I hand stitched my first clamshell last night and learned later than it isn't necessary to stitch down anything but the circle part because the rest is hidden below the next clamshell......duh....... Onward...... .....while browsing the internet for clamshell ideas I came across this interesting "short-cut" by Susan Stiff of Moda which uses a machine seam......... So I decided to try to see if I might like this method...I tried several different ways of stitching and I think the most accurate for me was to actually stitch right next to the template, press over the template, turn the shell right side out and then press again with the template inside. Here are my first 5 clams. I think I could even use this method with hand stitching.... .............(stay tuned for more of my clamming progress)......