RWB Sleeve

A friend has made a Red, White and Blue kite and it is time to make a sleeve for the kite. These are the plans for making a Red, White and Blue Fold-Over Kite Sleeve.

The kite is 33" inches long. The Fold-Over top is 3". 33 plus 3 = 36". 36" divided by 3 colors is 12" per color. But wait, there is more.

Assuming that Blue is the bottom color and Red is the top color, the Blue and the White panels are all the same. The panels are already cut to be 4-1/2" wide. We will add 2 half-inch seam allowances to our 12" dimension.

Cut 2 Blue panels, each 13" long. Cut 2 White panels, each 13" long.

The Red panels are different. Each panel needs a Hem on one end. We do 3/8" hems. One Red panel need to be 3" longer than the other.

Cut ONE Red panel 12-5/8" long. Cut ONE Red panel 15-5/8" long.

Sleeve Assembly:  Find a Blue panel and a White panel. Align them so that all their edges match up, and sew across one end, using the magnet and the width of the Presser Foot for an allownace. HINT: 3 small pieces of Seamstick will work just like it has been Hot Tacked. In the pic below, one end of the 13" x 4-1/2" panel has 3 pieces of seamstick. Peel them and place the White panel on top of the Blue.

In the pic below, the white backing has been peeled off of the Seamstick, and the White panel placed on top of the Blue panel. Look closely and you can see the dark rectangles of the Blue showing through the Seamstick.

To keep things simple, get all the seams ready to sew, and then sew all 4 seams before removing the magnet..

Don't worry about felling (folding) and top sewing the seams yet. Keep the magnet in place and keep sewing seams.

BEFORE YOU REMOVE THE MAGNET to finish the seams, Mark the end of each Red panel for a 3/8" hem. Notice in the pic below that the chalk line for folding the hem is on the GOOD side of the bag.

Crease and sew the hem(s). The pic below is trying to show that the bad side, the inside, of the hem, is on the same side as the insides of the seams.

The next step is to finish the seams. Fold them towards the bottom of the bag. All seams fold towards the Blue panels. The pic below shows the seams are folded towards the Blue and sewn. I use a straight stitch, but Zig-Zag covers a multitude of sins ...

When all 4 seams have been top-stitched, it is time to sew the bag together. In a perfect world, the bag panels would be Hot Tacked all the way around the edges, and the bag would be sewn together in one pass. But not everyone has a Hot Tacker.

Put the magnet back on the machine and set up for Straight Stitch. The easiest way to get the Fold-Lok Top aligned correctly is to start sewing at the Blue and sew up one side of the bag to the Red.

 Okay - we have 2 panel strips, and one is 3" longer than the other. Take the LONGER strip and lay it out GOOD side up. Put a small piece of Seamstick on the bottom right corner of the GOOD side of the Blue panel.

 Then take the SHORTER strip and align on the longer strip, with the BAD side up. Said another way, we want GOOD sides together. Line up the corners, peel the white backing from the Seamstick, and stick the panels together, as below.

Before sewing the edge of the bag, put a mark on the Red, 6 inches in from the end of the bag.

The pic above is to show the mark that is 6 inches from the end of the bag. Please do not look at the far left hem, because it is upside down. It is bad side up and it should be GOOD side up.

When you are sure that GOOD sides are together, shorter strip is on top, and Red is marked 6" in from the end, sew up one side of the bag.

Above shows sewing up one side of the bag and how easy it is to line up the edges using a sewing magnet.

Sew until the mark on the Red is on the throat of the machine.

Put a small piece of Seamstick on the right side of the closest end of the Red.

Peel off the backing and fold up the longer Red to fit underneath the shorter Red. The FOLD of the bottom Red should be a little bit towards the sewer from the hem of the shorter Red Panel.

Sew all the way to the end and backtack.

Remove your work, trim the thread, and go back to that corner on the Blue where you started sewing the edge. Start sewing in that same corner and sew up the remaining 2 sides of the bag.

The Red will automagically be where it needs to be when you get there.

Sew all the way to the end and backtack.

Now just turn the bag inside out, and you are done!

Above the bag has been turned inside out and the kite is laid next to it.

The pic above is to show that the finished bag is 3" longer than the kite.

RWB Facet Kite Options

These are some options for making a Red, White and Blue Facet Kite.

The first option is making Margaret Greger's 3-step, 4-sided Facet.

Because there are 3 different size squares, and 3 different colors, picking what color goes where is easy. The kite requires 4 eight-inch squares, 4 sixteen-inch squares, and 2 twenty-four inch squares. That makes 10 panels to make the kite.

The next option is is making a 6-sided 'SquareFlake'. This is our infamous 24", four-sided SquareFlake made with 3 inside squares instead of 2.

The kite uses 3 twenty-four inch squares and 6 twelve-inch squares. Fewer parts and less sewing than the first option.

Another option that we discussed was the 'standard' Facet Kite that most people call a Snowflake.

This kite has 3 big squares, 6 medium squares, and 6 small squares. !5 squares to make the kite. That is a lot of sewing.

There is one more option. File this one under, "Don't even think about it."

This is a 'burst' pattern Facet.

If that is what you want to do, CLICK HERE and get to work. Call me when you are done. Send pictures. :)

Eyelet

The question is: How do you install an eyelet? Answer: Carefully. Very carefully.

Let us first assume that you have been to JoAnn Fabric, or some similar box store, or your friendly neighborhood 'Sew & Vac', and have purchased a package of Dritz 5/32 Eyelets and the Setting Tool for said eyelets.

So far, so good. Now, the intention is to set an eyelet somewhere on a large by huge surface, of, say, a Rokkaku kite. If you are following the Rokkaku Plans, you have cut your patches and sewn them in place.

Below is a sample of sewing the patch: This is just a piece of scrap, not an actual kite.

Patch is sewn in its desired position. Below is a picture of a patch, an eyelet, the eyelet setting tool, and a template the I use to center the hole for the eyelet.

Below is a picture of all the tools required:

In the pic above, top to bottom and left to right, a rawhide hammer, patch, eyelet & eyelet tool, centering template, and on the bottom a #3 drive punch.

Your mileage may vary. In the foreground of the pic above is a #3 drive punch. I use it because I had it already. It gives a nice, clean hole that is slightly smaller than the eyelet. Plus, it requires the same hammer that will be used to set the eyelet.

Having said that, many people use their Wood Burner with the Dot Tip to burn the hole. This is one of the first tools that aspiring kite makers buy. It is a hot knife for hot cutting, and with an additional spring it becomes a Hot Tacker.

Okay - patch is sewn on and we need to make the hole. I use a drive punch on a 1/4" rubber mat. The Centering Template is placed on the patch, and the hole is punched. See below:

Okay, now we have our hole. Let us introduce the eyelet to the hole.

Below, the eyelet is placed in the direction that it will be inserted in to the hole.

Below, the eyelet is placed in the hole.

Blow, what it looks like on the business end of things.

In a perfect world, I like to use the Eyelet Setting Tool against a piece of scrap wood. In this case, I used this 1/4" rubber mat. The softer surface makes the face of the eyelet bulge, which some kite makers find undesirable. In Kite Making Workshops we usually use a small piece of 2 x 4 to pound the eyelets.

Below, the Eyelet Tool is set in the eyelet.

Just hit it with a hammer.

Hitting it with the hammer flares out the sides of the eyelet. Rub your finger over this and you will see that it is kind of rough. I give those teeth another light tap with the hammer to flatten them out.

And, thar she be, an eyelet set for all the world to see.