Adding Batting or Wadding to Double-faced Hexies

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Day 12

Today I show you how I add batting to the Double-faced Hexies, in case you have a project that requires it.

On this page:
♣ Materials and tools today
♣ A note on adding batting or wadding to the hexies
♣ Marking and cutting the batting
♣ Basting/securing the batting
♣ For you to do
♣ Next time

Materials and tools today

• hexagons
• batting/wadding, a piece of flannel or terrycloth
• for batting of a large Hexie: Small Hexie Template (not the Small Flower Hexie Template)
• light coloured felt tip marker (see also Marking and Cutting below)
• glue stick
• sewing thread and needle
• scissors

Click on images for larger view

A note on adding batting or wadding to the hexies

There are no “rules” to this, neither for the materials nor the process. I’ll just show you how I do it.

For myself, I don’t add any batting at all to small hexies, and I find Flower Hexies in general thick enough to do without batting. Regarding the others, that depends very much on the project, as does the material for the batting itself.

Securing the batting

Just adding the batting is not enough for projects that are handled or worn and washed, as the batting might move around. Therefore the batting needs to be secured close to the edge, at least near the corners.

For this you’ve got a choice of possibilities:

• Invisibly = while doing some embroidery on the front by catching a bit of the batting at several points.
• Visibly = on the reverse side, with embroidery or sewing thread. Especially the Plain and Half Hexies can be quilted through all layers.
• If you want to secure the batting only on the reverse side, you can do that before you fold or sew the hexie or afterwards, when it’s finished.

Marking and cutting the batting

There’s one thing cotton, wool or polyester batting and terrycloth have in common: It’s a bit difficult to mark them.

Fortunately batting is malleable and quite forgiving as far as precision is concerned 😉

The batting needs to be a bit smaller than the hexie, else it may not lie flat; about 3mm // 1/8 inch less is fine unless your batting is really thick.

I mark it with a felt tip marker – when using a washable one, test that first. Some marker dyes and some fabrics really like each other… Also, when your fabrics are light and rather thin, dark or intense colours may shine through.

Mark the batting inside the Small Flower Template…

…with a felt tip marker. – If you want to mark multiple pieces of batting honey-comb fashion, place the template so the marking of the previous hexies shows inside the template.

Cut the batting on the marked line or cut the line off – the idea is to have the batting a little bit smaller than the hexie.

For folded hexies (Trefoil or Pinwheel), mark the center of the batting. You can fold the batting in half and in half again…

…and mark the folded tip.

Basting/securing the batting

Start the folded hexie (in the background) as usual,…

…then insert the needle in the center of the batting. – Now you have two options for basting: 1. lift the corners of the batting and apply some glue stick (yes, after you pulled the thread through the center – prevents sticky fingers)…

…or 2. baste it with a few stitches using a second thread so you can pull it out later – I should have used a different colour thread to emphasise this more. – Alternatively, you can secure the batting with “nice” stitches, in which case you can use the same thread.

This is what the basting looks like on the reverse.

For Plain and Half Hexies, just start basting without tying a knot. Glue basting might come off when turning the hexie.

Make sure you catch only one layer of the fabric, else you can’t turn it.

The reverse = second layer: no stitches.

Alternatively you can baste or secure the batting just after you marked the hexies – this way you’ve got to deal only with one layer of fabric.

For you to do

From “plenty” to “nothing” – as you like:

“Nothing” consists in bookmarking this page for further reference 😉

“Plenty” could consist in taking for instance a couple each of the Pinwheel Hexies, Plain Hexies and Half Hexies, the same type of batting for all, and then testing whether you prefer securing the batting in advance to making the hexie or afterwards.

At the same time you can try out the different ways of securing them.

Next time

My review revealed that the content could do with a different organisation or structure. Therefore the rest of this workshop/tutorial will be in form of mini-posts.

If you have any questions, please post them in the comments 🙂

Maria