Trimming Basics

Trim Triangle Points Before or After Sewing Pieces:
That is the Question.

If you've worked with Triangles at all, you have definitely trimmed off a few Dog Ears, Bunny Ears or Triangle Points which all do mean the same thing.

But most often you've probably trimmed them after you've pressed two Half Square Triangles open into a Triangle Square and there are the Triangle Points poking out just waiting to be trimmed off.

But there are times when
pre-trimming the points is the way to go:

A good example is if you are sewing a triangle to a square.

You can try folding the Square in half to find the center, but a much better way is to use a Point Trimmer like our Prep-Tool that will trim the points at just the right spot.

Top

And What is Just the Right Spot?

You can look at it this way. These Triangles and Square are the same Finished Size and if you sew them together it will be the same seam line joining them.

If you look at the seam line on the Square, it is a Scant ¼" from each edge. So if you were to measure a Scant ¼" from the end of the seam line on the Triangle, that is where you would want to trim off the point.

The bottom line to all this is, the edges of Squares and Triangles that are the same Finished Size, should match exactly after you accurately trim the Triangle Points.

Top | Buy Now | Testimonials