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Bias binding is cut at 45° to the grain so it stretches around curves. The continuous-bias method makes one long strip from a single square — the trick is cutting the square big enough. Enter your quilt and strip width; get the square size, the yardage, and a full-width rectangle plan for quilts too big for one square. Free, no account, works in inches or centimeters.
You need 276″ of continuous bias (264″ around the quilt plus 12″ for corners and the join).
Continuous-bias square
Cut one square 28″ × 28″ — buy 1 yd.
Yields roughly 15 diagonal strips at 2½″ before you join them into the tube.
Rectangle plan (full width)
Or cut 18⅛″ off the bolt — ¾ yd of 42″-usable fabric — and cut the strips at 45° across it.
The rectangle wastes a little more at the ends but is the only option for very large quilts or wide strips.
The square is sized from area (length × strip width) with 10% added for the two short corner triangles and the tube seam, then rounded up to the next ½″. Straight-grain binding for the same quilt would take about ½ yd — bias costs more fabric, and buys you stretch around curves and a binding that wears longer on the fold.
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Square to cut for standard quilt sizes, 2½″ strips, 12″ extra for corners and the join:
| Quilt | Bias needed | Square (2½″ strips) | Square (2¼″ strips) | Buy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baby (40×52″) | 196″ | 23½″ | 22½″ | ¾ yd |
| Throw (60×72″) | 276″ | 28″ | 26½″ | 1 yd |
| Twin (66×88″) | 320″ | 30″ | 28½″ | 1 yd |
| Full (80×96″) | 364″ | 32″ | 30½″ | 1 yd |
| Queen (90×108″) | 408″ | 33½″ | 32″ | 1 yd |
| King (108×108″) | 444″ | 35″ | 33½″ | 1 yd |
The reverse lookup, for when you have a square of leftover fabric and want to know what it covers. Lengths are conservative — they already allow for the short corner pieces.
| Square | 2¼″ strips | 2½″ strips | Binds a quilt up to about |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12″ | 58″ | 52″ | 10×10″ |
| 15″ | 90″ | 81″ | 17×17″ |
| 18″ | 130″ | 117″ | 26×26″ |
| 21″ | 178″ | 160″ | 37×37″ |
| 24″ | 232″ | 209″ | 49×49″ |
| 27″ | 294″ | 265″ | 63×63″ |
| 30″ | 363″ | 327″ | 78×78″ |
| 36″ | 523″ | 471″ | 114×114″ |
Multiply the bias length you need by the strip width, add about 10% for the corner triangles and the tube seam, and take the square root. A 60×72 inch throw needs 276 inches of 2½ inch binding: 276 × 2.5 × 1.1 = 759, and the square root is 27.6, so cut a 28 inch square. The calculator above does this for any quilt and rounds up to the next half inch.
About 117 inches of 2½ inch strip, or 130 inches of 2¼ inch strip, after allowing for the short pieces at the corners. An 18 inch square is enough for a baby quilt up to about 26×26 inches, not for a throw.
Whenever the edge curves: scallops, rounded corners, clamshell or Dresden edges. Bias stretches around the curve without puckering. Many quilters also use it on straight edges for heavy-use quilts, because the threads cross the folded edge at 45 degrees and share the wear instead of one thread taking it all. Straight-grain binding is fine for square quilts and uses less fabric.
Cut the square in half on the diagonal. Sew the two triangles together along the straight-grain edges with a ¼ inch seam to make a parallelogram. Mark cutting lines parallel to the bias edges at your strip width. Bring the two straight edges together, offsetting them by one strip width, and sew into a tube. Cut along the marked line in a spiral and one long strip unrolls.
Yes. Switch the toggle to cm and type your quilt in centimeters. The strip widths stay at their imperial equivalents (2½ inches is 6.4 cm) because that is what rulers and binding tools are marked in.
Solids and small prints hide the diagonal joins best.
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