Paper piecings can add that little extra touch to a page layout or even a card. There are pre-made paper piecings readily available through your local craft stores, but once you get accustomed to piecing those together, you could easily venture into making your own by using patterns such as coloring pages, printouts, and more along with cardstock, patterned paper, etc. For the purpose of this how-to though, we will focus on pre-made paper piecings. Pre-made paper piecings come in a variety of sizes from the mini to the large as well as being available in different styles from the very simple to the very elaborate. I recommend starting with the very simple ones until you are comfortable with piecing them together.

Supplies needed:

* Paper piecing of choice (start with a simple pre-made one until you are comfortable in doing them)
* glue stick, glue pen or tape runner of choice (I prefer a glue pen because of the small pieces in some pre-made kits)
* tweezers (these are used to handle the small pieces)
* scissors
* pen (usually black or brown for detailing the paper piecing)



Step One: Choosing your paper piecing.

You can match your paper piecing to the theme of your layout or card. When choosing a pre-made paper piecing kit consider the size of your layout or card and buy the correct size piecing. Most kits will have a listing of the enclosed items on the back of the kit so that you can get an idea of how many pieces you will be dealing with.

Step Two: Set-up your work area.

Remove the pieces from the kit and arrange them on your work area so that you can readily see your pieces. Turn your kit over to the back so you can see the pieces as well as a picture of the finished product. This will help you in seeing where the pieces fit onto the paper piecing base. I recommend using a sheet of cardstock or double-sided mat as a work area for gluing your items together. This allows for easier clean-up and you won't get glue on your table or desk.



Step Three: Assembling your paper piecing.

Now that you have your pieces arranged where you can see them, it's time to start putting your paper piecing together. Choose whatever adhesive you wish to work with. I recommend a glue pen as this allows to put glue exactly where you wish it to go and some pieces may be too small to use a tape runner or a glue stick on.

Before you start gluing, look at your paper piecing pack. Study the picture of the finished product and notice how pieces are lying on top of or under other pieces. You want to start with the pieces that are on the bottom.

For this paper piecing assembly, a Mini Paperkins doll is being used. When using a pre-made kit like this, start with the clothing that is next to the doll's body. Work with your kit from the layer next to the base pattern (in this case the doll's body) and work towards the top layer.



Once you have your first layer ready, apply glue to the piece and then using your tweezers (if the item is small or you wish to not get glue everywhere) place it onto the pattern base.



Some kits will come with different items so that you can personalize the piecing more to your layout or to match the subject in your picture. The kit used in this demonstration came with a pair of brown boots and a pair of black boots. You could choose either one to use, cut the soles of the unused pair and place that on top of the sole of the pair being used. This picture shows the soles of the black pair being cut off so that they can be put onto the brown pair that is being used in the piecing.



Continue adhering the pieces to the pattern base using the back of your kit's package as a guideline until you have the finished product.



Step Four: Detailing your piecing (if desired). Once you have all the pieces onto the pattern base, allow them to dry thoroughly. Once dried completely, using your pen (color of choice) you can add details to the pattern to add definition. Again, using the back of your kit's package as a guideline, apply the defining lines, etc. to your pattern.

Note: Most character paper piecing kits will come with the facial features on them.



That's it. You have just assembled your first paper piecing.

This is the final product with detailing completed.



Example: This layout uses the Mini Paperkins doll, Barry Builder, which was the subject of this how-to.





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