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SO.........WHAT ARE WE WORKING ON TODAY??

Thursday, February 4, 2010

A Pattern Matching Trick

 When a treatment is wider than a width of fabric, ususally 54", the fabric cuts must be joined together.
 Sometimes a really perfectly exact pattern match isn't critical, but when the treatment is flat, any imperfections in the joining will be obvious.
 An experienced seamstress can zoom through joining widths with just a few pins, or even none, and they'll always come out perfect.  Not many can do that!  I try, but it doesn't always turn out great, so  I keep practicing.
 However, some patterns challenge even the most experienced sewer, such as this one, where the pattern match varied by about 1/8", and the fabric had to be eased in to match.
Also there is a skinny little stem that grows from one width of fabric onto the other width.
I need help with this one!....................

 So, here's a trick for perfect matching.

 Most printed patterns match about 1/4" in from the edge.  On one width, press about 1/4" from the printed edge.
 Line it up with the second width and lay it out so it matches all the way up.
 Use a narrow strip of fusible webbing and press the folded edge into place, not quite at the fold but just out from it.
 Take the fabric to the sewing machine, unfold it, and carefully sew along the pressed fold.
 Trim the selvedges, press the seam open, and turn it over.  Press it again from the right side, being sure to fully open the seam with the iron.
 If there are any unmatched spots, it's easy to pick out a few stitches and re-sew them.

Voila!

3 comments:

  1. You can also glue baste with dots of fabric glue.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yep, that's true- and I just discovered glue basting this year.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi, thanks for bringing katazome to my attention... + for stopping by at Gerdiary (the tennis lady´s printed I think...)

    ReplyDelete