Preparing for sewing
A quilt is a great option for daily use. It is soft, comfortable, and most importantly, you can make such a product yourself to suit your taste. Quilts prevent the filling from moving around within the woven fabric. It would be ideal to buy a ready-made product. But if you wish, you can always quilt the blanket on a regular sewing machine or sew it yourself. Let's figure out how to do it correctly with the least cost, effort and pleasure. 1. Before sewing a quilt, you should cut the existing fabric into three parts: filling, top and bottom layers. The filling and bottom side should be five centimeters wider and longer than the top. It is advisable to iron the fabric well before starting work. 2. On a flat surface, you can use the floor, a cutting table, a large dining table, lay out the lower part of the cut, distribute the filler evenly on top, then the upper part inside out. 3. Be sure to mark the seam locations with chalk. To do this, find the center of the future quilt and secure it with safety pins in many places. Next, gradually fasten the entire surface of the product in the direction from the middle to the edges. You can choose any seam pattern: squares, diamonds, rectangles, lines.
Benefits of duvets
Products made from down are practical, comfortable and light weight, but these are far from the main advantages. There are much significant advantages to blankets made from this raw material:
- They have moisture-repellent properties.
- When washed and used for a long time, the fluff does not form into lumps.
- Retain their original properties for a long time.
Due to the fact that prices are very high, it is recommended to sew a duvet at home. If you have a strong desire and have all the necessary materials and tools, you can make a blanket in just a few hours. In addition, you will get an original product that you will not find anywhere else.
By machine or by hand
The next step depends on whether you will make the quilt by hand or on a sewing machine:
- How to quilt a blanket using a machine? To do this, set the presser foot to darning and embroidery mode. A thick needle with a strong thread to match the fabric is inserted. Smooth speed without jerking and accuracy in the process of work will give you even, beautiful stitches and pleasure from the process itself. Work begins from the center and moves to each edge in turn;
- How to hand quilt a blanket? This procedure requires a short needle. You need to work with small stitches at right angles, achieving the effect of machine stitching. When making a quilt, rushing is extremely undesirable. The direction of movement is the same - from the center of the fabric to the edges.
High-quality edge sealing
Processing the edge of a quilt using a machine
There are many ways to create a beautiful edging, the most common is “cheesecake”.
First of all, leave a few centimeters free at the back of the bedspread; if you skipped this step, use a separate wide fabric tape. The backdrop (or tape) needs to be folded over to the front side and a seam made around the perimeter of the product, trying to get closer to the edge of the folded area.
Finishing a blanket with bias tape
We pin the corner of the edging with pins
We attach the binding, checking how the needle catches the lower half of the binding on the wrong side
Beginning of work
Before you sew a quilt for a child or for yourself, you also need to decide on a pattern. The simplest to perform will be loops and waves. Do not immediately take on straight lines. Until your hand is “stuffed”, it will be difficult to adhere to a clear and even contour. Be sure to do a small sketch on paper of your finished piece before moving on to the fabric itself.
To make a quilt using a sewing machine, clean and oil all necessary parts. Insert needle, thread, spool, darning foot. Check everything carefully again. If you don't have special gloves for quilling, regular gardening gloves will do. Their main task is to sit tightly in the palm of your hand and not interfere with working with the fabric. Free up your workspace. A sewing machine, for example, can be moved to the kitchen or dining table. You need a lot of space to work, nothing should embarrass you, distract you or slow down the process.
First of all, practice on a rough draft. Test the thread tension, stitch length, and whether the selected needle and thread are suitable for the thickness of the fabric.
Lining is the fabric that covers the back of the front surface of the quilt.
The padding is located between the lining and the top. Its thickness depends on the purpose of the quilt and the fabric used.
To make a quilted baby blanket, pillowcase, or even a regular potholder, thin fabrics are suitable: non-woven fabric, wool. For the bedspread, more voluminous materials are chosen - holofiber, padding polyester. It is not recommended to use cotton wool, as the product will deteriorate when washed. Quilt stitching is used to prevent the layers of filling from clumping together. You can try making the first seams in the shape of squares.
Taking measurements and cutting
Before you begin the actual production of the bedspread, you need to determine the dimensions, thickness and design of the canvas. Initially, measurements are taken from the bed/sofa. To do this, use a measuring tape to measure the length and width of the bed. These parameters are necessary to determine the exact size of the bedspread.
Taking measurements from the bed
Next, it is worth considering some additions for the design of seams and overlays. To determine the shrinkage of a material, a practical method is used - a piece of fabric must be washed, dried and ironed, and then assessed how much it has shrunk. In addition to the measurements obtained, add 1.5-2 cm for fit. It is also necessary to take into account the shrinkage of the fabric that occurs due to quilting the pattern - it is recommended to add another 5-6 cm.
