Pixie's~Mama
06-18-2004, 08:12 PM
Okay, please keep in mind that this is NOT the easiest way to do this... I wanted to fold the triangles in the strips so that the very tips were clean with no fabric sticking out from underneath. (Not sure if you understand that, but if you've ever tried to make triangles with fabric by just hemming the edges under, you might. LOL.)
So, here goes. There is a variation. I did it slightly differently this second time. So, the information in BLACK is universal, for both methods. The information in BLUE is for method 1, and the information in RED is for method 2. Confused yet? I haven't even started. sigh.
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I prepared a piece of poster board 5" wide with the point at the bottom (45 degree angles). For Sophie's dress, I used a 4" wide strip since she's smaller and would have been overwhelmed with larger strips, I think. I used 28 strips, 4 of each of 7 fabrics. Use 1/4" seams. Prepare the strips individually as follows.
1) Cut strips and prepare your poster board template.
*Serge bottom edge, the one that will be folded. This method leaves you with raw edges on the horizontal edge of your triangles, so if you're concerned about the fabric unraveling, use the next method.
*Serge the bottom edge, the one that will be folded, as well as both of the long edges. This method will give you serged edges on the upper ends of your triangle, but if you want to serge the strips together it will be messy because of the double serging. When I used this method, I stitched the strips together then pressed the seam allowances flat and topstitched each of the seam allowances down.
PHOTO 1: Prepared strip and template. NOtice my strip is not serged in any way, only because I had WN in the serger when I did this. LOL
http://img3.photobucket.com/albums/v32/patchymama/one.jpg
2) Line up template with bottom of strip, so that the point is about 1/4" up from the edge. If your edges are serged then that's easy because you just put the point at the edge of the serging.
PHOTO 2: Lining it up.
http://img3.photobucket.com/albums/v32/patchymama/two.jpg
3) Fold up one edge and press over your template.
PHOTO 3: First fold.
http://img3.photobucket.com/albums/v32/patchymama/three.jpg
4) Press up other edge. Sometimes they'll line up in a straight line. LOL Doesn't seem to matter either way though, as the triangle is still 45 degrees. You'll notice how the 1/4" that you left at the bottom of the strip gets doubled over when you fold over the second triangle. That's what keeps the edge of the point clean without anything protruding. KWIM? THIS is the exact reason I did it this way.
PHOTO 4: Second fold.
http://img3.photobucket.com/albums/v32/patchymama/four.jpg
5) Okay so if you don't secure your triangles somehow then they'll flap around. This is the only downside to doing it this way, as this is rather time consuming. I used 1/4" double stick fusing and put about 1" on the bottom (serged) edge of the strip as well as on the edges that make up the horizontal edge of the triagle when folded.
PHOTO 5: Securing
http://img3.photobucket.com/albums/v32/patchymama/six.jpg
My secured triangle from the wrong side:
http://img3.photobucket.com/albums/v32/patchymama/seven.jpg
And my perfect point. :D
http://img3.photobucket.com/albums/v32/patchymama/five.jpg
WAIT, there's more. LOL Next, you'll want to topstitch the 45 degree angels of each triangle. Don't topstitch the horizontal edge though, that's why you used the fusible tape.
Finally, sewing the strips together ~ carefully sew them together so that where the strips meet at the seams they're lined up. KWIM?
*If you're using METHOD 1, you'll need to sew them and then serge them in order to be sure everything lines up. Okay I'm anal though, so I'm sure that some of you would just serge. But I wanted them to line up perfectly. :D After serging, topstitch the serging to one side.
*If you're using method 2, you'll stitch the strips together, then topstitch the seam allowances down -- that means 2 lines of topstitching for each seam. You could use a double needle though.
So, here goes. There is a variation. I did it slightly differently this second time. So, the information in BLACK is universal, for both methods. The information in BLUE is for method 1, and the information in RED is for method 2. Confused yet? I haven't even started. sigh.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
I prepared a piece of poster board 5" wide with the point at the bottom (45 degree angles). For Sophie's dress, I used a 4" wide strip since she's smaller and would have been overwhelmed with larger strips, I think. I used 28 strips, 4 of each of 7 fabrics. Use 1/4" seams. Prepare the strips individually as follows.
1) Cut strips and prepare your poster board template.
*Serge bottom edge, the one that will be folded. This method leaves you with raw edges on the horizontal edge of your triangles, so if you're concerned about the fabric unraveling, use the next method.
*Serge the bottom edge, the one that will be folded, as well as both of the long edges. This method will give you serged edges on the upper ends of your triangle, but if you want to serge the strips together it will be messy because of the double serging. When I used this method, I stitched the strips together then pressed the seam allowances flat and topstitched each of the seam allowances down.
PHOTO 1: Prepared strip and template. NOtice my strip is not serged in any way, only because I had WN in the serger when I did this. LOL
http://img3.photobucket.com/albums/v32/patchymama/one.jpg
2) Line up template with bottom of strip, so that the point is about 1/4" up from the edge. If your edges are serged then that's easy because you just put the point at the edge of the serging.
PHOTO 2: Lining it up.
http://img3.photobucket.com/albums/v32/patchymama/two.jpg
3) Fold up one edge and press over your template.
PHOTO 3: First fold.
http://img3.photobucket.com/albums/v32/patchymama/three.jpg
4) Press up other edge. Sometimes they'll line up in a straight line. LOL Doesn't seem to matter either way though, as the triangle is still 45 degrees. You'll notice how the 1/4" that you left at the bottom of the strip gets doubled over when you fold over the second triangle. That's what keeps the edge of the point clean without anything protruding. KWIM? THIS is the exact reason I did it this way.
PHOTO 4: Second fold.
http://img3.photobucket.com/albums/v32/patchymama/four.jpg
5) Okay so if you don't secure your triangles somehow then they'll flap around. This is the only downside to doing it this way, as this is rather time consuming. I used 1/4" double stick fusing and put about 1" on the bottom (serged) edge of the strip as well as on the edges that make up the horizontal edge of the triagle when folded.
PHOTO 5: Securing
http://img3.photobucket.com/albums/v32/patchymama/six.jpg
My secured triangle from the wrong side:
http://img3.photobucket.com/albums/v32/patchymama/seven.jpg
And my perfect point. :D
http://img3.photobucket.com/albums/v32/patchymama/five.jpg
WAIT, there's more. LOL Next, you'll want to topstitch the 45 degree angels of each triangle. Don't topstitch the horizontal edge though, that's why you used the fusible tape.
Finally, sewing the strips together ~ carefully sew them together so that where the strips meet at the seams they're lined up. KWIM?
*If you're using METHOD 1, you'll need to sew them and then serge them in order to be sure everything lines up. Okay I'm anal though, so I'm sure that some of you would just serge. But I wanted them to line up perfectly. :D After serging, topstitch the serging to one side.
*If you're using method 2, you'll stitch the strips together, then topstitch the seam allowances down -- that means 2 lines of topstitching for each seam. You could use a double needle though.