The four main groups of embroidery stitches

Ever felt a bit overwhelmed by all the different embroidery stitches and their different names?

Sometimes it’s easier to identify the group a stitch belongs to rather than remember the name of the specific stitch.

1) Line stitches

Most commonly these are stitched in a line, but they can also include border stitches.

Examples include backstitch, running stitch, stem stitch and split stitch.

2) Isolated stitches

These are stitches that can be stitched on their own, or combined in groups.

Examples include seed stitch, French knots, bullion knots and lazy daisy stitch.

3) Filling stitches

If you need to fill an area then these are the stitches to use. It doesn’t mean you can’t use others, but these stitches work best.

Examples include satin stitch, long and short stitch, brick stitch.

4) Texture stitches

These stitches are used to add texture or a bit of wow factor to a piece of embroidery .

Examples include needle weaving, woven wheels, woven picots, turkey work.

If you can’t find the stitch that you want, have a browse of my stitch showcase blogs until you see one you like.

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Six ways to start off a thread

If you’ve stitched or sewn anything by hand before you probably have a method that you use to start off your thread. My go-to is a simple knot, but there are some other methods that you may find easier or may be particularly useful for the type of project you are working on.

Knot

I always knot the tail end of the thread. There are a few exceptions that I cover here, but most of the time a knot is fine to prevent your thread going all the way through the fabric.

Juts a note on knots. I always use a quilters knot which I like to think of a bit like a French knot just without the fabric! Take the end of the thread (furthest from the needle) and wrap it round the needle a few times. Then carefully move the wraps down the needle and to the end of the thread. You should find you have a nice neat little knot. There is a step by step tutorial from Craftsy here.

Waste knot

This is a little different because you start the thread from the right side. Once you’ve created your knot, bring the needle down through the fabric away from where you are going to start stitching.

Make a few stitches and then gently snip the knot away and make sure the tail is pulled through to the wrong side.

Hold in place

This is the one that puts you most at risk of frustration. You need to concentrate or you end up pulling the thread all the way through.

Pull the needle through the fabric and leave a 1-2cm tail on the wrong side. Use your thumb from your non-stitching hand to hold the thread in place while you make a few stitches. Be careful not to pull the thread too hard until you are a few stitches in otherwise the tail will pull through.

Anchor stitches

This is very similar method to the ‘hold in place’ method except you are consciously making a couple of tiny stitches that you will then cover up. In the previous method you are stitching as normal.

Weave in

If you have a lot of stitches already on the back of your work you can weave in the tail so that you have a secure base and can start stitching with confidence

Loop

Sometimes I’ll cut a metre length of thread and then fold it in half to stitch with two strands. When doing this it opens up the option of securing the thread using the looped end.

Bring the needle up through the fabric being careful not to pull it all the way through. Complete the first stitch and pass the needle through the loop. Pull the first stitch tight and continue stitching as normal.

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Five tips for getting fabric taut in an embroidery hoop

An embroidery hoop is crucial to creating a beautiful finished piece of embroidery. Most of the projects that you’ll stitch you’ll need the fabric really taut so you can drum your fingers on it and get a sound. (There are some exceptions to this but that’s for another blog post).

Here are my tips for getting your fabric as taut as you can in your hoop.

1) pick a hoop with a bit of grip

Hoops are normally made from wood, bamboo or plastic. Personally I avoid stitching with plastic hoops as I in my experience they are too slippery and don’t grip the fabric well enough. I prefer wood or bamboo hoops which give some added grip and help to maintain the tension. However, I know that others swear by plastic hoops - find what works best for you.

2) make sure that the inner and outer hoop fit snuggly together

Some hoops aren’t perfectly round so the inner and outer hoop may have some gaps between them. Try rotating the inner hoop around before adding the fabric to find the best fit. You can mark the edge of the inner and outer hoop so you can align them back up when you’ve added the fabric. But at the end of the day if the hoop is misshapen it’s best to put it to one side and pick another hoop.

