Partial Seams Sewing Tips - Kate Colleran Designs

Hi Friends!

Today in the Exploring the Basics series, Tammy and I are chatting about partial seams.

Have you ever sewn a partial seam? They can seem intimidating but they are really pretty easy! And it makes it so you don’t need to do inset seams which are tricky!

What is a Partial Seam?

A partial seam might be used in a block such as for my pattern Half Step or, in a quilt when putting blocks together.

We used some partial seams in our BOM quilt, A Road Trip, to sew blocks and section together.

A partial seam is used when, a piece that is being added is longer than the piece you are adding it to.

Huh?

Let’s look at my block from the pattern Half Step.

For this block here are the sections I needed to sew together. There are long strip sets that need to be sewn around the small center square.

How to sew the seam

Step 1

Sew the first seam only part way. Exactly how long depends on the size of the shorter piece. I sewed this one about half way across the square.

Step 2

Press the seam and now the side is long enough for the next strip set. Sew the second strip set to the side of the block.

Step 3

Sew the other 2 sections to the block and then you are ready to finish the first seam.

Step 4

Finish sewing the first seam and …ta-done! Easy peasy.

Tips on sewing Partial Seams

Leave enough room when sewing the first seam to be able to easily maneuver to finish sewing the seam. If leave too little seam left to finish, or if you only sewed a tiny bit of the first seam, it can get tricky!
Make sure the floppy bit of the first piece doesn’t accidentally get sewn into another seam!
You don’t have to backstitch on the first seam, but I usually backstitch when I finish the seam. I don’t want the seam to pull apart!

Now that you have my tips on sewing partial seams, be sure to head over to Tammy’s post and get her tips! She always has good tips and tricks!

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