Cicada English Paper pieced Walkthrough

Cicada English Paper pieced Walkthrough

Ahh the sounds of summer in the midwest! That deafening buzzing sound, it can only be one thing. 

Cicadas! 

I am so excited for BroodX even though this time I am no where near any cicadas! I grew up listening to the sounds of cicadas every summer, I am excited to share this pattern with y'all! 

You can find the pattern here! On sale for a limited time! 

 

 

First of all let's print and cut out our pattern and grab our fabrics. There are a few long pieces so larger cuts of fabric will be needed for those, but the rest of the pieces are smaller and great for those smaller scraps you otherwise would have thrown out! I used one print from Ruby Star Society and the others are solids from Kona Cotton. 

The other tools I used is a matching thread from Aurifil, a size 10 milliners needle, glue stick for basting and some serious snips.

 

The next step is to decide where to start. I started with the body. The wings look fiddly but I promise they're not so bad! If you are dreading those maybe start with the body and take it slow. The larger pieces certainly are easier to work with. 

This part came together quickly. I had no problems with those creepy eyes even though I thought it would be annoying to line up! 

     

Basting those thin pieces was a bit tricky. I didn't bother clipping my curves because they are so small. It worked out for me, your milage may vary. Just like in my other patterns, I broke the wing down into manageable set and sewed it together that way. As you can see in the photo above I basically have two rows sewn together and the outer wing piece. 

 Repeat for the other side. Don't forget to add those tiny feet. I found it was easiest to sew the two feet pieces together and then attach them to the cicada. For both the wings and the legs I kinda moved the pieces up and down a bit til they slipped into place.

 

Be sure to post your progress on Instagram! Use #CicadaEPP to find other makes! 

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