Friday, May 12, 2017

Hanging Sleeve Mania!

Seven hanging sleeves. Yep, seven. That's what I get for entering so many quilts into the fair.

The fun part -making up the sleeves! Referring back to my Hanging Sleeve Tutorial from a couple years ago, I put the pedal to the floor and had all seven sewn up, ready to go in under an hour. What a jackrabbit I am - woohoo!

Enter the turtle, the slow part - hand stitching to the quilt backs. We've heard it before - slow and steady wins the race. The only thing I'm racing against is the clock! This is definitely a sit-in-front-of-the-TV kind of project, so as not to take precious time away from major sewing.

But as everyone knows, quilts need sleeves in order to hang in a show, though I have extra reasons to get this done now:
a) these quilts need get off the spare bedroom floor,
b) I need the floor space in said room to continue with the aqua scrap quilt, and
c) hubby would like to keep the door open to said room, which is shut to keep cat hair off of the quilts,
d) and though they haven't said anything, I'm sure the kitties would like to lay in the afternoon sunshine in that room.

Good reasons to get this accomplished this weekend, don't you think? Hope your weekend is better!

Saturday, April 4, 2015

Hanging Sleeve Tutorial

Hanging sleeves - quilts gotta have 'em if those quilts are going on display!

Quilt shows require a 4" hanging sleeve. But just stitching any 4" wide piece of fabric on the back is not the best hanging sleeve. Instead, I'm going to show you how to make a hanging sleeve that protects the back of the quilt, and provides a pocket for the rod.

Hanging Sleeve Preparation

Measure the width of the quilt, then cut or make a 9" wide strip of fabric that is approximately 1" shorter than the quilt width. On each 9" end, press over 1/2", and stitch. This provides a nice edge for the rod to slip into.

nine inch strip with 1/2 inch finished ends for hanging sleeve

Fold the strip in half lengthwise, with the raw edges of the stitched ends on the inside. Press the fold (seen in the picture above). Open up the strip, and fold each edge toward the center fold, still with the raw edges of the stitched ends on the inside. Press.

hanging sleeve for quilt folded to center

Refold the hanging sleeve on the center fold. Stitch the long edges together with a 1/4" seam allowance, with the seam on the finished side of the previously finished ends. I know that's not what's pictured, but that's the way I do it now.

And why, you ask? Having the seam on the outside makes for a more finished interior pocket, and less for the hanging bar to get caught on.

Do one more careful press of each fold on the sides, and the hanging sleeve is now ready to go on the quilt.

Attaching the hanging sleeve

Center the hanging sleeve along the width of the quilt back, and pin the top fold at least 1/4" below the binding.

That way, when the rod is in the pocket, the excess fabric won't peek up over the top of the quilt. Wouldn't want the hanging sleeve spoiling the view of a beautiful quilt!

Stitch down this top edge, by hand. Don't cheat on the stitches. The hanging sleeve takes a lot of the quilt weight.

quilt hanging sleeve hand stitched at the top

Then pin the bottom edge along it's fold, so that the back of the hanging sleeve lies flat against the quilt, and excess hanging sleeve fabric puffs up on the front.