Paper piecing question - fabric waster?
#21
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: BC
Posts: 713
Once you're a bit more experienced, you will teach yourself tips and tricks to reduce waste. For instance, I make an extra copy or two of the block pattern, and cut out each section with an extra 1/4" all around. I mark the sections so I know which way goes up, and use them as templates for cutting fabric. I make one test block first, to make sure everything is covered.
Hope this helps.
Hope this helps.
#23
I LOVE to paper piece. Once you get going with a project it is pretty much easy going!! Alex Anderson's book gives you specific size directions. Once you do a few you can pretty much tell how big you need to make each piece. I love collecting scraps that nobody else wants for miniature paper piecing blocks. I never feel like I'm wasting that much fabric at all
#24
Super Member
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Small town in Northeast Oregon close to Washington and Idaho
Posts: 2,795
Carol Doak's has a YouTube video you can watch that gives lots of tips on pp. You should check it out. You might waste less if you watch it. I love to pp after watching her DVD that auntiepigglyn sent me. The YouTube video is almost identical to the DVD. She has some cool tricks. I don't waste too much fabric now that I found Carol Doak's DVD (YouTube video).
#25
Junior Member
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 192
There is some wastage but the results are worth it. How else can you get such neat points and do such intricate designs. Save your pieces in a pile of that color and watch for a place you can use them smaller pieces. Also using an add a 1/4 inch ruler will help save fabric. This ruler is really a must for paper piecers. I would not be without one. I do a lot of paper piecing and the small amount of wastage is worth the results.
#26
Super Member
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Dallas area, Texas, USA
Posts: 3,050
FPP gives me an excuse to use a lot of little scraps that I might not otherwise use, so I don't consider it wasteful. However, I recently discovered the Cynthia England method of piecing with freezer paper templates that are ironed on. You can see where your seam allowance will be and it prevents a lot of the errors or extravagant cuts that I typically make with the foundation method of paper piecing (and there's no tearing off paper!). She has a video on her site demonstrating her method. http://englanddesign.com/content/video-demos-0 You can use it with any foundation pattern, I think, but it's probably best to experiment with a practice block of the type you plan to use in your quilt.
#27
Super Member
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Texas currently
Posts: 1,222
This is a LOT of extra work, but I just make pattern pieces of each shape, at a quarter inch all around and cut it out as if I were doing regular piecing. That also helps me when I add on the next piece, since I can use the quarter inch outside the seam to line up my next piece. Just remember to cut your fabric in the reverse, so when you place it on the paper and flip it over to sew it, everything lines up.
#28
I learned how to PP from a book by Valori Wells, "Radiant New York Beauties". She uses a strip of fabric, cut the width needed to span the shape. I then add 5/8" to that width for seam allow. If the fabric doesn't have a directional print you can save fabric by using both ends. To measure so you know how wide to cut, you just use your pattern and find piece # 1. Place your ruler perpendicular to the seam line between piece # 1 & 2. Measure across until you get to the farthest edge, then add 5/8" to that. Repeat for each piece. I cut strips for as many as I think I'll need by adding up the lengths of the pattern shapes, adding some inches for waste, then divide that into the width of my fabric, so I know how many strips to cut, I round up if there's a fraction. I label my strips with the pattern # on a little piece of paper either pinned on or use a small paper clamp. I draw an "X" on the wrong side with a fabric marker on one end, if it's hard to tell the right from the wrong side. Then when you start PP, I just remove one strip at a time. You might have several strips attached until you trim after sewing and pressing. You also might have several strips of the same fabric but cut different widths. As long as you label them, you should be fine. I've always used this strip method and you will always have enough fabric to cover, because you don't cut the fabric off until after you've sewn the seam. I also will cut a small piece of each fabric and glue it to a copy of the pattern. This ensures I'll take the correct fabric for that section. I also use the Add-A-Quarter ruler which makes trimming so easy and accurate.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
miriam
For Vintage & Antique Machine Enthusiasts
77
08-17-2015 08:15 PM
craftybear
Links and Resources
13
05-08-2011 01:56 AM
craftybear
Links and Resources
0
04-26-2011 01:03 PM