fabric

Little Bits Quilting Bee | talking pre-cut fabric

by kath_red on February 6, 2012

in Little Bits Quilting Bee, Quilting, Sewing+Fabric

Throughout February I will be featuring quilts from my book Little Bits Quilting Bee (published by Chronicle late last year). Because designer fabric is often only in print for one season it can be difficult for quilt designers and authors to choose fabrics that will be still available when the book or pattern is published; so to help you out I will be offering advice and alternate fabric choices for many of the quilts in my book. You’ll also need a copy of my book to make the quilts – and they are available in all good book shops and online too.

What is pre-cut fabric?

Pre-cut fabrics are a series of co-ordinating fabrics — usually from a single collecton — especially cut and packaged by the manufacturer. Using these pre-cuts has a few benefits:

  • 1. You get a whole bunch of different fabrics at once – making it easy to build up your stash. You can use them together in one quilt or mix them with other fabrics from your stash too.
  • 2. Coordinating fabrics and colours for a quilt is easier.
  • 3. The packs are cut into handy pieces allowing you to whip up  a quilt very easily and quickly.

Do I need to pre-wash pre-cut fabric?

Pre-cut fabrics are a little difficult to pre-wash, because the pieces are so small they get tangled up in the wash and are time consuming to iron. I usually don’t worry about pre-washing my pre-cuts – however there are a couple of exceptions:

  • 1. You should pre-wash hand dyes and batiks as the colours are likely to run.
  • 2. You should pre-wash dark colours – especially red, purple and navy as these are more likely to run.
  • 3. You should pre-wash reds especially if you are using them with lighter colours.

If you didn’t pre-wash your fabric before making the quilt and you are worried the colours might run (especially if you have a white background) — all is not lost, there are a few things you can still do to ensure the colours in your quilt do not run the first time you wash:

  • 1. Wash your quilt in cold water on a gentle cycle and throw in some colour catchers to soak up any dye that might come out.
  • 2. Wash your quilt in cold water with vinegar – the vinegar will set any colours that are likely to run.
  • 3. Use a product such as synthrapol in the wash, this special detergent is used to remove unattached excess dye.

In my book Little Bits Quilting Bee, I use four different types of pre-cuts to create the 20 unique quilts: Fat Quarters, Charm Squares, Jelly Rolls and Layer Cakes.

Fat quarters:

Fat Quarters are the most widely available and used pre-cut fabric. A fat quarter is literally a 1/4 of a yard of fabric, but it is not cut selvedge to selvedge it is cut by cutting half a yard of fabric in half widthways. Fat quarters are generally 18 inches by 22 inches. Most fabric companies offer Fat Quarter bundles, which contain every print in a collection.

Charm Squares:

A charm square is a 5 x 5 inch square of fabric, and are great for easy patchwork quilts. Charm packs are made up of about 40 pieces of  5 inch squares and are equal to approx 3/4 of a yard of fabric.

Jelly Rolls:

Jelly Rolls are a Moda invention, but are available under other names from different fabric manufacturers: Bali pops, Design rolls, Strip-tease buns, Sushi Rolls, and Roll-ups are just some of the names these are sometimes called. They usually contain forty strips (well 40-44 strips — but check before buying how many are included as different manufacturers offer different amounts of strips) and are a standard 2 ½ inches wide. These are perfect for binding and sashing but are also great in any strip type quilt design.

Layer Cakes:

Layer cakes are 10 inch square packs of fabrics, containing usually 40 squares. The total fabric yardage is about 3 1/2 yards. Layer cakes are fun to use because they are so versatile, you can use them as they are and they make for a quick and easy quilt, but you can also cut them into squares and triangles or use them for applique too. Various fabric companies, as well as Moda, offer these 10 inch square packs under other names, but the amount of squares in a pack may vary.

All images are copyright John Paul Urizar who did a great job on the photography in the book. 

 

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Guest blogger series | Custom lunch bag

by contributor on September 24, 2011

in Guest blog series2 2011, Home+Decor, Sewing+Fabric, Whip Up Tutorials

Jackie Boucher is a freelance designer (http://www.behance.net/jackieboucher) with past gigs including “Look of the Games” designer for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games and managing the creative department for an NHL hockey team. She’s also a contributing writer for Apartment Therapy’s ohdeedoh. Her current passions include fabric design, blogging, photography, travelling with her family and making healthy, cute lunches for her 7 year old boy. Jackie is an apartment dweller with her husband and son in downtown Vancouver, Canada where they like to play in the mountains and on the sea.

I’m completely new to this sewing thing; sure I’ve dabbled here and there but if you must know, I took industrial arts in high school and missed out on ‘home economics’ altogether. It’s my new love of fabric design that has brought me into the world of sewing. I currently have about a dozen project ideas floating around in my head but with the start of school in the air this particular project floated to the top: a custom lunch bag to carry a new set of stackable, cylindrical lunch containers that we bought at IKEA. This bag could be made to fit a more traditional tiffin or round bento box as well.

