English Paper Piecing Patchwork Supplies
Supplies Needed for making Paper Pieced Patchwork by hand
Jun 4, 2009
The best fabric to use for the English paper piecing technique is dress weight pure cotton. Don't try sewing with jersey or stretch fabric. The types of cotton available in any quilt shop should be perfect; it's best to stay away from silks and velvets (though these can be used to great effect) until some experience has been gained in handling fabric.
Thread
It's a good idea to use white cotton thread for the basting stages. Coloured thread can leave unwanted marks in the fabric which may not come out. For the actual sewing of seams, it's best to use threads which match the darker colour for sewing different coloured fabrics together, and thread matching each fabric where edges of pieces cut from the same fabric are joined. Quilting thread works well for sewing seams as it is stronger than ordinary sewing thread. Dressmaking thread is excellent for basting, and in fact large reels can be purchased especially for the purpose.
Scissors
Use good quality scissors as the cheap ones from the stationery store will often not work well. One pair is needed for cutting paper (paper dulls the edges quickly so these may need regular sharpening/replacement), one pair for cutting fabric and a pair of 4 inch/10 centimetre embroidery scissors is useful for trimming threads. Keep separate scissors for the family to use and make sure they know where these are kept.
Paper
Paper is needed for the templates. Graph paper is useful not only for designing your patchwork, but also for squares and rectangles. Be sure to match the type of measurement of the graph paper throughout; either all inches or all centimetres, not a mixture.
The same is true when combining graph paper pieces with pieces cut using templates. It is possible to buy isometric graph paper (graph paper measured in 60 degree equilateral triangles) as well as the more usual square graphs, which can come in a wide range of different square sizes. Buy the one which most suits the project at hand. Template cutting paper should be around 90 gsm.
Templates
Traditionally two templates are used in English paper pieced patchwork. The first is the paper cutting template, which is the size of the finished piece within the patchwork. The second template is often called a Window Template. It consists of a template covering the quarter-inch seam allowance round the outside of the cut fabric piece, with clear plastic or a hole where the main shape of the finished template is shown.
This is invaluable for cutting pieces of fabric where the supply is limited and it is necessary to make the best use of the amount of fabric available. It's also great for "fussy cut" patchwork where a particular pattern is selected from the fabric for each piece and is used to form additional patterns within the patchwork.
Bags
Keep the pieces and fabrics well organised. Zip lock bags can be used, or clear plastic bags of the type often used for carrying supermarket vegetables. It will save a lot of time if the pieces required can be found easily.
Storage
Be sure to have a basket or bag where you keep all the items needed together. It's much easier to work when family and friends know that a certain area is where the patchwork supplies are kept and that they should not remove items from that area.
Wadding
If making a patchwork quilt it's more than likely that quilt wadding will be required. This is easily available from quilt shops. The range of different waddings is very wide now and it's best to ask at the quilt supplies shop for advice on the best wadding for the purpose.
Backing fabric
When purchasing the top fabrics for any quilt be sure to choose the colours for the backing and binding. That way it will be much easier to co-ordinate colours. Of course, if oddments have been used to make the quilt this does not matter but it's a good idea to use cotton for both the top and the back and make sure all fabrics are well washed before cutting, to check for shrinkage and colour fastness.
Pins
Pins are useful for holding the template and fabric together while basting the paper template to the fabric. Don't try and put a pin into each seam area as this will lead to the fabric being pulled out of shape and distorting once the paper is removed. Instead, one pin in the centre of the fabric and paper piece is quite sufficient.
It's a good idea to use 1" glass-headed pins, as these are easy to see if dropped.
Quilter's safety pins are available from quilt shops and are perfect for basting the quilt top, wadding and backing together before and during the quilting. They can be removed as each area is quilted.
Quilting frame
A large quilting frame for holding the whole quilt out at once will put space pressure on most homes and is not likely to be practicable. However a circular hand-held quilting frame is excellent and gives good results, helping to produce even stitching and hold the quilt at a good tension for hand quilting. English paper pieced quilts can be machine quilted, but after all the hand sewing for the top it's much better to hand quilt and perfectly easy to do.
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