Paper Piecing Primer

How would you like to make complex shapes (like an elephant or a truck) with lots of little pieces of fabric, without measuring or cutting a pattern, and by sewing only straight seams! Then paper piecing is the technique for you. Here is an example of a quilt made using this technique:

You can see that the animal shapes are quite realistic. Each is made from 6 - 12 tiny pieces! And this technique gives you a chance to use small scraps from your stash.

Here is how it is done. I will use another pattern, Venice Rose, as the model for step-by-step instructions. (Note: I am only describing how to create the "spokes" of the rose.)

The "paper" used in paper piecing is really a lightweight stabilizer. I like "Tear Easy" by Sulky. It is pretty translucent and really does tear easily. Do NOT buy any kind which is "fusible". The pattern is traced onto this paper. A single object (like an elephant) may require several pieced sections, which are then joined to make the final object. After the pattern is traced, small scraps of fabric are cut and sewed on sequentially. Some objects may require you to sew from the middle outwards, others from one side to the other.

The strange thing about paper piecing is that you are working on the back of the pattern! And also upside-down!  WAIT!!! Don't leave. It's not as difficult as it sounds. But one key thing to remember is that your finished object will be the mirror image of the pattern piece. This is irrelevant when making letters such as "o" or "x", where the reversed image is identical. But if, say, you want your elephant facing left, the paper piecing pattern will have it facing right. Trust me, it will all work out in the end.

Let's see how this works:

First you will have some sort of pattern to trace, whether from a book, a specific pattern, or of your own design. Here is the beginning pattern for the Rose:

I had to cut this pattern in half to have a "left" and "right" side for the actual paper piecing.

Then you will trace the pattern onto the stabilizer paper. To do so, I put double stick tape on the pattern (you don't want the stabilizer to move around while you are tracing). When you are done tracing it is easy to peel away the stabilizer (the tape stays stuck to the pattern). I also use a mecahnical pencil. This gives a good, consistent thin line (and no sharpening!). Also, VERY IMPORTANT: some patterns may NOT include the seam allowance. Every traced piece MUST have a 1/4" seam allowance around the outside edges. If your pattern does not include the s.a., you must add it yourself.  And here is a special trick: I always put hash marks on the seam allowance lines. You will see why this is important later.



The first photo above shows the stabilizer on the pattern (note the s.a. hash marks); in the second it has been peeled off.

Most patterns will also have each mini-piece labeled (with a number or letter), so it is easier to identify the order that they are sewed. You will not always sew a piece to the previous piece.  There may also be subsections that are joined to make the final object. Here is an example from "A Quilter's Ark", by Margaret Rolfe that illustrates what I am saying (this is the lion pattern as seen in the quilt at the top of this post):

Notice how piece 6 in section A is added to the 1-2-4 assembly. This page also clearly shows how the final pieced object is reversed. Note that the lion's head in the pattern is on the right, but in the finished piece, it is on the left. Of course, if you were using this pattern and, for some reason, wanted the lion to be facing right, you would have to flip the traced image before you started sewing the pieces on.  

Next, you start cutting and sewing the pieces of fabric. Remember: you are looking at the back of the pattern, but the fabric will be on the front. You should always be looking at the side of the stabilizer with the pencil lines.

OK, so cut out the first piece. How big? Just wing it! That's part of the FUN of paper piecing. No measuring, no templates....just cut each piece big enough to cover the appropriate area without wasting too much. Don't be stingy, but don't be wasteful (bonus: if you do cut a piece too big, when you trim it you may be able to use it for a subsequent smaller piece calling for the same fabric!).  

The first piece of fabric is placed right-side down; all others will be right-side up. This is critical. You don't want to finish sewing 20 tiny pieces and then find that the third one is wrong-side out!

Pin the first piece in place anywhere in the marked area (#1 or A or however it is indicated). Now cut the second piece. Then, this is where it gets a little tricky. The second piece is placed right-side up, and at least 1/4" past the seam line to be sewn. You have to kind of lift the stabilizer and slide the fabric into place. It might be easier to understand from these photos:

From the above photo, you can intuit that the edge of piece 2 (the orange dots) extends 1/4" past the seam line. 