What I did:
CHOSE FABRICS I chose a fabric for each of the 4 components: The outside tube, the bottom circle, the pocket (for holding a napkin that I had made earlier) and the lining. I chose fleece for the lining to add an insulation factor. Using some sort of water proof fabric is another option. I chose fleece because I think it will last longer, especially the number of times I think this will end up in the wash. My other fabric choices are from my Robot Gear Garden collection that I designed using Illustrator and had produced at Spoonflower*.

CUT FABRIC Our lunch containers stack up to 6” high and 6” across. Starting with the bottom circle of fabric, I added 1.5” of wiggle room so that the diameter of the circle is 7.5” (plus a little seam allowance). I cut the same sized circle out of the fleece lining as well.

Next, I cut the fabrics for the tube at 11” high. This factors in the height of the lunch container (6”), some extra height so that it can close properly (3“), the folded over part creating a pocket for the drawstring (1“) and some seam allowance (1”).

Finally, I dredged up some grade 8 math to figure out how wide the fabric for the tubes should be. I took the 7.5” diameter of the bottom circle and multiplied it by 3.14 (П) which gave me approximately 23.5” in circumference. So in my case, I cut a 24” x 11” rectangle in both the inner and outer fabrics.

THE NAPKIN POCKET First I hemmed the top of the pocket. Then I top stitched it down each side. I didn’t bother with the bottom because that will take care of itself when I sew on the bottom piece. The finished size of the pocket is about 3” x 3.5”.

MADE TWO TUBES Next I sewed each tube separately. But first, I hemmed the top 1.5” where the drawstring pocket will eventually be. And it was at this 1.5” mark where I started to join the tubes. I actually didn’t bother hemming the fleece because it won’t fray. Note that it’s best if the fleece tube is slightly narrower than the outer tube to reduce bunching. I increased the hem size on the fleece to achieve this.

PINNED AND SEWED BOTTOMS I sewed on each bottom inside out after a careful pinning session. And when I say “I”, I mean my husband did this while I made us some lunch. It’s nice to have a tag team. It’s no accident that I gave him one of the trickier parts of the whole project to do. I’m clever like that. He noted that sometimes you have to do tiny gathers as you go around the circle, especially if the fabric doesn’t have a lot of give.

ASSEMBLED BAG I turned the outside tube so that it was right side out but kept the fleece lining inside out when putting them together. That way, all the seams are happily out of view.

PINNED AND SEWED DRAWSTRING POCKET First I folded the top of the bag over so that about 1” of the fleece lining was showing at the top of the bag. Then I folded about a ¼” of that edge under, as a hem, and pinned it carefully. Finally I top stitched around the hem which made a pocket for the drawstring.

THREADED DRAWSTRING I put a safety pin on the end of the drawstring, inserted it in one hole and slowly worked it through to the other hole. Finally I cut it, being careful to leave enough for tying it off at the end.

*Interested in trying your hand at designing your own fabric? If you can produce an 8” x 8” jpg of artwork, even if it started out as a vector file (such as I did with Illustrator) and you get a handle on how to make the design so that it will ‘repeat’ seamlessly, then you can do it too. If this all sounds new to you but you are intrigued, take some time to pore over the information and supporting links on Spoonflower’s help page.

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Guest blogger series | Fabric + Colour

by contributor on September 17, 2011

in Guest blog series2 2011, Sewing+Fabric

Guest blogger: Kate from One Flew Over

According to my mother I have always been a ’5 minute wonder’. As a child I attempted every activity under the sun, none of which stuck. Three years ago and after the the birth of my second child, I went to an embroidery workshop at Prints Charming and never looked back. Embroidery quickly turned into a love affair with all things crafty.



Hi Whip Up readers, I’m thrilled Kathreen invited me to guest post today – thank you!

I love making quilts and I’m sure like many of you, my favourite part of the quilt making process is selecting fabrics. I rarely use an entire range of fabric when I make a quilt and am often asked how and why I choose certain fabrics? I have never given much thought to the ‘hows & whys’ but I have come to realise there are a few things I do when it comes to fabric and quilts.

First up is colour combinations, which can be the trickiest part. There are some fantastic sites dedicated to colour, one of my favourites is Color Collective. In fact, my cross quilt was largely inspired by the colours in this photograph, that was featured on Color Collection. Another place I love is Emma Lamb and on Mondays you can find Emma’s ‘all colours in’ selection.

These sites are a great first stop, they give you a great place to start when considering what colours and combinations appeal to you

Once I have a vague idea of what colours I want to use I head to my local patchwork store that just happens to have a fantastic selection of Liberty fabrics. As a rule, the first fabric I select is a Liberty and that is generally because one Liberty print can feature 2 or 3 different colours in it. I know it is more expensive than your standard quilting cotton but a little goes a long way and the beauty of patchwork is you don’t need much.

In each quilt, I try to use at least eight different prints and try to use a variety of small scale prints, large scale prints, a solid (or 2) and some co-ordinating stripes and spots. I have been known to spend quite a while deciding on the ‘right’ combination and the more you experiment, the sooner you discover what your like and dislike.

Most importantly though, have a bit of fun and trust your own judgement.

