Patchwork with Sian Davies
Is there anyone who wants to read about the art of patchwork??
What you need to start is a lot of patience, a good eye, plenty of cotton scraps, a good sewing machine, reels of cotton (buy a big ones white goes with everything), pins, scissors and a template and cutter. (sorry I forgot the padding ).
Have an idea of what you plan to make. Start with easy projects (like a cushin cover) and as you get better move on to more comitting things like a quilt for a double bed!!!!
The project can be geometrical (squares or rectangles.) The go on to triangles and mix and match the shapes to do stars, borders. There a lots of good books you can borrow from the library full of ideas. You can use circles but they are difficult due to the curves. Or be abstract and mix a bit of every thing.
So now you have your idea and want to get started. It's best to use cotton of the same weight and spend time to carefully combine the colours (all different tones of pink for example, white and black or whatever).
It is ESSENTIAL to be very precise when cutting your pieces and always have seams of identical size .
I adore the special patchwork pins which have a pretty coloured flower instead of the head and are thinner and longer. Place them at each seam vertical to the material. Be prepared to undo if you can see wobbly seams or plucks.
This art is both satisfying and stressful but if you battle on each project will be better than the one before. It's fun to use up scraps or make gifts for friends on special occasions.
Here are some of my projects. If you need advice contact me. For informations