3) pull the EDges of the fabric to create tension

Working around the hoop and pulling the edge of the fabric after you’ve tightened the hoop can make sure that the fabric in the centre of the hoop is taut. Then tighten the screw one last time to secure the fabric in place. You may find that you need to do this a few times as you stitch the project.

4) use tools to tighten the screw

I only learned fairly recently that the screw on some hoops has a slot for a flat head or philips head screwdriver. Using a screwdriver really works - you can turn the screw much further than with your fingers alone. And if your hoop doesn’t have this slot then you could use some pilers instead (although these may mark the metal so be careful!)

5) use a second layer of fabric

For some hoops you get to the limit of how far you can tighten the screw before you’ve reached the tension you need. Bulking out your fabric by using an extra layer can help give you that extra turn of the screw and get your fabric super taut. Alternatively you can bind the inner hoop with some fabric tape to get the same effect.

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Tate Britain Inspiration

I came across some photos I took a few years ago at the Tate Britain, in this case it wasn’t the exhibition that captured my eye but the building itself - walls, floors, bannisters and windows.

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How to thread a needle

I’ve had 25+ years of practice of threading a needle and to me it is second nature, but if you are just starting out it can be very frustrating if you spend more time threading the needle than stitching.

Here are my top tips for you to try to improve your needle threading experience.

Pick the right needle

If you struggle with threading a needle then have a look at the needle you are using. It may be that the eye of the needle is super small making it really difficult for you.

You don’t necessarily need to pick a thicker needle, just a slightly different type with a bigger eye. This post shows some of the different types you might come across.

Trim the end of your thread

Snipping the end to create a blunt flat starting point makes it a lot easier to thread a needle.

This is a really important step if you are re-threading a needle that you’ve been stitching with already as the end of the thread frays slightly as you work. If you are stitching with multiple strands snipping them so they are all the same length also really helps.

Moisten and squeeze

I don’t know if there is any scientific backing to this tip but it has always worked for me! I pop the end of the thread in my mouth to moisten it slightly. I then squeeze the end between my thumb and forefinger so that the end sticks up no more than a millimetre.

Take the needle to the thread

Whilst you are squeezing the thread with your non-dominant hand, pick up the needle in your sewing hand and take it towards the thread. Push the needle down and gently release more of the thread as you move the needle down. As soon as there are a few millimetres through the eye grab the needle with your non-sewing hand and grab the end of the thread with your sewing hand and pull the thread through so you have a decent length tail.

A needle threader is an option

I don’t include a needle threader in my kits as I believe most people can learn to thread a needle.

But if you are really having trouble threading a needle then a needle threader is always an option.

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The anatomy of an embroidery hoop

An embroidery hoop is the one piece of equipment you need to get started with embroidery. So understanding a bit about the hoop helps (but isn’t essential).

There are three main parts to an embroidery hoop that it is useful to recognise. The inner hoop, the outer hoop and the screw fitting. The materials the hoop is made from and the size are also important considerations

Inner & outer hoop

An embroidery hoop has two parts, an inner hoop and an outer hoop. The inner hoop fits snuggly inside the outer hoop (if it doesn’t then you will have problems when stitching). The inner hoop is fully circular, you shouldn’t be able to see any joins! The outer hoop has a screw fitting and isn’t fully circular.

I recommend that you embroider with the fabric laid over the inner hoop and the outer hoop pressed on top. This will mean that there will be a few millimetres right at the edge of the embroidery hoop where you can’t stitch but it is easy to embroider this way up than flipping the hoop over and having the inner hoop on top.

Screw fitting

The screw fitting is there to tighten the hoop to create tension in the fabric. You can fully unscrew the screw but normally this isn’t needed.

On some hoops if you look at the end of the screw you’ll see an indent that you can use a screwdriver with. Most of the time you can tighten the screw tight enough with your fingers but if you need that little extra grip then for this style of hoop you can use a screwdriver.

Materials

Embroidery hoops are most commonly made from wood, bamboo or plastic.

