The Trick To Sewing Square Corners

When you’re doing inside corners, be mindful how you position the pieces. Putting the piece with the inside corner on the top, you’ll be able to see what you’re doing more easily.

With your pieces aligned, turn on your machine and start sewing a basic seam. Use a lock stitch to hold it all in place and be sure it’s lined up.

Next, take a pencil and draw your seam allowance. Extend it past where the corner is and do this on both sides. You can use any size seam allowance you like. On this I am using 1/2″

As you do this, you are drawing the point where you’re going to need to sink the needle at before you make the turn. From there, you’re going to make a relief cut and open it up.

Now continue sewing until you get to the point you just made, and then lift your machine’s foot up.

Turn out the piece of fabric so you can see where you’re cutting.

Then cut from the corner straight into the needle. Leave about ⅛” of an inch away form the needle or you’ll risk the strength of the seam.

After that, line your bottom piece back up and fold it open.

Take the extra material and fold it evenly underneath the foot so it makes a 45-degree fold. Everything should line up nicely.

Now you can continue sewing to finish up the seam.

When you’re finished, open up your material and see what it looks like. Once you fold it out, it should look smooth and neat without any pulls or wrinkles.

Now you can continue sewing to finish up the seam.

Troubleshooting

  • Leave Enough Room: If you go too far in when cutting your relief, when you spread open your material, it may rip. Not leaving at least ⅛” will
  • Make Marks: Always leave reference marks on your material to be sure everything lines up perfectly as you go along.
  • Check Your Alignment: Especially If you are sewing a piece that has a top and a bottom that you’re sewing together (like a cushion), you need to pay attention to your alignment marks, especially on the inside corner so it lines up properly. If your alignment is off, when you install your cover, it’s going to have wrinkles because it won’t fit properly.