Tutorial Tuesday/Thursday: Triangles

Over the weekend, I decided to cut into some of my new stash! I'd always wanted to try out triangles, but I'd always been a bit apprehensive. I'm soooooo glad I decided to do it! I made this pillow, and I really think it's my favorite thing I've ever made. Seriously. It is so me. The color palette, the texture, the subtlety yet pops. I love it! I might even make a whole triangle quilt in this fabric.... we'll see... I have like a bizallion other things to finish!

This Tutorial Tuesday/Thursday is on how to trim, sew, and iron your triangles and rows. I used this tutorial to learn how to cut, and this tutorial to get a basic idea on sewing and ironing. Both are from On the Windy Side. Below is my adaptation! (I'm LAZY, so my version has you ironing the seams after all of the triangles in a row are sewn together.)

P.S. The colors are bit off in the pictures. I really just didn't feel like editing them.... Sorry!

Trimming

1) The triangle ruler that I have is set up so that only one of the corners is trimmed. Let me say this so you don't fall into a triangle nightmare like I kinda did.... trim all of your corners or trim none of your corners. The picture is showing one that has been trimmed and one that has not.

2) To trim the other corners, line up the trimmed corner of the ruler with your untrimmed corner of fabric like pictured above. Make sure that both sides have equal fabric and that the triangle that has been printed on the ruler lines up with the corner. Cut along the edge.

2.1) After you've trimmed all of your corners, stack the triangles in order that you want to sew them in. Also, put them in the direction that they are to be sewn. To form a straight row, they must alternate with the "top" corner pointed up and the next one pointed down and the next one pointed up, and so on.

Sewing

1) Lay out the two triangles you want to sew first. It's always good to lay them out, just to make sure you don't sew them wrong ;)

2) Lay the right hand triangle right-side down on top of the left hand triangle. Make sure to line up the edge that the two triangles were touching at when you just had them laid out.

3) Sew along this edge on a scant 1/4" seam.

4) Open the two triangles. Do not iron.

5) Place your next triangle on the right side of the two triangles you just sewed together. Make sure that it is pointing in the correct direction. This would be that the "top" point is pointing in the opposite direction of the triangle sewn before it.

6) Lay the right triangle on to the left hand triangle with right-sides together. Again, make sure to line up the edge of the two triangles where they were touching at when you had them laid out.

7) Sew along this edge on a scant 1/4" seam.

8) Open up the triangles. Proceed to sew your remaining triangles in the same way as described above, until you have finished up your row.

Ironing

1) Once you have finished sewing all your triangles together, the seams should look something like this.

2) Iron your first seam open. I iron from the free side where my seam isn't crossing over another seam.

3) It should look like the picture once you're done ironing your first seam.

4) Iron down the next seam so that the seam is pressed open. You will end up ironing on top of other seams. This is okay. It is also okay to begin ironing on the free side of the seam, or on the side where it crosses over another seam, however, I find that it works best ironed on the free side (not like I have pictured.. ooops).

5) After you've pressed the second seam open, it should look like this. Here you can see how one seam was pressed over another.

6) Press the next seam open like described above. You an see how one side of the seam is pressed under the other seam. This is fine! In fact, one end of most of your seams will be pressed under another seam. Pretty much let the fabric dictate where to go.

7) Finish pressing all of your seams open.

8) What your row should look like on the front after all your seams are pressed open.

And there you have it! Just sew your rows together and create whatever you want! I made my wonderful, totally-me pillow. I did make it a bit too long, but it still think it is perfect. If you make something using my tutorial, please send me pictures! I would love to see what you've created.

Anyone interested in doing a triangle block pillow-a-long??!

P.P.S. Come back tomorrow for a surprise guest blogger on a new series I'm doing on fabric stashes!