Okay, for those of you who want to learn paper piecing, but are as stumped as I was when I first tried to learn, here is a step by step tutorial to help you figure it out.

This is what we're making:

It's a fancy mushroom, to go with the patterns I'll be posting in a bit.



Here is your pattern:



print out 3 - One to cut your pieces from, one to sew, one to follow as your guide.

First, cut out your pieces. Make sure your fabric is right side down, as the finished block will be the opposite of the pattern (doesn't matter for this particular pattern though)

ALSO - add at least 1/4" seam allowance around every piece. Better still make it a 1/2" just to be on the safe side. (I'm lazy when cutting, I often just eyeball it so having the extra wiggle room saves my butt from having to cut another piece. This is where all of those beautiful scrap pieces of fabric that are too small to do any substantial project come into play Yippie!



oh yeah, a little side note: I really wanted to use that dark brown fabric, but only had itty bits of it. So I sewed them together to make a piece large enough for the stem of the mushroom. This stuff never gets noticed in pieced pieces.

Alright, now take your pattern and lay it face down on the table:



Take piece #1 and lay it on top of the pattern, right side up:



Right, ok so how the heck can I tell if it's in the right spot?

The dang pattern's upside down....



Ah ha!

So, now we tack that first piece down. You can either pin it to the paper, or sew it on. For this first piece ONLY, sew a line a little ways into the section for piece #2, but still catching the fabric. Oh, you need to flip the whole thing over, so your fabric is laying under the pattern, which is now right side up and in your sewing machine.

BIG NOTE: set your stitch length a bit shorter than usual to help perforate the paper so it tears out easily. Except when working a complex pattern with a bunch of small pieces. You really don't want those bits of paper falling out before you're ready.

ok, sew:



Here's how this step looks when you're done:



Now, take piece #2, and lay it right side down on top of piece #1, and line up the seam allowance above the stitching line on the pattern... Um..what??

Ok, take a look see:



Hold it up to the light if you need to. For complex patterns with small pieces I usually pin my pieces down so they don't shift when I flip the pattern over to sew.

Now sew the line between piece #1 and piece #2:



NOTE: Be really accurate, sew exactly on the line, start and stop exactly where the line does. This will help keep the finished block looking like it supposed to. Trust me, I learned the exceedingly frustrating way.

Flip and press your seam. Now I switched the iron over to my left hand so I could take the pic with my right. THIS IRON PLACEMENT IS WRONG. Always start on the base fabric, and slide the iron over onto the new piece. This keeps the seams ironed nicely and your pieces fitting properly over the pattern.



OK SO NOW..oh darn caps...

Ok, so now where are we... ah right, place piece number 3 face down on top of piece number two lining up the edges. Hmm, need to check the placement?



Flip 'er over and sew the line between #2 and #3:

Then flip it over again, and press your seam..the proper way not this weird way:



Okay, getting the idea? So now line up piece #4:



Don't forget to put that sucker FACE DOWN. I've mucked that part up sooo many times. The seam ripper is my friend.

Stitching piece #4 here:



Hey, were nearly done!



Ok, so I hope you can do piece #5 on your own cause I have no pics of that entire step. Here's piece #6 going down:



....and getting sewn:



Press that puppy and look! The sewings all done



So, while you have those lovely straight edges of your pattern still attached, trim your seams to keep a good 1/4" seam allowance.



Now comes the fun part, tearing out the paper! Now it sometimes helps to crease the paper first and tear slowly. You really don't want to tear out your stitching as well.



And whaddaya know, you're all done. Easy as pie!

I recovered another knee patch project from the clean laundry pile..

You like? Sill holding up well after several trips through the washer/dryer. It's a combo of needle-turn applique and embroidery.





although...I did flub up the outline a bit. I did a better version on my hubby's lucky shorts. When I find those I'll post them too.

I introduce you to my latest block:

The garden gnome.
8" x 11"
Paper pieced
Most of the fabric was pilfered from my hubby's old work shirts. 

My daughter always wears through her jeans long before she outgrows them, so what's a crafty momma to do? Patch 'em up of course!

*and of course I didn't take pics right when I finished them, so this is after they've had chocolate milk spilled on it and have gone through the wash a few times*

Oh, yes this is the knee of her jeans. The other one is going too so that'll be done up soon. God I love Kurts Halsings designs! (halsing?  I think? I'm too lazy to look it up LOL) But I didn't buy the pattern  I just freehanded the design onto the fabric.

So I was inspired by this thread : http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=232346.new#new

and made 5 blocks from my unuseable scraps. Since I'm a paper piecer I used any piece that was smaller than 2". I  also got to play with some of the fancy stitches on my machine..always fun!

Oh I'm happy with how she turned out  Another original design.

She's paper pieced, 8.5" x 10"

And I think I'll expand the pattern to include more of what she's crouching on. The pattern still needs some tweaks, but boy am I pleased!

What do you think?

The background is greener in color..for some reason I can't get all of it accurate in color.

Well whaddya know, it actually looks like it's supposed to! Imagine that...


I also made a little bear from the kerochan pattern : http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=169562.0


It's a christmas present for my new baby neice. She was born at 25 weeks last and is still in the nicu. Her mom is into the african theme and colors, so I chose the colors to suit.

Thanks so much to those who post free patterns!!!

I whipped this up today using hubby's old linen shirt, an old eyelet toddler shirt and some vintage lace my grandmother gave to me from germany. I used one of the tiered skirt tutorials on the list.

What do you think?





You like?

Ahhh, she's done! For the quilt challenge I made the fairy applique. I was going to make my daughter a messenger bag with it, but it turns out that she needed a bigger backpack for kindergarten (who knew they'd have so much homework??)

So....being the good craftster momma, how could I not make her one?








Let me first of say a hearty thanks to all the people who have posted up their oh so handy tutorials. I've found them to be invaluable when making my own projects. So to give a little back to this awesome community I'll post my own little ditty

Now on to the tutorial!

This is my entry...albeit unfinished. I have plans to make this the flap for a messenger bag for my daughter. I really have my doubts that I will complete the bag in time for the challenge deadline and I really don't want to rush this project. (I have lots of fun details planned )

This is a paper pieced fairy of my own design. I designed it a few months ago and this challenge was the perfect push to try it out. The piece measures approx 10x10. It's too small for such a detailed piece I feel. It would come out smoother in a larger size such as 15x15 at least. But it was fun to do none the less!