Welcome to week three of the car seat cover sew along! I'm super excited because we actually get to start sewing this week. Hooray!
Last week we got all of our cutting done, so hopefully by now all of your pieces are cut and ready to start piecing. This week we're focusing on getting your quarter inch seam dialed in, and I'll go over a few different ways to get one and how to test it. Then we'll talk pressing, marking lines for half right triangles, trimming those units (with some tips to speed things up), and web piecing the blocks. This is another technique-focused week, but by the end of it the goal is to have all of your blocks pieced. Next week we'll sew them into the quilt top for our car seat covers.
Perfecting a Quarter Inch Seam
Every machine is a little different, and it's definitely worth taking the time to get your quarter inch dialed in.
The tape method
This is how I have my machine set up. I use a little bit of washi tape on my bobbin cover plate. To figure out where to put it, I placed a ruler under the needle and dropped the needle down until it hit right on the quarter inch line. Then I put a piece of tape along the edge of the ruler. Once the tape is in place, I don't guide my fabric right along its edge. I leave about 1/32 of an inch gap, and that's how we get a scant quarter inch seam.
Quarter inch piecing foot
I also tried a quarter inch piecing foot, which I've never used before. To be honest, I'm not much of a gadget person. I was very poor when I started sewing, so I used what I had and made it work, and I've kind of kept those habits. This week I finally broke down and bought a ¼” piecing foot. This is definitely the easiest way to get a ¼” seam.
Why scant?
When we’re quilting we actually need a seam that is just slightly less than ¼”. When we sew two pieces of fabric together and press them open, we have to account for both the thickness of the thread and the fold in the fabric. Even though it's just a tiny bit, it adds up over the course of a whole quilt.
A couple of habits I like for piecing
- Use a leader. This is just a tiny scrap of fabric you sew onto first. If you've ever started sewing and gotten that little thread nest on the back of your pieces, the leader prevents that. The nest ends up on the scrap instead of your piecing.
- Drop your stitch length to 2 instead of 2.5. The slightly smaller stitch adds a little more security to your pieces.
- Let the machine do the work. Let it pull the pieces through, don’t push or pull. I use my pointer finger as a little anchor to keep the two pieces together.
Testing your seam
If you're setting up a quarter inch for the first time, or trying a new method with tape or a foot, test it before you jump into your pieces. I measured and cut two perfect 3" squares, sewed them together, and did a few rounds so I had several to look at. After pressing, the pair should measure 5 1/2". That's 3 + 3 = 6, minus 1/4" from each side.
If your piece is too big it means that your seam is too small, if your piece is short it means that your seam is too big.
I definitely think it’s worth taking the time to test your seam to make sure it’s perfect before you start sewing all of your pieces.
Pressing technique
First, press the seam itself. This is called setting the seam. It heats up the fibers and thread and helps them meld together.
Pressing to the side
I like to have the dark fabric side up. Use your fingernails to drag it open, then give it a finger press right along the seam to make sure it's opened all the way to the seam line. Let your iron sit there for five to ten seconds. You can also use a tailor's clapper, which is just a nice piece of solid wood. Set it on the seam after pressing to trap the heat while things cool down. This really helps get nice crisp seams.
Pressing open
Start the same way by setting the seam on the outside, then flip it over and finger press nice and close. Again, five to ten seconds with the iron. Pick your iron up and set it down rather than sliding it around. Once your pieces are cut, sliding your iron can lead to stretching and warping your pieces.
Which pressing technique is better?
There are advantages and disadvantages to both, and a lot of it comes down to personal preference. I typically press open because I get a flatter block and a flatter seam. You may have heard that pressing to the side gives you a stronger seam because the stitches are folded over and aren't as exposed, and once the quilt is quilted they aren't being pulled directly. I'll be honest, my quilts probably all have a mix of both, depending on what the piece is calling for. There really is no right or wrong.
Marking tools
For many quilting units you’ll need to mark a line before sewing. For the half right triangles I’m making, my first step is drawing a line from corner to corner on my light colored piece. There are a lot of ways to do this, here are some tools I recommend.
- Frixion heat erasable pens. These write easily and don't drag on the fabric. A word of caution: the heat doesn't actually erase the ink, it just erases the pigment. The ink is still there, and the lines can come back if you put it in the freezer, or turn brown if exposed to a lot of sun. I only use these where the line won't be seen, like in a seam allowance. I never use them for quilting lines.
- Water erasable pens. This one is more like a felt tip and leaves a nice line. It does come out, but I've had times when it didn't. I once used it to mark quilting lines and couldn't get it out, and I ended up with a blue shadow on my fabric. Be cautious where you use it.
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Chalk pen. This one has a little wheel that leaves a line of chalk. I don't love it for this application because the chalk brushes off easily, so if you're doing a big stack, your line can disappear. I use it more for garment making, like marking pocket placement or darts. Chalk can be a good option for darker fabrics where the pens won’t show up.
