Seam Ripping Patterns
 

I recently had to take out four seams that were quite long. (more than 46 inches each). I stayed calm, and did it over a period of about 3 1/2 days.

Now....if you dare think about it,

I am wondering what pattern gave you the most trouble over the years? I do not want to cause any memory trauma, but which pattern made you have to get out the seam ripper the most? And, how much did you have to take out?

I bought two of these quilts off Ebay. My goal was to do easy, inexpensive, quilts until I could get my 1/4 inch seam done pat. The instructions were basically to make the blocks like the picture. I've been sewing a long time, so managed to figure out how to sew the different segments of the block to get several done. The I noticed something. One of the problems was that the block was shown as only one orientation, but you had to reverse the block for the other side. It made everything so much more interesting. Then I laid it out. Just knew I had it right. I very soon found out that taking a picture of the layout with my phone helped me find where I had sewed the blocks wrong. Took me 3 or 4 times to figure that out. Doesn't look hard, does it?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Quilt-Kit-C...4AAOSwMtxXvH7t

In the end, it was a very good learning experience for me. And the value of a good ripper cannot be overstated.

It took you 3.5 days??? Wow, you're way more patient than I. :thumbup:

For future reference: I attended a Ricky Tims seminar. He demonstrated (and had all of us try it with much success!) how to rip such seams within seconds. You rip the first couple of inches, then grab the fabric, one in each hand, and quickly pull it apart, as if you were ripping yardage. It works!

It works better for me to rip like that if I use a 2.5 (about 11 stitches per inch) metric stitch length. Problem is, I prefer a 2.0 (about 13 stitches per inch) metric stitch length so that the blocks won't come apart while I am handling them. It's not much difference, but it does change the dynamics of ripping.

I'm currently putting the top together for On Ringo Lake, this year's Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt. I think this one has given me the most trouble. So far it seems I'm having to do most rows three times. I worked on it all weekend and it's still not done. Had to put it aside for now.

Oh, the 3 1/2 days were really evenings. I sew in the daytime and if something has to be taken out, I do that while watching the Olympics. That is how I managed to stay calm.

The quilt I'm working right now. Never ripped that much.
It was supposed to be a very simple quilt for my practice FMQ.
Just Quarter Square Triangles with sashing and cornerstones.
Easy peasy, right? Wrong. I didn't like the pressing and bulky
seams. So I ripped most of the sashing. It's a lot better now.
The FMQ is a different story but like they say...practice....bla bla bla.

I did a civil war panel quilt that took 25 Ohio stars and everyone of these blocks I ended up seam ripping because I lost the points. I ended up cutting them out a second time and redoing them....if this wasn't a 30th anniversary quilt for DH I would have scrapped the project or made an alternate block. I was so discouraged. I finally found a pattern for Ohio star that was better then the pattern instructions and they assembled beautifully. I was practically in tears...the quilt was a hit but it was bittersweet....

I once took out every bit of quilting on a lap sized quilt that I had heavily fmq’d... I’m not usually picky, being of the school that done is better than perfect, but that one was really going to bother me LOL!

Rob

I have always ripped my seams if it is a long run.

my luck I would rip,the fabric! I watched a YouTube once that showed the "proper" way to rip a seam- unfortunately don't remember where it was---so I'm going to try to explain.....pick out two or three of the stitches, then that little red ball finger goes underneath and between the two seam allowances...holding taut, just push the ripper along that seam and it should just smoothly rip thru.....I always wondered what that little red ball was for......

I have still ended up putting a rip into my fabric trying to do it that way.

I also ended up tearing the fabric when I tried to do the "quick rip the seam apart" method.

I still have "better" results doing it the tedious way - either cut every third or fourth stitch or spread the seam and cut the threads/

My worst ripping was not a quilt - I sewed about 40 yards of the wrong color of ribbon on a set of vestments - and it was satin stitched both sides. It took me 2 hours per shirt of ripping and there were 12 shirts. Took about half that time to sew the new color on.

For quilts, I think the worst was a mosaic quilt that I did not realize the mosaic strips were specific. I had just sewed them on and then realized the pattern did not flow.

This is a picture I took at the time, see how the pieces switch directions? the are not suppose to do that. I had three of the four going wrong.

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...psruengyxm.jpg

This little tool worked quite well, (did not work for satin stitching though) It cut the ripping time way down. Whenever I have long seams to rip out, I use it. It's not worth the effort for shorter runs.

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...psgq9bewzx.jpg

Here is the complete quilt - after a lot of time spent ripping.

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ps07n6vway.jpg

One of my first jobs was doing alterations - so I got very comfortable with ripping seams out. My favorite tool was a very sharp, small pocket knife. I learned that method from the other sewers at the shop - who had been doing it for years. It worked like what Peckish describes, put the knife between the layers and hold it taut, and then slide the knife. You could feel if it was hitting fabric instead of thread, so cutting the fabric rarely happened. Worked best when you were taking something in- so any fabric damage would end up in the seam allowance.

That's why I like doing 6" blocks! I think the Labyrinth Walk gave me the most practice un-quilting! The contrasting fabrics make errors very visible!
One tip is to squeeze a bit of fabric between your fingers to make a little dip it it. That separates the thread to just above the fabric enough to slide the ripper under more easily.

Terrific quilt! That would be a challenge to keep everything going the "right" way!

Ripped out a king size quilt after I looked at the back of it, long loops, missed stitches and just bad quilting. My first quilt. That was a real learning experience.

I am just finishing the Labyrinth Walk - can't wait to be done with it!!!! I do think I did more ripping than sewing!!!

when I first started LA I unfortunately had to rip out all the quilting on a couple of quilts (boo!); but the quilt that practically had me in tears and I would have tossed if it wasn't from my DD's wedding table toppers and for her--was a Storm at Sea.
Like Geri said, I use the ripper with the little red ball inside the seam and rip away when it's a long seam and without lots of cross seaming. I also have one of those nifty little razor gizmos for really long seams--but always wish I had another hand when I use that.

I can see why it gave you problems but it is very nice. I think my bucket list just got longer.

This one was my nightmare quilt. It was ripped out so many times and still ended up with one triangle going the wrong direction.
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A pineapple quilt! I still can't get the tops to fit the bottoms, so I'm ripping out and resewing. Mostly put it back in the container after 2 or 3 blocks and sew a different top. Might take me another 3 or 4 years!

I can't think of any one pattern that was worse than another. If I'm tired or just feeling impatient or distracted I will often make a mistake, even on the simplest thing. A little battery operated mustache trimmer is a great help with ripping seams, and mine is currently missing and forcing me to be more careful. I have looked and looked for a couple of weeks and may have to break down and buy another one.

Can't answer this question yet because I can't bring myself to start ripping out all of the quilting I did on a baby quilt my first try at quilting an actual quilt with a long arm. It's all got to come out. I obviously need more practice with the LA.
Watson