Quilting quilting

Patchwork (patchwork) is an old kind of needlework, in which a piece of fabric is sewn using a mosaic principle to sew a whole fabric. This is a difficult, time-consuming, painstaking process that requires needlework hard work, perseverance, creative dedication, a certain artistic taste. As a result, the craftswomen create original products with a unique kaleidoscope of color accents.

Stitching is the most important operation in the creation of patchwork products. High-quality stitching will decorate the product with a beautiful ornament, hide small defects in the material and imperfect joining of some flaps, connect 3 layers (the so-called sandwich): the upper patchwork fabric, the cushioning material and the lower back lining. Such a product will last a long time and will not deform when washing and cleaning.

There are several principles that should be strictly adhered to regardless of the type of stitch in order to avoid gross errors during the operation.

1. Before starting stitches, the product must be carefully swept away to securely fix the layers. In addition to basting, you can fix the layers of fabric with special glue-spray or quilting pins.
2. Start work only with a new needle.
3. Use high quality threads.
4. Adjust the stitch length (for machine stitch).

The product must be quilted carefully, carefully controlling this creative process. It must be remembered that it is extremely difficult (almost impossible) to dissolve an unsuccessful stitch, you can irreparably ruin the entire product.

You can sew a stitch manually or on a sewing machine.

Compliance with this unshakable rule will prevent possible distortions and displacements of the layers of the canvas.

Let's look at ways to make stitches in more detail.

The speed of the machine stitch compared to the manual one is a definite plus of this type, but the embossed patterns look more “tough” than the soft handmade lines. On modern sewing machines, it is possible to smoothly run the long lines of a schematic pattern of stitches as evenly as possible and get a uniform beautiful line. But if the product is large (for example, a blanket or a panel), then the sewing area is difficult to feed under the foot from the machine’s work table, and this is a significant minus.

Do not be lazy to carefully fix the ends of the threads at the beginning and at the end of the stitches so that the appearance of the product is accurate from the front and the wrong side. The best way to do this is to stretch both ends of the threads to the wrong side, tie a knot, thread the ends into a needle and “drown” under the lining.

This type of stitching requires significantly more time, perseverance and patience than machine, but is considered softer, more delicate and more refined. Hand-sewn decorative seams look equally beautiful on both sides of the product - the front patchwork and back lining. An indispensable condition is that all stitches and “steps” between them must be perfectly even.

In the process, it is necessary to constantly check the lower part of the product so as not to inadvertently miss the assemblies formed on the lining. For convenience, some needlewomen dress the canvas in special hoops (in the form of a rectangular frame or circle). But to buy such a hoop is not always possible, so many craftswomen do without them. Stitching on patchwork can be done directly along the lines of seaming seams, along them at a distance of several millimeters, in a straight line, “grating”, as well as in the form of a variety of patterns and fantasy motifs. Such complex types of quilting are considered the most spectacular.

There are many specially developed methods and patterns of quilting. The implementation of complex options requires a certain skill and practical experience.

You should start work with simple schemes in order to gradually “fill your hand”.

Consider a few examples of stitches for beginners.

The easiest stitch of all patterns. The distance between the stitches is selected depending on the size of the product. In order to get a perfectly even line, lines are drawn on the canvas with a special pencil before starting work (it is easily removed from the fabric and leaves no residue). Very convenient to use is a special thin Masking-Tape paper tape with an adhesive backing. A 6 mm wide tape is glued along the marking or seam, and the first stitch is sewn along the tape. Then the ribbon is transferred to the section along the first line, and again the next line is sewn along the edge of the ribbon. One and the same ribbon can be re-glued no more than 3 times, then you need to prepare a new section of the tape. The same line spacing is guaranteed. Most sewing machines have special pads on which you can set the distance between the stitches, then you won’t have to draw lines on the fabric.

It is very similar to a straight-line stitch, only the distance between the lines remains different due to the fact that the line is wavy. It is easily mastered by beginner needlewomen and quickly becomes a favorite scheme in work.It is fast and fun, it looks modern. The fabric is fed for wavy stitches under the presser foot of the machine alternately under the stitch forward and backward.

Also an acceptable option for beginners. It is sewn like a straight stitch, but a zigzag stitch type is selected on the machine. This interesting way to use the zigzag stitch of the machine allows even beginners to get a beautiful expressive stitch pattern. You can sew back and forth.

To complete this variant of stitches, some skill will be required, but beginners as seamstresses can cope with such work, if maximum effort and diligence is applied. The winding lines that I would like to get on the product, it is best to draw first on paper, and then put it on the canvas and gently quilt the product along the lines. Such a stitch fits almost every design.

The above examples are only a very small part of the possible methods and patterns of quilting., which can be recommended to needlewomen who decided to try working in patchwork technology. These craftswomen, with impressive practice, with the help of a variety of stitches are able to create unique patterns of patchwork quilted products.

Today, patchwork design is again at the peak of fashion and is developing rapidly.. A well-made quilting of patchwork (clothing, decor, accessories, household items) becomes the decorative highlight of the product, gives it a complete look, complements, diversifies and turns into a full quilt with a three-dimensional pattern.

The following video shows an example of free stitches for beginners.