Seminole patchwork project

Seminole Indian women in the Florida Everglades developed a unique technique of piecing pieces of fabric together. The technique is simple, yet the final result seams complicated and sometimes puzzling. The origins of seminole patchwork technique go back to the early 1900s.

The basic steps of the seminole method are the following:

1. Strips of fabric are sewn together.
2. The new strip is cut into smaller pieces.
3. The new pieces are rearranged and sewn back together.

Project- part 1



Fabrics: For the project I selected a black semi-cotton fabric and an off-white fabric. The white fabric was decorated with machine seams.

1. First cut some strips out of the black and out of the white fabric (2 inches width)

2.  Sew two strips together to create a wider, two-color strip. After sewing press the seam with the iron. 

3. Cut the new strip into smaller rectangular pieces of equal size. No marking is required when using a rotary cutter and a gridded ruler. Each piece is cut at right angles to the seam lines of the strip set and each cut becomes the starting point for the next cut.

4: The smaller pieces can be rearranged in several ways and sewed back again with an 1/4'' (0,6 cm) seam allowance.

Rearrange pieces to form a checker

Rearrange pieces with an offset

5: I sew the pieces with an offset. I also added two black strips at both ends of the band.

6: With a roller cutter and a ruler straighten the band. 

7: Make the same band twice, and sew the bands together.