Next trick: I then pin piece 2 in place by putting the pin across the seam line to be sewn. This does two things: holds the fabric in place and gives a visual check on which line to sew next (believe me, it is really easy to sew on the wrong line!). Also, if you were to flip the whole thing over at this point, you would want to be sure that the pin is going through piece 2 (or whichever piece you're doing) in the right place. Huh? Well, you may have placed the piece going the wrong way across the seam line (been there, done that). If this happens, and you sew and trim it, you will be left with a little strip of fabric; not the coverage you wanted. The other reason to check the pin is to make sure that you left anough fabric across the seam line to be sewn. If the pin is right on the edge, then take it out and readjust the fabric piece. 

Now, sew right on the pencilled line. This is not your normal 1/4" seam. Sew on the line! Use small stitches; they make it easier to tear the paper off later. (Downside: smaller stitches are harder to rip out, should that be necessary).

Where to start and end? For seams that go to an edge, sew a few stitches past the end of the s.a. line.  For internal seams, sew 2 or 3 small stitches past the seam line that crosses the one you are doing. 

Now you have to trim the previous pieces. (Hang with me.) You need to fold the stabilizer back toward the lower-numbered piece. Say what? OK, if you just sewed piece 2 to piece 1, then fold back on the seam line toward piece 1. If you just sewed piece 17 to piece 16, fold toward 16. Get it? You should then see the excess of the previous piece(s) you have sewn. The picture below shows this later in the process to be more effective.

Then trim away the excess. Most books say to leave 1/4"; I find 1/8: works just as well (and helps to eliminate some bulk; remember, there may be many pieces of fabric overlapping in a small area). BUT: before you trim, take note: if you are about to trim any part of the stabilizer, STOP! You should NEVER be cutting paper!!!! If you see a large piece of the fabric you just sewed on, STOP: it either flipped over after you sewed it or you sewed it on wrong. Figure out which and adjust as necessary.

Next, working on the fabric side of the stabilizer, flip the piece you just sewed on its seam line and press into place. Make sure it lies flat and is pressed on the seam line. I recommend that you do NOT spray or use steam when pressing. The water may make the pencil line bleed and stain your fabric (especially light-colored ones).

Then of course you will turn the whole thing over in preparation for sewing on the next piece. It should look like this:

IMPORTANT: After you sew each piece, hold the stabilizer up to the light and make sure a) there are no holes / gaps. In other words, did you go from piece 5 to piece 7 and leave out 6? And, b) make sure the last piece you just sewed (and, really, all the pieces) cover the entire area they are supposed to cover. Pieces on the edges should go beyond the s.a. line. 

Continue in this fashion, adding each piece in order. Here is a photo after piece 4 has been added and 5 is ready to be sewn (piece 5 is not visible, but trust me, it is there!):

Here is the spoke with all 18 pieces sewn and pressed (prior to trimming), from the back.....

...and from the front:

The next to last step is to trim away the excess stabilizer and fabric from the edges. Remember the hash marks we added when we traced the s.a. lines? Here is why: the last thing you want to do after you've carefully sewn on 10 - 20 tiny pieces is to trim it on the seam line (where it will be sewn to the next section or whatever). If you do this, you will have to throw this whole assembly away. Yup! Sorry.  Hence the hash marks: when I lay the straight edge down onto the stabilizer (on the back side), and am ready to trim the excess away, I will never make a cut unless I see those hash marks!!!! If you don't see them, STOP: make sure you are cutting the on correct line.

Here is the final spoke after trimming, from the back....

...and from the front:

Now you have to tear off the stabilizer pieces. Start at one edge (or maybe several. Often I pull the paper off in the reverse order of how they were sewed on; the last piece sewn will always be on an edge). Fold the paper back along a seam line, crease it, and then it should tear off fairly easily. Your seam ripper and a tweezers help to get the little bits that may stick where several seams meet.

Finally, here are two finished spokes:



Happy paper piecing!

Making Borders

The border of a quilt often acts as a “frame” around the body. It can coordinate or contrast. There may be multiple borders. It (they) may use the same fabric(s) as the sashing, or different fabric(s). Each border may be a single fabric or it may be pieced (like the body). The border(s) may have a “square” seam or a mitered seam. When they have a square seam, the side borders are usually sewn on before the top and bottom borders.

