Easing mismatched seams
 

I am working on a group project right now and the poor thing is a bit out of square and I can't just cut off a bit or I'd lose someone's points. So I thought I'd ask on the forum about easing seams.

What is the most you have ever eased (without having a wavy seam)?

On one side I am dealing with 1/2" overage - the other direction is 1" too short.

If you are easing/repositioning a whole row or column, I have adjusted for a full inch or so. But the smaller the length, the less you have to work with.

Yikes!

Which is why I avoid group projects.

I have heard of people actually taking a block apart and reconstructimg it. Don't know where you will find an extra inch of fabric, thoigh.

Oh there is no fixing this one at the source. I am #3 in the rotation and the first row is off. It really doesn't look bad - just when you fold it ......

What about hiding the short side with lace trim or ric-rack gee I don't know.......good luck

Stretch and squish as much as you can???? Generally, baggy fabric on the bottom - against the feed dogs. Stretch the bejeezus out of the short elements???? Good luck.

This is exactly what I was going to say but I really like NJ Quilter's verbiage!!!

wow. hum....... good luck.


"when in danger or in doubt, run in circles, scream and shout"

I'll give the stretching and squishing a go. Will report back how much success I had.

I've been sitting here puzzling this problem out and have no solution for ya.
But this is one of the reasons I quit doing round robins unless I knew exactly who was doing it with me in my group. I've got too many unfinished ones that I didn't particularly like and gave up on.

Jan in VA

Hi Martina
Sharon Shamber has 3 videos that might help. Maybe you already know them. Check her youtube channel and look for ‘stretching a block’ ‘shrinking a block’ and ‘magical basting’ which deals with squaring up a quilt. Sorry I can’t answer your specific question.
Lefty - in Philly

Sometimes you can sew outside one seam allowance reducing the extra amount. I do this by hand as I feel I have more control. I rarely undo as I hate this job and think it is toooooooo upsetting . I have undone to try to set seam narrower but not as successful.

I rarely ease a block to a block and if I had to I would probably not go more than 1/4 inch. I did a guild quilt and requested about 8 10 blocks more than I needed. Those blocks that were way off, I just pulled partially apart and redid them or "increased an internal seam or two. With Blocks that were too small - I found that the 1/4 inch seam was somewhat closer to 3/8 and when I was desperate would rework them completely.

Good luck - Oh ... one last option is "frame" each block with background material and square them all evenly - this way you do not loose points and do not have the rework anything!!

Thanks for all the feedback. The top at this point is already at 62" (-ish) and there is no way that I would dismantle it and resew from the center out. I will try to trim what I can to even things out, and then see what will stretch and what will ease as best as I can. The rest is up to the final owner. She is actually the one who started sewing inconsistent seam lines. And yes, I think I will bow out of group projects for a while. Too many other UFOs anyway.

When I have to ease fabrics I take hold of both layers making sure they match up an hols the fabric up at an angle form the needle. It works most of the rime.

Put the longest (baggy) fabric on the bottom and hold the seams you want to match between your fingers and hold a little tension on it so that it has to work to feed through the machine. This will give the feed dogs opportunity to grab the baggy fabric and work harder to get it to feed through the machine and it eases in the bottom fabric. If you are trying to match long strips, divide them into fourths or eighths, depending on how much you need to ease in and work only a section at a time in order to distribute the fullness evenly. If some fullness is on the top and some is on the bottom you may have to cut your thread and sew from the opposite side to make this work best. It may look a little "gathered" in some areas but usually works out when put over the batting. Use polyester batting with more loft for best results.

What iffy298 said! It definitely helps.

Sorry. Meant "ifty".

I have taken a block apart and re-did it. It was a shoebox club project and the block was awful...nothing lined up so I just re-did it.

How about 'taking in' some of the smaller seams a bit, to make it closer to square? I do this all the time-- take in or let out seams-- when my rows don't match up right.

Yes, if it can't be fix then you just have to do your best. I don't normally do any block exchanges either. NOT fun at all when there are blocks that are off.

when easing mismatched seams remember this " lift up your baggy bottoms". What this means is put the longer, baggy bottom, side to the feed dogs. Since the feed dogs run the bottom layer faster than the top layer is dragged along it will add some to automatic easing. As for the "lift up", hold the bottom of the seam you are sewing lift the entire seam length just a bit up off the stitch plate as it goes under the foot. This is an old seamstress trick used to keep the long seams of dresses and pants from growing or shrinking as you sew them. This will add additional easement evenly along the seam line. This can be used even when sewing long strips together by holding and lifting the seams about 10 to 12 inches from the needle area and then adjusting your grip as needed. Give it a try. What have you to lose?

Thanks kellen46. I will tackle the beast this weekend and will combine all the good tips I got. I do appreciate my fellow quilter in cyber world.

How about sashing strips around each block? Then you can square each block to desired (required) size. Works for our groups QOV. Or any group project. Good luck