Venturing into new territory - Y seams

Trixie, I swear by Sharyn Craig's method (assuming you're talking about doing this by machine), so I'd recommend seeing if you can get her Lemoyne Star book from your local library. Jan Krentz used to have Sharyn's method on her web site, but I can't find it now. :S

No website, but I am the Duchess of Y-seams :-) Take a deep breath, it won't be that bad. The trick is to mark a point on all relevant seams a scant quarter inch before the edge, and match those marks precisely. Then don't stitch any farther! 2 or 3 stitches in place right at that point will secure the threads. (Backstitching just adds bulk.) Do each "arm" separately, don't try to stitch across the intersection. 2nd tip: don't worry about pressing until you have all 3 "arms" of the Y stitched. Then press the "stem" of the Y open and the 2 right-angle arms toward the stem, if that makes sense.

The way to feel proficient is to do a LOT of them! After the first few, you probably w>I'm making a jelly roll stars pattern and the stars are coming out great. I

Well, as usual, I don't have a website to send you to; but I can tell you that I have never had any wrinkly 'Y' seams since I started in the middle of the Y, and go to each end separately. I believe it is so critical that you start sewing in *exactly the right spot, if you start at an end and pivot in the middle, that it is not worth the trying to save a stop and start. Try it, start from the centre, as a millimetre at the end doesn't make *nearly as much difference as a millimetre wrong at the centre point. . In message , Trixie writes

My Berninas don't much like stitching over pins so I use thin needles to hold the fabrics in place. I put just 2 or 3 inches of thread in the needles so they're easy to remove and see. Also - it is perfectly legal to baste until you're comfortable with the deal. Polly

A bunch of great ideas, and thank you so much! I'll let everyone know how it goes once I get to that part. I see that practice is going to be important.

Trixie

Mark where the seam ends. Stop ONE STITCH short of this on each of the three seams. That way you don't get a little knotty lump of stitches meeting where you want a nice sharp point.

And for super accuracy, turn the work round by 180 degrees rather than reversing.

That's an interesting idea, Kate. I'd always assumed that simply reversing was good. I'll have to give the 180° pivot and try and see what the difference is. Very interesting. Polly "Kate XXXXXX" >

I definitely agree, I think she must present this method in more than one book as I think the one I have is has 8 point stars in the name, rather than lemoyne stars, I got it at half price books, new, not 2nd hand, they had loads of them.

To practice I did a row of them for a row quilt swap I was in and I was pretty impressed with how well it went. Definitely mark the quarter inches rather than trying to eyeball them and steam the finished block!

Cheers Anne

Polly: That is how I was taught to secure a seam back when I was a girl. It is helpful at the start of the seam as it helps prevent the ends getting chewed up in the feed dogs. Not sure if it was my mother or a teacher who showed me that, but all these years later I appreciate the good advice. Pat in Virginia

Well, now. If you want to get terribly cute, you can: Pull a good length of the bobbin's thread up, put it through the needle and place it on up the path (backwards, of course). Then when you begin to stitch there are no 'ends' and the seam is totally secure. That's what you do when you're sewing a dart in something very sheer. You have to begin at the point of the dart. (Which is, of course, also backwards.) I haven't done stitching *that* tricky in a long time. Just wanted you to know I'm not as dumb as I look. =) Polly

Just wanted you to know I'm not as dumb as I look. =) Polly