"Extra" seam allowance?
 

Hi, as an on-again-off-again lurker this is the first place I thought to ask
when I had a question. :)

My son's toddler quilt was my second quilt and though it had no triangles,
only squares and rectangles, it had *lots* of seams and pieces. Now that he's
about to turn three he's really grown attached to the quilt and has started to
drag it around the house with him. That just tickles me pink. But, a couple
of the seams that came out a little short in seam allowance when I was piecing
the top have opened. I tacked them with fusible web for now and I'm more
careful about washing and drying it - washing on cold/gentle and hanging to
dry now instead of tumble drying. I expect it will eventually be worn out but
I'm trying to prolong it!

So here's the question that long-winded story is leading up to. My daughter
is now 10 months old and I'm starting on her toddler quilt (her newborn quilt
can be seen he
http://www.quilterscache.com/images1...tarflowerA.jpg). I'm using the
Butterfly paper piecing pattern from Quilter's Cache. Now that I've done
three practice butterflies I'm ready to start the whole quilt. What I'm
wondering though, is since I'm paper piecing and the seams are marked on the
paper, I can trim the fabric so the allowance is more than 1/4" if I want to
since the paper acts as my guide and the block size won't really change. Is
there any reason, other than a little more bulk, to NOT make the allowances a
little bigger, say, 3/8"? I was thinking it might make it a little more
durable since I expect the quilt to take a lot of abuse, and I can be a little
more relaxed about washing it.

Opinions please? :) Thanks!

Meghan

If you're paper piecing and don't mind the extra bulk, you can make the seam
allowances larger than 1/4". I've seen this recommended for flimsy fabrics that
unravel easily. It won't affect the finished size of the pieces.

--Lia


Meghan wrote:

.. What I'm
wondering though is since I'm paper piecing and the seams are marked on the
paper, I can trim the fabric so the allowance is more than 1/4" if I want to
since the paper acts as my guide and the block size won't really change. Is
there any reason, other than a little more bulk, to NOT make the allowances a
little bigger, say, 3/8"?

In article , Julia Altshuler
writes
"M. Wetmore" wrote:

As Mary Ellen Hopkins says "the only important thing about a seam
allowance is that you are consistent". So, if you want to use a 3/8
inch seam allowance, go ahead. Just make sure that you do it
everywhere, though.

I believe this is true if you're working with squares and rectangles. I can't
see that it would matter for paper piecing where you're sewing on the line and
trimming the seam allowance afterwards. And for triangles, you'd have to redo
the math. The old "add 7/8" to a square" when cutting half square triangles
wouldn't work."

That is true if you are rotary cutting. But if you are marking around
templates then you can add any seam allowance you like.
--
Mel Rimmer

On Wed, 16 Jul 2003 21:23:15 -0500, "Elena"
wrote:

About your seams, of course you can make the seam anything you want. 3/8th
1/2 inch whatever. You can even... whispers... press the seams open to
eliminate some of that bulk in places. gasp! :)

Hehe - I did that with my first quilt. I didn't know you weren't "supposed"
to press the seams open - my quilty friend said it was very important to press
your seams, so I did! ;) So far it's none the worse for wear.

Meghan

On Thu, 17 Jul 2003 09:08:42 +0100, Kate Dicey
wrote:

We don't really mind - it's nice to see so much of you after your
break! ;)

Hehe - thanks. I had quilter's block for months, so I started working on my
daughter's baby scrapbook, and that seemed to have gotten the creative juices
flowing again so to speak!

I spent half the day getting the first butterfly pieced together (too many
kids for quick quilting around here) and then after it was all done and
pressed, I noticed where I'd forgotten to trim a seam... and managed to cut
into the block, like an idiot. *sigh*

Meghan