Tidbits | Concealing an opening

Tidbits are probably my favorite posts—who doesn’t want a bite-sized blog post with some seriously helpful content!?

Today I want to show you something that I picked up at a guild sewing day a few years back…it’s a good one!

You know how you have to leave openings in your stitching to flip pieces right side out? Ever have troubles getting that opening to disappear once the project is right side out? Prepare for your “I wish I had thought of that” moment:

Getting the Perfect Fabric Opening

I’m going to be very anti-climatic here and tell you what we are trying to achieve…then I’ll tell you how. We want to create a little corner of stitches at the beginning and ending of your stitching, just like this:

So, rather than starting on your 1/4″ seam (or 1/2″…whatever it may be) I want you to start on the edge of your fabric and sew IN to your seam allowance. Then, put your needle down and turn your project.

Stitch as you normally would until you come to the point where you need to stop (so that there is an opening). Once again, put your needle down, turn your project, and stitch to the raw edge.

You should end up with something like this:

Once you flip your project, you’ll end up with a beautiful edge, like this:

You’ll need to do a little edge-stitch or topstitch to secure the opening shut, but this great little trick makes it look oh-so-professional!

Want to Test it out on a Real Project?!

This trick was introduced to me on my Tea to Go pattern, but is also useful for these great patterns: