Afton of Quilting Mod has been publishing a series of blog posts titled 10 Sewing Notions You Need to Know About. Recently, one of the items she talked about was a heat resistant ruler that can be used when turning and pressing seams. I thought this little tool was ingenious.
Last week when I was making the tote bag for the tutorial rewrite, I found myself needing to fold over the ends of the zipper casings. Each end needs folded 1/4″ and then pressed. I always find a way to burn myself when making those casings because that quarter inch is so narrow. Of course, I don’t have that ruler in my sewing room yet so I improvised.
I used the cardboard piece that came in the charm pack I was using in my project, and I drew a line 1/4″ from the edge.
Then, I folded the fabric to that mark, finger pressed it, and then hit it with the hot iron (after removing the cardboard).
Works like a charm!
Now all my turned ends are the same width, and none of my fingers were harmed in the making of the tote bag. Yay! I wouldn’t recommend pressing with the cardboard in place – I don’t know how heat resistant it is. But if you find yourself needing to fold over the edge of your fabric and want a consistent size, this cardboard trick will work until you can find yourself the real deal! 🙂
Happy Tuesday!
Linking up with Yvonne’s Tips & Tutorials Tuesday.
good make do! I use old card catalog cards from my days as a librarian. I’ve never thought to mark it so I could iron a consistent seam. Excellent idea! Thanks.
Thanks for the mention! I’m impressed with your clever improvisational version to save your fingers. 1/4″ can sure be a tricky one. You’re going to love it once you get your hands on the Hot Ruler. It’s a little stiffer, has more markings, and is burn-proof.
Great tip Beth! I have used a recipe card for that and ironed while the card is still in there, no steam.
A very useful tip, burned fingers are hard to sew with!
So smart! Why bother with the ruler? Your way sounds great!
I hear you on improvising (and burning fingers)! When Afton shared about the heat tolerant ruler I was thrilled to learn about it, too.
Great tip, I burn myself also, Thanks