 |
| Coffee cup patchwork |
This is the finished coffee cup
patchwork. I was trying it out as a
potential workshop idea, but I’m not sure I will develop it as such, much as I
enjoyed making it. Although the idea is
simple, it is rather complicated and time consuming, which doesn’t lend itself
to a one-day class, especially as there is lots of hand stitching. Despite that, I’m really pleased with the
results. So I thought I’d share the
process with you.
 |
| Initial drawing made on phone whilst the kids had a swimming lesson |
I took a disposable paper coffee cup
and ran string in a spiral down it and marked the line.
Cutting along the line gives you a long
strip, which I then marked out into triangles.
Each triangle was then numbered and I reconstructed the cup to see mark
where they touched each other.
The triangles were cut out and I
felt-tipped the edges black so they would be easier to see when I copied them. I stuck them onto sheets of paper using
little blobs of masking tape on the back.
I enlarged them on my photocopier to
400% and then used these pieces as templates.
I cut matching pieces in thick paper and medium weight sew-in Vilene. I made sure I numbered all of these! Then one at a time, I cut fabric about 1/4in
bigger all around for the seam allowance.
I decided not to worry about being too precise in this.
 |
| Joining the first two pieces. I actually started with numbers 9 & 10, because they were less fiddly than 1 & 2 |
Each fabric piece was then tacked
onto the thick paper, with the nice side showing and the Vilene sandwiched out
of sight in-between. I then overstitched
it to its neighbour, creating a long snake of patchwork – there were 38 pieces
in all.
 |
| In progress |
 |
| Stitching together |
Once the snake was complete, I
made the bottom piece the same way and started over-stitching the snake to the
bottom, keeping an eye that my numbering was still in order.
 |
| Stitching the snake to the base |
The finished ‘cup’ is surprisingly
sturdy and I like the homey look of seeing all the stitching, including the
tacking. Do you like seeing the
stitching or would you prefer it to be hidden?
4 comments:
A new twist on English paper piecing -- but you're right...definitely fiddly. And will it fit 'round a cup for decoration...or be its own vessel?
Thanks for dropping by, Margaret!
It isn't actually too fiddly as the finished 'vessel' is about 10inches high as I upped the size so much on the photocopier. It stands really well on its own, so could be it's own vessel. I have another one though that fits around a glass vase I have really nicely and so you can create the illusion that it is filled with water and flowers!
What an interesting idea. Personally I like seeing the stitching as it gives an insight into its construction. Wonder about trying it with colourcatchers....
Colourcatchers are an interesting idea. You would have to make sure the pieces were small enough to fit on a colourcatcher. Also when I've worked with them before, they were rather unforgiving, unlike fabric, so you would have to be loads more accurate than I am!
Post a Comment