A Kantha panel uses squares of cloth that are all the same size. Cutting them well takes a template, sharp scissors and a little patience. Photographing them well takes daylight and a flat surface.
This guide works in centimetres and does not need a rotary cutter. Cut every square 6 × 6 cm. Only the top-left 4 × 4 cm of each square shows on the finished panel.
What you need
- Cloth: cotton or linen, from scraps
- Sharp fabric scissors
- A sharp HB pencil or washable fabric marker for light cloth, or tailor’s chalk for dark cloth
- A stiff plastic lid, such as an ice-cream tub lid, or an old file folder
- A ruler
- Fine sandpaper or double-sided tape (optional, to stop the template slipping)
Choose the cloth
Cotton and linen work best. Plain and printed cloth both help the design, so keep some of each. Worn cloth is fine while it is still strong.
- Tug a corner gently. If the cloth stretches or tears, leave it.
- Leave out stretchy cloth, such as T-shirt knit.
- Leave out sheer cloth that you can see through.
- Leave out thick cloth, such as heavy denim or towel.
- Do not cut over seams, stains, holes or thin, worn spots.
Make a window template
The best template has a window in it. Cut it from the stiff plastic lid or the file folder.
- Draw a 6 × 6 cm square on the plastic. This is the outside of the template.
- In the top-left corner of that square, cut out a 4 × 4 cm hole. The hole sits flush with the top and left edges.
- Check both sizes with the ruler.
The hole is exactly what shows on the panel. The next square covers the 2 cm strips along the right and bottom edges of each square.
On printed cloth, move the window around to choose which flower or stripe will show.
If this feels fiddly, a plain 6 × 6 cm square of cereal-box card works too, though it lacks a window.
Keep the cloth from slipping
Glue small pieces of fine sandpaper under the corners of the template, and they grip the cloth without marking it. Double-sided tape or a loop of masking tape also works. A rubber jar-opener mat also works.
Trace and cut
- Line the template up with the threads of the cloth, so the square does not stretch.
- Hold the template the same way up for every square.
- Trace around the outside. Use pencil or marker on light cloth, and chalk on dark cloth. The marks wash out later.
- Cut along the line with sharp fabric scissors. A rotary cutter, ruler and mat is faster and straighter if you have one.
- Measure your first square with the ruler. It must be 6 × 6 cm.
Do not mark with a ballpoint or a permanent marker. It bleeds and will not wash out. Do not use paper scissors, because they chew the edge.
Wash, dry and iron
Wash the cut squares by hand, or put them in a mesh laundry bag. Dry them flat. Cloth from home has often shrunk already. The squares then keep their size. Washing after cutting also washes the pencil marks out.
Then press each square flat. Set the iron down, lift it and move on. Do not slide the iron back and forth, and do not stretch the square. A flat square keeps its corners square, and its photo shows its true colour.
Photograph each kind of cloth
Each kind of cloth gets one photo. In the Kantha studio, open the Cloth box tab and press Add pieces.
- Photograph the cloth in daylight, by a window.
- Lay it flat, with no shadow on it.
- Fill the square on the screen with the cloth. Keep the table and background out.
- Do not use the flash, and do not photograph under coloured light.
Kantha measures the colour from the photo. You can crop a photo again in the studio if the square is not tight enough.
Say how many you cut
After the photo, set how many squares of that cloth you cut. Kantha puts the cloth in a box.
The studio also starts with a Sample box of real cloth. You can try it before you photograph any cloth.
How many squares you need
One panel takes 35 squares. They do not have to be 35 different cloths. Squares can come from the same cloth. In the studio, you set how many you cut.
Next steps
- Open the studio and start a box.
- Read how Kantha works.
- See the Help page for the drawings.
- Read 11 Kantha patterns for 35 squares of cloth to choose a layout.