Many times a seam is required to make strips or borders long enough for our quilting projects. When using a patterned fabric, sometimes those seams are less than attractive, and if I know it's there, my eye falls right to it before it sees anything else! Here's a little tip to make those seams invisible! I use this technique almost every time I have to sew patterned fabric together. (I have a video planned to show you how to piece a quilt back with an invisible seam!)
Sometimes we can get away with a diagonal seam to camouflage the join, but not so with this fabric.
I cut the two strips shown above in the same place from the yardage. (meaning that I used the same rows of bugs for each strip. Doing this ensures that I can find a spot in the pattern repeat where the bugs will line up exactly.) Make a nice, straight cut across the fabric at the end of one of the strips.
Using a spray starch alternative (Flatter is my favorite; plant based, no toxic stuff in my fabric), press the edge that you just cut to the wrong side of the fabric.
Look closely at the spot the stylus is pointing to...I've lined up the bugs perfectly by finding where that pressed edge matched the pattern in the strip I want to attach it to. The next step is to use a fine line of basting glue to hold the edges together. I've not pictured this step, but lift up the top folded edge and place the glue just on the underside edge of the fold. Use only a very thin line of glue. Carefully replace it and press it with the iron to dry the glue.
Here's a look at the two strips glued together, with the top strip flipped back so that you can see the nice crease that pressing has made.
Take the strips to the sewing machine and stitch them together, right in the crease. Trim the excess fabric away, leaving a 1/4" seam allowance.
Done.
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