Patchwork has been used by people since ancient times. First, the remnants of the fabric were sewn together in order to save, then it came to the understanding that appliques and beautiful patterns could be made from scraps. In English, this technique is pronounced as patchwork.
In our time, sewing from flaps has turned into a whole art. In this way, blankets, napkins are made out, bed linen, wraps on the sofa and armchairs are sewn. Material sewn from various scraps of fabric can cover the seats of chairs. Crafts look great as rugs, both wall and floor. In the article we will tell in detail how such products are created, what beginners need to know.
Patchwork is a laborious work, it requires accuracy and perseverance, accuracy in the calculations. It is better for beginners to start with simple schemes for connecting identical segments. They can have a different shape, for example, stripes or equal squares. The material is selected of one quality, it is advisable to buy a cotton fabric. It is easier to work with, especially for beginners. Patchwork has many seams, so you need to have a sewing machine. You will also need an iron, a flat surface for folding the parts together, a thread with a needle, straight long scissors, graph paper for marking.
Types of Technician
For beginning masters, it is more convenient to patchwork from smooth geometric shapes. A traditional patchwork can be made up of squares, stripes, triangles, or even hexagons. For convenience, you can sew blocks of several elements, for example, first prepare separate large squares consisting of 25 small parts. And then sew them together. It’s easier to act like that.
More experienced craftsmen make up arbitrary patterns from pieces of fabric of various shapes. This style is called Crazy Patchwork. The patches are stitched in a chaotic manner, which is why the technique is called the “crazy patch”. Sewing involves the flight of the master’s imagination, the sudden emergence of creative ideas.
Another type of patchwork is applique on fabric. A whole canvas is taken as a basis, and a cut figure is already sewn onto it, sometimes a quilting method is used.
Preparation for work
When choosing the right cotton or linen that will be used in the creation of crafts, you need to consider the combination of colors and patterns on the fabric. Poorly selected materials can ruin all the work, the product will turn out flashy and tasteless.
The selected fabric must be soaked in water, dried and ironed thoroughly with a hot iron. This preliminary work is called decanting.
The template is drawn on thick cardboard with gluing on the surface of graph paper. Allowance for seams must be taken into account. For beginners, patchwork is best done using a single pattern. All the details will be the same, and it will be more convenient for beginners to work with them.
It is advisable to draw a diagram for the patchwork on a separate sheet of whatman paper. It is most convenient if you immediately draw one block. The rest are repeated according to the same drawing.
Patchwork patterns
Beginners are advised to draw a block diagram and even paint them with fabric colors. On the options below, when sewing, triangular flaps come together. The drawing is made up of a combination of colors and shades.
As you can see, there are blocks of 32 triangles. Each has a square shape. When many blocks are created, it remains only to stitch them in straight lines to get the canvas of the desired size.
Beginning of work
Consider the patchwork technique for beginners in more detail on the example of creating a canvas from squares.
After preparing the fabric according to the template, squares of the same size are cut out of all types of matter. Then lay out the segments on a flat surface for subsequent stitching of parts into blocks.
All elements are fastened on the back. For beginners, it is better to draw a line of seams with chalk, so that there are no bumps. All allowances should be the same. You need to work carefully, not in a hurry, but first you need to calculate the distance well. When the unit is assembled, it should be ironed carefully.
Iron work
When working with flaps, the iron should always be kept at hand. It is used quite often, starting with the preliminary ironing of the stretched fabric. After sewing, each block must be ironed from the back, carefully aligning the strips with your fingers. The iron is first moved in one direction, then the perpendicular allowances are ironed.
The final touch will be leveling the surface on the front side. After stitching the blocks together, the remaining stocks are ironed. The canvas is ready for further sewing of an entire product.
Beautifully and easily patchwork for beginners will come out of stripes or squares. If the allowances have a different focus, then ironing will take much more time, since the fabric will have to be rotated many times. Experienced craftsmen advise ironing such complex seams in rows. For example, in the first row, allowances are sent in one direction, and in the next row in the opposite direction. Long stripes are smoothed vertically. When sewing from natural fabrics, use a cloth dampener or an iron steamer.
Pillowcase made of triangles
You can try to make such a small craft at the beginning of your career. First you need to make a diagram and prepare the details according to the patterns of rectangular triangles cut out of cardboard. For beginners, the patchwork technique (a step-by-step explanation is presented above) from large triangles will be more accessible.
The back side of the pillowcase can be made from the main fabric, and only the front side can be decorated with rags. Triangles are ironed alternately in each direction.
Pentagon Sewing
When using pentagons in the patchwork, you need to be prepared for long and laborious work. Each template has its own template cut out, it is more convenient to print a large number of identical parts on the printer right away. Then all the figures are cut with scissors. Then the patterns are circled on the fabric with thin lines and clearly cut out on them.
But that is not all. On paper templates, you need to draw allowance lines on all sides, backing 1 cm from the edge, and cut off the excess paper, leaving only the central shape.
Next, prepare a huge number of pins and a flat surface of the table. Paper templates are placed in the middle of the cut parts. Each side needs to be folded clearly along the edge of the paper, all folds are pinned with pins. As you can see, the work ahead is not easy, since several hundred may be needed to create a large canvas of parts. Then all the elements need to be laid out on the surface of the table in the order necessary to create a picture.
Polygon Stitching
For beginners, a patchwork master class is given in more detail. Work in rows is recommended. Two polygons are sewn together by carefully pulling pins. Then process another plane. When the curly flap is sewn around the perimeter, the paper template is taken out.
The remaining polygons are added sequentially. At the edges, empty corners are obtained, which are most often filled with the main fabric or cut out from the edging material.
Then carefully smooth out all allowances for seams on the back with a hot iron, movements must be made in different directions. At the end, the surface is treated on the front side.
Custom tailoring pattern
Patchwork for beginners (a photo of the finished product is presented below) will turn out to be done according to a complex pattern. You can take the scheme already ready or show your imagination and draw the figures on graph paper. It is enough to draw one block, which is subsequently repeated several times.
The sample shows that the tailoring is made of solid flower squares and cut out from separate elements of white with orange details. The main work, of course, is to assemble the latter. Break the square into 8 triangles, which are sewn together strictly according to the pattern.
When all the parts are prepared, the elements are connected into blocks. For convenience, small squares are laid out on the table in the correct order. After sewing on the back, all seams are ironed. At the end of the work, the blocks are stitched together.
If the blankets are collected with rags, then the synthetic winterizer on the first layer can be strengthened with quilting. In our case, two layers were stitched only on flower squares.
Applique Technique
One of the subspecies of the patchwork is applique on fabric. The technique consists in sewing or gluing a pattern of pieces of fabric on the main background. Glue pictures on those products that will not subsequently be erased, for example, a wall panel or rug. The applique looks great on blouses, knitwear, t-shirts, dresses and even trousers. Often make out in this way children's clothing.
Patterns are sewn both manually (with a stalk or chain stitch, a cross or a goat), and with machine stitching, using an overcast or zigzag foot. If the master’s seams are even, then a straight line along the edges of the pattern is also suitable.
A master using this technique should be able to draw, have a rich imagination, and be a true artist in his soul. After all, with the help of the application, you can create unusually beautiful paintings, playing both with the colors of fabrics and various structures of matter.
Conclusion
The article describes the process of patchwork for beginners with a step-by-step explanation of the execution procedure. For beginners, it is best to start with small crafts, for example, oven mitts or napkins. The easiest sewing options are made from scraps of square or rectangular shape. Then you can try to sew products from triangular segments. If the process captivates you, then you will definitely want to develop your skills further and start creating non-standard ornaments.