Sew Karen-ly Created...

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Monday 5 May 2014

No Longer Afraid Of The Dark

Making bias binding from dark fabrics has always been a tricky operation. The Clover white marker leaves a clear visible line on dark fabrics but disappears when the heat of the iron touches it. On a regular ironing board, it's difficult to keep the marks intact.
My solution is to use a sleeve board to do the pressing.
The tube of fabric slips over the end of the sleeve board.
Using just the tip of the hot iron, I am able to carefully press the seam open without removing the marks for cutting. In a pinch, this method will also work if you mistakenly draw your lines with a FriXXion marker (ask me how I know...).

Because so many of my quilts have curved outside edges, I make a lot of bias binding and find this method works great every time.

4 comments:

  1. I am amazed at how your lines match up. Mine are always off when I sew the tube together - what am I doing wrong????

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    1. Hi, I have a super simple, goof-proof trick which I share in workshops, and have also included in my new book due out this fall. (see this post for a peek at the cover: http://sewkaren-lycreated.blogspot.ca/2014/03/what-week.html ). It works every time!

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  2. What a good idea.......some of the new markers are excellent but they can have little drawbacks, such as disappearing before you want them to!

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  3. If you have an accident with the FriXXon pen, you can tuck the fabric into the freezer and the marks will reappear, like magic. (...ask me how I know!)

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