Foldover Hexagon Tutorial

At my guild meeting this month Emma from Quilties taught us how to make foldover hexagons. I've seen them around lately and thought it would be fun to write up a tutorial on how to make them since I haven't seen one posted.

I'm excited about this method because you don't need to do any hand sewing! You'll need to make your own templates and then have a pair of scissors, an iron, pins, and a sewing machine handy for this.

This is the size of template I used. You can find a hexagon template maker here and just print it on card stock or other heavy paper. It's great for charm squares - the large one just fits. The large size is 2 1/2" on each edge and the smaller template is cut from the center with a 1 5/8" side.

So you cut out one of each size for the number of hexagons you'd like. I did nine of each size. To do this trace your template onto the wrong side of the fabric and then cut just inside the line.

Once you have them all cut out then you're ready for the pressing stage. Use the template to help you center your smaller hexagon inside the larger one. Place them WRONG sides together.

At the meeting Emma suggested pressing at least two at a time this helps reduce burning because by the time you finish pressing the second one the first has cooled enough to touch.

Now press the first side in touching the edge of the outer hexagon to the edge of the inner hexagon butting them up but not overlapping.

Then fold again. With this second fold you are folding it over the inside hexagon and when you top stitch it will be all enclosed. The first fold just butts up to it but the second fold covers the small hexagon. Basically you're just creating a double fold edge. You'll want to use steam or starch to help it stay flat.

Repeat those steps with side two. Fold over the second side until it just butts up but doesn't overlap the inner hexagon. Make sure to make a nice crisp corner.

Fold over again making sure not to fold the inner layer at all.

Then you'll place a pin at the corner to help hold the fold in place. Catch as little as you can with the pin to help it stay flat.

Continue all around the hexagon until it is all folded and pinned. You can give it an extra press here with more starch and steam if you need to.

Then sew around the inner edge with your machine keeping fairly close to the edge. I did about a 1/16" seam pivoting at the folds.

That's all you need to do to complete the hexagons. They are now completely finished with no raw edges hanging out. The pink one on the right is flipped over so you can see the back side.

I'm sure there are many methods to attach these to something so I'll just briefly tell you what I did and leave it at that. I pinned them onto my background fabric then sewed around the outside edge of each hexagon with the same 1/16" seam allowance I used on the inside edge. It holds them in place nicely and looks pretty.

I made a cushion cover with mine doing a bit of echo quilting around the outside of the hexagons.

Here's a bit of a closeup of the pillow. You can see the top stitching really well on the navy one in the bottom left.

Finish off with an envelope backing and you're good to go.

I hope you like this tutorial! Let me know if you have any questions. Thanks for stopping by! I'm linking up with TGIFF and Finish It Up Friday.