Finishing edges of Grandmother's Flower Garden

Nov 19, 2007 2 Replies

I am attaching a border on an English paper pieced wall hanging. How do I finish the outside edges?



Do I leave one edge unsewn and use the 1/4 inch as the seam allowance?



Do I sew with a blanket stitch all along the finished edge?



I need help.


First, let me see if I understand correctly:

You have a GFG top and you want a straight border attached to it.

If this is correct, then what I would do is treat it like a (big)=20 appliqu=E9, but try to use tiny invisible stitches (a blind stitch) rathe= r=20 than blanket stitch. If you are doing it by machine, I'd use either a=20 straight stitch or a, hm what is it called, hem stitch? The kind that=20 goes straight in the the background and then takes a tiny stitch to the=20 side, just biting into the appliqu=E9.

I wouldn't cut the inside of the border to the shape of the GFG until=20 after the stitching is secure, and if the wallhanging is small, I might=20 just leave it in altogether.

HTH, Hanne in London

One of the nicest ways I have seen of finishing this type of pattern is to appliqué the hexagon edges to a straight border. Then you would turn under any surplus and appliqué with whatever stitch you prefer (I would prefer a more or less concealed slip stitch to a blanket stitch?). You would need to pin it carefully (or otherwise attach it - fabric glue or similar?) so that neither the pieced centre nor the border moved at all in the process. . In message , HARRY MELBY writes

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