Binding Calculator
Type your quilt’s size, get the strips to cut, the total length, and the yardage for straight grain or continuous bias. Then make it and put it on, step by step.
Type the finished width and height of your quilt and pick a strip width. The strip count, total length, and yardage fill in as you type. It updates live.
How the length adds up
Binding wraps the whole outside edge, so you need at least the perimeter, twice the width plus twice the height. On top of that, each mitered corner and the join where the binding meets itself take a little length, which is why the calculator adds a 12″ cushion before working out the strips. Strips are joined end to end on the diagonal, and every join costs about one strip’s width of finished length, so a bigger quilt needs proportionally a touch more than the raw perimeter suggests. The count and the yardage here already account for all of it.
Questions people ask
Why 2½″ strips?
A 2½″ double-fold strip finishes at about ⅜″ of binding showing on the front, which suits most quilts and most battings. It is also TideStitch's default and what the app's cut list uses. Drop to 2¼″ for a snugger, slightly narrower finish, or 2″ for a very thin binding on thin batting. The calculator re-figures the yardage for whichever you pick.
Where does the extra length come from?
The total is your quilt's perimeter plus 12″. Each of the four mitered corners eats a little length as it folds, and the closing join, where the tail meets its own head, needs some overlap. Twelve inches covers all five comfortably without buying a whole extra strip you won't use.
Why join on the diagonal instead of straight across?
A straight join stacks all the seam bulk in one spot on the edge, where it makes a visible lump and a hard place to sew through. A 45° join spreads that same seam across a couple of inches, so it lies flat and disappears. It is the one habit that most improves how a binding looks, and it is worth the few extra seconds.
When should I cut bias instead?
Bias binding is stretchy along its length, so it goes around curves and scallops that straight-grain binding can't. It also wears longer on a straight edge, because the fold crosses many threads instead of running along one, so no single worn thread runs the whole length. The trade is a bit more fabric and a bit more care, since bias stretches while you handle it.
Is this the same math as TideStitch?
Yes. The app's cut list solves the strip count the same way, billing each diagonal join at one strip width of length rather than hiding it in the usable-width allowance, and rounds the yardage up to the next quarter yard. This page assumes a double-fold strip cut across a usable 40″ of width of fabric.