Managing bulky seams
 

This morning I was doing a little internet surfing on how to reduce bulky seams on a quilt. I ran across this cute article and thought I'd share. http://www.harvesthousequilting.com/...ps--charts.htm

The quilt I'm currently working is mess in progress when it comes to seams. I've tried pressing so many different ways and its just gonna have some bulky seams. Pressing open didn't even help. I don't like to press open, I know many of you do but I feel that its not a strong if I do this, I could be wrong, but you know years of pressing to the dark is a hard habit to break. Anyway cute article hope you enjoy!

Oh my gosh. A few girls i go to class with are making a quilt and having the same problem with several layers of seams coming together. They just wont lay flat no matter what we do. I suggested taking a hammer and wacking the silly seams. I did'nt know there was a wacher tool. Now I am really going to get a mallet from hubby and try it.

i'm not 100% comfortable doing that - does the fabric become weak?

in my mind hitting the seams with a mallet would break down the fibers- i have seen it done though- a quilt shop demo a few years ago---we all kind of laughed --- and as far as i know none of us who were there for the demo actually practice it (but there could of course be some -closet whackers in our midst) :)
it just seems like it would break down the fibers and cause them to not hold up through laundering/use---but that is just (in my mind) i have no knowledge of the long term effect

When hemming my dads jeans I always use the "wacker" method. Maybe it just helps those stubborn quilt seams "nest" together better! Not sure I'm gonna try this method either, but I still thought her article along with the tool was a good chuckle.

I actually saw Mary Ann Fons do this on an episode of Fons and Porters Love of Quilting. I figure IF they do it, it has to be okay!

I have one, its a regular claw hammer, no it doesnt weaken the fabric, just pounds it down so its not so bulky.
I call mine the " persuader". Funny thing about it is, my sister sews for people, and she told me, when she hemmed jeans for people, that she used a hammer on the seam, to make it lay down, I'm like yeah ok sure. Next thing you know I was making pinwheels and the middle was a bit too bulky- a smack or 2 with the hammer, and its flat as a pancake!- PROBLEM SOLVED!!
So- have a whack-a-doodle day!
ya might as well have fun with it!
katz

funny - my 12 year old niece who is my sewing buddy just asked me why I kept a hammer in my sewing room. Whacking seams of course!

Also have a piece of board to put under the fabric. Whacks better that way!

Thanks for sharing. I've heard of this before, but had forgotten about it. :)

I use a tailors clapper I got from Nancys Notions years ago. It is wooden. You steam the seam then press with the clapper. Works good but I know what you mean about nasty seams. Sometimes pressing up or down is wrong

I'm sure this will make me feel better about those bulky seam allowances! LOL

I use a clapper. It really flattens a seam. The hammer works great too. Better then doing nothing at all.

Hmm, funny I should see this today. Yesterday I was watching Eleanor Burns making a "pork and beans" block and she showed how to open the cross seam where all eight pieces came together to make the block and that helped to flatten it out. The wacker sounds like so much more fun! :)

Well if you gals are doing it and everything is coming out okay I suppose I'm gonna try it too. The clipping seams and pressing this way and that way just isn't doing it for this quilt. I watched a fon's and porter show about a year ago and the guest made mini quilts that were gorgeous. She clip the whole seam not just the threads, then pressed them to one side or the other to make the mini lay flatter. I tried this method also and the hammer it is! Been doing it on jeans for quite some time, but like others here I was afraid it would damage my quilt top.

Thanks for the tip.