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Fear Not the Curve – May 2003

Loodi | Posted in General Discussion on

In the latest Threads, there is an article by Kathyanne White – Fear Not the Curve. Has anyone tried this? I am tearing my hair out trying to figure out what she means in the instructions…am I stupid??

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  1. rjf | | #1

    The finished products are very interesting!  Reading the instructions made some sense but it seems to me that it's not meant to be precise so the sewer shouldn't worry too much.  I'd try following the directions step-by-step and not worry about the finished product until I could see where it was going.  A real opportunity to sew with abandon and use up all the left-overs!               rjf

  2. carolfresia | | #2

    Molly,

    It's actually harder to understand the process when reading it than it is to just do it. Basically what you're doing is piecing fabric by cutting one patch at a time, and then adding it to the project. What's a little confusing in this is that the pieces are curvy and irregular, not straight-edged, so it's tricky to visualized where you've been and where you're going. But you're always just adding one patch to a larger, pieced section.

    Also, a key feature of Kathyanne's approach is that there are no seam allowances built in. Each piece of fabric is cut to exactly match the edge it's going to be attached to (as you cut it, you simultaneously cut the edge where it'll be sewn on), and when you take a small seam allowance to sew the pieces together, your seamlines won't be exactly the same size. That's where the pin-marking comes in, to help you align at least some points along your curved seam--and between those points, you ease and/or stretch as needed to fit the pieces together. You'll naturally end up with some puckers and wrinkles, which, once they're quilted down, provide a unique, crinkled texture.

    This process is really enjoyable--both meditative and stimulating, and you get a nice little workout since you need to move from the cutting table to the sewing machine to the ironing board, and back to the cutting table. If you have a U-shaped sewing set-up you can probably just swivel, but getting up and down is kind of nice--keeps the blood circulating!

    Carol

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