To create the border pieces: Measure the side you are doing and add 2” or 3”. (Don’t measure the top and bottom length until you’ve added the side borders, because you have to include the width of the body plus the width of those borders!) Lay the border piece on the body piece so that the excess hangs off each end about the same length. Pin in place just as if you were pinning two smaller pieces of the body. No tugging, no stretching, no puckers. Sew and press away from the body. Then do the other side and the top and bottom the same way.

For multiple borders with square ends, do each border separately. DO NOT sew the inner and outer border strips together first. When measuring, add an inch or so on each end, and trim (square up) after sewing.

For multiple mitered borders, you can do each separately or you can sew the multiple strips together first and sew them to the body. When measuring mitered borders, measure the quilt body, then add 2 times the width of the border, then add an extra 4”. This is done for all four sides!

Using directional prints in the border(s): If the quilt body has a definite top and bottom orientation (e.g., animals arranged in rows), then the top border and the bottom border should face the same way. The side borders can face in OR can be cut lengthwise (so top to bottom as well); this may require more fabric! However, if you have designed well (or are lucky), you may have enough left over from the body and / or back to use lengthwise without having to buy more.

Re borders with corner squares: For these I do a hybrid approach: I put on the side borders as I described (cut long, sew, press, square/trim). For the top and bottom ones, I measure the width of the body, add 1/2" (for seam allowance) and cut that border piece. So let's say my border is 3" wide finished. I would cut my 4 corner squares at about 4". Sew each one to the ends of the borders. Then I can pin the borders in place and match up the side border seam with the top (bottom) border-corner seams (pressed in opposite directions of course). Sew and press AND then square and trim the excess off the corner pieces.

Look at various quilts in my quilt blog for examples of each!

Using Templates

You can use a template when you need to cut the same shape(s) many times.

Let me qualify that: if your pattern calls for squares, rectangles, equilateral triangles (60 degree), or right triangles (45 - 90 - 45 degree), then you don't need to use a template.

But if you are cutting odd shapes (say a hexagon or isosceles triangle), then you probably do want to use one.

You can purchase templates in many sizes and shapes (for example, see:
http://frommarti.com/index.shtml ). These templates are thick (like your cutting rulers). If you know that you will be making the same shape in more than one quilt, then these might be a good investment. These also allow you to cut several layers of fabric in one pass.

Also available is thin “cut it yourself” plastic. This may come with grid lines (to make defining the shape you want to cut easier). This product is ok, but if you are going to make your own templates, I prefer to use thin cardboard.

When I say "thin cardboard", I am talking about card stock, not the kind of cardboard you would get from a carton. For example, I use the "envelopes" that I get when I have my photos developed at Walgreen's. You can also "double" it (put two layers together) to make it a little thicker. If you do that, use double-stick tape to put 2 pieces together before you cut out the template shape.

Whether you use thin plastic or cardboard, make the template like this:
1. Draw the shape you want or use the paper template shape provided in your pattern.
2. If possible, make a photocopy!!
3. Cut out the paper template from the photocopy. Compare it to the original to make sure it is exactly the same size and shape.
4. Use double-stick tape to fix the paper template to the cardboard (or thin plastic) sheet.
5. Use your rotary cutter (you may want to use the small 18cm size) to cut out the template material.
6. Put a thin pencil line around all edges of the template to make its outline easier to see.

If you do make your own templates:
a) put double stick tape on the bottom to grip the fabric as you cut it. Add more tape as the
stickiness wears off.
b) Use your straight edge [ruler] on top of the template when you cut fabric! Use your finger to make sure that the edge of the ruler is lined up precisely with the edge of the template (not hanging over - which would make your cut fabric piece too big, and not covering the template completely - which would result in the template being trimmed!).
c) Check every so often that the template is not getting smaller! You do not want to start out making 4" octagons and end up 100 fabric pieces later with 3.5" octagons! Compare it to the original template shape. You can also check to see if the pencil outline has been cut off. If necessary, make a new template by repeating steps 2 - 6 above.