My preference is to use a wooden hoop as I find that these type of hoop grips the fabric really well creating great tension. I use wooden hoops in all of my kits for this reason.

Bamboo hoops are also great for the same reason but I’ve found that some of the bamboo hoops I’ve bought (especially from eBay) are mis-shapen. When a hoop isn’t perfectly round then it doesn’t hold the fabric tight and causes problems with stitching.

I’ve also found two different types of plastic hoops - those that have a screw (like the wooden/bamboo hoops) and those that have some flex. Personally I find that when I stitch in plastic hoops the fabric slips around too much. I am also trying to reduce the amount of plastic in my life so am not buying any more of this type of hoop. Any that I have left in my stash I'm using just for framing finished pieces.

Size

Embroidery hoops come in different sizes and will be measure by diameter so a 6 inch hoop will be that measurement across (not around). Some designs work best in certain sized hoops. In addition sometimes it can be better to stitch a design in a slightly larger hoop than you will display the finished work in (so you can stitch right to the edge of the available space.

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Stitch Showcase: Woven Wheel

Woven wheel is a stitch most commonly used to add some floral textural detail to a piece.

• The base of the woven wheel is 5 straight stitches radiating out from a centre point to form spokes (A to E)

• Once the base stitches are in place bring the needle up through the fabric at the centre point and start weaving over and under the base spokes in turn.

• As there is an odd number of spokes each time you come back round you should be doing the opposite of what you did in the last round eg if last time was over that stitch, the next time round go under it

• Keep on going round and round. pulling the thread loosely but not so loose that the flower has no structure. Try experimenting to see how the tightness of the weaving affects the finished flower

• Keep on going until you cover up all the base spokes then pass the needle back through the fabric slightly underneath the last round

• If the thread runs out part way through, pass the needle back through the fabric, secure the thread and then start a new thread in the same place and continue the weaving pattern.

I love stitching this cluster of woven wheels as a sampler. I used yarn and thread of different textures and thicknesses to experiment with how this affected the flowers. Any gaps between the flowers I added a simple straight stitch of green yarn which really makes the flowers pop.

The second photo is a Mollie Makes free kit which shows how a single woven wheel can be used.

Depending on how you stitch your base stitches, you can leave a gap in the centre or not and one option is to then fill the centre with French knots or beads for added detail.

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Stitch Showcase: Pistil Stitch

Until recently I didn’t realise that this was a proper stitch with a proper name. I thought this was the result of when my French knots went horrendously wrong. Another name for pistil stitch is elongated French knot which describes perfectly how you create this stitch. If you are familiar with French knots then the only difference is the point at which you take the needle back down through the fabric.

• Bring the needle up through the fabric at the point you want the long tail of your stitch to finish (A)

• Wrap the thread around the needle 3 or 4 times

• Put the tip of the needle through the fabric where you want the knot part of the stitch to lie (B)

• Gently pull the needle through the wraps, hold your thumb over them to keep them in place if needed

When I created my daffodil pattern I wanted a bit of extra texture at the centre of the trumpet to represent the stamen and pistil stitch was the perfect stitch for this detail.

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Crafting as self care - Framework vs Freedom

I've been thinking a lot about the topic of self care during the past year of lockdowns.

I’ve come to realise that I’ve always practiced self care via crafting. It provides me a point of focus away from everything else going on and as an introvert it is an activity that I can do alone to recharge my batteries. I find that if I don’t have a craft project on the go I feel a little lost.

Craft is known to have a positive impact on wellbeing and there is starting to be some scientific research to back this up. For some it is the rhythm and repetition, whereas for others it is working on something where there will be a tangible outcome (within our control).

This Craft Council blog explores some of these reasons. And this article is an interesting read on author’s reflection on the calming effects of needlecraft in their life.

But crafting projects frequently come with imposed or self-imposed ‘rules’, which for some can be a help or hinderance when using craft as self care. Are these familiar?

