cminor

I finished my first quilt. Washed it - and now. . . . rips in some of the seams. I probably should know this, but what is the best stitch to use to fix the rips? I am sure I will have to google what ever names I am given since I really don't know any hand stitches at all.

Clearly I am new, or I would not have to ask a question like this

:oops:

MadQuilter

When you say "rips" do you mean that your seams were not sewn with the proper seam allowance or with gaps that came apart during the wash cycle? Or did something happen to rip and damage the seams?

How was the quilt quilted? Tied, Stitch in the ditch, or free motion?
How large are the rips?

Depending on the methode, you can sew the seam closed by hand (whip stitch), add appliques over the holes, or, if the seam does not gap open, you can secure it with a decorative stitch.

Can you show a pic? Don't worry - we all make mistakes from time to time, and I bet this is one you will NEVER make again.

Oklahoma Suzie

yes, a pic will help

Jois

Well, I know it isn't funny. I have to really see what happened close up to figure out how to fix but what about the basic problem?

When I started quilting I thought 1/4" was tiny and went with 3/8 inch seams. I cut my quilt peices out of cereal boxes and added the 3/8" seams and went to town. Yes, I finished those first quilts and they each seemed to weigh about 10,000 pounds each. Wet, I almost needed cranes to move them.

I don't remember when I moved to 1/4" seams but eventually I gained a little trust in the fabrics, figured they would hold and "graduated" to 1/4". Well, things held together and I figured out a couple of things.

1. if you're making 1/4" seams make 1/4" seams. Don't skimp or guess or take it for granted that the top and bottom seams are 1/4". Pin your edges together and check the rest of the block to see every side is matching up.

2. Iron between seams. Iron (Press) the seam line first and then press again with the seams presses toward the darer side.

3. I never WASH my guilts. I dissolve a detergent (less than usual amount) in a full tub of water. I soak. I push all the quilt under the water in the washing machine tub. If it wont stay submerged I cover it with a clean towel to leep it all wet. After 15 or 20 minutes goes by I drain the tub and spin the water out. THEN I fill the tub up again with the quilt still in the washing machine tub push it down with my hands, cover with that same towel if needed to keep it under water, squish it around again by hand. Then drain and spin again. I think I always rinse it out twice. Who wants to breathe in detergents when sleeping under a quilt? And drain and spin.

I gently remove it from the washer and gently dump it into the dryer and give it 10-15 minutes of either air only drying or low heat drying watching carefully not to get some parts dry and some parts still wet. Just a fluff, really

Finally I pick the largest cleanest patch of rug in the house. Lay down the biggest top sheet I have. And lay the quilt over the sheet to dry. I fuss with corners, pull edges straight but if it fluffed correctly in the dryer I don't need to do much fussing.

It dries without harming the rug, sheet or anything else.

Sounds like it is a lot of fussing, doesn't it? But if your washer and dryer a located in a central area of the house you can do all these things in a flash as you walk by on your normal morning or pick up routine.

I send these directions out with my quilts and offer to fix any repairs needed but I think this works.

If you feel your quilts will go to a harried mom with low level laundry skill or triplets and she'll toss your lovlies in the washer with reckless abandon THEN make her quilts with 3/8" seams.

My dogs are crate trained and I make them little quilts (all sorts of spare parts and test blocks) about fat quarter size. These are all 1/4" seams, hand quilted, hand sewn bindings and I wash them in hairy batches, regular wash, with clorox and unless puppy chewed they last about 10 years.

Check your seams, wash gently, practice more. Make placemats or get a dog until the small things don't rip or pull apart. Send the dogs to me when you're done testing.

Jois

BellaBoo

What is your stitch length? Too many sitches per inch will tear the fabric. Did you use loose weave or thin fabric?

Without a picture it is hard to say what repair you need.

cminor

Here are the pictures. It looks to me that my seams were just not right :( It was ok before washing.

None of the area's were quilted. Just pieced.

IrishNY

It appears by looking that either your seams were too narrow (less than 1/4") or possibly that having no quilting in that area strained the seams as they were being washed. The quilting stabilizes the whole thing. It is heartbreaking to finish and then have this happen.

bearisgray

My first thought is that your seam allowances were very narrow and the stress of washing pulled the fabric apart.

I think I would resort to patching by appliqueing something over the holey spots and then it would look like you intended the additional decorations.

BellaBoo

It looks like you may not have a large enough seam allowance and the green fabric looks very soft and thin. I had this happen on some of my first quilts. It was because of poor fabric quality in my case. I started out quilting using scraps and that was when I learned about using good quality fabric in a quilt. The good scraps did not do this, only the bad scraps. I zig zaged over the rips and went on to making the next quilt.

Ditter43

I am so sorry this happened to you! Was that fabric that came apart cotton? It might be a poorer quality fabric. I have noticed this in a "store bought" quilt I have washed a lot. It doesn't have enough quilting to keep the seams secure either. I think you may have a combination of the two......

Ditter