General indications for hand piecing

When hand piecing you will only sew along the traced lines. You will recall that in the previous step we drew a little red dot at the end of each sewing line to guide us. We will begin by placing the first two pieces together, right sides together, matching up seam allowances. Use one, two or as many straight pins as you feel comfortable with to hold the pieces in place, inserting them along the sewing line on both sides.

Insert the needle through both layers of fabric, beginning at one corner (red dot) of the sewing line. Sew a backstitch or two over the first stitch to hold. Use a running stitch along the rest of the seam line (load four to five stitches onto your needle before you pull it through). Backstitch once every inch or so. Take the straight pins out and turn your piece over as you go along to make sure you are sewing along the line on both sides. Note: it is best if you sew right outside the line, rather than on the line itself. Both the thread and folding over the fabric take up some space, so you will obtain more precisely pieced blocks if you use a scant 1/4" seam allowance.

Open the piece and from the right side press the seam allowance to one side (preferably towards the darker fabric). Be careful not to stretch the pieces.

(For machine piecing, use the guide on your machine or your 1/4" foot to sew your seam allowance. If your machine does not have this guide or if you do not have the 1/4" foot, you can do the following: raise the machine's foot and lower the needle to its lowest point. Place a ruler parallel to the needle, until it touches it. Lower the foot to hold the ruler in place. Place a strip of electrical tape along the edge of the ruler. This will give you your 1/4" seam allowance. Sew the pieces from end to end, without backstitching. Try to sew right inside the 1/4" seam guide. A scant 1/4" is more accurate, as it takes into consideration the space taken up by both the thread and the folding over of the fabric. Practice on several pieces until you get a feel for the allowance needed to obtain accurately pieced blocks.)