Trimming tips
Half right triangles
Trimming half right triangles is a little different from half square triangles. The diagonal doesn't go through the corner. It's offset, because we're going to sew a quarter inch from the bottom and a quarter inch from the side, so we want the diagonal to go through those quarter inch points.
I'm trimming mine to 3 1/2" x 6 1/2". I taped off that measurement on my ruler so it's visually easier to see where things need to go, I then used a fine point Sharpie to add a dot where the quarter inch intersects in the corner and in the corner above.
When you’re lining your piece up for trimming make sure the fabric extends past the tape and the dots are lined up on the diagonal. Trim the right side and top, then rotate and trim the other two sides.
Make a test unit.
When you're working with a new pattern designer or a new technique like half right triangles or flying geese, make a test block or test unit first. I often find that designers give different amounts of trimming room or have a slightly more scant ¼” seam than I do. Making some pieces before cutting everything will allow you to make any needed adjustments.
Ruler tips
When cutting or trimming, keep your hand in the middle of the ruler, and put your pinky off the edge. Having that pinky out grounds things and really helps stop the ruler from shifting. If your ruler still slides around, you can use some surgical tape on the back to help give it a little more grip.
Flying geese
I've never made flying geese this big! I needed to trim them to 6 1/2" x 12 1/2" and I don't have a ruler big enough, so I taped two smaller rulers together (a 9 1/2" and a 6 1/2"). I used my Sharpie again to make a mark at the top center ¼” down. This is where I want to line up the point. When I’m laying the ruler down to trim I make sure the dot is on the top of the triangle and the two diagonal lines are going through the corners, this will help me get nicely matched points later.
Web piecing
To speed up the assembly of my blocks I used a technique called web piecing. With web piecing we’re essentially sewing all of the rows together in one round of chain piecing.
Here's how the web piecing goes:
- Think of it as a grid. This is column A, this is column B, this is column C, and these are rows 1 through 4.
- Stack your columns. Pick up A1 and put it on top of A2, pick all of that up and put it on top of A3, then A4. Do the same for B and C.
- Sew A and B. Turn B1 like a page in a book onto A1 and sew. Grab the next piece in the stack, turn it like a page in a book, and sew. Keep going until everything from B is sewn to everything from A.
- Add column C. Bring it all back into your lap and add C to B the same way.
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Snip the chains apart and stack everything back into block formation to keep it organized.
Watch out for: Now you have a bunch of pieces dangling, so be careful that they don't get caught on anything, and lift the next set up onto the table so your machine isn't pulling too hard.
A tool I love
A stiletto (something pointy) is great for this work. My seam allowances keep wanting to flip on me, and it lets me get in really close and hold things in place, a lot closer than I can with my fingers. It's also great for adjusting and getting things lined up again.
Matching Points
Once all my rows were assembled, I sewed them together into the block using the nesting seams method. For that we have to pay attention to how we press. For the bottom row, I press the seams going out, and for the next row I press the seams going in. When the rows go together, the seams are pressed in opposite directions and they nest, or notch together, nice and flat.
Pinning
Matching points is probably the only time I use pins when I’m sewing. To match up your points:
- Look closely to see where the points match up. Carefully place your fabrics so the points are matching. Because the seams are pressed in opposite directions they will notch together.
- Pin at an angle by going in through one seam allowance and out through the other. I find that helps hold the seam allowances flat as they go through the machine
Another way to match points
Put a pin right where your stitch line intersects the diagonal, then push it through the point where you want it to match. Keeping the pin nice and straight, get those matched up, then take the pin out and pin like you normally do. I find I can get there just by looking, but if matching points is a struggle for you, try the pin method. There are a ton of different ways to do things, so try them all and see what works for you. There's lots of trial and error in quilting!
Sewing tips:
- Sew with the side that has the seam you want to match facing up, and make sure your stitch line goes right through each intersection.
- Focus on matching the points. If your pieces are a little bit off that’s okay just focus on lining them up so the points match
- Lift things up as you go and make sure none of the seam allowances on the back are getting flipped. The pins help with this, but I still check.
- Use a stiletto to help keep seam allowances in place and hold things together as they go through the machine.
Wrapping up week 3
That's it for week three! I finished my quilt blocks and have all four ready to go. I'm pretty happy with how they turned out!
Your Goals for This Week
For this week, just focus on getting your blocks done.
Next week (week 4), I'll show you a trick for trimming really big blocks like this, and we'll piece them together into our quilt top for the seat covers. In week five we'll get them basted and quilted, and in week six we'll add the attachment points and the binding. That means we're officially halfway through this sew along! I'm not going to say the worst is over, but I do feel like the tedious part is over, and from here on out we just get to have a lot of fun.
