Sunday, September 16, 2012

Finishing the Mariners Compass

In my last post Mariners Compass I went through the steps I took to create the Mariners Compass in the center. In this post I'll explain how to finish out your Mariners Compass.
The first thing I wanted was a small 1" border around the compas. I folded the Compass in half and layed it on the fabric I would use for that border. Then I measure 1.5" around the compass and marked with white chalk. I want the border to be 1", so this requires a 1.5" strip to allow for 1/4 seam on both sides. Remember you want to cut your stip on the curve. Don't use a 1.5" straight strip. You can, but you will likely end up with pukers in the fabric as you attach it to the block, and it will require relief cuts. By cutting on the curve you avoid all this. It takes a little more work up front, but saves you a lot of hassle later.
Two strips cut. Note the strips are cut with at least an extra 1/4" at each end. These will need to be attached to each other after they are sewn on the compass.
Carefully pin the strip to the compass. Don't attach the strips together yet. As you attach the strip it will sometimes stretch and move so that you may have more than 1/4" at the ends. Sew the strip to the compass with 1/4" seam. Leaving about and 1" or so and the ends of the strip unattached. Mark the ends of the strips where you want the seam. I did this by folding the strips where I wanted them to attach and pressing with my iron. It makes an easy mark to follow. Then fold the compass in half, pull the strip away from the compass and sew the strips together. Trim the seam, press and sew to the compass to complete the strip.
Next to complete the square. I put the compass folded in fours on top of fabric also folded in fours in order to create four corners. I planned this a little oversized so that I can square up the block when complete. To do the corners, it's really the same process as I used for the strip, only in four pieces instead of two. Also an extra step noted below before pinning.
Trimmed out and ready to attach. Notice the excess at the ends. Now to attach this I took an extra step before pinning the fabric. You will want you corners to match up with the center point (the orange point on this piece). Take your corner piece and fold in half diagnally at the corner so that you have a fold going out from the middle point to the corner. Use that fold to line up the point with the corner.
The finished Mariners Compass. This one measure 23 x 23.

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