Seams that come apart!
 

I have been working on a quilt for a family member. The directions are to do strip piecing and then to cut the strips into pieces of various lengths. This makes for a savings of time in assembly of the quilt. I find that the stitching seems to come out on the edges of the pieces that I have cut. Am I doing something wrong when sewing or cutting or is just a normal problem that ones faces when doing line piecing and cutting? I have tried to use different stitch lengths in hopes of solving my problem but it does not seem to help. Does anyone have suggestions as to how I can eliminate this problem.

Once you sew across those cut ends the threads will be anchored into the seam and will not come apart. Just be careful how you handle the seams until then. It's common for a stitch or two to loosen up at the end.

Is your tension correct, or does it need adjusting? Sometimes when the tension is off, it can cause loose stitches.

I find that starching the fabric reduces fraying.

I use a pretty fine needle, usually I piece with a 10. For most of my quilting career I was happy with my vintage machine and Dual Duty thread. In the last couple of years I've been using finer threads, usually now I'm using Sew Fine both top and bottom. Also, tiny stitch length -- I'd say no less than 12 per inch. My Bernina turns on at 2.5 -- I'm not sure but think that is about 10 per inch and would be fine for garment construction but not so much when cutting stitches in modern strip piecing techniques. I'm usually piecing about 1.85-1.9, not sure what that translates to 12-16??

Also, as b.zang says, handle your strips gently. If I have a top that has a lot of seams (or before a plain outer border), I will often stay stitch the pieced section within the 1/4" seam allowance, maybe using a slightly large stitch than my piecing, so say a 2.

Reduce your stitch length to 2 or 1.5, the smaller stitch will hold seam together better after yo make your cut.

This is a problem I to have encountered. I generally stitch with a 2.5 stich. Will have to try a 2 inch. I know not cutting your thread too short helps, but then that makes for lots of thread cutting when done. I have taken to doing a quick back stitch on them now to help prevent it from happening. Curious to hear what others say.

stitch length should hold. but you might try a bit of washable glue on the cut ends to hold it until you sew the cut pieces into a block or what ever. Good luck.

I would reduce my stitch length even more. I use a very short stitch length when I am making HST's that need to be trimmed. And I no longer go over the back of my top, trimming threads. Hopefully, I have not used dark thread on a light top so my thread tails won't show through any light fabric.

Something else that I do after completing a top, is to sew around the edge--about 1/8 inch in. It helps hold any seams that might unravel and also helps keep any borders from fraying excessivly. . My LA'rs have thanked me for doing this and it only takes a couple of minutes. As a new LA'r (I have a couple of friends who encourage me help quilt donation quilts on their machines {playing with a purpose}) I find that line of stitching is also a good guide when basting the edge after loading.

I have that problem too and I shortened the stitch length and it seems to stop that. It sure makes it hard when I make a mistake and have to pick it out.

I am wondering about how you are pressing the seams. I don't have this problem, unless I handle the piece excessively. I press my seams to the side. If you press the seams open perhaps this is why you have a lot of issues with the seam thread coming apart on the cut end of the pieces.

Pressing a seam open is actually puts stress on the sewn pieces on the cut ends, when you don't have a back stitch to stay it. Pretty much as if you would gently try to pull apart a seam you are in the process of ripping out to re-sew.

I strip piece a lot, sewing multiple strips together (sometimes 2 up to 5 strips in a strip set) and then cutting multiple large triangle pieces from the strip set, or other shapes and I don't have this issue. My machine is set at 2.5 for the thread length. I always press my seams to the side.

I didn't mention in this thread but I almost always press open. With the small stitch length I use I basically get zero pull apart.

I'd say that if you get more than one stitch pull apart when testing your seam, your length is too long or your tension is not correct. My goal is to have maybe 3 stitches form a V when pulling/testing but none to come out. Does it have to be this tight? No... and if it is too tight you get other issues like rippling so you have to find your happy place.

My goal is for my seam is to be basically reweaving the fabrics. The needle should be sharp and cleverly slip between the threads of the fabrics. If you hear a "pooka pooka" while sewing sound your needle is dull and you are (most likely) breaking the fabric weave instead of slipping between.

I am also a pinner, every leading seam edge is pinned and typically every 2" so that any given piece has at least 2 if not 3 pins. I did not want to be a pinner! For my first 20 years or so of quilting I tried to use a minimum number, but I've found I get better results when pinning. It also gave me something to do at quilting groups where I didn't have a machine and I found I got better results. I know, not every one wants to pin and it is rather boring and involves some time. However, it saves time when my stack of prepared pieces fall over or the cat lands on them... I do pin below my seam allowance, not up to the edge of the fabric. I also use a "quilter's foot" that is 1/4" foot both sides and back and forward marks, it can help in many ways and is just above where my pins are.

I used to sew with a friend, she was using a Brother but I think again it defaulted to 2.5, she would increase it one count so that the stitches were easier to take out if she needed to. Even though she pressed to the side her blocks and top were always a mess off open seams at the ends and caused her a lot of time and grief. It makes sense that if you are using 8-10 stitches per inch, that cutting one of those stitches mid way would make an almost 1/4" open spot.

I strip piece often. like other said, use a smaller stitch. The other problem is being careful that you aren't letting pieces drag as you are sewing them together, as that can pull the seams a bit apart. I'm talking about the part that is before the needle and maybe hanging off the front of the machine. if it catches a bit as the machine is feeding, the seam may open up more than you'd like.

But it's really no different than if you are trimming a block down to size after sewing, as all the seams where you trimmed now have the threads cut just like happens with strip piecing. I normally sew with a narrower stitch, probably equates to a 1.8 - 2 on most machines. I go a bit smaller than that for paper piecing.

I have also found that the thinner the thread, the more it will open up. Sometimes I'm using up older 40wt thread and that holds very well, but when I'm using 50wt, it opens up a lot easier. Mosty I've learned to be very careful in handling peices.

I also stay stitch all around a floppy if it's got a lot of pieces on the edge, as when I'm pulling straight on the LA, edges opening up can be a real problem.

On my Bernina's the normal straight stitch for utility stitching is 2.5, but if I chose the straight stitch in the "quilting menu", it is 2.0. Sometimes if I am stitching small pieces I will crank the stitch length down to 1.8 or even smaller. I also like to chain stitch when I can and then I cut the middle of the "chain" so I leave a short bit of extra stitches from the chain on the edge of the fabric. Once I start stitching rows together I will backstitch a bit when I start and end the rows as the weight of the growing quilt will pull on the seams. And I usually will edge stitch about 1/8 of inch around the whole quilt before loading onto the longarm to help keep the seams together. Sometimes if I make large blocks with a lot of pieces, I will edge stitch this way around those blocks too. Oh, and I want to add, that some brands of machines seem to lock the seams in better than others, this maybe because of the tension set too, I don't really know.

Similarly, the length of the default utility straight stitch on my Janome and my Elna is 2.5. The piecing stitch length (93 on the Janome and I think the same on the Elna) is 1.8.

I agree... smaller sts should handle that problem.

You can do a backstitch at the start and end of each seam. I use a 1.5 stitch length. If I make a mistake usually make another unit or piece before I spend time picking out a seam. I save the wrong sewed one and if I need extra then I will use the seam ripper.

Unfortunately, that's not going to help since OP mentions

OP is cutting pieces AFTER stitching, so backstitching or lockstitching at the start/end of sewing two strips won't help for the edges where the strips get cut into sub-units.

then the best solution is to use a smaller stitch and handle pieces gently

use a smaller stitch - Thank you for the person who mentioned using a glue stick on the ends...Awesome idea!!!