Help, I need somebody
Help, not just anybody
Help, you know I need someone
Help!
The Beatles, Help
Help, not just anybody
Help, you know I need someone
Help!
The Beatles, Help
Have a favorite technique tutorial? Find a broken link?
Email admin@fandominstitches.com!
How to Use Fandom In Stitches
- Difficulty Levels - FiS patterns are rated on a scale of 1 - 5. You can find this chart (or similar) on each pattern page. Patterns are rated by their respective designers.
beginner
adv. beginner
intermediate
adv. intermediate
advanced- When printing pdf patterns, choose "no scaling" for the most accurate pattern size. This is especially important on paper pieced patterns.
- How to Enlarge & Reduce patterns
- How to be a Fandom In Stitches Designer
Applique
- Learn to Applique from Quilter's Cache
- Pat Sloan's Fusible Applique Tutorial
- Fused Edge Applique Tutorial from Connecting Threads
Binding
- Creating Double Fold French Binding from Pink Chalk Studio
- French Binding Tutorial from Hart Cottage Quilts
- Double Fold French Binding from Sun Shower Quilts
- One Seam Bias Binding from Quiddity Quilts
- Continuous Binding Tutorial from Such A Sew & Sew
- Joining the Ends of Double Fold Binding by Shelley Rodgers
Designing Your Own Patterns
- Designing patterns in Quilt Assistant by TweLoQ
- Thoughts and suggestions on designing without quilting software with Drawing A Patchy Heart (Paper Piecing) from Sewhooked
- Quilt Assistant - Free Quilt Design Software (please read the user agreement carefully, this software is for free patterns only). Read Jennifer's review of Quilt Assistant.
- Electric Quilt 7 - for-purchase quilt design software
- Inkscape - An Open Source vector graphics editor, with capabilities similar to Illustrator, CorelDraw, or Xara X, using the W3C standard Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) file format.
Embroidery
- Embroidery tutorials of Jenny Hart over at Sublime Stitching
- Sarah's Hand Embroidery Tutorials (great individual stitch tutorials)
- General Embroidery Tips from Penguin and Fish
- Hand Embroidery Tutorials from Urban Threads
- Video tutorial playlist created by Jennifer
- Transferring Patterns to Fabric
- Four methods from Urban Threads
- Using a Light Box from Kristina Yarn
- Using Sticky Fabri-Solvy from Wild Olive
- Dark Fabrics from Sublime Stitching
- Can Washable Crayola Markers be used to mark Embroidery & Quilting patterns?
- Useful Embroidery Products
- Printable Sticky Solvy (print & stick water soluble fabric, Jennifer's favorite for embroidery!)
- Green Sewline Pencil
- DMC Embroidery Transfer Pen
- Saral Transfer Paper (another great option for transferring an entire pattern)
- Artograph Light Box
- 8" x 8" Q-Snap Frame
- Darice 7" Spring Tension Hoop
Paper Piecing
- About Paper Piecing - an entire page of tutorials and information, including a free online class from Jennifer Ofenstein.
- Practice Paper Piecing from Quilter's Cache
- Paper Piecing Art: Beginner & Beyond (Learn to Paper Piece), a complete video tutorial from Jennifer Ofenstein
- Paper Piecing Tutorial from Such A Sew & Sew
- Paper Piecing a 5" Harry Potter block from ThriftyFun
- How to Paper Piece video in Italian by Gaya
- Always use 100% cotton, good quality quilting fabric.
- Use lightweight paper when printing, as it tears off easier. Recycled printer paper works great. You can also try a specialty paper like Carol Doak's Foundation Paper .
- Many of the patterns include 1/4" seam allowance, for those that do not, you can easily add it using this tutorial.
- Our Designers originate from all over the world, and paper sizes vary. Printing with "no scaling" ensures that patterns print at the size the designer intended.
- 5" patterns can easily be enlarged to 10" by copying at 200% on your own printer or at a copy shop (they can use bigger paper!) OR use our handy tutorial for enlarging/reducing your patterns at home. You may find that more complicated patterns are easier to piece when enlarged.
- When enlarging patterns, we recommend printing, cutting apart the pattern pieces and enlarging the units individually.
- Almost all patterns are mirror images. The image will be correct AFTER you piece it.
- To make sure your blocks align perfectly, find adjacent corners of two pattern pieces, push a pin through the exact corners of each to match the two. Pin or hold the pieces in place for sewing.
- Colors used on patterns are just a guide for fabric placement, the selection is up to you. Black and white printing is always an option.
- Leave the paper attached to the block until you sew it in it's final place, whether it be a quilt, purse, etc. That will keep the bias edges from stretching.
- Most of our patterns are multi-unit patterns. Accuracy is very important. If you're new to paper piecing, just take your time and practice, practice, practice!
- Suggested uses... quilts (of course!), handbags, banners, pillows, totes... use your imagination!
More Paper Piecing Hints
Quilting
Rotary Cutting
Traditional Piecing
Have a favorite technique tutorial? Share it in comments and we'll add it to the list!
