Straight and Flat

jill here....As I was working on a scrappy backing, I thought I might share a could of tips/reasons we sew with seams pressed open.  I had some previously sewn strip sets that I wanted to sew together.  

Firstly, when we sew width of fabric strips, it's a good practice to alternate the sewing direction to prevent bowing.  If you look at the fabrics below, the fuschia is sewn to the grey and the the next strip set, orange to the grey.  Both of these sets are sewn with the selvedge ends even so we can identify the direction (the other ends do not match and are uneven).  So...when you sew the two sets together, match the uneven ends as best as possible and start from this end to counter the previous direction.  This keeps the sets straight.

These two strip sets are sewn together, but not pressed.

First I set the closed seam by pressing from the wrong side. This "tempers" the seam and prepares it to open easier.

With the point of the iron, open the seam gently by holding the other end of the strip set up.  The iron will glide easily and press the seam open.  Finish the entire length of the strip set.

Once the seam is pressed opened, press again from the right side of the fabric.  It's flat and straight.

Pressing seams open prevents those ridges of double fabric seam allowances.  There is more exposure to the actual seam so you may have to tighten the stitch.  The present day machine quilting holds the piecing securely.

So there you go!  Any insights or comments are welcome...'till next Tuesday!