How to Use AlphaClips: Labeled Sewing Clips for Organized Piecing, Binding, and More
Every quilter knows the moment: you have carefully cut dozens of pieces, laid them out in exactly the right order, and then one bump of the table — or one helpful cat — scrambles the whole arrangement. AlphaClips were designed to stop that scramble before it starts. Each clip is engraved with a letter or a number, so the piece it holds carries its place in the sequence with it, from cutting table to sewing machine to pressing station.
What Are AlphaClips?
AlphaClips are 1-inch sewing clips, and a set includes 36 of them: 26 clips engraved with the letters A through Z, and 10 clips engraved with the numbers 0 through 9. The clips are black, which makes the engraved characters easy to read and makes the clips themselves easy to spot among your other sewing clips. They were designed by Allison Kelley as a cleverer take on the classic sewing clip — same pin-free hold, plus a built-in labeling system. If you work on especially large projects, a larger size, AlphaClips Large, is also available.
Why Quilters and Sewists Use Them
The obvious job is organization. Clip an A to your first row or block, B to the second, and so on, and your layout order survives being stacked, carried, and sewn in batches. Numbered clips do the same work for steps, columns, or repeated units. But AlphaClips do everything ordinary clips do, too. Because they clamp rather than pierce, they hold thick fabrics like vinyl and leather without leaving pin holes, and there are no sharp points — no nasty pricks for you, which also makes them great for teaching children to sew. They hold securely right up against a zipper foot when you are adding zippers, handle bulky gusset seams including curved ones, and are handy for paper piecing. For embroidery, when you do not want to hoop the fabric, you can clip the fabric to the stabilizer or to the hoop itself.
How to Use Them, Step by Step
- Plan your labeling system. Decide whether letters or numbers suit your project — letters for rows and blocks, numbers for steps or repeats — and pull out the clips you need in order.
- Clip as you cut. As each piece or unit comes off the cutting mat, clip its label to it right away, before the pile has a chance to shuffle.
- Keep the label visible. Place the clip so the engraved letter or number faces up and sits at a consistent corner of each piece. Consistency makes the sequence readable at a glance.
- Sew in sequence. Work through your stack in alphabetical or numerical order, removing each clip just before that section goes under the presser foot — never sew over a clip.
- Re-clip finished units. Once a joined unit is pressed, clip its label back on so completed sections stay in order until final assembly.
- Use plain clipping anywhere else. The same clips attach binding, hold hems, and grip layered seams wherever pins would slip, pucker, or leave marks.
Practical Tips
For binding, space clips evenly along the edge and let them do the holding while you stitch — many quilters find binding noticeably easier this way. On curved or bulky seams, clip more closely together so the layers cannot creep. When paper piecing, a clip or two keeps your fabric positioned without adding pin holes near your stitching line. And because the characters are engraved rather than printed on, your labels are part of the clip itself — keep taking them off and putting them back on, project after project.
Care and Storage
AlphaClips need very little care. Keep the set together in a small tin, pouch, or compartmented box so a full A-to-Z run is always at hand, and store them clipped shut in a dry spot in your sewing room. A quick check before a big project — counting that all 36 are present and in order — saves hunting for a missing letter mid-layout.
Project Ideas
Try AlphaClips on a row quilt or sampler where block order matters, to keep log cabin or strip-pieced units sequenced, for foundation paper piecing, and for bag making, where vinyl, bulky gusset seams, and zippers all show up in the same project. They are equally at home holding binding on a baby quilt or keeping hem layers aligned on a garment.
Shop the AlphaClips at Linda's Electric Quilters.