You must use these materials

You can only make this stitch using this technique

To achieve this look you must do 10 of these and 5 of these

Over the past few years I’ve learned that my personality type is one which thrives when there are rules or boundaries to work within (maybe that is why I’m drawn to certain crafts?). Combined with that, I lean strongly towards my head (thinking) being in control. But I am consciously trying to bring in my heart (feeling) more into my everyday life.

But even I, directed by ‘rules’ and my head, love the freedoms and choices that we can make even within those ‘rules’.

For example, with a crochet or knitting pattern, if you don’t follow the ‘rules’ closely you won’t get the right size & shape. But you don’t have to use the exact colour (or even the exact yarn) shown in the pattern.

I try to build in a combination of framework and freedom into the kits that I design. I know that sometimes I need a project that I can pick up and just be guided how to stitch something exactly like in the picture. Other times I crave total creative freedom to turn a bunch of materials into something unique. A lot of the time I need something in-between - an idea that I can broadly follow but add my own twist to.

One of my favourite ways to craft that fulfils that ‘in-between’ is intuitive embroidery. I find it a particularly mindful embroidery practice with no constraints, no fixed pattern and no plan. Each stitch starts by selecting a thread colour, seeing where that colour fits best and stitching in whatever form seems right. No stitch is a mistake. Occasionally one stitch may look out of place, but adding other stitches around it tends resolve the unease to create something beautiful.

I've been working on some kits that use this intuitive embroidery technique and the first of these that I’ve released is this heart design. It's stitched using isolated stitches. These are stitches that you can place anywhere. They don't need to be connected to any other stitches, which make them perfect for this technique.

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Fabric Shopping in Hong Kong

In 2016 I was lucky enough to go to Hong Kong for a work project, after the conference I tacked on a few days holiday. While I was there I couldn't pass up a trip to the Garment District - Sham Shai Po. It's really easy to get to - about half a dozen stops on the MTR red line from Central.

Take exit A2 then walk a couple of blocks until you get to Ki Lung Street. When I went on a Friday morning there was a small market between the MTR exit and Ki Lung Street.

Ki Lung Street is the street with fabric shops and fabric stalls. I only walked down a couple of blocks which was enough to fill my bag. Also along Ki Lung Street there are shops selling leather and on other streets you can find shops selling ribbons, beads buttons or anything else you might need to make garments!

This wonderful blog covers everything you need to know about the garment district, how to find it and what is on offer.

At the time I visited the exchange rate was about £1 = HK$10.5
This is my haul - going clockwise from top left:

• Black chinese style floral fabric good quality cotton HK$50 per yard

• Black floral cotton lawn HK$40 per yard

• Safari print canvas (since when have kangaroos been safari animals?) HK$25 off cut

• Chinese style fabric in blue and red/black HK$35 per yard

• Blue / purple repeating horizontal panels HK$5 (YES 50p!) per yard

• Blue floral fabric draped cotton/polyester mix HK$40 per yard

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Stitch Showcase: Chevron Stitch

Chevron stitch isn’t one that I use that much but it makes a great decorative border stitch.

• it may help to draw two parallel guidelines to create this stitch

• Start by stitching zig zags (A to B, B to C) between the two guidelines if you have drawn them

• It can help to stitch all the diagonal stitches in one direction first and then in the opposite direction as this helps to keep the angle of the stitches even

• To finish the stitch add a bar at the top/bottom of each V (D to E). There should be a little gap between each bar.

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Stitch Showcase: Leaf Stitch

This is a version of satin stitch used, not surprisingly, to fill in leaf shapes. It helps to draw guidelines for the shape of the leaf, the centre line and indicating the angle the stitches will follow working down the leaf.

• To start make one stitch from the top point of the leaf to the centre of the leaf (A)

• Work satin stitch into that same finishing point for a few stitches (B and C). The angles will gradually change until the stitches are at the angle to be used for the rest of the leaf

• Continue working down the leaf. My preference is to alternate from one side to the other but this stitch could also be worked on one side first

• Make sure that your stitches meet neatly in the middle (if they don't they can be covered up with some split stitches)

These are pictures from the first couple of embroidery projects that I stitched when I started to immerse myself in this wonderful craft.

