Getting your panels in a twist!

The Aussie blog Shocking Hocking offered up a twisted tutorial that we thought was too good not to share.

You will need:

·                     heavy duty interfacing (1 piece, 17.8cm x 30.5cm)

·                     ruler

·                     pencil

·                     main fabric

·                     colourful scraps of fabric for the twists at least 3.8cm wide and 12.7cm

NOTE: Starch your fabric - it helps when cutting and piecing

Instructions:

1.       Cut your main fabric into the following pieces:

·         5 pieces, 3.8cm x 12.7cm

·         4 pieces, 3.2cm x 12.7cm  (the spacers)

·         1 piece, 12.7cm x 8.9cm (this will be trimmed later)

·         1 piece, 12.7cm x 16.5cm (this will be trimmed later)

·         2 pieces, 6.4cm x 30.5cm (these will be trimmed later)

2.       Mark up the interfacing with your pencil and ruler:

·         Measure in 3.8cm from each long side and draw a line

·         Measure in 7.6cm from one short side and draw a line

·         From the  7.6cm line, measure and mark a further 4 lines, 2cm apart

·         Set aside for later

3.       Sew your twists:

·         Using all the fabric pieces sized  3.8cm x 12.7cm, sew each of the scrap pieces to a main Fabric piece down one long side and with a 0.6cm seam

·         Press open the seams (this makes it easier to get a good edge), then finger press the twists closed along the seam line, wrong sides together and press again

·         Trim the twists so they are 2.5cm wide and 12.7cm long

4.       Piece the panel:

·         Lay the 12.7cm x 8.9cm on top of the interfacing, right side uppermost and centred between the top and bottom lines, carefully matching the 7.6cm line and edge stitch to hold

·         Lay your first twist along this line, carefully matching the long raw edges and edge stitch to hold

·         Lay one 3.2cm x 12.7cm spacer on top of the twist, matching raw edges and sew through all thicknesses with a 0.6cm seam where you just edge stitched

·         Turn main fabric over to the right and press (the long edge of the folded out spacer should be aligned with the next 2cm line drawn on the interfacing)

·         Edge stitch the raw edge

·         Continue adding the twists in this manner until you have stitched down the last one. 

·         You will not have any spacers left, but that's ok, because now you'll use the 12.7cm x 16.5cm piece to complete the width of the panel

5.       Create the twist:

·         From the back of the piece, sew along one of the 3.8cm lines to hold your twists in place

·         Fold the other end of each twist to the opposite side and pin to hold

·         Stay stitch along the 3.8cm line at the bottom to hold

6.       Complete the panel:

·         Sew the remaining main fabric pieces (30.5cm x 5.1cm) to the top and bottom of the panel and press open

·         Trim the panel and use as you please.

Get everything you need for this project and more at your local Fabric and Textile Warehouse. We also offer great deals on offcuts sold by weight. Give us a call on our Golden Number (0861 322 839 | 0861 FAB TEX) and we’ll let you know what’s in stock and on special. You can also ‘friend us’ on Facebook and ‘follow us’ on Twitter.