Hello Sewing Friends! Tamar here from Tamar Hope Designs! Have you ever sewn with a panel? I’m excited to talk about panels today, because they can be so much fun! They allow you to add a little extra personality and individuality to your sewing projects. They can be a little tricky to utilize, so let’s take a look at a few tips to using panels and color blocking if the panel doesn’t fit on the pattern piece.
Cutting
The first tip to using panels is to take extra time and care when cutting! The last thing you want to do is cut the panel crooked or too high or too low on the shirt front. Line up the center of the pattern piece with the center of the panel design. Make sure to take into account the seam allowances when lining the panel up.
If your panel is too small for the shirt front, you’ll have to do some color blocking. Draw a line on the fabric using a removable sewing pen where you want the color block seam. If you want to use a curve, carefully draw half of the curve.
Using a ruler, draw a line ⅜” above the first line. This will be your seam allowance.
Cut half of the shirt out, fold it in half, and cut the other half. This will ensure that your curved color blocking line is symmetrical.
Place the fabric for the top of the color block under the bottom panel.
Trace the color blocking line.
Use a ruler to draw a line ⅜” below the color blocking line.
Sewing
If you want to add a strip of trim, cut a length of knit fabric 1 ½ “ wide and sew it along the top of the bottom color block. Stretch it slightly as you attach to allow it to lay flat.
Lay the top color block piece on top of the bottom color block piece right sides together. Sew to attach.
Press and topstitch. If your seam is wavy after topstitching, press with lots of steam.
Finish your top according to the directions. Gardenia is a great canvas for color-blocking. I just love those sweet puffed sleeves!
Now go sew up all the panels! Or just experiment with some fun color blocking. Once you know how to color block, the sky is the limit!
Happy Sewing!
-Tamar