On the greenhouse picture you can see that the outside edge of the leaves isn’t quite a smooth finish. On the Monstera leaf picture the angles of stitches are all over the place.

It was only after I stitched these that I learned about how much guidelines help with this stitch! Also a reminder to keep practicing and you will improve.

Want to try this stitch? It’s one I recommend using in my tulip kit.

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What you need to get started with embroidery

Embroidery is a great craft to try as you don’t need much equipment to get started. But if you want to start stitching what do you need?

1. An embroidery hoop

For pretty much every embroidery project you will stitch (especially as a beginner) you will need an embroidery hoop. The hoop keeps the fabric taut meaning when you take your finished piece out of the the hoop the stitches will lie flat and the fabric won’t pucker.

2. Fabric

You need something to stitch onto. Woven fabrics are best to use as a beginner (rather than stretchy knit fabrics). If you are buying fabric then look for types such as cotton, calico. I started my embroidery journey stitching onto some cut up old shirts. You don’t have to stitch to neutral colours - pick any colour that makes you want to stitch, you could even stitch onto patterned fabric.

My favourite fabric to stitch onto is lightweight calico as it has a bit of stability to it and the needle slips easily through.

3. A pattern

You don’t necessarily need a pattern to start embroidering, you could just create a stitch sampler to try out different embroidery stitches.

I recommend for beginners to start with a pattern that you love and just have a go. There are so many embroidery patterns out there both free and paid for. I started embroidery when I saw a pattern from Sarah K. Benning and loved it so much I just had to stitch it. I paid for that pattern and I encourage you to support embroidery artists by buying patterns from them if you can. The benefit of a paid pattern is that they tend to come with stitch guides and other support.

But there are plenty of free patterns available - take a look at my free patterns. Also DMC (makers of embroidery floss) have a huge archive of free patterns as well.

So pick some that you like and download them and see if they give you the support you need.

4. A pencil or air/heat/water erasable pen

To start stitching your chosen pattern you need to transfer your design onto your fabric. It isn’t as complicated as it seems and I have a couple of blog posts to help you transfer a digital pattern and to transfer a paper pattern. If this part fills you with fear then take a look at my floral and sunflower kits as the pattern is printed directly onto the fabric.

5. Floss

Most traditional embroidery is stitched with 6 stranded embroidery floss. The pattern that you pick will often tell you which brand of floss was used and the colour code.

You don’t actually need to use the exact colour or brand that is suggested in the pattern. My first embroidery I created using floss I’d bought from the £1 shop. Yes the floss quality can be variable and a bit fluffy rather than smooth and silky. But this is your first piece of embroidery - it isn’t going to be perfect.

If you want to stitch with the branded floss then go for it! Got some other types of thread such as sewing cotton or thin yarn, you could give them a try too. The key is just to start and see how it turns out.

6. Needle

Got one of those free sewing kits you picked up in a hotel back years ago? You can use the needle from that or any other needle you’ve got lying around as long as it’s got a pointy end (if you do cross stitch those needles have a rounded end and aren’t any good for embroidery).

Yes there are different types of needle for different types of sewing (I’ve got a blog post which talks you through five different needle types for hand embroidery) but as long as you can thread the needle with your chosen floss you are good to go.

7. Scissors

Scissors are useful for a number of reasons - to cut your fabric to the right size and to snip the ends of your thread. You can get specialist sharp embroidery scissors but in reality any scissors you have around the house that can snip fabric or thread will do.

That’s the seven items you need to get started with embroidery. If you buy one of my kits you’ll get items 1-6 included (I’m hoping to give you some add on scissor options in the future).

Want to know what to do with these items once you’ve gathered them - my 20-page free ebook Getting Started With Embroidery will guide you through the next steps.

