How to Miter Corners
Mitered corners are a common feature in quilts, placemats and other cloth projects to make a more pleasing form in the outcome. Here’s how to make mitered corners.
Tools
Sewing machine
Binder fabric
Procedure
Sew the border fabric on the outer edges of the main fabric, stopping around a quarter inch from both sides of the binder.
Fold the tail end of the border fabric to the right, forming an L shape, with a triangle shape at the intersection of that L shape. The edges of the main fabric and the border fabric should remain aligned. Use a pin to secure the fold.
If you want a cleaner fold, you can use a minute miter. Simply slide down the minute miter down until you reach the corner edge, and use the triangle shape to fold the corners. Secure with pins, and remove the minute miter by pressing on one end and pushing it up, right and down.
Grasp the fold at the corner caused by the L shape and pull it up and make a tent-like formation.
Turn the fold back up to be aligned to the sewn side of the border fabric.
To miter the corner of the back area of the quilt, fold over the sides of the border corner. Use a smaller minute miter and slide it to the corner to form a triangle.
Use a sewing machine or stitch by hand to attach the border edges together, using a pin to secure the miter corners.
You can also a zip bind tool to take the place of the pin. It gives a more secure hold on the border fabric.
This may take some time to perfect the art of mitering corners, but proper measurements and accurate folding is essential in mitered corners in quilting. Good luck.