Pros and cons of purchased vs. home-made templates:
.............................PURCHASED.......HOME-MADE
Cost $$.......................Yes..........................No
Can be reused...........Yes..................Yes, but why bother? Make a new one.
Disposable..................I doubt it................Yes
Make precise
fabric shapes.............Yes..................Yes, if you work carefully

One last point about using templates:
Often, you will need to cut fabric pieces in a certain shape and then also cut pieces in its reverse. These types of shapes might be labeled (for example) "A" and "A-R", where the "R" stands for reverse. So "A" might be a triangle with its point on the right and "A-R" might be the same shape with its point on the left.

If the pattern on your fabric is the same on both sides (as in most batiks, which are dyed), then you can cut your templates when the fabric is folded. This would give you one "A" shape and one "A-R" shape in one cut. If the pattern is NOT the same on both sides (that is, if the pattern is printed only on the top), then you can NOT double (fold) the fabric. If you do, you will have to throw out the "reversed" piece.

Of course, you can always stack your fabric (folded or unfolded as appropriate) to get multiple pieces from one cut.

Make a large quilt in sections

Rather than struggling to squeeze your queen-size or larger quilt through the small throat space of your machine as you quilt it, make your quilt in smaller sections instead! Then join them together at the end to make the full-sized quilt.

Here's how:
1. Let's say the quilt will be made in 2 sections, a top half (T) and a bottom half (B). So first, create T, including the borders (3 sides only, of course!)
2. Put a basting line of stitches (in a contrasting color) 1/4" from the bottom (raw end) of T.
3. Cut the batting and backing fabric to size (about 4" bigger all around).
4. Quilt as usual, but do not go beyond the basting line.
5. Repeat steps 1 - 4 for section B.
6. Put T and B right sides together, matching the raw ends.
7. Fold back the batting and backing fabric from both T and B.
8. Pin the raw edges of T and B together.
9. Sew with a 1/4" seam, being careful not to catch any batting or backing.
10. While still right-to-right, unfold one side of the batting (NOT THE BACKING FABRIC) and, using a small scissors, trim it even with the seam line.
11. Flip the whole thing over (so the other raw edge - batt - backing side is on top.
12. Unfold the batting AND THE BACKING FABRIC and trim BOTH even with the seam line.
13. Open the quilt (back side up).
14. Remove the basting thread.
15. Press the seam to the side where both the batt and backing were trimmed off.
16. Unfold the remaining loose piece of backing fabric, fold under the raw edge and inch or two, press, pin in place, and slip stitch to finish.

If you want to split your quilt into more than 2 sections, just expand the steps above.

Buying Fabric On-line

Using the internet to buy fabric is a wonderful option if:
a) you don't live near a quilt store
b) your quilt store does not have exactly what you are looking for
c) you need more of a specific pattern of fabric and your quilt store has also run out!

But there are two big things to be aware of:
a) Buying on-line means that you (almost always) will pay shipping fees. So this adds to the cost of your fabric. Since these fees are often based on weight, you might want to buy additional fabric (which you will certainly use for something) and not incur any additional shipping fees.
b) The on-line pictures of the fabric swatches are not always 100% accurate! If you are buying a fabric that you know (for example, if you need more of something), then there should be no problem (other than a possible dye-lot issue). But if you are buying sight-unseen and trying to match other fabrics, what you see is not always what you get.

How much fabric should you buy?

Always buy a little more than you need!

Why?

You don’t want to run short.

Dye lots may vary.

You may make a mistake (or even change your mind about a particular fabric once you have started and decide you want to use more than you originally planned). When this happens, it is almost 100% certain that if you go back for more they will tell you they just sold the last piece!!! The internet helps…you can often track down more, but you may have to wait several days for it to arrive and pay extra for shipping (and then there's that dye lot issue!).

And, of course, whatever you don't use in this quilt goes into your stash and becomes FREE fabric for another one down the line!

Avoid set-in ("Y") seams

Whenever I do a tumbling blocks pattern it is ALWAYS with equilateral triangles sewn in rows.  No hexagons, no set-in ("Y") seams.  It is so much easier this way and, from a few feet away, no one can tell anyway.  

In other words, the method of construction DOES NOT have to be the same as the finished pattern itself!  

Look at this quilt. You can see from the black triangles (and the star that magically formed in the center) the size and arrangement of the triangles that make up the cubes. They are sewn in rows (left - right - left....) from top to bottom (at a 60 degree angle of course) and then the rows are joined. All straight line seams! But the finished product looks like much complex piecing was done.