You might be interested in this Janome Sewing Machine Manual
Note! The smaller the quilted pattern is formed, the greater the shrinkage will be in the end. Therefore, you need to add more than 6 cm.
It is imperative to use the basic instructions to create increments. When taking measurements, it is not recommended to sew a square blanket. The shape of the product should be rectangular. This shape will visually make the pattern larger.
The dimensions of the bedspread may decrease after quilting.
When taking measurements from a bed/sofa, you should immediately decide on the size and frequency of the quilted pattern.
Pattern options with different shrinkage
The degree of shrinkage of the material will depend on this. If you want to cover the largest part of the surface with stitches, then the shrinkage can be about 20-30 cm. If the stitching is “sparse”, then you should add about 6-10 cm on each side to the basic parameters.
Training
Once you have decided on the pattern of the future quilt, you can begin the training itself. For this, two pieces of fabric 1x1 meter folded together are suitable. Pieces that are too small should not be used. Below is a rough example for practice. When you have filled all the empty space, start applying a new stitch on top of the already laid stitch.
For training, it is better to choose a thread that is contrasting in tone relative to the fabric, then the stitch will be clearly visible and you will be able to accurately move along the intended lines, which is necessary in the first stages during the first steps. Using quilting gloves will help you better control the process during practice.
Wool blanket or bedspread
- Step 1: Before you hand quilt a wool blanket, you need to cut out three layers: the lining, the facing layer, and the interfacing. Remember that the padding is 1 cm or more larger than the top, and this depends on your method of processing the edges of the blanket. Don't be afraid, you can always remove excess fabric. The lining should exceed the top by as much as 5 cm. If the size of the lining is not enough for a quilt, for example, a large double blanket, then it can be increased by sewing two identical pieces of padding polyester with a regular machine stitch.
- Step 2. Iron the front side and lining before starting work.
- Step 3. Place the lining on the floor, wrong side up. Pull it tightly and secure it with tape in several places.
- Step 4. The next layer is the gasket.
- Step 5: Place the topmost layer right side up.
- Step 6. Secure the entire product with pins, starting from the center and working towards the periphery. Stretch the front side slightly, especially if you are sewing from scraps.
- Step 7: Baste the blanket from the center and work out to the edges using regular straight lines. Do not fasten the basting thread at the end and beginning of the seams, so as not to tighten the product. The basting stitches should be fairly loose. You need to see what the basting stitch itself looks like from the side of the lining of the same tone. On a motley surface made from different flaps, the seam will not be visible.
- Step 8. Remove the pins and apply a pattern to the top layer using a ruler or an existing template. Next, get to work.
After reading the information presented in this article, no one will have any questions about how to make a quilt with your own hands.
Which quilted pattern to choose and how to make it
It is very important to make an accurate calculation of the location of the pattern figures on the bedspread. They should be evenly located over the entire surface of the bedspread, without moving to any side. You may have to reduce or increase their sizes, but the shapes should start and end strictly from the edge. It is better to first perform such a calculation on a sheet of paper in a reduced form, for example, on an unfolded piece of paper from a notebook in a box, and then make a life-size model of a rhombus or square and check how it will lay out on the back side of the fabric, having previously outlined the dimensions of the future bedspread with chalk . However, this is not the most difficult thing. The most difficult part to mark is the stitch on the right side of the fabric. You can’t mark with chalk or a pencil either, there is only one way left - manually using contrasting threads to stitch the lines along which the stitching will be done on a machine. The most “advanced” way of applying markings to a bedspread is to buy special paper that sticks to the fabric and, when wet, can be easily removed without leaving any traces of glue. You can use various types of washable markers, but sweeping is still much “cleaner” and more reliable. Moreover, with the help of a basting you will prevent the top fabric of the bedspread from shrinking as much as possible, and at the same time fix the padding polyester and lining with the top. It is best to stitch the quilted pattern along the wrong side of the bedspread, that is, along the lining. Then the entire fit will go to the lining, and the front side will be smooth without sags of fabric at the intersection of the stitching. But to make a bedspread stitch in this way you need a good eye and experience, so I don’t recommend this method. By the way, when making stitches, you need to try to tighten, or even more precisely, stretch all the layers of the bedspread, but not so much that the needles on the machine break. Don't make the checkered pattern or diamonds too small. The larger they are, the easier it will be to sew the bedspread neatly and evenly, and most importantly, it will be easier to cope with the fit of the fabric at the joints.
