Thursday, May 26, 2011

Make Your Own Quilted Fabric

Yesterday I posted about the Kindle case I made for my mom. Remember the quilted fabric I made for the lining?
Quilted fabric is great to use on a variety of projects, as it has built in padding and makes for a more sturdy construction than unquilted cotton. But if you buy it prequilted at the store, it's upwards of $20 per yard. So today I thought I'd show you all how I did it. Maybe you all know how already...but maybe you don't? If not...read on! :)

Step One: Cut your fabric. 
You will want to cut 2 pieces of fabric per each single finished quilted piece you'll need. Cut your fabric an inch longer and wider. In this example, to make ONE piece of quilted lining, size 8"x10" for the Kindle case, I cut TWO rectangles 9"x11".
Also cut out one piece of batting size the same size as your fabric above.
Step Two: Draw your quilt lines.
I'm sure real quilters don't need to draw grid lines, but I do. And it was easy. On the piece of fabric that was going to be the WRONG side of my quilted fabric, I just drew out the grid lines with a pencil using my cutting map and ruler. Both have 45 degree angle lines, and so I just used those as a guide and drew out a grid.
Step Three: Pin your fabric & batting together.
Make sandwich the batting between the two WRONG sides of your fabric.
Step Four: Sew along your quilt lines!
Step Five: Trim to size as needed.
As you quilt (or maybe it's just me...hmmmm?) the fabric will shift a bit, leaving you with a bit of an off kilter rectangle. This is why we cut the fabric an inch on each side bigger than we needed...it gives you the leeway to square up your edges. Now you have nice even edges and are ready to use it in your project.

There ya go! 
Make it in super cute fabrics and save a bundle in the process!

2 comments:

Brittany @ Each Day Gets Better. said...

nice! that seems really easy.

Anonymous said...

On the topic of quilted fabric, here is an interesting item, a 4oz Quilted waterproof fabric with a wadding, have seen it made into garments jackets, pet clothing etc,, but not as in roll form, sold as per meter.
Quilted Fabric