Looking for the perfect Christmas gift for your quilting pals? Here’s a quick to make and fun ornament made with Inchies!
Throughout this tutorial, you can click on the pictures for a larger view of each step!
For each ornament, you will need:
- One 2½” x 3¾” scrap of fabric for Inchies
- One 2½” x 3¾” piece of fleece*
- One 3″ x 4½” piece of stiffener*
- One 3½” x 4¾” scrap of fabric for Inchie backing
*Recommended fleece/stiffener combinations: Freudenberg/Vilene HH650 Fleece (double sided fusible) and Freudenberg/Vilene S520 Stiffener (single sided fusible) -OR- Floriani Heat’n'Sta Lite Fusible Fleece (single sided fusible) and Peltex 72F stiffener (double sided fusible)
(The HH650/S520 combination is pictured in this tutorial)
Other supplies:
Thread to match or coordinate with the Inchie fabric (I suggest Sulky 40 wt. rayon or Aurifil Cotton Mako 50/2)
Other threads (if desired) for quilting Inchies (regular cotton threads, variegated threads, etc.)
Bobbin thread in a color that coordinates with your project (I suggest YLI Soft Touch Cotton 60/2 or similar weight cotton thread)
Beads, fibers and other embellishments as desired
Basic Sewing Supplies (machine, hand needles, scissors, rotary cutter, ruler and mat, etc.)
Part One: Make the Inchies!
You will make six Inchies for one ornament. The ornament is double sided, with three Inchies on each side.
These are the layers of the Inchie sandwich, from top to bottom: Inchie fabric, fleece, stiffener, and backing fabric.
Fuse the layers together as follows:
For single-sided stiffener, place the backing fabric wrong side up on an ironing board and center the stiffener on top, shiny side down. (For double-sided stiffener, lay the stiffener on a Teflon pressing sheet on the ironing board, and place the backing fabric right side up on top of the stiffener.)
Fuse the stiffener and backing together with a hot iron and steam for 15 seconds. (For double-sided stiffener, let cool, turn over and remove Teflon sheet.)
Center the filler on top of the stiffener (if using single-sided filler, position the filler with the fusible side up) and lay the Inchie fabric on top, right side up. Cover with a pressing cloth and fuse with a hot iron and steam for 15 seconds. Let cool.
You’ll have a little Inchie sandwich that looks something like this (side/corner view):
Quilt the Inchie sandwich with free motion quilting, following the design lines of the fabric, or making new designs of your own with free motion quilting. You can also add couched fibers and trims if you like. Add enough quilting to hold the layers together well, but not much more is really necessary.
Cut the Inchie sandwich into 1″ squares, yielding 6 Inchies.
Hold the ruler firmly and use a new rotary blade for best results!
Edge stitch each Inchie with a very short, narrow satin stitch, completely covering the raw edges. Slow down and stitch carefully at the corners, and use a very short straight stitch to end the stitching invisibly after sewing all the way around the Inchie. See the Edge Stitching Tutorial at YouTube!
Tips: Use an open toe embroidery foot and move the needle as far to the right as possible when edge stitching Inchies. More of the Inchie will be under the presser foot and you’ll have better control while stitching.
If there are any bits of fabric or batting that are not completely covered by the edging thread, use a permanent fabric marker in a coordinating color to “dye” the offending bits.
Now comes the fun part! Embellish Inchies as desired with beads, fibers, found objects, or anything you can imagine. Get creative here and pull out your beads, buttons, ribbons, trims, metallic threads and fibers, crystals and shiny things, brads, etc.!
Tips: Use a size 10 straw needle and medium weight nylon beading thread to attach beads and other embellishments to Inchies. True beading needles are too thin to go through the Inchies without bending or breaking.
Use finger cots to make it easy to grip the needle when embellishing Inchies.
Now that your Inchies are done, decide which style ornament you’d like to make. If you’d like to string your Inchies together with ribbon, go on to Part Two: Hanging with Ribbon. If you’d prefer to string your Inchies together with beading thread and beads, go on to Part Three: Hanging with Beads.
These Inchie Ornaments were created especially for the first-ever Inchie Ornaments Christmas Swap at Quilting Gallery.
Registration is open until November 5!
*All portions of this tutorial are ©Nadine Ruggles 2009. You are welcome to use the tutorial to make ornaments for gifts or for your own personal use, but not for sale.
