Hand Made Presence: Patchwork Technique

How to Use Patchwork Templates

Templates are used in single-shape and block patchwork to maintain uniformity when hand sewing patches together. The template being used here is for a diamond-shaped patch however the same technique applies to many types of patchwork templates. Each patch to be hand sewn needs to have a paper template.

Step 1	Cut out fabric using the template as follows: Lay the paper template on the wrong side of the fabric and pin to the fabric. Adding a 5 mm seam allowance, cut around the paper template.
Step 2	Fold the fabric edges over the paper template and baste to template using long running stitches - these stitches will be removed later.
Step 3	After at least two patches have been prepared as in steps 1 and 2, sew patches together as follows: Place the right side of each patch together and join using 'whip' stitches as illustrated in red. (These stitches should be done in a thread matching the patch's fabric so that they are not apparent in the patchwork.) Continue to join the appropriate sides of the patches in this manner until the entire patchwork is of the required size for your project.
Step 4	When all of your patches have been sewn together, remove the basting stitches and rip off the paper templates sewn to the back of the patches.

Patchwork.