Two little tuts

I am going to attempt a couple of mini tutorials. The first will be for a mitered square from striped fabric and the second will be a very mini tutorial on the quilted patchwork purse.

For the mitered square you will need:

Striped Fabric

Paper for pattern

Tape

Ruler

Rotary cutter optional

Cut a square out of paper the size you want the pillow to be (mine will be 18")

Draw intersecting lines from each corner and cut along these lines to make four triangles.

Lay the pattern on your fabric so that the long part of each triangle is at the same place on the fabric. (mine is at the bottom of the yellow stripe each time)

Cut the triangles 1/2 inch wider on each side for seam allowance.

Sorry about the change in fabric. I experimented with two different prints for this tut.

Match up the triangles along one short side, making sure your stripes are matching. Pin heavily. I also used my walking foot to avoid any shifting. If you don't have a walking foot heavy pinning should work.

Sew down one short side. Repeat with the other pair of triangles.

Iron the seam open and it should look something like the picture above, a bigger triangle.

Place the large triangles together along the long side, matching the stripes and again pinning heavily. Sew along this line.

When you're finished it may look something like this. I bet you're saying " I hope not." I agree. It looks kinda wonky there in the middle. I don't think this fabric is the best choice for this technique.

This helps. Oh, this one is miniature. I only had a little of this fabric so it will probably become a pin cushion.

This one is bigger and I'm happier with the look of it.

It will be an 18" pillow cover when it is finished.

Several people have asked about how to make the quilted patchwork purse.   I found the pattern for this purse in a Japanese craft book called Machine Made Patchworks.  Since I can't read Japanese I don't know if I am following the pattern correctly or not, but here is how I construct the outer purse pieces. 

Each side of the purse is made up of 8 strips that are a wedge shape. Each strip is 11" long by 3" wide at the bottom and tapering to 2" at the top. You can use any combination of fabric you choose. I've seen it done with two different fabrics or you can use 8 different prints. After you have cut your strips lay them out in a pattern that is pleasing to you. Once you are happy with your layout, sew the strips together. I use a 1/4" seam allowance.

Here they are sewn together. Use this as a template to cut your lining pieces, your batting and interfacing for the lining. I use pellon craft fuse to interface the lining pieces and I have used quilt batting or a heavy fusible fleece for quilting the patchwork pieces. For this one I used fusible fleece.

I fused the fleece to the back then machine quilted. I quilt straight lines from top to bottom starting about 1/2 inch apart widening as you go to the bottom to follow the shape of the strips.

Here it is quilted.

From this point I assemble it like this, except for the square bottom.

Comments

[capello]

Wow, you've been busy today!

I'm going to have to bookmark this page to give your quilted patchwork bag a go -- I love them!

(Why do you use paper on the pillow?)

[Belinda]

Thanks for the 'how to', I've just got machine patchwork. I just haven't had a chance yet to give it a go.

[chez davis]

Ah Ha! Thanks so much for the tutorial. I see these everywhere and LOVE them!

[linda]

Thank you! Tutorials can't be easy to put together, but we appreciate you sharing your secrets so much! So you don't put musling behind the batting-just quilt the 2 layers? The mitered corners come together so nicely. The little one will make a great pincushion.

[wendy]

You are an absolute star. I will have to try both of these. A big THANK YOU for spending time doing this for us :o)

[justine]

thanks Autum, you're ace :) x

[Dawn]

This is wonderful, Autum....When different ones have asked me about this pattern, I have sent them to your February 20th post (I think that's it)for the information there. Now...a tutorial...this will be bookmarked for certain. Thank you so much!

[lla]

I do love your tutorials (even though, for me - the queen of "can't sew" - I must admit that I read them in much the same way as I read the occasional science fiction book.... I usually end up thinking "that was great, except I don't think it could ever really end up that way!" Because with *my* sewing skills, it totally wouldn't end up anywhere near as cute as yours!)

You rock, girlfriend!

[Leslie]

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!! You are the best! Guess what I'll be doing today?

[Angela]

Wow! Great tut.s! I'm bookmarking it. Thanks for sharing. 8-)

[Kate]

Thanks for the tuts. You have made the mitred square look easy!

[Amy]

So much nice inspiration. Bookmarked! Thanks for taking the time.

[Mary-Ellen]

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you. Did I say thank you! You have made my weekend. I am going to attempt that pillow! Love the DS fabric BTW.

Mary-Ellen

[Jessica Hood]

check out kelli's wristlet swap: http://www.africankelli.com/

[Crystal T]

I have admired your purses for a long time now. Thank you so much for sharing!!

[lera]

thanks for the tutotrial on the quilted bag! i've been wanting to figure it out ... now i don't have to!

thank you!!!

[catrina]

I really appreciate your tutorials! :) That's so very nice of you...Have A wonderful weekend

~Catrina

[kathy]

Thanks for presenting so much detail on the construction of this purse. I've seen that book on the web but I've been too cheap to buy it! I really love the design and figured I could reverse engineer it, you've made it easy. Definitely plan to give it a try.

[Stacie]

Oh thank you soooo much. I have the book and could not figure out the instructions. Thanks for so generously sharing this. You made my day!
Stacie

[Candace]

Ohmygosh, I love this bag!! Your sight is so cool - very glad I've found it!

[Anu]

I finished my patchwork bag last night and I love it. Will send you a pic. Thanks so much for the directions. So kind of you.

[anita]

me agrada muchisimo tu estilo ojala y puedas mandarme como armas tus bolsas me gustaria aprender mas algunas como yo no tenemos idea d como hacerlas ojala y se pueda gracias

[Angelique]

I love this purse a lot. I am in the process of making one now. I have one question for you that I hope you can answer for me. Is there an easier way to cut so many strips of the fabric? I made a template out of cardstock and trace it on the fabric but that is such a pain and there has to be a better way. How do you do it? I see you have made so many that I'm sure you have a better idea. Thanks, Angelique

[Nicole]

Thank you so much for these great tutorials. I followed the one for the purse and it came out great!
(I just put my result up on my blog.)

[Jennifer]

Hi! I wanted to say thanks for the awesome tutorial! I made a bag in aaaaalmost one night thanks to your fabulous directions. If you wanna check it out, it's at my blog, http://somewhereknitting.blogspot.com/2007/09/blog-post.html