How to quilt a fabric: techniques and advice

Your imagination is the only limit! You can quilt your fabric with horizontal or vertical lines, diagonals, squares, or diamonds, with various spacings and sizes. Experiment with more original shapes: curves, less rectilinear geometric shapes, decorative stitches from your machine, or following the fabric's pattern. You can also combine two types of quilting: horizontal at the top and vertical at the bottom. Keep in mind that more lines mean more time!

Which Fabrics to Quilt?

Follow your desires! Many fabrics can be quilted. Avoid highly stretchable knits that may stretch out during sewing, or stabilize them with interfacing before stitching. Corduroy, poplin, denim, viscose, flannel, gabardine, double gauze—test and have fun. Note that fabrics with more structure will be easier to work with. 

What Supplies Are Needed to Quilt Fabric?

The only truly indispensable item is batting, also known as wadding. It comes in different thicknesses and is sold by the meter. For clothing, prefer medium thickness; for accessories, go for thicker batting. You can also find fusible batting, which saves time as there's no need for pinning!

You will also need:

• A Tracing Tool: A ruler, such as a quilting ruler or Japanese ruler (a regular school ruler will also work fine!), to draw parallel lines using your markers.
• A FriXion Pen: This pen erases with heat. However, be cautious of the white marks it can leave! Test it on a scrap piece of your fabric first. Alternatively, a tailor's chalk will work just as well.
• Polyester Sewing Thread: Choose thread that matches your fabric, or go for contrasting or glitter thread depending on your preference.

Additional Helpful Tools

While not essential, certain accessories for your sewing machine can be very helpful:

• A Walking Foot: This helps your machine handle the thickness of the fabric.
• A Quilting Guide: This small tool attaches to your machine and allows you to maintain a consistent interval between each stitch without having to draw all your lines by hand, saving you significant time.

• An Extension Table for Larger Pieces

Preparing the " Quilt Sandwich"

The "quilt sandwich" refers to the layers of fabric stacked with batting in between. To prepare your sandwich, you'll trace your lines, stack the different layers of fabric and batting, and finally pin or baste them all together (see video).

Make sure to leave enough margin around your pieces. Quilting consumes fabric and reduces its size, so you want to ensure you have enough fabric left to cut out your pattern pieces! Ideally, quilt your entire fabric piece before cutting out all your pattern pieces to be certain you have enough. We also recommend ironing your fabric well; this will help ensure a consistent result.

Next, you can trace your lines. To do this, start with the central line on your fabric, then draw parallel lines on each side. If you are using a quilting guide, only trace the first line.

If your pattern is more complex and less rectilinear, you won't be able to trace your lines with a ruler. For this, you have several techniques:

1. Using Carbon Paper:

• Print or draw your pattern on a sheet of paper.

• Place your fabric right side down on the carbon paper, with your pattern paper on top.

• Use a tracing wheel to trace over your pattern, applying slight pressure and following the lines. Carbon paper is coated with ink that transfers designs. The ink will transfer to your fabric under pressure, following your tracing. Once your project is finished, the ink will wash out. If the lines are not visible enough, you can retrace them with chalk or a FriXion pen.

     2. Using a Projector:

• If you have a projector, project your pattern onto your fabric and trace it by hand.

Next, layer your fabrics as follows: place the lining fabric with the wrong side up, then the batting layer, and finally the exterior fabric with the wrong side against the batting. You can also choose to quilt only the batting with an exterior fabric.

Pin or baste your layers together with contrasting thread. While this method takes more time, it allows for greater precision, flexibility, and ensures you don't forget any pins in your project.

Once your quilt sandwich is secured, you can begin quilting.

Sewing the Quilting

1. Start by sewing the central line of your quilting pattern, then alternate stitching on either side of this line. Follow the lines you have traced. This technique is ideal for beginners, as the lines will be straight and your work will be consistent.

   If you are using a guide, sew along the first central line traced by hand, then place the guide in the groove formed by the first stitch, and off you go! This technique helps maintain regular intervals without spending too much time tracing lines.

   You can also quilt according to the width of your presser foot, or use masking tape or painter's tape. This repositionable tape can be aligned with the first stitch and sewn parallel to the other edge. The limitation of these two techniques is the predefined width of the presser foot and the tape. You can also use existing lines or squares on the pattern as a guide.

2. If you are working on large surfaces, there is no need to backstitch.

3. If the batting sticks to your machine, you have several solutions:

• Slip tissue paper between the feed dogs of your sewing machine and the batting. Once your stitching is done, you can tear the tissue paper along the stitch line.
• Slightly reduce the pressure of your presser foot or increase the stitch length.

4. Once your quilting is finished, remove all pins or basting threads.

You can then cut out all your pattern pieces. For pieces to be cut on the fold, we recommend not cutting them this way as it may lack precision. Instead, place your piece on the quilted fabric in a single layer and pin along the fold line. Cut around your piece, except on the fold line, then mirror your piece along the pins and cut the other half.

5. Overlock all edges of your pieces to prevent the quilting lines from coming undone.

You can now assemble your garment following your pattern instructions! Pay attention to the finishing touches: if your garment is lined or has facings, there’s no need to worry, but you can also choose to bind the edges with matching or contrasting bias tape.

And there you have it, you’ve mastered quilting! This technique has almost no limits, whether in the choice of fabric or quilting pattern. We look forward to seeing your beautiful creations #ikateecouture.

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