• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Create Whimsy

Create Whimsy

Inspring makers and sharing their stories

  • Quilting
    • Free Quilt Patterns
    • Art Quilts
    • Modern Quilting
    • English Paper Piecing (EPP)
    • Foundation Piecing
    • Crazy Quilting
    • Improv Quilting
    • Quilt Tutorials
    • Machine Quilting
    • Hand Quilting
  • Embroidery
    • Hand Embroidery
    • Machine Embroidery
    • Sashiko
    • Embroidery Tutorials
  • Beading
    • Bead Embroidery
    • Off-Loom Bead Weaving
  • Sewing
    • Making Clothes
      • Costumes
    • Bags
    • Babies
  • MORE
    • Surface Design
      • Eco Printing and Dyeing
    • Appliqué
      • Fusing
    • Jewelry Making
      • Wirework
      • Handmade Bracelets
      • Handmade Necklaces
    • Mixed Media
      • Collage Art
    • Kumihimo
    • Weaving
    • Crochet
    • Knitting
    • DIY Organization
      • Decorative Containers
    • DIY Home Décor
      • DIY Throw Pillows
    • Recycle DIY
    • Felting
    • DIY Gift Ideas
    • Crafts
    • Occasions
      • Easter
      • Mothers Day
      • Fathers Day
      • Fourth of July
      • Halloween
      • Thanksgiving
      • Christmas
      • DIY Valentine Ideas
    • Paper Crafting
    • Metalsmithing
    • Painting & Drawing
    • Pottery-Ceramics
    • Toys & Games
    • Sculpture
  • Shop
  • Biz Tips
    • Classes

How to Press Your Seams in Quilting?

How to Press Your Seams in Quilting?

Quilt Tutorialsby Create Whimsy

We asked some of our favorite quilters: “When it comes to pressing seam allowances, people can be set in their ways. (See what we did there??) Which camp are you in: Open, To the Dark Side, It Depends, Why does your method work best for you?”

Pressing Seams Open in Quilting

Funky Town by Sophie Zaugg
Funky Town

“I’m definitely a ‘Press Open’ type of quilter! For me it’s the best way to get a very flat top and ease the quilting process. In addition to that, no need to bother about which side to press whether it be for colours or nesting seams. I would say the downside is that I have to be more careful when I piece a design which calls for matching seams”

Sophie Zaugg
See Sophie’s interview on Create Whimsy
Learn more about Sophie on her website

This post may contain links to Amazon or other partners. Your purchases via these links may benefit Create Whimsy. Read more about our affiliate linking policy.

Paper pieced fox and sheep

“When it comes to pressing, I am very meticulous.

“First of all, I always press my fabrics before I begin. I love pressing and I do press all my seams and fabrics all the time. Pressing is a very pressing matter when it comes to foundation paper piecing. No pressing, no proper quilt block. So I do press my seams (usually open) and I use a tailor’s clapper. The tailor’s clapper is my go to tool and works absolute wonders. Not just for paper piecing, but for quilt and sewing seams in general.”

Ingrid Alteneder
See Ingrid’s interview on Create Whimsy
Learn more about Joe, June and Mae


Gold and pink quilt

“Open, even with curved piecing.

“I like to press open whenever possible, to cut down on bulk and for flatter blocks. If the seam is fighting me too much, e.g. pieced stripes in a curve, I will press to one side. But 9 out of 10 times I will press my seams open. I like the look of an open seam and an open seam gives a truer representation of intended design because it lays flat and doesn’t force one block or unit to look as if it is under or on top of the other.”

Heather Black
See Heather’s interview on Create Whimsy
Learn more about Heather on her website


Repelling Radial by Audrey Esarey
Repelling Radial

“Most of the time, I press open and use a clapper when pressing! I’ve designed a clapper that is long and skinny, perfect for my quilting seams (versus a traditional tailor’s clapper.) I also try to avoid seam shadows whenever possible, so pressing open helps this! Both these practices help my quilts lay flat for quilting as well – two wins in my book.”

