The Great Seam Debate

If you’ve been quilting for more than five minutes, you’ve probably heard and very strong opinions about how your seams should be pressed - and likely formed your own as well. I tend to walk right down the middle and think different quilts call for different methods. Whether you’ve already come to an ironclad opinion or aren’t quit sure what the right answer is, read on for some detailed pros and cons to help you decide if your project needs seams pressed open or to the side!

A note about seam strength….

Beautifully open pressed seams by @the.weekendquilter! Find her on Instagram or visit her website for this Nature’s Window quilt pattern.

It’s common to hear the argument that your seams will be stronger when pressed to the side. While this makes sense and is accurate to some degree, I think it’s important to keep a couple points in mind when choosing how to press your seams: 1) This is a bit of a holdover from hand sewn quilts, and it was very true then. Machine sewn seams are much stronger though, so it is much less of an issue now. 2) Garment sewing generally features seams sewn open. I don’t know about you, but the seams on my clothes get way more abuse than my quilt seams. If you’re working on a quilt that will get a lot of hard use and have less dense quilting, then this is more important - otherwise, I wouldn’t base your decision entirely around strength concerns.

Pressing Seams Open

Seam joining two HSTs pressed flat

Pros:

• Blocks lie flatter and look crisper

• Less bulky means easier to quilt

• While it can be more work to match the seams ultimately you get more accuracy, which matters most for complex blocks with several seams to match.

Cons:

• Seams are somewhat weaker, as discussed above.

• Can’t stitch in the ditch when quilting

• Seams can be more difficult and time intensive to match up, but ultimately can be matched with more accuracy for certain blocks

Two side pressed seams butting up against each other and "'locking” into place

Pressing Seams To The Side

Pros:

• Seams “lock” together if they are pressed in the right directions, making it easier to sew blocks together. This is especially amazing if you’re like me and hate pins!

• Seams are somewhat stronger, but see the note above about this.

• Pressing is faster and easier, and the burned finger risk is minimal.

Cons:

Seam joining two HSTs pressed to the dark side

• If you don’t press towards the darker color you’ll wind up with shadowing - darker color showing through the light. I’ve done this on accident and not realized until the quilt has been washed and I had some spectacular color bleeding and visible dark colors.

• There is the tiniest offset that occurs when you lock or nest your seams, which doesn’t matter in most quilting but can become a problem when making a more complex block with multiple seams to match up (such as a lemoyne star).

• Bulky! This may not matter much for machine quilting but the added layers can cause challenges, (including broken needles and cursing) when hand quilting.

Setting seams:

Setting a seam simply means pressing your seam flat (as it was sewn) before pressing it open or closed. Doing a quick press of your finished seam is worth it, as it really sinks the thread into the fabric and helps remove any tiny wrinkles or puckers that you may have in your seam.

How do you like to press and why? Tell me in the comments!