I happen to be a huge fan of patchwork clothing, I just love all the little fabrics together to make one cute end product. It is kind of like quilting…without all of the hard quilting work.
Many of us overlook this process when making clothes because it either A) seems too hard, or B) they don’t have a serger.
Well, here is a quick tip I have up my sleeve to make patchwork clothing a whole lot easier….charm packs.
Thank you Captain Obvious. Lol. I know, this is nothing ground breaking for all of you quilters out there. But for those of us non-quilters, ahem ME, we usually overlook these little beauties. After all, what are we going to do with a bunch of 5″ squares.
Well, let me show you just why these are so great for patchwork clothing. Not only are these made up of all coordinating fabrics, which eliminates the need for guessing and matching fabrics together. But they are perfectly cut, and happen to already have edges that have been cut with pinking sheers…
This gets rid of the need to finish all of your back edges, as a seam cut with pinking sheers reduces fabric fraying! Therefore virtually eliminating all of the hard work when it comes to putting together a patchwork garment.
All you need to do is put your charm pack squares in your preferred order…
Sew them together in rows…
Then sew those rows together…
And you now have about a yard of fabric to use as you would any yard of fabric!
Easy peasy lemon squeezy.
Thanks so much for stopping by, and until next time…
Indeed, I never bought a charm pack before, but it’s a wonderful way of creating the greatest pieces of fabric for little girls (or big girls for that matter
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So you really do NOT have to finish edges when they’ve been done with pinking shears? I guess I always get nervous that it will fray and just end up doing the zig zag anyways. Just wondering if you feel like you really could wash and wash and it not fray or what! Thanks and I really love this idea!
I have definitely used this method in the past, and it works great. Don’t get me wrong, there will be some thread – but it is nowhere near what it is like when you just leave it normal. Because the zig zag cut of the scissors makes it so that where fraying begins, it ends when the cut starts going the opposite direction! It works great
I have always looked at the charm packs thinking they were so pretty, but what can I do with them since I am not the worlds greatest quilter. What a great idea. I am thinking this would look cute as a purse, but with the seams reversed. Thanks!
Another tip jess, if you have strips of leftover fabric, sew those together I groups of 5 or 6. Then cut them into strips perpindicular ( sp?) To the seams. Then sew rows from different sets together. I think its called strip piecing…sounds dirty right? But if you get I the habit of cutting your 45″ wide scraps into even strips… you will have a pretty patchwork In no time!
Great idea Jessica. After cutting out a bunch of squares from a set of fat. Quarters I read this and was like ” duh” Yes! Cute skirt BTW!