AMEN!!! Thanks, Kathy, for spelling it out..... however, I think you might want to add another lesson in how to set the seam. Not sure there are many who know about that part.........
I am a firm believer that pressing is just as important (if not MORE) than precise piecing. I love hot irons and I love steam! Makes Stitching in that ditch SOoooooo much easier!
~~~~~~~ Laurie G. in CA
That's exactly what I was talking about :)
Julia > Julia:
For those who aren't familiar with setting a seam...
Take your piece exactly as it came out of the sewing machine and lay it on the ironing board. If you have marked your ironing board with a straight line, line up the edge with your straight line. Press straight down with your iron (assuming this is straight piecing, not curved) along the sewing line. A burst of steam with each press is a good idea.
Same idea for curved piecing, but you'll do lots of small presses with just the tip of your iron to avoid setting creases into the curve.
After you've set the seam, proceed to opening up the fabric and pressing open or to one side.
Happy pressing!
Kathy, do you find it just as easy - or easier - to SID when you press your seams open as when they're pressed to one side?
Louise
Yes, I do SITED on SM with the dogs UP, too and have to turn the quilts a lot. I agree it is more accurate and easier. On the rare occasions that I've tried FM SITED, I have not been happy. I have done some 'not quite' quarter inch away FM stitching .... going with a gentle curve from corner to corner. This has been more successful and less stressful for me.
Pat, Don't be too impressed! I've done that very rarely. See other post.
Grins,
Thank you, Kathy. I agree with your advice. I just marked a couple lines on my small ironing board, where I work the blocks.
When I press in a hurry, the results are not as good as when I press with care and patience. I do not 'plonk' the iron on the seam. I like to *gently* nudge it along, pretty much as you suggest.
Also, I try to not move the hot piece right away. I go along and set seams on a bunch of pieces, then go back to the start and press the seams open or to side. That gives the fabric a chance to cool a bit before being handled again. Zen Ironing ..... I guess that is what I do, but it takes a Californian to give it that title. Got love it! :)
We had a local longarmer who would do a gently waving/curving line of quilting over the seam line rather than stitch in the ditch. It was quite pretty and it eliminated the problem with not quite matching seams- in fact they looked much better after she did her gently undulating stitching over them!
Leslie & The Furbabies in MO.
I don't really find a lot of difference, as long as they're pressed well.
OTOH, pressing a seam to one side gives me a small ridge to follow, which seams a bit easier. OTOH, that means my quilting thread is always on the low side of the ridge, which can cause issues with matching the thread color, especially if the pressing is sub-par.
Of course, all of my customers who press open are also really excellent pressers. (I wonder which came first? Excellent pressing or pressing open?) So I *never* cringe when I get one to SID when the seams are pressed open. Can't say the same about pressing to the side. *grin*
That's a great idea, Leslie! Thanks for passing that on. One thing I have done - mostly if I have hand pieced by English paper piecing method - is to sew the narrowest zig-zag along the seam. It looks really pretty and covers any wayward stitches! . In message , Leslie & The Furbabies in MO. writes
Well done! I would add that if you press to the side, it's usually easier to do this from the top. After setting the seam, turn the work so the light side is wrong side down, with the dark side on top. (Assuming you want to press toward the dark side.) Make sure the seam edge lies nice and smooth on the board. Then flip the dark side open and gently nudge the tip of the iron along the ditch. I usually do this with the steam off, then blast with steam once the seam is open and smooth. You can "pre-press" from the back any spots that are likely to give trouble, such as intersecting seam areas. Roberta in D
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