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In decorative stitching, the magic is in the rayon threads

by Allison Spence

I’m spending this week sharing some simple placemat projects using WonderFil’s rayon thread packs. Yesterday I stitched some hexagon placemats and used threads from the fall rayon pack on a single piece of fabric.

Today, I’m going to use a variety of fabrics and show you how you can make the fabric piecing really sparkle in a placemat with decorative threads.

Use a variety of WonderFil rayon thread and decorative stitches to add interest to strip piecing.

Decorative stitches add interest to strip piecing.

These placemats use a selection of coordinated hand dyed fabrics and the Pumpkin thread pack. This pack has some lovely oranges and greens and 2 metallic, Spotlite threads that I’ve used sparingly.

WonderFil's Pumpkin rayon thread pack

WonderFil’s Pumpkin rayon thread pack

I began by cutting strips of my orange and green fabrics and used the stitch and flip method to sew the strips of fabric onto a length of low loft batting. I finger pressed each seam and once the stitching was complete, I pressed with a hot iron.

Use the stitch and flip method to sew different widths of fabric to the batting strip in preparation for decorative stitching.

Sew strips of fabric to batting using the stitch and flip method.

Once the piecing was done, I started stitching with my machine’s decorative stitches and the threads from the Pumpkin thread pack. The colors are perfect for this project. Some of the threads are a little bit lighter in color, so I used satin stitches to help them show clearly.

The piecing comes alive with decorative stitching using WonderFil's Pumpkin thread pack.

Decorative stitching adds interest to stitch and flip piecing

HINT Make use of the easy lock in the thread cap.

WonderFil’s small spools of thread have little hooks in the caps of the spools. This is an easy way to secure the thread and keep it from unraveling. Just wrap the thread a couple of times around the top of the spool and the thread will just click into place.

Use these little hooks in the cap of the spool of WonderFil rayon threads to secure the thread tails.

Secure threads in the cap of the spool.

Once all my decorative stitching was complete, I pressed the piece and trimmed it to an even width.

I used another piece of batting for the base of the placemat and cut it an inch or two larger than I need for the project. I placed the decorative stitching strip on the left side and using the quilt as you go method, sewed a plain piece of fabric to both sides of the strip.

Highlight the decorative strip of fabric with coordinating pieces of fabric using the quilt as you go method.

Use quilt as you go to sew plain fabric pieces to either side of the decorative strip.

Once all my pieces are stitched to the batting, I trim everything down to size.

At this point I could layer the backing fabric right side facing down and the placemat piece right side up and add a traditional binding. I’m making these as quick projects, so I just layer them right sides facing, stitch around and turn.

The first step to finishing the placemat is to trim backing and placemat top to the same size.

Trim backing and placemat top to the same size.

I matched the backing fabric right sides facing with the pieced placemat and stitched around all sides. I left a small opening along one edge to turn the piece.

I also trimmed the stitched corners so that I would get neater corners once the piece was turned right side out.

Place the placemat right sides facing the placemat backing and sew around all edges leaving a small opening for turning.

Place the placemat right sides facing the placemat backing and sew around all edges leaving a small opening for turning.

I turned the placemats right side out and used a point turner to push out the corners. I pressed with my iron and then used some of my decorative stitches to stitch along the outside edge of the placemat and on either side of the pieced panel.

I like to stitch close to the edge of the placemat and then not have to hand stitch the opening closed.

Step 3 is to turn the placemats right side out and press. Stitch close to the edge of the placemat and you won't have to hand sew the opening closed.

Turn placemat right side out and press. Top stitch close to the edge.

This is just one way to sew the strip piece into the placemat. Why not try a horizontal line instead of a vertical line. Your imagination and the fabrics you have are your only limit.

Strip pieced placemats using WonderFil's Pumpkin rayon thread pack.

Strip pieced placemats using WonderFil’s Pumpkin rayon thread pack.

Tomorrow, I’ll show you another way to use these great WonderFil rayon thread packs and stitch another placemat with just one fabric.

This is part 2 of 5 in this series.
Go back to part 1: Hexagon Placemats: creating your own fabrics using WonderFil Thread Packs

Go to part 3: How to create woven Holiday Ribbons on placemats using fabric and threads

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