Three Ways To Finish Fabric Corners By Mitering

If you’ve ever had to clean finish a fabric corner, you probably know that this easier said than done. While a simple and quick way to clean finish fabric corners entails simply folding the fabric corner edges over and stitching them in this position, this technique does not work on all corners edges- some instances require more advanced finishing techniques. Whether you are clean finishing a corner angle that is not 90 degrees, or you require a more decorative finish, there are three main techniques you can use. These three methods fall in the category of mitering:

Mitering fabric corners can be done using the corner seam allowance, using a bias strip, or an exposed bias binding.

Mitering uses a diagonal seam to cleanly encase the corners raw edges to form a well defined, smooth corner edge.

The most traditional form of mitering uses the seam allowance edges to encase the fabric raw edges with a simple diagonal seam.

Mitering can also be accomplished using a bias strip (either contrast or matching) cut at the width of your choice, to encase the fabric corner edge. While the bias strip is not visible from the face side of the application, it is visible on the wrong side, which creates a semi decorative finish.

A bias bound mitered corner is completed using a (single fold) bias binding that wraps the corner to encase the fabric raw edges. This finish is just as much functional as it is decorative- the exposed bias binding is visible on both the right and wrong side of the fabric corner. You can use a bias binding cut from the same fabric or a contrast fabric as shown in the image above.