Since I’ve never had a problem making precise little Dresden plates
and by now I’ve made thousands of of them,
I forget that some folks may not share my painless path.
I was reminded of that this week by Cheryl via email.
She & some friends are working on my Dresden Heaven pattern that I was just discussing with you a few days ago.
They were curious why their plates were not lying flat.
I told her that their seam allowances were not a true scant 1/4”.
If your seams are not exact & you sew 12 of them around the entire plate it adds up!
I noticed this phenomenon while teaching a workshop a while back.
Luckily I had with me a story board that I use to show how a plate goes together so my students were able to lay their sewn petals on my board to see if they were sewing accurately.
As I’ve mentioned before, the mindless chain piecing of Dresden petals
allows my mind to wander…
(OK, I admit it, my mind wanders during a lot of things that I do!)
Anyway, that gave me the idea to make a diagram so my Dresden-sewing-friends could easily measure their sewn petals.
Several hours & a ream of paper later…
Voila!
Not so easy going from the shape of the template to the shape the petal takes on after the first seam, then trying to put a seam allowance on just one side of each petal all with bias sides, ugh!
But I did it and each pair I made today (92 so far) all fit perfectly.
It’s not magic and I’m NOT Wiley Coyote Super Sewing Genius either!
It’s this:
1. Start with starched fabric (before you cut any strips).
2. Cut accurately.
3. Sew with a scant 1/4” seam allowance.
4. Trim each petal as indicated in my patterns.
5. Starch again when the plate is complete.
I plan to make these diagrams a part of each of my Dresden patterns from today forward.
I want everyone to enjoy making little Dresden plates as much as I do!
I will put this page on my website if I can but for now if you’re working on one of my patterns just send me an email and I will email you a copy of this sheet to print out.
A note about printing too:
When you go to print you need to be sure your printer is set to print “as in document” not “fit to page” or it will make everything a bit smaller. (this note is on the sheet as well.)
These diagrams will only work for you if you’re sewing one of my patterns because I made them based on the exact sizes of the templates that I designed which just so happen to be for sale on my website: SuznQuilts.com.
Now back to sewing for me.
I’m making wings (pairs of petals).
It’s the perfect exercise for today’s lesson on accurately sewing 2 petals together!
I’ve started with my new Pumpkin Pie fabric.
Recognize it?
Just keep sewing…
Susan
Quilting my way through life! 