Binding a carpet involves taking fabric, folding it over the edge of the carpet and then sewing it to the carpet with a large binding sewing machine. The finished width of binding is ¼” to 3/8”.
Professionally serging a carpet involves continuously wrapping the edge of the carpet with yarn. This is similar to a traditional whip stitch, except the yarn on the edge is very close together and done by a machine. The width of the serging is about 3/8” and the yarn is chosen to match the carpet.
When fringing a carpet, the look is the first major difference out of the three styles. While this type of finish might be a bit more stylish out of the three, it’s unfortunately not as durable as serging and binding. After a while, depending on the amount of traffic going through the space, the tassels tend to wear and tear off. However, they can easily be replaced professionally or even DIY style. The last two differences that sets fringing apart is that there aren’t as many colors to choose from (mostly just shades of neutral off-white) and the length of the tassels usually add more to the overall length of the carpet than serging and binding do.