Audrey Esarey
See Audrey’s interview on Create Whimsy
Learn about Audrey’s clappers on her website


Pressing Seams to One Side to Nest in Quilting

Still Waters Quilt

“Most fabrics I work with do not have an issue with shadowing, so I press in the direction that will allow my seam allowances to nest. This helps me have matching intersections!”

Cheryl Malkowski 
See Cheryl’s interview on Create Whimsy
Learn more about Cheryl on her website


Pressing Seams to the Darkest Fabric in Quilting

Modern quilt by Emily Bellinger

“To the dark side! (Unless it’s a really bulky seam – then open!)”

Emily Bellinger
See Emily’s interview on Create Whimsy
Learn more about Emily on her website


“

Green and black quilt

“I always ‘set’ the seam with the iron after I sew two fabrics together before I open the two  pieces flat. 

“Then I press the seam to the darker side. This helps it from being visible on the front of a light fabric.

“I also press EVERY two pieces I sew together BEFORE I add a third piece and so on. NEVER do sew several pieces in a row without pressing in between.I do a lot of curved piecing with a very scant seam, sometimes so scant that there is no seam to press! This creates a beautiful almost seamless join that I can press very smoothly from the right side and virtually LOOKS LIKE THE TWO PIECES JUST BUTT up against each other, causing no bulk from the front.”

Al Cote
See Al’s interview on Create Whimsy
Learn more about Al on his website


Checkered and sun quilt by Dara Tomasson

“My biggest tip for pressing is to give the seam a ‘warm hug’ before pressing to the dark side. That simply means pressing the seam flat with the iron and then pressing to the dark side.”

Dara Tomasson
See Dara’s interview on Create Whimsy
Learn more about Dara on her website


Which Way to Press Seams in Quilting – It Depends

Tight Pineapple by Amy Pabst
Tight Pineapple 11.5 x 11.5 Amy Pabst

“I am in the ‘it depends’ camp. Some patterns are written with very specific pressing instructions, so I chose the placement of my dark fabrics very carefully. In general, when I’m doing my own thing, I press my seams open to reduce bulk and solve the problem of dark shadows.”

Amy Pabst
See Amy’s interview on Create Whimsy


Chomp Quilt
My studio with the Chomp quilt hanging on the wall.

“As for pressing, I’m in the whatever works best for the piece I’m making camp.

“What I’m most passionate about is pressing in general. Great pressing leads to great quilts. I would call myself a situational presser which means I look at the piece I’m doing and press the way it works best on that piece. 

“There is one thing I don’t compromise on though, and that is setting seams. I set the seam before I use any pressing method. For those of you who aren’t familiar with setting seams, it simply means to press as sewn. I press the piece as sewn and then I press open or to the side, etc. Setting seams prepares a seam for pressing and results in flatter, better pressed seams. A beautifully pressed seam means a nice flat top which results in easier quilting.”

Jacquie Gering
See Jacquie’s interview on Create Whimsy
Learn more about Jacquie on her website


Char 4 by MJ Kinman
Char 4 by MJ Kinman

“The question always comes up during my classes: ‘Which way do you press your seams?’ My answer: ‘Whichever way makes the facets lie the flattest, even if that means pressing to the light side.’ Needle-nose facets – long, thin pieces with pointy ends – nearly always lie flattest when their seam allowances are pressed away from them, not under them.

“One of my favorite tools to get crisp, flat seams is Easy Press Fabric Solution by Acorn Precision Piecing Products. It’s wonderful! Dab a bit of it on the back of your block along the seam line and press with a hot iron. Super sharp seams!”

MJ Kinman
See MJ’s interview on Create Whimsy
Learn more about MJ and her Gemstone quilts on her website


I Love, Therefore I Am quilt
I Love, Therefore I Am, 20 x 20, made in 2019

“It depends!  For garments, usually open, unless I’m doing a flat-felled or french seam or Hong Kong finish.  For quilting, to the dark side unless there are a thousand pieces, in which case open might be better! “

Sarah Ann Smith
See Sarah’s interview on Create Whimsy
Learn more about Sarah on her website


Table Scraps pattern

“My method? I like to start with a pressing plan and look at the block and figure out what will work best. Most often I press to the side – but not always to the dark side! I press so that my seams will nest together. I find that I can keep seams together easier when they nest. And while that is my preferred method, sometimes pressing a seam open helps a block to lay flat. When pressing seams open, it is important to reduce the stitch length so the seam doesn’t pull apart.”

