SquareFlake

SquareFlake Facet Kite Plan

The SquareFlake is the ideal workshop project, both for people who are brand new to sewing and for experienced sewers. Even though it looks complicated, it is an easy and forgiving project to sew. In over 10 years that we have lead workshops, every SquareFlake ever made has flown great. Once the basic concept is learned, it can be applied to make bigger and more complicated Snowflake facet kites.

Materials:

2/3 yard (24”) of one color. 2/3 yard (24”) of another color.

4 cabone rings, 5/8” (white plastic rings from JoAnn Fabrics)

3 dowels, 3/16 diameter, 4 feet long.

(Note: 2 four footers and a 3 footer would work.)

1 foot of 3/16” i.d. vinyl tubing

3 feet of waxed 30 pound string.

From each color of fabric, cut: 1 square, 24”, 2 squares, 12”, 2 rectangles 24”x5”, 1 strip 1”x24”

The 6 squares make the kite, the 1” strip is for making tabs, and the rectangles make the bag! Take a look at the cutting pattern below.

Cutting panels.

A straightedge and a rafter square make cutting with a hot tool fast and easy.

Panels cut for half the kite.

A 24-inch square, two 12-inch squares, two 5-inch by 24-inch Bag Parts, and a 1-inch wide strip 24 inches long. The farthest piece is leftover.

Tab Stock: Take both of the 1” strips of material. Fold in thirds lengthwise and sew. Which stitch? Yes. I like zig-zag, but it doesn’t matter, since it will be re-sewn later. The kite will need one 4” tab, two 3” tabs, and eight 2” tabs. Total 26” of tab stock.

Hem the squares.

Using a transparent quilting ruler, draw lines ¼” in from the edge. I like to use a plain #2 pencil for drawing these lines. Fold and crease fabric along those lines. ON the line, not close to it.

All hems complete.

Ripstop nylon halds a crease really well. Crease on the lines, sew along the 1/4" folded flap about 1/8" in from the edge. Hemming is the longest process of making the kite. When you are finished hemming, you are more than half done.

Join the two big squares.

Join the two big squares making a Sleeve: Find the 2 big squares. Lay one of them down, good side up (means hemmed side down). We need to mark the sleeve for the Spine. Sleeve Note: A good guideline for any sleeve for any stick, make the sleeve twice as wide as the stick. Our Spine is 3/16” in diameter, so our sleeve needs to be 3/8” wide. Near the corner, mark in the middle and measure out 3/16” and put a mark. Do this each way, both ends. Now draw a pencil line between the marks dark enough to see to sew. Only one of the squares needs to be marked.

Don't sew yet!!!

Find a 3" piece of Tab Stock.

Fold it in half. Then bend over one side to get a 90-degree angle, Fold over the other side the same way. The ends of the Tab Stock should match up.

This is how it is used.

Once folded it will be inserted between the two large squares. Put one on each end. It is best to place both of the Tab Ends before sewing the sleeve.

When you sew the sleeve, straightness counts. After the sleeve is sewn, attach the Tow Point.

Towpoint: The Towpoint is where the flying string will attach to the kite. This is the best time to attach the Tow Point. It is possible to do it later, or even last, but the sewing gets a little more tricky. It is easiest to add the Towpoint tab now before any more squares are added. It may be put on at any time, even after the kite is completed, it’s just easiest to do it now. Measure edge to confirm sail is 23-1/2 inches long. 1/3 of that is 7.8 inches. Measure down 7-7/8” and put a mark. Sew tab there. Find, or cut, a piece of Tab Stock 4 inches long and fold it in half. This makes it 2 inches long. Put it about 1-1/2" into the kite, leaving about 1/2" sticking out. Use Seamstick (1/4” wide double sided tape) to hold it to panel for sewing. Make sure it is ‘square’ to the edge of the panel.

TOWPOINT

Towpoint on a simple Corner Kite.

TOWPOINT

Towpoint on Squareflake.

TOWPOINT

Use 3 Big Squares and 6 Small Squares and this is the result.

Corner Tabs

The good news is that the Corner Tabs are an easy sew. The trickiest part of this step is finding the very corners of the kite. Identify the ‘corner’ panels first, and put tabs on them. This helps eliminate sewing wrong panels together, especially if you use tabs of a different color for the corners than for the sides. Take a piece of 2” tab stock, fold it in half and put a piece of Seamstick on the inside of each end. Place the Tab on the Corner so that the Fold is about ¼” away from the Corner of the kite. Place all four tabs on all four corners, then sew them in place

Side Tabs

Now for the fun part! Between each Corner, there are 2 panels that join at the corners to make a ‘side’. This is where we need those 4 little white rings. Find the Rings, find 4 pieces of 2” tab stock. Fold a piece of Tab Stock in half to find the middle. Mark with chalk. Cover that entire one side of the tab with Seamstick. Put one end of the Tab on one Panel so that the Corner just covers the chalk line. Thread the Tab thru a Ring, and push the ring as far on the kite as it will go. Put the other Panel on the Tab so that the Corners overlap by the width of the hem. Do all four sides.

Vinyls: Find 4 pieces of vinyl tubing 2-1/2 inches long. Thread a piece of string thru the hole in the center, then thru a Corner Tab on the kite. Tie a knot. Insert a pencil between the tubing and the tab and pull the knot tight around the pencil. Tie lots more knots. Cut the excess string and move on to the next corner. Do all four that way. Use whatever string is left to make a Knotted Loop for the Towpoint. Note: Surgeon’s Knot followed by Square Knots works best.

Frame: Find a 4 foot piece of wood dowel. Round off one end with sandpaper. Push it up into the middle Spine Sleeve. Fit it in to the Tab Stock sewn on the end. Figure out where to cut it so it will fit into the Tab Stock on the other end. Cut it to length, and round off the other end. Slide the stick up the sleeve, fit in to tabs on each end, and put the ½” vinyls over the ends. Find the other two and cut them in half. They go thru the white rings first, then in to the vinyls. If the last one is too long to go in, measure by how much it is too long. Divide by 4 and cut that much off each stick.

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