Thursday, April 11, 2013

Made-Fabric Border: Part 2

{Stephanie}

This is Part Two of process details for constructing the made-fabric border on my Tea Towel Challenge project (you'll find Part 1 here.)

We left off here:

Orange made-fabric tumblers with a chartreuse cap and dark blue wedges.
BTW: You don't have to pre-cut the blue wedges, but I find them easier to handle than cutting from the end of a long strip of fabric. Maybe a little more waste is produced this way, but such a huge quantity of trimmings is produced in this kind of project I don't worry about it.

Let's put an orange and a blue together...
I'm working with the pair on the right. Here the left side of the blue is overlappng the right side of the orange just a bit. I'm going to cut a slightly wobbly line free-hand (no ruler) with the rotary cutter. Here's that cut with the extra bits out of the way:


... and with the seam done:

I go for a narrow seam on these, under 1/4". Because it's a wobbly line, it's okay if the seam distance from the edge wobbles a bit, too.

Now curve-cut the other side of the blue. I want that tip to stick up into the chartreuse a teeny bit, but not so far it will be lopped off in the edge seam:
Trim the next tumbler so it will fit together with the chartreuse seamlines aligned (mine are not perfect):

Trim the left side of the orange to match the blue:

And sew that seam:
The bottom edge is where the border will be sewn to the panel. It will be tidied up before that seam is done.

 Keep going until you've got a nice section done:



In Part 1, I mentioned reserving some orange made fabric, rather than cutting all of it into tumblers. That's so I could put some fatter bits into the border, rather than making the entire border strips from same-sized parts:

The top and bottom of this still need to be done. They might get more of the same treatment... or not.

What are those blue things anyway: leaves? spikes? thorns? fangs?  What do they look like to you?

Labor-saving tip: if you made the leaves/spikes/fangs shorter, the chartreuse edge could be done at the end, all in one strip.

My muse likes me to do things the harder way. She agrees with you BTW, that with this bright border now in place, the center panel is looking a little washed out. Great opportunity for that "new method" part of the challenge: some beadwork will brighten it up, don't you think?


12 comments:

Sewing In CT said...

ooh! I'm on the edge of my seat! I love the movement in the blue bits.
They are alive! Can't wait to see what comes next.

O'Quilts said...

This is wonderful...how very smart you are!

Anonymous said...

SO CREATIVE! Love those spikes and technique. Thanks so much for sharing.

Glen QuiltSwissy said...

I had my doubts but you really pulled off a beauty! They look like tendrils!!! I adore them!!!

fiberchick said...

I love the organic spikiness of this border!

Margaret said...

Cool spikey thingies and how they mimic some of the leaves and flowers. Thanks for the how-to details. If you add beads I'm certain I'll learn a thing or two as I've never added beads to anything.

em's scrapbag said...

What a beautiful touch.

janequiltsslowly said...

Thanks for showing the detail of how to create that border. I think they are spikey leaves. Beautiful.

Terry said...

I just noticed 2 different greens in the border. Love the extra interest. The whole reminds me of Balanise work. Yes some sparkle. Beads, metalic threadmaybe even some couched cord for extra depth.
Thanks for sharing the process.

Venus de Hilo said...

Thanks for the comments, everyone. Metallic thread is a great idea, and couched cord could be very interesting, too. Looks like I could be racking up several challenges' worth of new techniques!

Kathy said...

love the border!!!

Miki Willa said...

Love the spikey leafy points! The colors are spot on. Can't wait to see the beading. Great project.