The Pocket

Next comes the pocket....remember  your pocket can be any shape you want.  What we did is just a suggestion.

Look at the template and you will notice two sets of lines.  The outside line is the shape we used to form our pocket.  The dashed line is for the lining.

Center the template behind the stitched pocket.

Finger press the outside edges to achieve desired shape.  Then trim linen 1/2 inch out from the fold lines.

Fold trimmed linen to the back and secure corner folds with a couple of stitches...makes everything nice and tidy.

Use dash lines on the template to cut the felt lining.  Whipstitch into place.

Place the pocket on the gray base felt.  Remember to leave the bottom four inches open for the pocket.  A line of pins for loose basting stitch will help you visualize the placement area.

Sew to the felt....catch the outside linen...just a tiny thread.  Remember to leave the top open to store your goodies inside.

Next piece on our Stitcher's Mat will be the pin cushion....

The Magic Fob

First get all your things together.  Templates, Comic Board, fluff, gray backing fabric and bakers twine.

Cut two fob pieces from the Comic Board and fluff one side of each.  Cover one with the gray cotton fabric and the other with the stitching....trim so you only have a scant 1/2 inch especially around the curved tops of the templates.

Place wrong sides together and stitch....remember the marks on the templates?  Leave the top--about 3/4 inch open and most of the bottom unstitched.  The pins are a visual reminder.

Lay the ribbon (folded in half) into the opening and then finish stitching the fob together.

You can add a hidden needle safe within the opening in the fob.  Between the two ribbons you can place a small piece of felt or scrapbook paper to hold your needles.

Fun....now use the bakers twine for trim.  Tie a bow at the top and you have your magic fob finished.

Our first piece of our Stitchers Mat....next will be the pocket.  See you later!

Summer 2019 Sewing Mat

It is HERE!!!  Over the next few days I will be posting directions for our Sewing Mat.  What a fun class.  Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

Here is the project....get your bits and pieces collected and we will begin with the fob tomorrow.

Let’s Square Dance!

I had the honor to finish the Heart In Hand Square Dance series. We chose the Quick and Easy Easel technique which is excellent for holiday stitching. It folds flat for easy storage!

Cut two pieces of mat board 3.5 by 3.5 and one piece 1.75 by 3.5.

Cover both of the 3.5 squares with cotton fabric.  Lace or glue fabric in place.

Now your math skills come into play.....you will cover the easel portion with fabric.  Cut the fabric twice the width of the easel...in this case 1.75...PLUS One Inch.  Length of the fabric will be 3.5 plus 5 inches.

Break out the iron and fold one long edge 1/4 inch back.

 
Place the 1.75 easel piece approximately one inch from top of fabric rectangle and then fold the right side (the unfolded side) of the fabric over the mat board and glue fabric onto board.

Now place a thin line of glue along the folded edge.

Fold left side over to cover the easel.  Try to make it even the entire length of the fabric.

Let the glue dry then center the easel unit behind one of the fabric covered 3.5 pieces.  Make sure the seamed side faces the 3.5 piece.  The easel mat board top should be flush with the top of the square.

Fold it over into the glue...

Now decide how far out you want the easel "leg" to swing out.  On this small piece two inches is plenty.  Try it out to see what you think.

Remember your easel will be folded when you glue everything into place so measure out one inch and glue in place.  Cut off any excess fabric.

We did a separate easel for each month.  We chose a fun fabric that picked up the colors used in each month's motifs.  The unifying factor was ribbon....we used the same cute ribbon on each easel.  Center the ribbon on the remaining square and glue it in place.

Now sew or glue the two squares together....wrong sides together.  On this small easel you can glue it together easily.  As you can see, I love my clips.

Your stitching will be mounted on another piece of mat board.  Ours measured 2 3/4 inch square.  Cover one side of the board with low loft quilt batting and lace or glue your Square Dance onto it.  Center it on the easel and use stitchers tape or glue to secure it.

If you have been able to find a colorful multi color fabric that can be used for all the months you can "Pricillify" it and use magnets and washers so  you can  use one easel for all of the designs.

Get creative...add a bow to the top of the easel....add Lady Dot trim around the stitching board...so many cute ideas.  Please post a picture of your finished easel.  Share your ideas.

Bag It...

Cute little bag made of felt....easy to do and fun to decorate.

Your bag items include a sheet of directions, felt, button, pearl cotton, and beads.

