W

Uppercase and lowercase W/w

(see end for alternate lowercase w)

I started with the capitol W by constructing the inner lower vertex, laying a 2″ strip at an angle.  I stitched along that upper left edge of the dark piece (stopping at the end of the cut fabric), trimmed it and repeated with the other side (below):

Of course, now I can see already that it’s too short. If you are a first-timer making a W, you'll be wondering what I'm talking about.  Since I've done a few letters, I've gotten the "sense" of what's too short or too long in the making.  (Just keep going and you'll get it.)

 I’ll lengthen it by sewing on another piece, but first up, I need to add fabrics to the side so I can add the side stems of the W.

The background fabrics are stitched on, and I laid a square of background fabric across the pointed vertex and stitched to add more length (hidden).

As shown, I laid another 2″ strip at an angle, because I’ll sew it and flip it back to create the stem on the left.  This is all sort of an expanded V, or an upside M.

After I stitched on the stems on both sides, pressed it to the dark (so the letter floats on the background), I sewed on more side background pieces (below).  Yes, I ran out of the original as I’m making this all from scraps.

I trimmed and trimmed until I got it the way I like it.  P.S. It’s much wider than all the other letters.

 

Starting the lowercase w by sewing on first the right side of the vertex, trimming, then the left side. Here you see the background fabric from behind the short stem on the left.  I trimmed it off, and then sewed it to the stem (I did that for both sides).

I sewed on another 1 1/2″ strip on the left and on the right to finish off my w.  But I since this is slightly directional background fabric (with a vertical and a horizontal) I wanted to keep the same angle with the side background pieces. I laid the assembled until on top of the background piece, and laid my ruler on the dark letter stem and cut the background at the same angle.

I then sewed it on, pressed to the dark and called it done.  Hunter’s construction, truthfully was a little more complex, but I was tired and this was done and I wasn’t going to re-sew any of it.

Here’s another way to make a lower case w.

To start with, sew a 1-1/2″ square to the lower end of a 1-1/2″ strip.  These are the inner sections of the w.

Now cut a strip of the blue (1-1/2″ wide) for either side.  Make the center assembly:

1- Cut a white piece about 1″ by 1-1/2″ and snowball on two 1″ squares–but note they are raised from the corner.  Obviously mine are pretty wonky.

2–Sew that to a 1-1/2″ wide strip of blue.  Cut it so it ends about 2″ short of the top of the letter.

3–Sew a chunk of white on top of the blue.

4–Now sew all those pieces together.  Here it is in a word, so you can see how it looks.  You could narrow that center piece, or the two side filler pieces (shown at the beginning) if you think the w is too wide.  Have fun!

w is for WIP, WOF (width of fabric), walking foot, and Winter: Branches

Winter: Branches, from here (No. 61)