Kate Collaran
See Kate’s interview on Create Whimsy
Learn more about Kate on her website


“

New York Beauty by Cinzia

“As regards pressing I seldom look at dark or light unless working with white. In that case I try to press away from the white.
“I also try to fan seams at intersections when I can. Lastly but most importantly to me, I try to press away from the side with the most seams. When machine piecing I will press after each seam; however when hand piecing I press when I’ve completed the block. I think the reason for this is that with hand piecing it is easy enough to change the way in which the seam lies as stitching doesn’t extend into the seam allowance.”

Cinzia White
See Cinzia’s interview on Create Whimsy
Learn more about Cinzia on her website


My Tweets quilt by Erin Russek
My Tweets

“It depends on how many seams are coming together and whether there are complicated matching points–For large numbers of seams and complicated point matching I press open. All other seams go to the dark side.”

Erin Russek
See Erin’s interview on Create Whimsy
Learn more about Erin on her website


Grant's Zebra
Grant’s Zebra

“For me it always depends. I think of seams as a design element of my pictorial quilts.  One can slightly sculpt the surface of a quilt with seam allowances.  Ironing the seam allowances in one direction lifts that piece just above the surface.  I will often press the seam allowances toward the subject and away from the background.   That helps the subject to stand out.  Seam allowances can get messy in areas where there is a lot of piecing. In that case, I usually press the seams open to help reduce the bulk in that area.”

Ann Shaw
See Ann’s interview on Create Whimsy
Learn more about Ann on her website


Here is an example of ‘it depends’. The center squares were pressed with seams open. When the strip of center squares are sewn to the longer strips of the darker fabric, there isn’t as much bulk as there would be if the seams had been pressed to a side. Then, the longer seams were pressed to the darker color.

Press seams inside

On the front side, it is hard to see, but the seams that were pressed open do lay flatter, and the longer seams that were pressed to the dark side have a tiny ridge due to the triple thickness of fabric.

Press seams outside

What is your pressing preference?


Browse through more inspiring quilt projects and stories on Create Whimsy.


Press Question
Pressing Pinterest Image
Facebook Comments

Sharing is caring!

111 shares
  • Share
  • Tweet

Primary Sidebar

Newest Stories

Seed Coat fiber art by Paula Gron

Spotlight: Paula Gron, Fiber Artist

Final crumb quilt block

Crumb Quilting

Nosegay quilt by Lamb Farm Designs

Spotlight: Jennie Jo Lamb, Quilt Designer

American Folk Hero's Series: Sitting Bull art quilt by Leotie Richards

Spotlight: Leotie Richards, Textile Artist

Popular Posts

Attic Window finished

Attic Window Quilt Pattern

Seed Beads in Labeled Photo Cases

Bead Organization and Storage Ideas

Embroidery Transfer with a Frixiron pen

7 Ways to Transfer your Embroidery Design to Fabric

Finished jelly roll rug

How to Make a Jelly Roll Rug

Fabric folded and fabric wrapped on comic book boards

Best Fabric Storage Ideas

Finished draped ruana

How to Make A Ruana

Free Quilt Patterns

Final crumb quilt block

Crumb Quilting

quarter log cabin layout option 2

Quarter Log Cabin Quilt Pattern

wonky log cabin layout option 3

Wonky Log Cabin Quilt Pattern

Finished four squares for the underground log cabin quilt block

Log Cabin Quilt Pattern

Disappearing four patch finished

Disappearing Four Patch

Monkey Wrench Quilt Block finished block 4

Monkey Wrench Quilt Block

You Also Might Like

  • Pineapple Quilt Block
  • How to Make the Cross Roads Quilt Block
  • Maple Leaf Quilt Block
  • Endless Stairs Quilt Block

More Free Quilt Patterns

Footer

Learn More

  • About
  • Work with Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions

Browse

  • Occasions
  • Destinations

Makers

Spotlight Stories

Marketing for Makers

Participate

Copyright © 2023 · Create Whimsy®

111 shares