how to make a flannel quilt
How to Make a Flannel Quilt
Quilts can keep you warm on long and cold nights. However, the process of quilting is what attracts a lot of interest and is also followed as a hobby. Read this article to know how to make a flannel quilt.
Flannel is a warm fabric, which is light to medium in weight. Having originated in the Midwest, it is used to make bed sheets and clothing. This fabric was earlier made from carded wool, but now cotton, wool, or synthetic fiber has often been used.
Making a Flannel Quilt
Things you will require:
- A sewing machine
- A few quilting pins
- A white colored pencil
- Some fabric
- Some batting
- A rotary cutter
- A cutting board
- An iron
- A plastic template
- A ruler
- First of all, choose a flannel quilt pattern.
- Next, decide the size so as to determine the amount of fabric you will need. Hence, decide whether you want to make a queen-sized, a king-sized, or a crib-sized one.
- Once that is done, buy the fabric using the measurements on your pattern. Ensure that you purchase high quality flannel, as it is thicker and more durable.
- Wash the fabric twice in hot water and dry it in a dryer. Once it is dry, spray starch and iron it.
- Use the information on the pattern to cut the pieces of fabric. Remember to cut for ½ inch seam if the pattern mentions ¼ inch. Remember to label the pieces as you cut them.
- With all that done, you can now go ahead and stitch the pieces together to make a quilt top.
- Once you have made the top, sandwich the batting in between the backing and the top with the right sides facing in the outward direction. Use pins or baste to put them together.
- Now hand quilt a design on each block. To do this, use a template of stitch along the seams.
- You can now bind the edges of the three layers using homemade binding or with binding that has been purchased. To know the size of the binding, measure around the boundary and add 6 inches.
- Animals
- Batik
- Solids
- Sports
- Nature
- Pastels
- Floral
- Tropical
- Seasons
- Woven
- Landscapes
- Food and Drinks
- Holidays
- Letters and Numbers
- Since flannel will dull your needle very quickly, remember to put a needle in before you begin the sewing, and discard it after you finish.
- Brush out your machine before you begin, because flannel will lint up your machine very quickly. Also remember to check it after you are done.
- Preshrink the fabric before making the quilt. To do so, use the hottest setting in your washer and drier.
- Use a spritz of starch to help you iron the flannel, as it does not press as crisply as cotton. Remember to press with the seam allowances open.
- Since it is very hard to rip open stitches without distorting the fabric, it is advisable to have a little extra fabric in case you need to cut a new piece.
- Use more dye as well as mordant if you are hand-dyeing the flannel.
- As this particular type of cloth does not have a high thread count, it distorts when you attempt to make severely angled cuts. In order to avoid this, consider sewing patterns such as a Double Irish Chain, a Bargello, or some Seminole designs.
- In case you want to bind using a Logger flannel, use only a single fold binding as this will help save your fingers.