Paper-piecing Tutorial
Paper-piece your way to the perfect birthday and all-occasion makes with Sue Hughes’s easy-to-follow step-by-step guide
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Master this traditional paper-piecing technique to add the wow-factor to your card designs!
Paper-piecing is a fun way to add texture, interest and patterns to your design. It’s a great alternative to colouring stamped images and a fabulous way to use any scraps of patterned paper that are just too good to throw away!
You’ll need to consider the scale of the pattern on the paper – dots, stripes, gingham, small flowers etc. all look particularly effective. It’s good to use a variety of patterns on one image, however too many strong patterns may look too busy and distract from the overall design.
Select images to paper-piece that have clearly defined spaces that can be filled with patterns. As well as using stamped images, it’s also possible to paper-piece digital images. Many printers allow you to print directly onto varying sizes of paper. Alternatively, you can attach smaller pieces of patterned paper onto A4 printer paper with a small amount of sticky tape ready to print.
Paper-piecing Tutorial
Start by stamping or printing the image onto cardstock or paper, this will be the focal image. Stamp again onto your choice of papers and decide which parts you want to cut from which papers. For best results use sharp, detail scissors and cut in the middle of the stamped lines. Then place the cut out pieces onto the same area on the focal stamped image.
For accuracy and a neat finish use a wet glue with a fine nozzle or glue pen. A simplified version of this is to stamp a main image and layer up smaller details with patterns, the overall effect is the same. You don’t need to cover the entire image with patterned papers either, parts of the image can be coloured in first and extra detail added with papers.
Print the hydrangea digital stamp onto stripy paper and die-cut into a circle
Print the digital stamp onto green patterned paper, cut out the leaves and stems then attach to the image on the card front. Print the same image onto pale pink, dark pink, blue and white patterned paper
Cut out the individual flowers then attach to the main image as shown
You will need
- white & orange cardstock
- Dovecraft Back to Basics Bright Spark 8x8” paper pad
- Woodware Clear Magic Mosaic Elephant stamp
- Onyx Black VersaFine inkpad
- 3D foam pads
You will need
- white & pink cardstock
- Dovecraft Back to Basics 8x8” Bright Spark paper pad
- Woodware Clear Magic Mosaic Heart stamp
- Onyx Black VersaFine inkpad
- 3D foam pads
You will need
- white & dark pink cardstock
- Dovecraft Back to Basics 8x8” Bright Spark paper pad
- DigiStamp Boutique Hydrangea set digital stamps
- Clearly Besotted Stamps Say What? stamp set
- circle and scalloped circle nesting dies
- Onyx Black VersaFine inkpad
- pink pearls
- manual die-cutting machine
You will need
- white & pink cardstock
- Dovecraft Back to Basics 8x8” Bright Spark paper pad
- Woodware Clear Magic Three in a Box stamp
- Clearly Besotted Message Me stamp set
- Onyx Black VersaFine inkpad
- 3D foam pads
You will need
- White & orange cardstock
- Dovecraft Back to Basics 8x8” Bright Spark paper pad
- Man of the Moment gift from Papercraft Essentials issue 159
- Your Next Stamp Cool Tag Banner Sentiments
- Onyx Black VersaFine inkpad
You will need
- white & orange cardstock
- Dovecraft Back to Basics 8x8” paper pad
- Copic markers
- DigiStamp Boutique Star Harry digital stamp
- Your Next Stamp Cool Tag Banner Sentiments
- Onyx Black VersaFink inkpad
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