Adding a Hanging Sleeve to a Quilt

This week I have been adding hanging sleeves to the back of my quilts. Hanging sleeves are basically tubes of fabric that is attached to the back of the quilt. Then you can insert a pipe or piece of wood to help hold up your quilt. 

Hanging quilt

A lot of quilt hanging systems and quilt shows require that there be a sleeve on the back of your quilt. 

This is how I made the sleeves for my quilts. 

1. Measure the width of the top of the quilt.

2. Measure the pipe or piece of wood that will be holding up the quilt. Add 1 1/2 inches. If you don't have access to it, a good general measurement would be 13 inches. 

3. Cut a piece of fabric that is the measurement from step 1 by the measurement in step 2. I like to use white fabric, or fabric that matches the back of the quilt. That way people are less likely to see it.

4. Stitch the short ends by rolling over the raw edge twice and stitching in place. 

5. Stitch the two long edges together, creating a long tube of fabric. 

6. Press. It will need to have 4 creases. Only about 1/3 of the tube will be attached to the quilt, the rest will be kind of pleated. This extra bulk will help the quilt hang flat. See the picture for an example. 

7. Line up and pin the sleeve to the back top of the quilt. It should be centered across the back and about 1-2 inches from the top. Make sure it is parallel with the top of the quilt so that it will hang straight. 

Quilt sleeve centered and line up on the back of the quilt.

Quilt sleeve centered and line up on the back of the quilt.

8. Hand stitch in place. I use the same stitch that I use to attach the binding. Make sure you don't go all the way through the quilt. You don't want your stitches to show on the front. 

Stitching the hanging sleeve onto the back of the quilt.

Now it is all set to hang up!

Hanging Quilt

Here is what it will look like from the back. 

Hanging sleeve from the back.

You can see how the bulk of the sleeve gets wrapped around the pipe. 

Hanging sleeve from the side

It only barely peeks over the edge of the quilt on this one. That is ok because it is the same color as the wall, so no one will notice. 

Top of the quilt sleeve.

If you have any questions about hanging sleeves or how to attach them please leave a comment below. 

Have fun quilting!


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