Twisted tutorial

One of my ideas for the Mouthy Stitches pouch swap was a twisted panel, so I made a practice one.....

I posted it in the Flickr group - and was promptly asked to write a tutorial for it.......of course I had no photos, so I made another one, slightly smaller and took photos as I went along.  This tute shows you how to make one side of a pouch (or a bag, cushion, etc - whatever - the theory can be applied to any project you want to make, you just have to recalculate the sizes) and my side panel is 7" x 12" with a twisted panel, incorporating 5 twists, that finishes around 3.5" square.

Please note this is my first tutorial - so go easy on me!!  This is the same methodology as Quilt-as-you-go and if any of it doesn't make sense, drop me a line and I'll help in any way I can!

What you will need:

• heavy duty interfacing
• ruler
• pencil
• main fabric (mine is Kona Everglade)
• scraps of fabric at least 1.5" wide and 5" long (these are for the twists)
• note - use starch on your fabric - it helps when cutting and piecing

What to cut:

• heavy duty interfacing, 1 piece, 7" x 12"
• twist scraps, 5 pieces, 1.5" x 5"
• main fabric
• 5 pieces, 1.5" x 5"
• 4 pieces, 1.25" x 5" (we'll call these the spacers)
• 1 piece, 5" x 3.5" (this will be trimmed later)
• 1 piece 5" x 6.5" (this will be trimmed later)
• 2 pieces, 2.5" x 12" (these will be trimmed later)

 What to do:

1.  Mark up the interfacing with your pencil and ruler:

• measure in 1.5" from each long side and draw a line
• measure in 3" from one short side and draw a line
• from the 3" line, measure and mark a further 4 lines, 3/4" apart
• set aside 'til later

I got a bit excited and drew one more line than I needed - you only need an extra 4 to the right of the 3" line

2.  Sew your twists:

•  Using all the fabric pieces sized 1.5" x 5", sew each of the scrap pieces to a main fabric piece down one long side and with a 1/4" seam

I chain pieced these

• Press open the seams (this makes it easier to get a good edge), then finger press the twists closed along the seam line, wrong sides together and press again

•  Trim the twists so they are 1" wide and 5" long

Here are the 5 twists ready to go

3.  Piece the panel:

• Lay the 5" x 3.5" on top of the interfacing, right side uppermost and centred between the top and bottom lines, carefully matching the 3" line and edge stitch to hold

• Lay your first twist along this line, carefully matching the long raw edges and edge stitch to hold

The twist hasn't been edge stitched in this photo as yet

Now it has...

• Lay 1 1.25" x 5" spacer on top of the twist, matching raw edges and sew through all thicknesses with a 1/4" seam where you just edge stitched
• Turn main fabric over to the right and press (the long edge of the folded out spacer should be aligned with the next 3/4" line drawn on the interfacing)

Oops - forgot to take a photo after the first one, but it's just the same all along - here's the 1.25" x 5" spacer folded out after the 2nd twist and ready to be edge stitched 

• Edge stitch the raw edge
• Continue adding the twists in this manner until you have stitched down the last one. 
• You will not have any spacers left, but that's ok, because now you'll use the 5" x 6.5" piece to complete the width of the panel

4.  Create the Twist:

• from the back of the piece, sew along one of the 1.5" lines to hold your twists in place

I've turned it over so you can see what it should look like

• fold the other end of each twist to the opposite side and pin to hold

• Stay stitch along the 1.5" line at the bottom to hold

the panel is looking a bit wonky now, but don't fret - it sorts itself out eventually!

5.  Complete the panel:

• Sew the remaining main fabric pieces (12" x 2.5") to the top and bottom of the panel and press open
• Trim the panel and use as you like....

Let me know if you have a go....and I'm linking up to Tutorial Tuesday over at Lawson and Lotti's