometimes they didn't:
The picture above is the 2.25" strip folded in half, pressed and clipped around the edge of the quilt.


After fidgeting around four corners (that I apparently do not have a picture of), for this quilt I folded over each raw end and carefully aligned to tuck one under the other:

You can mark and carefully stitch the ends together, but that's another post. In this case, I overlapped them and, after stitching the binding down on the back, I topstitched over the seam. I wait until the end of the first stitching to do this because the binding does tend to shift a little:

All that remains is to flip the beast over and stitch the top, which involves even more clipping and fidgeting, this time getting the corners to lay properly:

The end result is a lovely strong top-stitched binding that complements the front and the back. The hardest part to get just right, besides the corners, is making sure when you topstitch the top edge of the binding that you don't wind up with the stitches showing on the backing. A few practice runs with some mug mats can help you figure out which measurements on your feet allow for the perfect overlap. I'll let you know if I ever find 'perfect' - right now I've found a third of an inch on the back and to the outside edge of my walking foot with my needle set to zero for the top. I'll be starting all over again if I ever get a new foot!