Bias + Sewing Question
 

I'm about to start sewing a patchwork square quilt with 6" squares. When I line up the squares together to sew, should I make sure the "stretchiness" is going the same way, or is that not really important? Or, if I do match them up, with it make the quilt stretch all one way? I've been looking at tutorials and not seeing this mentioned. Maybe it's something I shouldn't even worry about :confused: If it matters, I will be tying the quilt.

Thanks!

I have never given this a thought. I'm no expert but I cut my squares from strips cut WOF and then start sewing squares together.

I don't think with 6" blocks you will have any stretchiness. It is when you sew on the diagonally from the weave (45 degrees), that is where the bias is. I am sewing some 14" long diamonds which all 4 sides are on the bias so I am being very careful to make sure the bias side is down when stitch. Figure my friend would choose an old Kaffe pattern. Good Luck. :)

I think you can sew them together any way you want. Normal 100% quilting cotton just doesn't stretch that much when using squares to worry about it.

Thanks all! If I pull on the fabric I can definitely tell a difference but forgot that worrying about the bias refers to sewing diagonally (still new at this hah). Alright, off to get started!

Sewing on my fourth square, I noticed it was stretched a little longer at the corners whereas the other two seams much less so. Turns out I had my first three squares all aligned the same way of stretchiness by sheer luck, whereas this last block was not. I have no idea why this is happening; the fabric is quilt store quality, made by Kaufmann. I also did prewash it. The machine I'm using is a c. early 1940's Featherweight and it was fully serviced at the end of last year so I don't think it's the bobbin tension. I've set my needle tension at 3.5. For now I'll just take this seam out and redo it with the fabric aligned the same way but I'm lost as to why this is happening because it really doesn't seem to be an issue for others.

A lot of fabric does stretch a bit one direction (along the width) and not the other; it's just the nature of woven fabric. But usually it's not enough to throw a seam off, at least not by much.

I'm not really sure what could be making that happen, but someone will come along who does. :)

Oh - you aren't tugging or dragging on the fabric as you sew, are you? I had a bad habit of tugging the fabric through the machine when I was a beginner, and that would sometimes give me weird stretching & curving.

Check to be sure that your squares are really square.

Once the quilt is quilted to a batting and backing you won't have to worry about stretching. Some people do prefer to have the squares aligned the same way, especially if dealing with fabric that has a directional pattern or sheen. Most of the time it's too time consuming to figure out which way is which. If we were sewing clothing then we would definitely pay more attention to the orientation of the fabric.

Hmm...I could be tugging on it while trying to keep a straight 1/4" seam. I'll keep that in mind, because I've had this issue in the past too.

I did check it on my cutting mat and it seemed to pretty good, but I'll pay closer attention to this as well. Thanks guys! :)

Hi Skylark - I agree with your observation. There is a difference in stretchiness of the fabric -
the width of fabric (wof) is selvedge to selvedge and is stretchier than the length of the fabric which is far more stable. Bias is of course the most stretchy. Cutting fabric parallel to the selvedge will give you the most stable cut - length of fabric is great for borders where you don’t want any stretch. The bias is great for curved edge binding when you need some give, and the WOF is probably the most commonly used cut. It is often the most economical way to
cut fabric, and while it has some stretch to it, it is not uncontrollable. If you are prewashing your fabric, be aware that you are washing out the sizing and losing some stability. I often
use spray starch which will restore a bit of body. You are less likely to distort the fabric
if you starch in large pieces before cutting. I have problems with precision, but I find that if
I pay attention to the grain, use lengthwise cuts when practical, take my time, sew carefully and press as I go along, I will get a better result. Watch an Eleanor Burns video. She uses a
stilleto to control her fabric when sewing, and to get the ends to match on each seam. I find using a scrap of fabric to start and end seams helps keep my seam line accurate (aka leaders and enders, stoppys and startys etc)

Mostly - don’t stress over this - as you sew, you will find techniques that work for you.
Lefty - in Philly

match the ends, put one under the needle, start stitching. while the fabric is moving, hold the other end-matching and all should fit. no pulling, moving, etc. If necessary pin the center and ends. remove the first pin after placing it down. Good luck.

Starch will help! I starch my fabric before I cut it, and it really helps keep both cutting and sewing straighter and crisper.

I also found that using leaders/enders stops me from pulling, and keeps the machine from eating the first edge of the seam. <leader - a wee bit of scrap fabric you stitch across and then abut the patches you're sewing - a 'starter' chain; ender - I use the same scrap to finish the chains. Bonnie Hunter has tons of patterns to create quilts out of scrap leaders/enders, but when I don't have scraps organized, I just reuse the same scrap over and over.>

On some fabrics, even woven ones, there is quite a bit of difference on the amount of stretchiness between the lengthwise and crosswise grains of fabrics.

If the squares are square (I had a commercial template once that was 1/8 inch off - and that really made a difference) - it usually does not matter if you sew them the same way or not. But if you are obsessive-compulsive, and it makes you feel better to do it that way - that's fine, too.

This kind of thing is why we all learn to fudge a bit. *Ahem* Not s'posed to admit that one. All of the suggestions above are great. The only thing not mentioned specifically above, though hinted at is that the sewing machine itself can contribute to the problem. The feed dogs pull the bottom layer ever so slightly which causes the top layer to slip down a little smidgeon. I always use an anchor piece to begin and am strict about making sure the top edges meet and pin until a couple of stitches are in. Before getting to the bottom of the squares (somewhere around 1/2 way, make sure they also are aligned evenly and hang on to them for dear life (or pin).

That is true - on most machines, the layer next to the feed dogs does get pushed through faster - which is why it has been suggested that it works better to put the layer that needs to be eased in on the bottom.

Now that you mention it, I do what you said. (Even with a Pfaff IDT mechanism!)

On long lengths - like borders - I mark on the fabric intervals that "match" intervals on the body of the quilt - and then pin at those intervals.

A lot of great advice here, thanks! I think I'm going to try starch...I read some more about it and it sounds like it might help me. I only had sewed 5 seams so re-doing them won't be a huge deal, plus just more practice.

The warp and weft ( length of grain and width of grain) of the fabric does have a small degree of variation in the amount of stretch on the cut edges but not enough to make any difference when sewing patches together. I never worry about it. The only time I am careful is with directional prints that I want to lay a certain direction.

The selvage to selvage cut has more stretch than a length of fabric cut. Not enough to worry over.

peace

The bad thing about fabric is that it stretches. The good thing about fabric is that it stretches. I never worry about whether I have the warp or the weft facing a particular direction. After all the good thing about fabric is that you can nudge (stretch) it a bit to fit. Starch helps keep things stable as well. The only time I really fuss about stretch is when I'm cutting and sewing off grain like bias or fussy cutting.

A technique that I use for fussy cutting if it is terribly off grain is that I draw the shape that will eventually be my raw edge (1/4" past the seam line) in the position that I want it on the fabric and cut a larger piece quite a bit beyond those lines. My cut for the larger piece is with the grain of the fabric. With my raw edge lines drawn on the fabric I match up that line to the adjoining piece raw edge and stitch a 1/4" seam. After I have secured all the edges of my fussy cut piece I trim the edges to match the adjoining pieces. I find the larger piece doesn't stretch as much as if I was working with a cut raw edge off grain. Hope this make sense.