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Stitch Showcase: Couching With Cross Stitch

Couching with cross stitch is a variation on both couching stitch and Jacobean couching. I like to use it in more modern style embroidery pieces I create contrasting thinner and thicker yarns I am stitching with.

Two different needles might be needed if working with two very different threads

• Lay down the thread to be couched (A to B), essentially this is a long straight stitch

• Take the second thread and work out how far apart the couching stitches will be. I find it useful to consider this before I start stitching to make sure I don’t get to the end find the only solution is to have uneven spacing there.

• To stitch the cross, create a diagonal line at about 45 degree angle from the couched thread (C to D). The second part of the cross is at a 90 degree angle from the first part of the cross (E to F)

• Another method is to lay down the cross stitches first and then thread the couched thread through the crosses, but this technique works best for threads of similar thickness

• It may be easier to stitch the first diagonal of the cross stitch all the way along first before returning and completing the crosses as this will secure the thread being couched. However, I prefer to stitch each cross in turn before moving on so I can control how the crosses look

I like using couching with cross stitch in my more modern pieces of embroidery. In this example I’ve couched some thicker yarn with some thinner yarn and used crosses to hold it in place.

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Stitch Showcase: Algerian Eye Stitch

This is one of a group of stitches that creates a star shape and because of the isolated points it can be tricky to make it look even. Drawing a two guides circle may be useful if you want a perfect star shape, but I tend to stitch by eye and use the needle to help measure the length of each point.

• I find it easier to work by stitching from the outside edge to the inner edge

• Bring the needle up through the fabric at the appropriate starting point

• Create the first arm of the star shape (A), then work across on the opposite side of the star (B) so there are two stitches of even length in a line, wth a gap in the centre

• Work the next two stitches at right angles to the first (C & D)

• Then fill in the third and forth lines in between the first two lines (E & F, G & H)

I used Algerian eye stitch in my floral sampler kit as the centre point for one of the flowers, but I also like combining it randomly with other star shaped stitches such as in this sampler.

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Hong Kong Temple Inspiration

I was lucky enough to visit Hong Kong on a work trip a few years ago. There are temples everywhere in Hong Kong. You can be just walking down a street and there is a little one by the side of the road full of colourful patterned objects.

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How to trace a paper embroidery pattern

When I first started embroidering I used patterns from books and designs I found for free or purchased which I downloaded and printed. However, in order to know what elements to stitch and where you need to transfer the pattern onto the fabric. This is one of the most challenging steps for a novice embroiderer so in this blog post I’ll walk you through how to go about transferring paper patterns onto fabric.

This method works best for thinner and lighter coloured fabrics, if the fabric is too dark or too thick then you’ll need to use another method of transfer such as carbon paper, tissue paper or water soluble paper (blog posts to come on these).

In order to transfer a paper pattern you need a source of light. There are two main options a light box (or light box app on a tablet device) and a window.

I’ll walk you through using a window, if you want more information on using a light box app on a tablet device head over to this blog post that takes you through this method (the only difference being you would just lay the paper pattern on top of a plain white screen in the app).

The benefit of using a window is that you can trace much larger patterns than you can on a tablet.

I recommend using an air, water or heat soluble pen for tracing, for more information about the different pens you can use for transferring patterns take a look at this blog post.

• Start by making sure that you have the ‘right’ side of the fabric facing towards the inner hoop and stretching the fabric in the hoop as tight as possible

• Tape the paper pattern to the window

• Press the hoop up to the window and line it up with any guidelines on the pattern

• Start by tracing the main elements

• If you need to move the hoop to see whether you have missed anything use the main elements to help re-align the fabric on the pattern

• Trace any smaller elements or details

• Loosen the hoop and turn the fabric over so that the ‘right’ side is on the same side as the outer hoop

Need some patterns to practice you tracing? Take a look at my shop where I have some PDF patterns available.

Stitch Showcase: Arrowhead Stitch

Arrowhead stitch can be worked in rows or isolation. In isolation it is a great alternative to a V shaped detached fly stitch.

