How to Make a Block-Printed Machine Cover - Seamwork

Where does your machine spend most of its time? On a dedicated table? In a closet? On a shelf? Wherever it is, it needs protection from dust, pet dander, and maybe even from small, curious hands. Creating a custom block printed machine cover is the perfect way to keep your machine running smoothly while adding some personal flair to your sewing space.

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We’re going to explore pattern drafting and block printing basics that will result in a durable, custom machine cover. You have two sewing pattern options to choose from—a single-piece pattern that’s great for sergers, or a two-piece pattern with an opening for your sewing machine’s handle.

Gather Your Supplies

Drafting Supplies

• Clear ruler


• Measuring tape


• Large paper (or you can tape together pieces of printer paper)


• Pencil or pen


• Paper scissors


• Eraser for mistakes!

Just like sewing, printmaking has its own tools of the trade. You’ll save time and avoid frustration if you buy yourself the good stuff. I’m sharing what I’ve found to work best for me, but feel free to deviate from the list and discover what works best for you!

Block Printing Supplies

• 
  Speedball Speedy-Carve blocks. I prefer using these rubber sheets because they are softer than linoleum mounted on wood. I find they print more evenly on fabric and don’t dull your blades as quickly.


• Linoleum cutter


• 
  Block printing ink for fabric, or screen printing ink for fabric. I prefer to use screen printing ink because it tends to be water-based and thus less smelly. It has great coverage, and I’m pretty sure it dries faster and is less prone to smudging.


• 
  Foam brayer, or brayer. Foam rollers apply a lot more ink to the blocks, which is great for printing on fabric.


• Reusable airtight cups (if you plan to mix your own colors)


• Palette knife, or craft stick for applying and mixing your ink


• A plate or surface for rolling out your ink. I like to use these Target plates.


• Barren (for applying even pressure)


• Damp rag


• Scrap fabric for test printing

Sewing Supplies

• Pre-washed canvas fabric. I’m using 10oz cotton duck, yardage determined by your self-drafted pattern.


• Matching thread


• Jeans needles


• Iron

Draft Your Pattern

Block Print Your Fabric

Surface Patterns

Repeating a shape, line, or color creates a surface pattern. I like to use basic geometric and organic shapes in various sizes when block printing on fabric. You can make a pretty fun pattern with just a single shape in a single color, but feel free to go wild! You can even experiment with overlapping prints once layers dry.

Basic Surface Patterns

You can achieve a wide variety of patterns just by rotating a single block 90° or 180°, or a combination of the two.

Rotation Repeat: When a block is rotated around a single point.

The possibilities are endless! You can also achieve really delicate lines with practice. Play around and have fun
coming up with your surface design.

Mixing Colors

First, make sure you’ve pre-washed your fabric to remove any sizing that could impact how the ink takes to the fabric. Cut out your fabric before you block print. It will take less time and space, and you will have more control over the placement of your surface design. Give it a good press to avoid printing on folds and wrinkles.

You can create an endless variety of colors from a simple set of primaries—blue, red, yellow—plus white and black. One thing to keep in mind if you’re mixing your own colors is to add color in small increments. You can always add more, but you can’t take it away. Be especially careful with darker hues as they’re very powerful! I recommend using resealable plastic containers to store your premixed colors. If you’re feeling nervous about color mixing, try printing black or white on a colored canvas.

Step 01
Cover your printing space with paper for easy clean-up. Draw your design onto the rubber block using a pencil or permanent marker, and carve out the negative space around your design. Linoleum cutters are relatively cheap tools that come with interchangeable, disposable blades. On a small piece of rubber, test out the blades.

To use, hold the blade at a 45° angle to the block and apply even pressure. The rubber sheets are quite soft, so be sure to not dip the blade too far below the surface. Always push the tool AWAY from your body and the hand holding the block.

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Step 02
I always recommend doing a few test prints on scrap fabric before printing. Using your brayer, evenly spread the ink out on the plate and roll the ink onto the block. Use the damp rag to remove any ink if it gets where it shouldn’t be.

Step 03
Carefully place your block on your fabric. Be focused as there’s nothing worse than accidentally dropping an inked block onto your work.

Step 04
Use the barren to evenly apply pressure. If you don’t have one, make sure you press the entire block firmly with your fingers.

Step 04
Remove the block and admire your work! If you’re unsure, peel up one corner and check that your print is even. With a steady hand, you can sometimes place the block back down and press it again. Embrace mistakes—it’s all part of the learning process and block printing is wonky by nature.

Repeat steps 1-5 until you’re satisfied with the overall design. Thoroughly wash your inked tools and blocks so they last a long time.

Sew It All Up

Step 01
Allow your printed fabric to dry for at least 24 hours and then heat set the ink with a hot iron. Iron from the wrong side to avoid getting any ink on the faceplate of the iron. You can also use a press cloth. Don’t skip this step! Smudges are likely if the ink doesn’t set properly.

Step 02
This step is for the two-piece cover, for the one-piece, skip to Step 03.

Place pieces right sides together, matching handle notches, and sew, leaving the space between the notches open. This will be your handle opening. Press seam open. Turn raw edges under 1/4” and edgestitch. Optional: Add bar tacks to handle openings.

Step 03
With right sides together, sew the sides together (height length). Finish seams as desired—I chose to press open and serge mine.

Step 04
Sew the boxed corners. Pinch the opening between the top and side together. Match seams on the two-piece, and match the side seam with the top notch on the one-piece. Sew and finish seams as desired—I chose to serge. Repeat for the other side.

