Paper Piecing Patterns from Coloring Books Online

Wouldn't you love to have FREE paper piecing patterns for some of those hard-to-fit themes and television characters? If you have ever had a birthday party at McDonalds, gone to Disney, perhaps have a Pokeman collector in the family or just need a Barney paper piecing, This is the place for you! Take a look at the popular topics in the links below and I know you will quickly find a theme that you and your family needs for your own scrapbook album.

This month I am going to show you how to take an online coloring page image, print it out, cut it apart, and make a paper piecing pattern from it. You will also get TONS of links to everything from brand name cartoons and comics to middle eastern coloring page graphics. Farming, camping, Batman, Scooby Doo, ballet, bible stories...you name it and we can find it in a coloring book online and then create a simple paper piecing from it. The wide variety includes anything from Arthur to Winnie the Pooh. We have thousands of paper piecing patterns at our keyboard fingertips. We can just click, print, cut, and adhesive. Of course, if you have coloring book pages from the kid's stash at home that you want to use, the very same process applies for the most part. Follow along as we go through the nine steps.

Let's get started!

Step One: Pick a Theme and Pick a Link Page
My children are going to need some Charlie Brown graphics in there upcoming scrapbook pages. Not only is Charlie Brown a classic comic, he is also a Minnesota native! (We live in Minnesota.) There are lots of Charlie Brown themed pages for us to do in our Mall of America's Camp Snoopy. So off to the Charlie Brown coloring pages I go for print outs of coloring pages to use as my example graphics.
http://www.unitedmedia.com/comics/peanuts/fun_and_games/coloring_book.html

Regardless of which theme pages you choose to pull graphics from, you will follow the same routine at this point. Just find a popular image link below and click on it to get to that particular coloring book. You will probably see several pictures within the theme or link on the pages you have chosen.

My Charlie Brown pages had more than 4 images to choose from.

Step Two: Bookmark It
At this point, don't forget to bookmark the page you are using in case you need more copies of the coloring book image. It will save you a little time when a friend oooh's and ahhh's over the finished paper piecing and and just HAS to have the same pattern.... ;)

Step Three: Isolate The Image
Once you find a coloring book page image you like, you need to isolate it on your screen. Try a left click on it. This usually brings you to just that page by itself. If it does not, try a right click. Right clicking should give you the following choices among others...

View Source
View Info
View Picture
Save Image as...

Click on VIEW PICTURE to get the image alone on the screen. This usually isolates it on your screen full sized. If it looks like a good workable size for you, you are ready to print it on standard computer paper as a pattern.

Step Four: Print It Off
Most of these pages are made so they can be printed off quickly as is. After all, they were supposed to be for kids to click on and immediately print to color. All you should have to do is go up on your main tool bar along the top of your screen and look for the word FILE. Under FILE, there should be a printer option named something like PRINT or PRINT FRAME or PRINT PREVIEW. Print off three copies of the coloring book page. I like to have one left complete for reference that does not get cut up as well as two more to cut and manipulate. If the size of the pattern looks good to you, just skip the next "Saving and Resizing" help section. Go directly to step 5.

Help on Saving and Resizing
If you feel the image is going to be too big as it appears printed out, save it and resize it in a print shop program before you use it. The instructions for that are as follows. Go back to the page and you can right click on it again and hit the SAVE AS... button. Sometimes the images have funny numbers or names at the websites so do rename it if needed and give the image a name you can remember. Also write down the name you gave it and the name of the file folder in the computer that the machine is going to save the picture into. Jotting it all down takes only a second or two but saves so much time looking for it again later when you want to import it into your favorite print shop program.
To continue resizing the image, go to your favorite print shop program and follow the instructions for how to open a new page, add an image or import an image. The instructions for this are in the HELP section or most print shop programs if you get stuck. Find the saved image where you noted it would be...and presto you have it on a page where you can grab the corners or outer edges and resize it as you like. I often make my paper piecings a little larger than 1/4 of an 8.5x11 sheet. It will all depend on just how small you want the smallest pieces to be. You decide what you are comfortable with on the sizing. When done resizing, you can print it out! Again I suggest printing 3 or 4 sheets on white to work with as patterns.

Step Five: Pick Your Colors
Some coloring books are about specific characters or places. That means they will probably require specific color combinations for the paper-piecings too. Superman just wouldn't be Superman without the red cape and Barney wouldn't be Barney if he wasn't purple! :) For my Snoopy example, I needed white, black, red and gray.

Step Six: Cut them Out
When cutting my first piece, I hold the pattern directly on top of the cardstock I am using for that piece. I try to work from the outside of a pattern toward the inside. Here, I will do Snoopy's goggles and hat before I do his face and scarf. Cut in the center of each black line. This will avoid any offsetting of the pattern size that can happen if you try to cut either inside or outside the lines. Remember--go for the middle of the lines! Cut slow and steady for best results especially around curves. Cut as few pieces as possible and remember that you can pen-stitch many smaller details.

Step Seven: Reassemble the Image
Got them all cut out? Wonderful! Now time to bring out one of the remaining color book pattern pictures you have saved. (Remember we printed three of them in step 4?) Trim about 1/4 to 1/2 inch in --just around the inside of this image. This will be your base so that you know exactly where to glue the colored cardstock pieces. This is your guide to how these bits go back together.

base piece

Step Eight: Glue it Down on a Base
Start at the bottom. Build the cardstock paper pieced image slowly right on top of the base image. Use repositionable glue until you get it lined up the way it looks right. Now use more permanent adhesive to secure the paper piecing to the base. I try to use adhesives that are not "wet" so that they do not smoosh out the edges. Hey ! It is starting to look like the real thing!

assembled pieces

Step Nine: Finishing Work
Once you have the paper piecing secured on the base and the adhesive is completely dry, you can add details. Pen stitching and outlining both define the parts of the paper piecing nicely. I generally outline with a black Zig writer but you can use any color that will show up on your papers. Add some chalk in a darker shade for detailing and shading and white pencil or pen to highlight raised or light areas. Wow!! This looks great! Finishing touches add so much dimension to the paper piecing!

chalking and pen work

Remember that these paper piecings are meant for your personal use only in your personal books and albums. Since the original coloring book image and artwork is copywrited when created by the original artist, you probably should NOT try to sell the paperpiecings made from them. If you want to make them to sell or trade, use COPYRIGHT FREE images only. Just because they are online does not mean they are copyright free. And as most of us know, recognizable characters are NOT copyright free.

In your own personal use, there is no problem with this issue. Just follow the steps to take a coloring book image and make it into a paper piecing pattern! Each time you paper piece, you will get faster and faster with better results. People will love your work and ask where in the world you found that perfect pattern! They will never guess it was online AND--- it was FREE!! You will never look at a coloring book the same way again! :) What creativity you can have in your own albums now that you know where to find hundreds of well-known images! Have fun! :)