Creating Your Own Fashion: 4 Beginner’s Tips For Quilting

Quilting as an artform dates back to ancient Egypt, but the English term itself was not coined before the 1200s. It is believed that quilting was a popular practice in England since the early 6th Century. It’s a unique form of needlework that involves stitching three or more different fabrics together to create padded, three-dimensional bed covers/toppers, pillow covers, fashionable garments, winter clothing, and a range of sociocultural artworks. If you are relatively new to quilting, here are four tips to help you get started.

Wash And Dry The Fabric Before You Start

Since fabric tends to shrink after a wash or two, prewashing the fabric is a standard practice in general, but it holds additional importance when you are quilting. If you are about to stitch or sew multiple layers of fabric together, it is of the utmost importance that the dimensions don’t change after you are done. Other than that, there is the danger of the fabrics being ruined due to colour bleeding. Prewashing ensures that by the time they have been dried, there’s no danger of your work being ruined due to colour bleeding.

Start With A ½” Seam Allowance

This one may seem counterintuitive because the general rule is to allow for a seam of ¼” for best results with blocks. In fact, if you are already good at working with ¼” seams, then there is no reason why this rule should be of any relevance to you. On the other hand, you will find a ½” seam allowance much easier to work with if you are only just getting started.

You Don’t Need Fabric From Luxury Designers

Unless you have a customer who wants you to use fabric from a specific designer house, there is no reason for you to waste money on luxury designer fabrics. People who actually work with fabric to create quilts have no reason to care for big brand value. You will find all your quilting supplies and over a thousand different, high quality cotton fabric designs at reasonable prices right here on reallymaria.com.

Keep It Simple With Tools When You Are Starting

There is a lot you can do these days with automatic sewing machines and software tools, but that’s for mass production in a factory. If you want to learn and then master the art of quilting, that’s definitely how you should start. Start with the old needle and thread, before graduating to a sewing machine. Nevertheless, you will still need a proper set of quilting tools and they should include:

• A Cutting and pressing mat
• A rotary cutter
• A complete, needle and sewing thread set (all sizes)
• Seam ripper
• Scissors and snippers
• Rulers and tape measures.

Quilting takes time, skill, patience, and a lot of practice, so don’t be dismayed if the initial few pieces don’t turn out to be as well as you had hoped. Always start with a small project with manageable dimensions, and then build your skills up from thereon. Potholders, placemats, and ever doormats will do just fine.