Hi.
I like to make things.
I like to make things.
Need a little help with curved piecing? Or maybe just a confidence boost? Below find all the steps for making Block A1 and Block A2 of the Looperette Quilt.
But first, a few bits of advice:
Practice. Especially on the smaller pieces - cut a few extras (you can use scrap fabric) and practice some of the smallest curves before you sew the real deal. Do it as many times as you need.
Bigger curves first. Out of practicality the instructions go from smallest curve to largest, but if you practice the smallest curve first and find it difficult, try sewing one of the larger curves first. A larger curve is going to be more gentle, and will feel more like a straight line.
And lastly:
You can do this! You can sew curves, promise! They might not be perfect the first time around, but you will get more comfortable the more you do it.
We will be starting with a background Template A and your first Template B piece. For block A1 the Template B will be Fabric 5, and for Block A2 it will be Fabric 1. If you haven’t already, mark the centers of the fabric pieces’ curved edges. You can fold and finger press, snip through the lines on the paper templates (not more than 1/8”!), or mark with a fabric marker.
Because this is kind of a teeny curve, we’ll be doing a couple different things with this seam. First, snip the seam allowance of the smaller curved edge of Template B. Snip a little more than 1/8” but not 1/4” - enough to fan out the edge but not so far that you get too close to the 1/4” stitching line.
Secondly, ditch the pins and go with a glue stick (just make sure it’s washable/water soluble). Apply glue to the right side seam allowance of the curved edge of Template A.
Flip Template B down over Template A so that they are right sides together. Align and stick together at the marked centers. The curves will be going in opposite directions at this point.
Now take the left straight edge of Template B and align it with the left straight edge of Template A. Make sure the top corners are aligned too. You’re only sewing along the curved edges, but lining up the straight edges too ensures your seam starts at the proper angle. Stick in place.
Repeat with the right edges.
Now fan out the snips you made to line up the entire length of the curved edges. Stick in place. (You might need to reapply your glue stick if it dried already.)
Turn your stitch length down 1-2 clicks from where you normally sew. This makes sewing the curve a little easier. Sew along the glued edge with a 1/4” seam allowance with Template B on top. It’s highly recommended to use a 1/4” presser foot for curved sewing so that all you need to do is line up the right edge of your fabrics with the right edge of the presser foot. As you sew, gently steer the fabric to keep the edge lined up with the presser foot right at the needle.
If you’re about to sew over a pucker, stop, lower the needle, raise the presser foot, and smooth the fabric back and away from you. Lower the presser foot and keep going. It’s going to look pretty wild and wrinkly to the left of the needle, but remember, you only need to worry about what’s going right under the needle.
If you think you’re going to sew over a small pucker, just keep going. It’s pretty easy to seam rip and resew five-ish stitches in the middle of a seam. Also, a lot of times what you thought was a pucker is actually just a little crease close to the seam that you can press out.
Finger press Template B up and away from Template A. The seam allowance should go toward Template B. (Finger press literally just means press with your finger, like you’re creasing paper.)
Grab your Template C piece. Make sure you’re using the correct color Template C for your block (A1 should be Fabric 4, A2 should be Fabric 2). The process will be the same for attaching Template C, except that you can skip snipping and use pins instead of glue because this curve is bigger. (You can continue to use glue if you like it though, some people prefer it to pins no matter the size of the curve!)
Flip Template C down over Template B so that they’re right sides together and centers are aligned. Pin at center.
Align the side straight edges and corners. Pin.
Align the rest of the curved edges and pin. Use as many pins as makes you comfortable. Once you’ve sewn a few curves you might find you only need pins at the center and ends, or just the center, or maybe even not at all! But when you are first starting out, more pins will help everything stay in place.
Sew along curved edge at 1/4” seam allowance with Template C on top. Again, if you feel like you’re about to sew over a pucker, stop, lower the needle into the fabric, raise the fabric, and smooth the top layer of fabric away from you, towards the back side of the machine.
Finger press Template C up and away from Template B. The seam allowance should be towards Template C.
Continue adding template pieces in the same way, in ascending size order. As the curves get larger they will feel easier to sew. However, the longer the seam, the easier it is to stretch out the top layer of fabric as you sew. Remember to always smooth the excess/wrinkly top layer away from you, as opposed to smoothing it towards you, to help mitigate this. Also we are trimming our block, so if the edges are a little off at the end of a seam, no biggie.
The final piece in the block, the Template G background piece, is attached the same way. Don’t let those straight edges throw you off.
Give your block a thorough but gentle press, keeping all those seam allowances towards the bigger template.
Place the trim template included in your pattern on top of your sewn, pressed block. On the left and bottom edges, align the seam lines on the trim template with the seams of your block. There should be about 1/4” of extra block sticking out around the trim template. It’s ok if the block excess is uneven, it’s more important for the seams to line up with the lines on the template. If your seams don’t line up perfectly with the lines, try your best to center them or split the difference.
Carefully place a ruler on top of the template and trim the block around all four edges. The block should be 12.75” x 12.75” once trimmed. (For a shortcut, you can trim two adjoining edges with the template, then trim the other two edges to 12.75” using the lines on your cutting mat.)
The last step is to admire your beautiful curved block!
