As promised today I have a little Valentine's Day paper piecing tutorial for you all!
I designed this block to be beginners friendly, but also included some smaller pieces to give you something to practice on ;)
The pattern is divided up in sections from A to F, each section is pieced individually and then all sections are pieced together. I will be using the freezer paper method for this tutorial but feel free to paper piece whichever way you like best of course!
With freezer paper piecing each pattern piece has it's own freezer paper template. I like to print a paper copy of the pattern to keep next to my sewing machine for reference as I piece each section. Rather than tracing the pattern on freezer paper by hand, I print a copy of the pattern directly on to the dull side of my freezer paper and save some time. Doing this does mean you will have to cut with a 1/4" seam allowance around the pattern once ironed on.
Lets get started shall we?
Cuppa tea love? a paper piecing tutorial
Finished size: 5 3/4" x 8 1/2"
What you will need:
Download the free
PDF pattern - be sure your printer is set to 100% or no scaling when printing.
-fabric, you don't need large pieces, scraps, layer cake squares or fat eights will do just nicely
- freezer paper
- a clear ruler with 1/4" mark
- normal sewing equipment
Pattern Templates
Print out a copy of the PDF Pattern. Like I mentioned earlier I like to keep one paper copy of the pattern for reference and I print my pattern templates straight unto the freezer paper.
Cut out each section of the freezer paper templates and save a piece of the excess freezer paper for later.
Step One - piecing the heart tea bag
We will start with the pieced heart tea bag in section A. Cut out each piece of your freezer paper template.
The two corner triangles 3 & 5 are rather small and might get lost under your iron if ironed on directly to the fabric. I will draw one new template for these two pieces including seam allowances.
Simply trace section 5 from the reference pattern and draw 1/4" seam allowance to all sides. Since the corner triangles are mirrored you only need one new template. But do remember to iron the freezer paper to the
reverse of the fabric for section 3!
Iron the templates to the right sides of the fabric and cut with 1/4" seam allowance on all sides, except for section 3 & 5 where the seam allowance was already added to the new freezer paper template.
( remember to iron the template to the reverse of the fabric for section 3!)
Sew each piece together in the order they are numbered
Step Two - section A
Iron the pattern templates for section A to the right sides of the fabric and cut with 1/4" seam allowance on all sides.The smaller corner triangles of sections 1 & 2 are conveniently the same size as the corner triangles 3 & 5 of the heart tea bag so we can use this template again. Remember to iron one to the right side and one to the wrong side of the fabric, and no added 1/4" seam allowances for these pieces!
Piece together in the order in which they are numbered.
Step 3 - section B
Iron the pattern templates for section B to the right sides of the fabric and cut with 1/4" seam allowance on all sides. If you find the corner triangles a tad on the small side trace new freezer paper templates including a 1/4" seam allowance, like we did before.
I used the freezer paper templates from my printed copy.
Piece together in the order in which they are numbered.
Step 4 - Section C
Iron the pattern template for section C to the right sides of the fabric and cut with 1/4" seam allowance on all sides. Sew to section C to section A
Step 5 - section D
Iron the pattern templates for section D to the right sides of the fabric and cut with 1/4" seam allowance on all sides. Piece together in the order in which they are numbered.
Step 6 - Section E
Iron the pattern templates for section E to the right sides of the fabric and cut with 1/4" seam allowance on all sides. Piece together in the order in which they are numbered.
Step 7 - section F
Almost done now! So at the risk of repeating myself ;).. Iron the pattern templates for section F to the right sides of the
fabric and cut with 1/4" seam allowance on all sides. Piece together in
the order in which they are numbered.
And you are all done!
I added a little embroidery for the tea bag on this block. It is not finished yet but I think I will add some borders and make a cushion cover with it once I find the time!
I also experimented with the scale of the pattern and made a smaller version that is just right as a mug rug. Change the scaling in your printer settings or edit the pattern size in a photo editing program if you would like to try this as well.
The smaller the block the smaller the pieces of course which means the construction is a little more fiddly. I did not piece the heart on the tea bag this time but fussy cut some fun tea fabric instead.
I just wanted to show you how you can play around with the pattern and make it fit your own needs.
If you make this block or anything else from one of my tutorials I would love to see it! Please add your photo's to my Flickr group
here
I hope you enjoyed my tutorial! If you have any questions just shoot I will do my best to answer them.
x Leila
