Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Hexie Garland Tutorial {Guest Post}



Hi there!  I am so thrilled to be partnering up with Fort Worth Fabric Studio and to be a guest blogger here today.  My name is Amanda Lipscomb, and I am a primarily a quilter, although I dabble in all sorts of sewing.  I blog over at The Cozy Pumpkin and love sharing the projects I'm working on,  fun tutorials and patterns, and some of the sewing tips and tricks I learn along the way.  I hope you'll pop on over for a visit, and if you have time, drop me a line.  I love making new quilting/sewing friends!

HexieGarlandTutorialCover

Today I have a fun Hexie Garland project for you.  It's perfect for working on in the car or while sitting on the couch with some hot chocolate and a good movie!  I opted to work with BASICGREY's "25th and Pine" charm pack, but you could just as easily change out the fabrics to fit any occasion.



HexieGarlandTutorial_1

Supplies:
  • 1 charm pack -­‐ I used "25th and Pine" by BASICGREY for Moda
  • 1hexieprintout-­‐setprintertoprintat"actualsize"
  • 1 yd. Pellon 808 Craft Fuse or Midweight Interfacing (Iron-­‐On)
  • Fabric Glue Stick
  • Scissors (for Fabric and for thread)
  • Perle Cotton in coordinating color (I like to use an 8 wt. Finca Perle Cotton)
  • Ruler
  • Pencil
  • Needles -­‐ I like a Size 2 Crewel needle with a large eye, but a large size embroidery needle would work as well
  • iron
***Alternatively you could sew your hexies together with your machine in which case you would forego your hand sewing supplies for your appropriate machine supplies.

HexieGarlandTutorial_2 

Step 1:  Print out the hexie templates at the "actual size" setting and trace 84 hexies onto the fuzzy side of the Craft Fuse using a pencil and small ruler.  Overlap the template to fill in half of the space on the interfacing (see image below).

HexieTracingImage 

After you trace 84 hexies fold your interfacing in half so that the empty half is underneath.  Now you can cut two at a time giving you a total of 168 hexies.

HexieGarlandTutorial_3 

Now you should have a total of 168 cut out hexies.

Step 2:  Place four hexies, shiny side down, onto the wrong side of a fabric square.  Make sure the hexies are at least 1/4" away from the edges of the fabric square, and are at least 1/2" away from each other.

Iron the four hexies to the wrong side of each fabric square in the charm pack with a pressing motion.  I hold the iron in place for about 10 seconds before moving.  Make sure the shiny side of the Craft Fuse is face down on the wrong side of the fabric (the shiny substance is the glue).  

HexieGarlandTutorial_4

(Tip:  I like to place a pressing cloth (white cotton scrap fabric) over my fabric and interfacing so if I accidentally place a hexie in the wrong direction the glue ends up on the scrap fabric and not on my iron.)

Step 3:  Using fabric scissors cut out each hexie leaving a 1/4" extra fabric around the edges (see image below).

HexieGarlandTutorial_5

Step 4:  Glue down the edges of the fabric to the hexie interfacing using a fabric glue stick (see image below).

HexieGluing_StepbyStep

Step 5:  After all of the hexies have been glued they need to blanket stitched into pairs.  So that the hexies look pretty from both sides.  You will need the perle cotton, a needle, and matching hexie pairs.

HexieGarlandTutorial_12

If you choose to sew these into pairs with your machine instead, I suggest putting a dab of glue on the interfacing of each pair, and placing them wrong sides together.  This will help to keep everything aligned as you work with them at the machine.

Step 6:  Knot your thread (I like to use a quilter's knot.  You can find my video tutorial on the quilter's knot here.) and begin stitching in the center of one of the sides, about 1/8" away from the edge, on the wrong side of a hexie (image 1 below).  After the thread has been pulled through and your knot is secure on the wrong side sandwich the two hexies wrong sides together and blanket stitch around the hexies.  

BlanketStitch_StepbyStep

Following image 6 pull your thread through the loop until secure.  Repeat images 5 and 6 all of the way around the hexies until you reach the end.  To end your blanket stitching...

BlanketFinish_StepbyStep

join the last blanket stitch with the first stitch by passing under the threads of the very first stitch.  Tie a small knot (image 3), pass the needle through the fabric (image 4) for a bit and then trim away the excess thread.  Burying the thread tail in this way makes the stitching more secure.

Repeat this process with all of the hexie pairs.  Once done there should be 84 completed hexies.

Step 7:  From the perle cotton cut a 4 yard strand.  Tie a loop at one end of the strand (to secure around branches if you plan on placing this on a tree, or to hang from a nail).  String half of the completed hexies (42 hexies) onto the 4 yards of perle cotton.  Finish with another loop, and evenly space the hexies along the strand.

Repeat Step 7 with the remaining 42 hexies.  (Two separate 4 yard strands are much easier to manage than one long 8 yard strand.)

HexieGarlandTutorial_26

And there you have it!  A beautiful handmade garland to enjoy for years to come!

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Option2

I hope you have fun with this project, if you complete one I would love to see it!  Don't forget to hop on over to The Cozy Pumpkin to check out my other tutorials and free patterns.  "See" you again soon, and Happy Holidays!

-Amanda


I want to thank Amanda for stopping by and sharing this lovely garland! It is so darling! I've never done a project with hexies, and this definitely makes me want to try them out! Please stop by Amanda's blog to see all of her lovely projects!

Talk to you soon,


6 comments:

Vicki H said...

I think the garland will look great with the greenery across the fireplace mantel.

Country Crow said...

Very nice and cute garland! Thank you for this tutorial! :)

Anonymous said...

What a fun project, Amanda! This is totally something I could do for our miniature tree at home this year. We're always away to visit our families over Christmas, so we can't justify a big tree in our flat. Thank you for the clear step by step tutorial! =)

nettie said...

I really love this -.I've been looking for something new like this for my tree....thanks for sharing

Joyce Carter said...

Wow! This is very pretty. I would never have thought of this. Thank you for sharing.

Lara B. said...

This is beyond adorable and a wonderful way to use a charm pack! Great job Amanda!

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