3 Steps to Ease Your Saggy Bottom

 

Are you struggling with a saggy bottom?  Today, I have 3 easy steps to help you with that.

Quilting presents a few challenges that we quilters have to overcome.  One of these happens when one side of a block or row is longer than the other.  This can happen for a number of reasons.  Since no two fabrics are the same, they stretch or shrink differently as you handle them.  No matter how precise we think we have cut, some pieces just won't line up perfectly.  Also, your quarter-inch seam allowance may be off by just a smidge.  These situations mean sewing a longer piece to a shorter fabric without gathering or tucking.

When this happens to you (and I promise it will), don't fret or panic. Your quilt is not ruined.  In fact, it is so common there is a term for it - Saggy Bottom.  Even better, there is a way to fix it.

The term for this is ease.  ease is the process of distributing fabric evenly so it lies flat.

Getting rid of a baggy bottom.

If you are sewing together blocks or rows and you discover one side is a bit longer than the other, place the longer piece on the bottom and the feed dogs will ease the extra in.  Be sure to pin securely where you don't want the fabric to move, such at where points or squares meet.

Easing in larger areas.

When there is a fair amount of difference between your pieces or a long seam, such as sashing or borders, you want to distribute the excess fabric along the entire length of the seam.  To do this, determine the halfway point for each side.  Place a pin in the middle, and one at each end.  Next, find the halfway point between the middle and one end then pin it there.  Do the same for the other end of the seam.  Repeat this process as necessary, using the middle pin as an end one, until the fullness is evenly distributed.  Sew with the longer side next to the feed dogs.

Press carefully.

After you have eased your pieces together, you press in the fullness to the seams lay flat.  Do this carefully so you don't get tucks, wrinkles, or stretch the fabric.

Now you know how to ease away your saggy bottom, at least on your quilt.  Easing away the other saggy bottom is not my area of expertise, sorry.  But sitting to sew, then standing up to cut and press can be a workout and may help.

"I don't care what the groundhog says: I want six more weeks of quilting!"

Socks or Shoes? How do you sew?

 

After a very busy holiday season, I am grateful to get back into my studio!  As I replaced the Christmas curtains with our everyday ones, I decided to make a table topper to match.  Searching my stash, I found matching fabric and settled on a pattern I could use.  I adjusted the design based on the fabric I had left, carefully cut the pieces, and began to sew.

The topper came together easily, but something felt off. When I came upstairs for a coffee refill, I realized what was wrong.  

I was sewing with my shoes on!

When I sew, I like to do it barefoot or with socks on.  I feel I have much better control over the foot pedal.  I use my toes and the ball of my foot to gauge how much pressure I need on the foot pedal.  With shoes on, that precision is gone and all I get is a flat pressure and much less control.  And with some shoes, my foot tends to slip around on the pedal.

There are a few hazards to not wearing shoes in the sewing studio. Dropping scissors or rotary cutters on your toes and stepping on pins or needles can be painful.  Socks also pick up threads and track them all over the house.

For me, I'll risk the hazards for more control over my machine.

How about you?  Sock or shoe?

Oh, and in case you were interested, here is the table topper I was working on.  Just needs to be quilted and bound.

"Put your foot down and QUILT!"