Sewing Tips & Tricks: How to Avoid Pressing in the Round

Today, I would like to show you my trick to avoid pressing in the round. Pressing in the round is when you sew fabric together to form a circle or tube, then you need to press a hem or casing. To press, you would need to fit the circle around the end of the ironing board. For the end of a sleeve it becomes even more complicated by the tight circle. I try to avoid all of that as much as possible!!

I am using a waistband casing for this example, but the same technique is true for hems and sleeves.

For a waistband, sew the two rectangles together at one short end. Finish the seam and press to one side.

Now, press your casing in place. In this case, press 1/4" to the wrong side. Then, again 1" to the wrong side. See how nice and easy it is to press it all flat instead of in the round!

Now, unfold the pressed ends and stitch the short ends right sides together completing the circle.

Finish the seam.

Refold the casing at the seam and press at the seam only. The rest is already done!

Sew the casing per your pattern instructions. 

Here you can see how I applied the same method to the hem of the skirt.

For this tutorial, I used the Modkid Katie Skirt pattern without the flounce and pockets.

A few more patterns where this method would come in handy are the Lily Skirt (waistband and hem), the Keagan Shirt (sleeves), and the Josie dress (sleeves and hem).