Before you start anything make a copy of the directions...then you will have an intact one for your collection.

Cut out the flap detail and pin it securely to one end of the felt. Position it right on the edge.

Sharp scissor make easy work of this.  I like the pointed ones from Hobby Lobby.  Notice they have the dreaded "DO NOT USE" ribbon on the handle for all unsuspecting visitors...ha!

Center snowflake is drawn out for  you....if you want you can sew right thru the paper.  I broke up the long stitches into smaller ones so they wouldn't gap.  I took my first try at this out NUMEROUS times as they were wonky.  Don't stress...every snowflake is different.  I got the snowflake idea off of Pinterest.  They have several examples.  Just wing it and add lots of beads to cover any oops.

Use some "sloppy" x's across the edge of the flap to keep everything in place.  Then measure down according to the directions to mark the bottom of the bag.  I like to do all the stitching and beading before sewing the bag shut....you will thank me!

Now for the corner details....a few straight stitches and a couple of lazy daisy stitches or whatever you want your snowflake to look like....after I did mine I decided it looked more like a plant than a flake....go figure!

Mount your stitching on the comic board and trim the outside edge with rick rack.  Embellish ever so often with a bead...you can attach it with small stitches before you sew the outside edges together or do like I did and glue it on afterwards.

Blanket stitch along the outside edge...or do a running stitch, or do some x's...or whatever floats your boat.

Pop the stitching on the bag and you have a cute bag for a special gift for a special person.  Or fill it up with winter greenery and sit where you can enjoy it.  This technique was inspired by the absolutely beautiful felt work done by Snowberry....check out her blog or Facebook pages....you will absolutely fall in love with felt.

Enjoy and I will hopefully post a couple more techniques this next week.
M

“Wooden” it be lovely!

Hubby found a dead tree and sawed it down...it was headed for the burn pile but I had idea...and the rest is history!

This is an easy way to show off your seasonal stitching...and those series.  Easy to pop off and on.


These are the pieces and parts of the project.  Two chipboards "fluffed".  One will be covered in cotton fabric to coordinate with the stitching and the other piece will have the stitching mounted on it.  We also have Lady Dot's wonderful chenille trim and a raffia bow for the top.....and the wood slice for the base.

Mount your stitching on the form.  You can lace or glue it, your choice.  Leave about 1.75 inch opening center bottom in order to slip onto the base and a smaller opening about .5 inch for cord hiding.

Now for the "unloved" portion of this finishing....sew front (stitching) to the back (fabric) pieces together leaving the appropriate areas un-sewn.

The cording is laid along the sewn edge and attached with a whip stitch....don't stress as you will tighten your stitches and the thread will bury itself within the chenille.  To start tuck one end into the opening left for the cord and go all the way around the piece catching a little of the fabric on top of the seam.  Along the larger opening...catch only the linen...otherwise you will sew up the opening.

Now the final touches....see, I told you this was easy.  Bow, pin it in place.  That way it is easy to remove for storage and slip it on the finish nails.  If you have a rough area on the nails put a piece of tape for smooth placement.  If you have trough take a chopstick and open up the opening....teach it to open up wide....and smile!

Wow...I have a post and pictures.  This is a big win for me.  I will post another project tomorrow and hopefully this will get easier.  M

The Wedge—Endless Possibilities

Please note....this is a mess....Blogger is blocking my pictures...please hang in there as I try and get this resolved.  If you can help please feel free to contact me.



Recently at camp we finished one project into a wedge....here is the process.

Three pieces of mat board, front, back and bottom

Cover one side of front and back pieces with low loft batting these are the two larger rectangles.  The smaller one is the bottom and does not get batting.

Mount stitching on padded front.  Don’t you love my stitched piece....after all this all about the finishing...ha!


Tape the back and bottom pieces together and cover with coordinating fabric

After backing fabric is all glued and taped sew the front to the top of the back/bottom unit

Mark sure the bottom....the smaller, unfluffed piece is at the bottom or your front might end up upside down...horrors!!

Leave about 1/2 inch opening about one inside from the upper left hand corner.

Cover inside with felt...glue each section and let dry before proceeding.

Swing the two ends around and sew them together.

Insert cording into the opening and glue or stitch in place.  Fluff your bow and attach it to the upper left corner.

This hopefully can be amended to add the pictures but right now that isn't possible.