Turn a Clean Corner on a Small Fabric Project

For an ordinary outside corner, choose the allowance treatment before you turn the fabric. One method trims bulk away; another folds the allowance into the point and keeps it there. Combining the cutting from one with the folding from another makes the result difficult to understand. This exercise uses an untrimmed folded corner, with just two joined edges and generous turning access.

Use two six-inch squares of stable, lightweight woven fabric with identifiable right sides. The size and half-inch allowance below are original illustrative practice dimensions, not a tested project pattern. Avoid heavy upholstery cloth, fraying remnants and interfacing for this first attempt. The sample is a corner lesson, not a finished pouch or a promise about every collar fabric.

Mark two crossing seam lines

Place the squares right sides together and align all four raw edges. Mark a line half an inch below the top edge and another half an inch inside the right edge, using a marking method checked on the scrap first. Their crossing is the finished corner. The raw top-right point lies beyond it in the allowance.

Only the top and right edges will be sewn. Leave the left and bottom edges completely open so the sample can turn without being dragged through a tiny gap. Hold the layers appropriately, with pins removed before they reach the needle. Keep the fabric supported so the marked crossing remains paired on both layers.

Sew past the crossing, not around it

Sew the top line all the way across the square to the right raw edge, securing the seam ends as your machine permits. Remove the work safely. Then sew the marked right-side line from the top raw edge down to the bottom raw edge. The two rows cross at the marked corner; they do not form one pivoted perimeter seam.

This follows the construction principle in Outside Corners, Method 2, in BERNINA's clipping-and-corners guide. That method retains the corner allowance and folds it inward. The guide's first outside-corner method uses a different sewing and trimming sequence; it is an alternative, not an extra step to add here.

Inspect both rows before turning. Each should catch both layers without a tuck, and their intersection should lie half an inch from both raw edges. A line that misses its mark changes the corner shape. Correct that stitching while the sample is flat rather than trying to conceal it with a larger fold.

Fold the point, then the sides

Do not snip off the top-right raw corner for this method. With the sample still wrong side out, gather the two layers of that corner allowance together. Fold the raw point diagonally inward toward the body of the square, with the fold passing just outside the stitched intersection, within the allowance. Keep the crossing stitches intact rather than folding the body into a pleat.

Next fold the top allowance down along its stitching line and the right allowance left along its stitching line. Both allowances now lie toward the square's center, with the little diagonal point tucked beneath them. Hold this folded package between your fingers while the machine is stopped and the sample is away from it. No cutting or sharp turning tool is involved.

The purpose is to organize the retained material, not compress an unlimited stack into a tiny tip. If you cannot hold the folds without wrinkling the body, unfold them and check where the seam lines cross. A bulky fabric may simply be unsuitable for this exercise; repeated hard pressing will not make it equivalent to a lighter cloth.

Turn through the open edges

Keep the folded allowances together and turn the square right side out through the open left or bottom edge, bringing the corner over the held folds. Release your grip once the corner has emerged. Gently arrange the surrounding edges with your fingers. Use a blunt turning aid only lightly if needed; do not drive scissors, a pencil point or a seam ripper into the tip.

If the point resists, reverse the turn enough to inspect the fold package. Check whether an allowance unfolded or the body was caught in it. Correct that visible problem rather than pushing harder. The intended result is a supported outside corner, not a punctured tip made to appear sharp.

Compare shape and thickness

Press only as the fabric permits, keeping fingers away from the iron. Examine both faces and the straight edges leading into the corner. A small sample can show a balanced shape and unwanted bulk, but it cannot prove durability in a garment. Keep its two open edges visible in your notes so you remember this was a focused exercise, not a complete construction pattern.

For a later project, follow that pattern's chosen corner method from beginning to end. This particular sample teaches how crossed seams and ordered untrimmed folds work together. It does not prescribe the same treatment for inward corners, tight points or thick lined assemblies.