Dresden's ~ all the rage!

There has been so much chatter lately about the Dresden Plates made using Darlene Zimmerman's tool. The other day Bunny Hill had a funny blog about how making them is almost a disease! They really are addicting!! A few years ago I got hooked on them during a Dresden exchange and now I have a stack of them just waiting for the right opportunity. I've made tiny Dresden's for ornaments and big ones for pillows. Truly ... the trick is this tool.

Basically ... you decide which size you want to make ... cut your fabric to that width ... then just move the tool back and forth across the fabric until you have a bunch cut up.I think I was able to get two out of a 5" charm.

They were pretty easy to chain piece. You fold them in half RST  sew across the top ... then add another.

Turn them right side out and press them evenly. There's a little tool in the pack for poking out the points. Arrange them into plates and then ... here's the trick. When you start to sew them together start 1/4" below the beginning of the seam. Backstitch up to the edge and then continue to the bottom. What this does is keep from having to clip your thread ends and keeps the edges nice and neat and secure. Before you know it you have a whole pile of plates! I like to wait and press them all at once to make sure they press out to the same roundness and size. They are so pretty ... you'll want to make a stack and just keep them on your shelf!