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Sponsored giveaway: Fashionable Fabrics

by KateG on August 7, 2011

in Sponsored giveaway

 

We would like to welcome advertiser Tonia Levens of Fashionable Fabrics to whipup.net today, to feature her business and to offer a fantastic giveaway to our readers. 

Fashionable Fabrics was started in 2004 as a dream to provide fashion forward novelty fabrics to crafters and seamstresses. As crafters ourselves, we were often frustrated that we could not find all of our favorite designer novelty fabrics in one location. Very few of these fabrics can be found in the large fabric retail chains. This resulted in the birth of our website. We have a strong passion for what we do and we promise to provide you with the best quality products we are able to find.

Where else to find Fashionable Fabrics online: Shop :: Facebook :: Twitter: @fashionablefabrics :: Newsletter Sign-up

Fashionable fabrics answered a few questions for us … 
What are you most excited about in your business right now?
We are so excited to see our business grow. We purchased the domain 2 years ago and completely made it our own.  We recently had to expand the “cutting room” to accommodate our growing inventory. We are still in the process of moving back into the space. I’m excited that we are able to offer a range of wonderful fabrics, sewing patterns, and notions at lower prices than brick and mortar and other online shops. What’s most exciting, is to read the comments customers leave us about how happy they are when they find our shop. It makes the countless hours of work feel worthwhile.
What was your inspiration to start your own business?
I liked to sew as a child but began using sewing as therapy then it turned into a passion. I was purchasing so much fabric it only made sense to start a fabric shop. An online shop was a perfect fit for Dennis and I. Since we have 2 young boys an online shop allows us to be flexible with our hours and work from home. I take care of the creative side of the business and since Dennis is a computer engineer he takes care of all things technical.  It is a perfect fit for our family
How do you balance work and family?
Balancing work and family can be a challenge. I could honestly work 24/7 on the site but I have to limit myself to hours that least interfere with my family. My priorities are God, family, then work. If I keep my priorities straight it all seems to work out.

What is next for your business?

We would love to be able to make our site completely customizable so that we can offer customers the option of different size cuts from 1/4 yard to full yards. We continually try to improve the site to make it as easy and enjoyable as possible to use.

Today Fashionable Fabrics are offering a prize of one $50 gift certificate to one lucky Whipup.net reader. So please leave a comment here to be in the running to win. You have 48 hours to enter. Winner will be chosen at random, announced here and contacted via email. Good luck!

Congratulations to Heather, who was randomly selected to win the $50 gift certificate for Fashionable Fabrics.  Thanks to everyone who left a comment.  Our next sponsored giveaway post will be this Sunday, 14th of August.

In addition Fashionable Fabrics offering a discount coupon to whipup.net readers  Use coupon code FFSew20 during checkout for 20% discount on all sewing patterns until the 21st of August 2011.

If you would like your business to be featured in a future Giveaway Post, visit our advertising page or email us at advertising[at]whipup[dot]net.

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Guest blogger series: Vintage sheets 101

by kath_red on March 10, 2011

in Guest Series 2011, Sewing+Fabric

I would love to welcome Jeni from incolororder to whipup today.

I’m Jeni! I’m finishing up my degree in Marketing and Studio Art in Northeast Ohio. I love to find ways to be creative everyday, whether it be through my photography, sewing, or my current favorite hobby, quilting! In addition to sewing, I love to collect vintage kitchenware and vintage sheets! :)

It’s been a rising trend over the last few years for sewers and quilters to sew with reclaimed vintage sheets! It’s a great alternative to quilting cottons that gives your projects a unique twist! Interested, but don’t know where to start?

I’ll walk you through the basics!

1. Identifying Vintage Sheets: Most vintage sheets are relatively thinner than new sheets because they have been washed so many times. This makes them super soft! Most of the sheets that I find are cotton polyester blends although there are some 100% cotton sheets out there as well.

2. Care: When I get home with an armful of vintage sheets, they go in the wash right away. I wash them with hot water using regular detergent and a generous scoop of Oxi-clean. This helps brighten them and get them super clean! I then dry on high. Once they’ve been pulled from the dryer I lay them flat on the bed to cool down. They don’t generally get too wrinkly because of the polyester.

3. Sewing: Sewing with vintage sheets is a lot of fun and not all that different from sewing with quilting cottons! They are a little slippery so extra pinning is helpful. Make sure you have a sharp new needle! Be mindful of what you’re sewing, since they’re lightweight you may need to use some light interfacing to add a little body!

4. Where to buy: I purchase all my vintage sheets from thrift stores! Here in the midwest it’s a sheet gold-mine! Check your local thrift stores often and find out when their sale days are for extra good deals! If you don’t want to buy entire sheets, there are a lot of sellers on Etsy that sell vintage sheet fat quarters, or by-the-yard!

I love sewing and quilting with vintage sheets. It’s a really satisfying feeling. First, the fabrics are super cheerful and sunny! Secondly, you’re recycling, you’re giving them a second chance to shine! To make something beautiful from something discarded is a wonderful thing!

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