Admiration for the patchwork and quilting excites the minds of needlewomen for a long time, but not everyone decides to take such a serious step, because this type of fabric art is quite laborious, requiring patience and perseverance, as well as a good sense of color and shape. Several starter patchwork schemes are described in this article.
What is a patchwork?
Such an unusual word refers to the type of needlework, based on stitching small (or not so) pieces of fabric in a special way, during which a pattern is formed of these pieces, selected by texture, color and shape. In a free translation, patchwork is patchwork , the whole art that combines the skills of sewing, design, geometry and drawing. In the process of sewing by experienced craftsmen, the pieces are connected into various geometric patterns, patterns by patchwork pattern, forming a complex pattern structure. Various sizes of products are created: from small purses to carpets, blankets on a synthetic winterizer.
How to choose a fabric?
Patchwork fabrics can be used any, but for beginners it is better to use chintz, teak, and cotton: they practically do not deform, keep their shape perfectly when stitching and washing. Also, the color schemes of these fabrics are very diverse, so choosing an appropriate color will not be difficult even for an inexperienced student.
If you plan to sew a patchwork style rug, you can use old trousers, jeans, warm shirts and other unnecessary things to set up fabric pieces. This is one of the features of patchwork sewing - it gives a second life to old things, turning them into an amazing handmade work.
If old things are not enough, then for dense large products you can use drap or gabardine, wool or velor, velveteen and other fabrics that will appeal to you.
Patchwork for beginners
The “quick square” scheme is considered the simplest and most understandable for craftswomen making the first steps in patchwork: the fabric is cut into the same size squares, sewn into stripes across the width of the product, which in turn are sewn along their length, forming a fabric. The originality of this scheme lies in the color scheme: the fabric for the patchwork is selected bright, with various small patterns. Children's quilts-patchwork look very spectacularly stitched according to this pattern.
The pattern in the Chess patchwork is also quite simple, moreover, it uses only two shades: for example, red flowers on a yellow background and yellow flowers on red. From the same size of the squares, a similarity to a chessboard is formed, that is, pieces of fabric alternately replace each other with a shift of one cell sideways in the next row.
Stack-n-Whack Technique for Beginners
Pattern schemes and patterns in the patchwork have several levels of difficulty, but you should start with the simplest ones to get your hand in and understand the principle of connecting parts. Stack-and-vak is considered not trivial, but rather a simple template in the patchwork. The pattern pattern consists of five parts, similar in total to a part of the children's kaleidoscope. The blocks are cut out quite simply: the selected multi-colored fabric is divided according to the color scheme into several piles: 4-5 will be quite enough. Each section should have the same number of similar color segments: four or five. Then all the stacks are cut into identical squares, for example, with a side length of 45 cm and each of them is cut according to the pattern.
Then the pieces of the kaleidoscope are sorted so that in each department there are different colors for each part of the same template, it is important not to mix the colors so that the finished product has a harmonious color scheme.
Simple Stitch Patterns for Beginners
The patchwork patterns described below are the most common due to the simplicity, accessibility and uncomplicated geometry of the picture, because in every art (even such unusual) there should be a harmony of form, color and style:
- “Log hut” or “log hut”, “block house” - this is the name of the method of joining strips of fabric in the form of a log house or in a spiral around a central square or rectangle, sometimes with an emphasis in one direction (corner)
- “Watercolor”: there is no particular pattern or template in this patchwork scheme, the main idea is in color: stripes or squares are created from smaller parts of the same shape and then grouped by color scheme, building a specific pattern
- “Stripes in a row”: the name speaks for itself - a canvas and a specific pattern are formed from stripes of various lengths and widths.
- “Magic Triangle” - this template is considered one of the most popular among beginners and experienced quilters, as it has a unique shape that can easily be combined into more complex patterns, combining and combining different colors. Quite a lot of complex patterns, patterns and patterns in the patchwork are built precisely on the basis of a triangle.