• If working as a row, it can help to draw three parallel guide lines, one for each side and one for the centre

• Bring the needle up on one side of the stitch shape and bring it down at the centre point

• Repeat on the other side of the stitch to create a V shape

• If stitching in a row, then aim to space each stitch evenly apart.

As well as being stitched in a row of arrows stacked on top of each other, the arrows can also be stitched side by side to create a zig-zag pattern.

Want to try this stitch? Use it as an alternative to detached fly stitch in my heart stitch sampler kit.

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Stitch Showcase: Turkey Work

Turkey work is a great stitch to add some texture to a piece of embroidery. This stitch works well with multiple strands are used together, they can be the same colour or strands of different shades

• Bring the thread down through the fabric (B) from the top leaving a tail (A)

• Push the needle up through the fabric close to the first hole (C)

• Take the needle back down through the fabric but leaving a loop. A finger or a pen can be used to loop around to create loops of the same diameter

• For the next stitch, create this so that it lies across the end of one loop (D) and the beginning of the next (E). pull the thread tight to the fabric ie don’t make a loop

• Repeat creating a loop stitch followed by a standard stitch

• Each loop can be stitched in rows or randomly to fill an area

• It might be necessary to hold the loops already made out of the way so they don’t get caught

• Once all the loops have been made snip through them to give the ‘hairy’ texture

• The strands can be trimmed down to the same length or left uneven depending on the style of the finished piece.

Modern embroidery artists such as Salt Stitches and Katy Biele use this stitch frequently in their work. This picture is of a Salt Stitches DIY kit that I embroidered.

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Cat proof quilt

We have a cat. He's great. But we are first time cat owners and we didn't appreciate that cat hair GETS EVERYWHERE.

His favourite hobbies are eating and snoozing and in a futile attempt to minimise the amount of cat hair on bedding I thought I’d make a quilt top to protect the duvet on the spare bed.

If you want to make a simple quilt such as this one here’s how:

• Collect together fabrics in your selected colour way (my cat is white & ginger so I chose neutrals which should show his hairs less) if you can, collect a mix of plain, stripes, dots and other patterned fabric

• A cutting mat, rotary cutter and quilting ruler help make the cutting out process much easier and fun! I cut my fabric into 10cm squares (with a 1cm seam allowance the finished sized square was 8cm)

• Lay out the squares on the floor. I found that setting a few ‘rules’ helped me for example not having the stripes all going the same way, how many plain squares I wanted per row/column. The number of squares you have per fabric may also vary and you can decide on the number of squares of that fabric per row/column which also helps with the layout

• Step away from your laid out pattern and make a cup of tea, when you come back, look again at the layout and see if there is anything that needs to move around, especially with dominant colours or patterns which catch the eye first (but don’t forget the other sections which you may spot later and jar with you)

• Take a picture of your layout so you can make sure you are still happy with it later (and it can be used as a reference point if any of the squares get muddled up

• Pin the squares together in strips, use scrap paper pinned to each strip to number each one so that you can identify each piece

• Using a constant seam allowance (I used 1cm) stitch each square to the others in the strip

• Once each strip has been sewn, press the seam allowances flat

• Pin the strips together. If any seam allowances don’t match up across strips you can decide whether to live with the mismatch or unpick and re-sew

• Once all the strips have been sewn together you will have one large panel, press any new seams open so that the panel is completely flat

• I cut out backing from a cheap king sized sheet by laying the sheet flat on the floor and laying the panel on top and cutting with a generous seam allowance

• For my quilt I wasn’t looking for it to be too insulated so I didn’t include any wadding/batting, I just put an old sheet in the middle before pinning on the backing. I pinned the three layers together before tacking them together by hand as I find it easier to get the accuracy I’m looking for by hand rather than machine

• For the edge of the quilt I used bias binding that I made from the same fabric as one of the squares. (This is a useful tutorial for making your own bias binding.) Again I attached the bias binding by hand, you can use a machine but you will probably need a walking foot to handle the different layers of fabric.