Sewing a French Braid
French braiding -- also known as friendship or pioneer braiding -- is a particular pattern of quilting that makes it look like the fabric is braided. In French braiding, rectangular quilting strips are arranged in a zigzag pattern and sewn together in the traditional way, requiring no actual braiding. You can use the basic French braid quilting technique to create a quilt that is as big or as small as you like.
Things You'll Need
- Fabric rectangles -- 2.5 by 6 inches
- Fabric marker
- Ruler
- Rotary fabric cutter
- Sewing machine, or needle and thread
- Backing fabric
- Batting
Instructions
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1
Place one strip of fabric vertically on your working surface, right-side down. The short sides should be facing toward you and away, with the long sides on your left and right.
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2
Place a second strip of fabric, right-side down, horizontally over the first. Its short sides should be facing to your left and right. The right-hand short side should be over the top of the first piece of fabric, with the top-right corner aligned with the top-right corner of the bottom piece.
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3
Sew the short, right-hand side of the horizontal piece to the bottom piece with a one-quarter-inch seam. Turn both pieces over and rotate them, so that they form an upside down "V."
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4
Take a third fabric rectangle and place it, right-side down, on top of the strip on the right-hand side of the "V." Align the top, short side of the new piece with the top of the right-hand side of the "V."
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Join the new piece to the others, by sewing a one-quarter-inch seam along the top, right-hand, long side of the new piece. Flip the new piece over, so that the right side is facing up.
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Take a fourth fabric rectangle and place it, right-side down, on top of the strip on the left-hand side of the "V." Align the top, short side of the new piece with the top of the left-hand side of the "V."
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Join the new piece to the others by sewing a one-quarter-inch seam along the top, left-hand, long side of the new piece. Flip the new piece over, so that the right side is facing up. You now have two upside down "V"s on top of each other. Keep adding one piece to the right-hand side, and then one piece to the left, until your quilting is as long as you want your blanket.
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8
Align the ruler along the bottom left-hand corners of all the pieces on the right-hand side. Cut with the rotary cutter along the ruler, so that you have a straight (rather than a zigzag) side. Repeat for the other side.
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Sew as many strips of rectangles as you need to make the quilt the desired width, cutting the edges straight when they are long enough. Place two of the strips of quilted rectangles together, right-sides facing. Sew a one-quarter-inch seam along one of the cut edges. Open the two strips. Continue to join the other strips of quilted rectangles to these two, until your quilt is assembled.
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10
Use the rotary cutter and ruler to cut the top and bottom of the quilt, so that they also have straight edges.
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11
Sew on the batting and then the lining to the back of the quilt, to finish it off and prevent the quilting from coming undone.
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Tips & Warnings
You can embellish the quilt with a separate border, if you wish.
The number of fabric rectangles you use depends on the size of the quilt you want.
References
- Photo Credit RL Productions/Digital Vision/Getty Images
