Originally Posted by
Jan in VA
You know how sometimes you run your fingernail down a seam to ease the sense of 'gathering' or along a fold of a piece of paper because it makes it "sharper"? That's why I "set the seam" before pressing the block/strip open. Just makes it look a bit neater and easier to abut the seams when joining to another section or clock.
Jan in VA
OK...I might buy this theory. Perhaps when you do that first pressing to, "set the seam," it slightly shrinks the thread and smoothes out any gathering that has occurred due to thread tension, etc. But, why can't you just do that with one motion of pressing the seam to the one side instead?