Step 05
Hem! If you also drafted a 3/4” hem, first press hem 1/4”, then fold again 1/2”. Turn it right sides out and admire your work.

That’s it! You’ve made one good-looking block printed sewing machine cover. Your machine will thank you for its snazzy new cover.

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​I was getting a bit tired (and depressed, really) of the white vinyl machine cover with black piping that came with my sewing machine.  Last week I decided that I had put up with it long enough and I should make myself a new one.  I took some pictures along the way and wrote a tutorial so you can make one, too.  It's a simple design with the added feature of a handle slot so you can carry it with the cover on.  You can leave this feature out if you want to simplify it even more.  The directions work for any size sewing machine.  It just requires you to make a few measurements or find the dimensions of your machine from the manual or manufacturer's website.

Here's what you will need (exact amounts will depend on the size of your machine):
 - 1 yard of fabric for main piece
 - Fat quarter for side pieces
 - 1 1/3 yards of interfacing or stabilizer
 - 2 yards of binding
​ - 2.5" x 10" scrap of fabric to match main fabric
 - Scissors
 - Sewing machine
 - Matching thread
 - Round object (approximately 2" diameter)
 - Marking pen/pencil

​Let's get started!

Make note of each measurement on a piece of paper.  It's helpful to draw some pictures to help you visualize.  Draw a three-dimensional box shape to represent your sewing machine and label the height, width, and depth.  The diagram here shows the shapes of the two pattern pieces that make up the cover.  

​To determine the length of fabric to cut for the main part of your cover, compute the following: 2H + D + 1.  In other words, multiply the height measurement by two, add the depth measurement, and add an inch for ease.  There is no seam allowance required for this portion.  To determine the width of fabric to cut for the main part of your cover, compute the following: W + 1 + 2SA.  In other words, the width measurement plus an inch of ease plus a seam allowance of your choice for both sides (1/4" to 1/2" is sufficient).

​To determine the height to cut your side pieces, compute the following: H + 1 + SA.  In other words, height plus an inch of ease plus a seam allowance for the top only.  To determine the width to cut your side pieces, compute the following: W + 1 + 2SA.  In other words, width plus an inch of ease plus a seam allowance for both sides of the side piece.

Write all these new measurements alongside the diagram along the corresponding side.  Double check all your original measurements and your calculated measurements.
Cut your main fabric piece to size.  Make sure to square off the edges and sides before cutting to make sure any printed designs are even in the finished piece.   Cut two pieces of fabric for your side pieces.  Use a small round object (such as a tube, cup, or other household item) and a pen or pencil to draw a quarter circle at the top corners of both side pieces.  Cut along these lines to round the corners. Cut fusible interfacing or stabilizer for each piece of fabric you cut in the previous steps.  Fuse it to the wrong side following the directions on the packaging. Fold the main fabric piece in half, matching the shorter edges, and iron a crease all along the folded edge.  This will help you get an accurate placement for the handle opening, as well as placement of the side pieces later on.  The next steps will require your scrap fabric piece. Cut your scrap of fabric about 2.5" wide and two inches longer than the length of your handle.  Use a fabric marking pencil to draw a line down the center of the fabric.  The line should be as long as your handle plus an inch.  Center the line as best you can, but exactness is not essential. Place the scrap of fabric on the right side of the main fabric piece so that the line you drew matches up with the crease.  The line should be placed so that it is the right distance from each side.  Refer to your handle measurements for placement, taking into account that you added ease and seam allowances to the main fabric piece.  Pin the scrap in place. Baste the scrap of fabric to the main fabric piece along the blue line using a long stitch on your sewing machine.  Using a shorter stitch, sew 1/4" to either side of the line along the length.  At the ends of the line, your stitches should be right up against the line.   Fold the main body piece and scrap in half across the line and cut through all the layers (you should be cutting along the blue line only).  Unfold and cut through the blue line and basting stitches, stopping 1/4" from the ends of the line.  Then cut towards the corners, being careful not to cut through the stitches. Cut off any excess fabric and cut away the corners of the scrap fabric, angling the sides as shown in the picture.  Make sure to leave at least 1/2" of fabric on all sides. Push the sides of the scrap of fabric through the cut you made.  Pull the fabric until it disappears underneath the main fabric piece.  Press with a hot iron.  Top stitch to secure all the layers. You will now pin the side pieces to the main fabric piece.  First, fold a side piece in half so that the rounded corners meet, then finger press to make a crease along the top edge.  Match this crease to the crease in the main fabric piece and pin at the creases.  Continue pinning the side piece to the main fabric, paying careful attention at the rounded corners.  Use as many pins as you need.  Begin sewing where you matched the creases and stitch to the bottom edge.  Cut the thread, then go back to the center crease and sew to the other bottom edge, overlapping the stitching at the crease.  Do this for both sides.  Turn the cover right side out and trim any edges along the bottom that are too long.  Test the fit on your sewing machine and trim if necessary. Beginning on the back side of the cover, sew the binding to the inside, matching the raw edges of the binding and cover.  When you get all the way around and back to the back side, join the ends of the binding tape.  Iron the seam, then finish sewing the binding down.  

​Note: If you need a refresher on binding tape, this one is great.   Flip the binding to the right side and top stitch in place close to the edge.  You can use pins or clips to keep the binding in place, or you can "freehand" it.