I Don't Like Seams Pressed Open...Let Me Count The Ways
 

I'm working on a couple of quilts with small pieces and the directions call for all seams to be pressed open. I'm of the school that seams should be pressed to the dark side, but I do get why the designer wants them pressed open, especially for those tiny pieces...less bulk.

That being said...Geesh, what a PITA! It's taken me three times as long to make these quilts and now that I'm at the sandwiching phase, I can see that many seams didn't stay open. I don't care. I'm not going back to reopen the seams. If the quilt ends up lumpy, then so be it. It's absolutely maddening to have to keep going back and reopening the seams, repressing, trying to use fingers and tweezers to keep them open while sewing. It zaps all of the joy that I have for quilting. It's just not worth it!

I'm climbing down from my soapbox.

:::sigh:::

As someone who presses open, I know a lot of the frustrations for side pressers trying to change. I keep thinking that maybe next year's Bonnie Hunter project I will try pressing to the side as she gives very good directions on which side. I'm more comfortable open and haven't yet taken the learning opportunity.

There are a lot of little things that add up to big differences:

I keep my chains of pieces together until pressing, being able to set up and tug on groups makes a big difference to get the seam to stand up. I'll press maybe 4-6 and then cut them off, even if I have 12 units on the ironing board and more on the floor. Then I'll tug the chain forward.

Direction matters! When you are pressing triangles and have the choice (not so much in HST), put the blunt end towards your iron and press towards the point.

When you have more complex seams and have the option, try to put them on the uphill side and avoid going over them with the iron. For example, the Shaded 4-patch, where you have a solid triangle joining a pieced unit, put the solid triangle down and the pieced triangle up.

When you are joining blocks, it is better to lift up to reposition than to slide along.

I don't use starch, but my fabric is very crisp from pressing it as yardage, another help. High humidity is not your friend.

I press open except if I’m using a see through white. I just finished one with side pressed on the whites and pressed open on the other colours. I did it in strips which I starched front and back before ironing. It seems to help. I like the fact that it ends up so smooth with pressed open.
I also use one of thes tools (the L shaped one on the right) to help hold the seam open as I iron if they are stubborn.

I agree that it's a PITA to press seams open. I did buy a "strip stick" to help press seams open and that works OK. But I continue to press to the dark side as much as possible. It's just simpler. And why make something that's supposed to be a fun hobby harder for myself?

Me, too! I have one of those strip sticks and they are a big help but just one more thing to have to find and learn to use. Great help though if the pattern recommends pressing open. Pressing to one side is so much quicker and easier and for most of the patterns I use, I like the extra little "puff" that the seam makes. (Count me as liking poly batting because of the "puff".)

I press most of my seams open and don't find it difficult or tedious at all. I do not use water in my iron so there is no steam to worry about burning my fingers. When sewing a long seam I use my finger just in front of the iron to pre-press the seam open followed closely behind with the iron. On short seams I use my seam ripper to open to seam a bit and then use my fingers to flatten the seam a bit before ironing. I press to the side only occasionally. Different strokes for different folks:-)

I am working on one now, tediously. It doesn't seem hard to open the seams on the back, as I use my finger and a piece of wooden clothespin. Also, a lineup of weighted clappers.

Where there's trouble is in butting two of those seams together precisely. One byOne has suggested a tape, and I'm in the process of getting it. Until I have it, I hand-baste every intersection, and they meet perfectly.

I do like the flatness of open seams, but I'll sure be more careful about the pattern next time!

hugs,
charlotte

I rarely press open - only if there are many things coming together.

The pressing open of seams isn't the issue for me. Sewing clothing came long before quilts, so I've done it forever. It's that there is no butting of seams, making perfect intersections harder. It requires pinning, which I don't do. When seams are pressed open, pinning becomes necessary, and that is where the slow down happens.

I can't find any difference between quilting open or pressed to one side seams when I get to the quilting stage, nor can I feel any difference once the quilting is done in the feel. I do notice that my seams are neater and properly joined when I press to the side. I love nesting seams. I don't like pinning at all and I have to carefully pin when pressing open. So, yep, I chose the easy route for me and press to the side. Maybe I am too old to learn new ways. The first time I heard open seams really emphasized when I was in a modern quilt guild. Otherwise, it was rare to hear about except for some quilts where there was multiple points coming together in a seam and then it was suggested to press open to reduce the bulk which I have done. Over the years I have seen quilts where threads were holding the seam together because the seams were pressed opened. I don't like that look. The tensions on the machine probably had been too loose allowing the seam to open that way. So, I will press open when I think it is a good idea, otherwise, I am a press to one side person.

I learned to press to the dark and did that a long time. Then one of the quilters I watch on YouTube started pressing open and did a deep dive about it is just as strong etc and to the side was because of hand piecing. Whatever reason I tried pressing open and speaking just for myself, I get a better result. I quilt for my own pleasure with no deadlines or pressure and don't mind if it sometimes takes a bit longer. And yes it is more tedious if I have a patchwork with a lot of pieces and intersections but it's okay with me. The beauty of quilting is that there is usually no "one and only right way"!