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AJB Silk Quilts.


Instructions on how to make your own silk quilt


Why not make your own Vibrant Silk Quilts from packs available?

Raw-edged Appliqué

You will need:
  • Tracing paper
  • Dupion silk
  • Zig-zag sewing machine
  • Invisible thread
  • Iron-on Vilene
  • Small pair of scissors
  1. Draw your design onto tracing paper with a fine felt-tip pen.

  2. Fabric – I use silk dupion (it frays well which is a feature of my quilts). For the leaf I use 3 layers – the top and bottom layer with iron-on Vilene (light-weight).
  3. Make a sandwich:
    • Traced design
    • Top piece of silk with iron-on Vilene
    • Middle piece (no iron-on Vilene)
    • Bottom piece with iron-on Vilene

  4. Stitch by machine with invisble thread (mono-filament nylon). You can use this thread in the spool but it does tend to break easily so you can use thread which is the same colour as the fabrics. A small straight stitch is needed at this stage.

  5. Tear off the tracing paper.
  6. You will be left with:

  7. It's now time to cut through with a pair of small, sharp scissors – cut around the border and the leaf leaving the second layer visible.
  8. Zig-zag the raw edges of the leaf and border with a small zig-zag stitch. This is to stop the top layer fraying.

  9. Cut through the second layer to reveal the bottom layer, and fray these edges around the leaf and border. You can zig-zag these frayed edges to make then neater, but there is no need.

  10. Here is a close-up of one of the leaves in the finished quilt.



There are also detailed instructions on how to make your own Elephant silk quilt in the Feb/March 2001 issue of Fabrications.

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