Edelweiss Patterns 
If you’ve been sewing for any amount of time, you’ve probably done more than your share of pressing seams! When I was learning to sew, I had an expert sewing instructor who insisted I learn the “Five Step Pressing Method” for how to make a seam lay flat. Often times as seamstresses we like to hurry through the pressing process, but if you want the seam to lay flat every time, it’s important to follow the Five Step Pressing Method to ensure that your garment will look its best for years to come.
Below is a photo of how terrible a seam can looked before you’ve pressed it. Pretty bad, no?
If you want your seams to look perfect, be sure you have a good, clean iron, a pressing cloth made of 100% cotton, and a well-padded ironing board. Note that any time you iron from the right side of the garment, you should have a press cloth between the iron plate and your material, but I have omitted the press cloth in these photographs for illustration purposes.
The Five Step Pressing Method for How to Make Your Seams Lay Flat
1. The first step is to “meld the stitches”. This is accomplished by laying the seam flat, just as when you sewed it, then pressing the seam for at least fifteen seconds while steaming the fabric. You cannot underestimate the importance of steaming your seams for the first time after you’ve sewed them. This will “meld” your stitches to the fabric and make them closer to one piece of material than just fabric with thread running through it. Use the hottest setting that your iron allows for your material’s fiber content.
- 2. Next, you will open up your seams and press down the center of the opened seam from the wrong side of the fabric.
- 3. Now turn the garment over so that the right side of the material is up, and press down the center of the seam from the right side, keeping your seams open just as you did in step two. This will make the seam appear flatter from the right side of the garment, which is so important since people will only ever see your garment from the right side anyhow!
- 4. For this step, you simply flip the garment back to the wrong side, and press both seam allowances of the opened seam to one side. This may take a bit of patience and firm pressing, since the seams will naturally want to stay open after steps two and three. Push the iron away from you with slight pressure, while holding the fabric taught with your free hand.
- 5. Finally, just turn the fabric so you are viewing it from the right side again, and press down the seams, while keeping the seam allowances pressed to the same side that they were in step four.
That’s it! Doesn’t it look so much better than it did at first?
Happy sewing,
Katrina
You are right, a lot of us often hurry through seam pressing but it really makes a difference. Thanks for this! 🙂
[…] Sew this seam and press it well using the Five-Step pressing method I give instructions for here. You may, of course, choose to leave your seam allowances unfinished, but it will only take an […]
[…] Thank God for Gingher pinking shears! And speaking of seams, I am so glad I learned how to press seams properly many years ago! You would not believe what a huge difference it makes in “before” and “after” pictures. And since this skirt has nine gores (and therefore lots of prominent seams!) it is crucial that the seams lay flat, are well pressed, and are as unnoticeable as possible. You can see below how the seams looked before and after pressing, and if you have never learned the “five-step pressing method”, I would highly recommend that you read the tutorial I wrote here. […]