How to Press Your Seams on Your First Quilt
When you begin pressing seams, you can either press them open or to the side, but for this quilt, we will press our seams open.
Pressing Seams Open: To press your seams open, first press them closed. What? I know, hang with me. As soon as you pull the stitched seam off the sewing machine, the seam is flat, and the fabrics are together.
Lay the sewn-together fabric pieces on the pressing board and place the iron on the visible stitches. This is called “setting the stitches.” The heat of the iron helps the stitches set into the fabric. It also warms up the fabric so you can finger press the seam open.
Next, open the seam up while it is still warm, and finger press it open. The right sides of the fabric will be face down on the mat.
Then press the seams open with the iron. This is also an appropriate time to use starch.
When you are finished, your seams will look like this on the back.
They will look like this on the front – nice and flat. You should never skip this step. Taking the time to press will help your seams come together much better when you sew the blocks together.