Based on such simple schemes, you can build quite complex compositions that you should learn to use in products of different sizes and purposes in order to gain confidence in connecting pieces of fabric of different sizes and shapes to obtain the necessary patchwork scheme. Ideas for developing skills:
"Quick square"
This scheme is ideal if time is short, but you want to create a thing unique and unusual. Sometimes it is called the “Russian square”. It is cut out of three strips, and two of them (each) in width are half the third.
Two narrow strips are sewn along the entire length into one wide one, fold the resulting part with a third wide strip and sew on both sides: we get a fabric “tunnel”.
Iron the seams and use a square ruler to divide into triangle segments, cutting the workpiece at an angle of 45 degrees in two directions. As a result, we get two types of rhombuses (squares): the lower triangle will be constantly the same color, and the top will be divided into two sectors: a small triangle and a trapezoid, which will replace each other in color. From these blanks, you can add quite a lot of different patterns, combining them in different ways:
From large squares to fold large - the pattern of the internal pattern will consist of triangles, forming another square framed by stripes.
It can be folded in large triangles inward, forming a large square of the same color, framed by triangles. This option can be developed and turned into zigzags - if you create a parallel pattern from small triangles.
To build a "Christmas tree", placing a triangle above the triangle, for this we put the squares on the left on one side, and on the right - on the opposite.
Then you can continue to improvise, rearranging the workpiece and creating more and more new patterns. Such blanks are easily stitched together, because the basis is the most ordinary square, which does not require more effort.
Scheme "English Park"
A quilt in the patchwork style made according to this pattern looks very impressive: the pattern seems to be laborious to execute, but actually quite simple: two pieces of fabric of contrasting colors are cut into strips and sewn along the length, folded along the seam and cut into triangles at an angle of 45 degrees (as most often in patchwork). As a result, we get squares consisting of two triangles, from which a large square with a certain pattern is assembled. Place a square of the third color fabric in the center of this block.
Card Focus Chart Template
A fabric of three colors is selected, for example, yellow with white, white in yellow flower with green small leaves and green with white small pattern. It is very good when the patchwork fabrics are combined in a pattern or color, then the finished product looks more uniform pattern. Divided into two piles: for each square of the same color with a side of 13.5 cm, there are two squares of the same color with a side of 12 cm.
Cut all large squares crosswise along the oblique line and sew them into triangles with the narrow side so that the left always has the same color (for example, yellow and white). Four of them will turn out, and two blanks will remain from other colors - from them to collect a square of 4 triangles that resembles a bow.
Next, cut one small square of each color diagonally, and sew each diagonal of a large triangle into a square with a previously prepared one, consisting of two smaller triangles. The result should be such a pattern for the future pattern.
The center is ready, it remains to cut out the side parts from the remaining small squares: cut diagonally and sew from the triangles again a rhombus of two colors. Gather the layout together. Having laid out on the table, check the connection of colors and then sew with a sewing machine.
More difficult option
Based on the principle described above, you can create more complex patchwork patterns of patterns, the patterns of which must be drawn in advance in paper form.
How to work with the scheme and template?
Patterns in the patchwork are necessarily drawn immediately on paper, preferably in the color that is supposedly conceived, and then a draft version of the scraps of fabric is created to make sure that the proportions and indents for the seams are calculated correctly and there are no errors. It is unlikely that anyone wants to waste large volumes of good tissue in vain, realizing that they were mistaken in the calculations.
The more complicated the template is, the more carefully it is necessary to calculate the allowances for the seams, otherwise the picture from the pieces will not work out and the harmony of the geometric shapes will be lost, because the pattern is assembled from small details that clearly coincide along the seam line. So is created from the small great. To understand in more detail how to sew a patchwork thing, you can watch several video tutorials.
Some craftswomen prefer an arbitrary “crazy” style, in which there is no following clear forms and borders - from scraps of a wide variety of formats, a single canvas is created, which is then laid on the necessary thing.
Also, when using geometric patterns, one should carefully select the gamut of colors without abusing the quantity: it is better to create a masterpiece from three to five colors that are interconnected than from 15-20 - a screaming “abyss of taste”.