Hi friends!
Do you have a fabric swatch card that is helpful only until you want to match up certain colors and they are just too far away from each other on the card? I cut up my Kona color card long ago and added a magnetic backing to them for use on my metal peg board. All of my other swatch cards are not set up to easily do this, and today’s project will help you! Follow along to learn how to make your very own fabric swatch cards from any fabric swatch booklet.
I am showing you step by step how to take that fabric swatch card of yours and make it into handy little swatch cards that you can keep organized in a little box or add a magnetic backing to display on a metal pegboard!
For the main example I used a swatch card from Paintbrush Studio Fabrics - Painter’s Palette Solids, follow along to the end to see how you can incorporate the exact same measurements for other cards like Art Gallery Fabrics Pure Elements / Michael Miller Fabrics Cotton Couture Solids / RJR Fabrics Cotton Supreme Solids.
Materials needed
Some affiliate links are included for products I use and recommend.
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Swatch card Robert Kaufman Kona Solids and Moda Bella Solids Card
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Scissors (for paper) or an old rotary cutter (I have one I specifically use just on paper projects)
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Fabric glue or any heavy duty glue
Instructions
Begin by cutting each column of fabric swatch and color name off of the main card. Its important to only work on one color at a time so color names and swatches do not get mixed up. Here you can see I cut just to the right of the fabric names. You will begin to peel off the fabric swatches, they are usually glued down to the paper.
Make sure to peel the fabric strip off keeping a bit of the paper on the back. This will keep your colors in order and not make for confusion when making each card.
Lay your fabric swatch strip in order and peel off the first color. Trim the fabric swatch to just under 1” square.
Now working in order with the fabric names, cut your name piece from the strip of fabric names. It worked out to measure each name 1/2” tall x 1” wide or just under. Using an acrylic ruler is helpful to keep everything nice and straight. (note: the color name shown is not the actual match for my fabric example)
No we can begin cutting out our backing piece. I love using comic book board for this because its almost identical to the swatch card’s paper weight, and it makes for a rigid swatch card that will not bend or wear easily. They also make excellent boards for folding your fat quarters and small yardage of fabric around for storing. Cut your comic book board into pieces measuring 1” x 1 1/2”.
Take your fabric glue and add a small amount onto the area where your fabric piece will go. The less glue you use the better - I got a little heavy handed with mine and it left a wet look on some of my finished cards. Overall they are still completely usable, but some of you might not like the finished look. Place your fabric on the glue area at the top of the new swatch card.
Now take your matching name piece that measures 1/2” x 1”, apply glue to the back and place on the bottom area of the swatch card.
If you would like to add a magnetic backing to your swatch card take a sheet of adhesive magnet sheets and cut into pieces measuring 1” x 1 1/2”.
Peel off the paper backing and stick to the back of your swatch card. This material is very easy to cut so any magnetic sheet that is visible from the front you can just cut away using scissors.
Continue making your swatch cards going column by column, this helps ensure that you do not lose track of your fabric + name combos.
Below you can see the same measurements used on other fabric companies swatch cards
Art Gallery Fabrics - Pure Elements
Michael Miller Fabrics - Cotton Couture Solids
RJR Fabrics - Cotton Supreme Solids
I hope you enjoyed today’s project! This has been such a big help when planning quilt projects and I hope it helps you as well. Adding a link to my Amazon store where you can find all of the products I used today along with some of my favorite sewing notions. Included in that list is a link to the metal pegboard system I use in my own craft room that I highly recommend.
Happy sewing friends!
Nicole