Monday, November 24, 2014

DOUBLE BASKET PINCUSHION ORGANIZER

DOUBLE BASKET PINCUSHION ORGANIZER


The double basket is great to keep tools on one basket and thread on the other.
The pincushion is weighted with sterile sand and it can sit on the armchair.

Materials
Pin cushion
1 piece 10” x 7” for Pincushion cover
1 piece 8” x 6.5” for Weight Bag
1 piece 3” x 7” of lace for decoration
Polyester Fiberfill or similar stuffing material
1 lb. sand or similar weighting material

Pockets
 7 piece 5” x 3.5” for hexagons
 6 piece 3.5” x 1” for hexagons’ center line
 1 circle 8-1/2” diameter for Pocket back
 1 circle 8-1/2” diameter for Pocket front
 1 circle 8-1/2” diameter of fusible or batting
 1 piece 28” x 1” bias 
Other Materials
 Fabric Marking Tool, scissors, thread, needle, sewing machine, construction paper.

MAKE THE POCKET (make twice)

STEP 1 Make 7 Hexagons -6/8 inch side- on construction paper

STEP 2 Cut in half rectangle 5” x 3.5”. Get two rectangles 2.5” x 3.5”  
STEP 3 Sew one piece 2.5” x 3.5” on each side of a piece 3.5” x 1” for hexagon’s center line.
STEP 4 Center the template on the piece created on step 3, trace hexagon and cutting line.



STEP 5 Press. Big stitches keep the folds in place for each side of the hexagon.


STEP 6 Sew the hexagons by hand. Applique the hexagons rose to the 8.5” circle by machine.
Sew the back circle, batting and front hexagons rose using stitch in the ditch or echo stitching. Add bias. (Make two)



STEP 7 For each front pocket, using the center line of two consecutive hexagons, make two darts of 1 inch wide and 1.5” long.


MAKE THE WEIGHT BAG AND PINCUSHION COVER

STEP 8 Using piece 8” x 6.5” make the Weight Bag. I used vinyl in mine.
STEP 9 Using piece 10” x 7” make pincushion cover. Lay on top several pieces of batting.


STEP 10 Sew the decoration before you close the bag.
STEP 11 Turn inside out. Insert the weigh bag.



MAKE THE ORGANIZER

STEP 12 Position circle pockets and weight bag on piece 22” x 9” and mark the cutting lines.
STEP 13 Sew bias around, by machine the front, by hand the back.


STEP 14 Sew pincushion in place.

Finish, enjoy!





Saturday, November 22, 2014

TREE OF LIFE

Tree of life

I have saved may little peaces of fabric. Some were so colorful, others rare and some, just worth saving. At the end I have a lot of little peaces. I came to a stop and decided to do something to bring them to life.
I have also some rikrak ribbon size 'big'. This is was the perfect time to make branches.
For sparks I added some sequins in the shape of flowers and glass beads to touch the air around and the ground below.
Quilting was made with gold metallic thread.
Enjoy

bring them to life

Friday, November 21, 2014

SEWING ORGANIZER FOR TRAVEL




SEWING ORGANIZER FOR TRAVEL









Sewing organizer pattern and instructions



REQUIREMENTS 

 Fabric: 2 squares of 15 in x 15 in wide medium-weight to heavy-weight. Optional,  light fabric 5 in x 10 in for insert zipper pocket.
 Supplies: Paper pattern, 45 in piping cord, transfer paper, empty ball point pen, stabilizer if using machine for embroidery,  (Instructions and layout), and embroidery pattern.
 Thread: 70% polyester/30 % cotton sewing. 100% Rayon 40 wt.
 Needles: For hand sewing. No. 12 sharp (one strand of thread) or No. 8 Crewel (two strands of thread). For sewing machine.  100/16 (purple)
 Dressmaker’s carbon paper
 Buttons: 3
 Zipper: 5 in.

CUTTING OUT 
Place two squares 15 in x 15 in right sides together and pin in the center. Cut 5 in x 5 in squares of each corner. You will get 8 squares dimension 5 in x 5 in and two “+” shape pieces. See the pattern and embroidery design for the cutting layouts. Aligning the placement marks with the straight grain of the fabric. Pin to prevent movement. Draw around the pattern piece.
2  squares     15  in x 15 in  Folder 1  square 5  in x   5 in  Flap A 1  square 5  in x   5 in  Patch pocket B 1  square 5  in x   5 in  Patch pencil holder C 1  square 5  in x   5 in  Patch pocket D 1  square 5  in x   5 in  Strap F and G 2 squares  5  in x   5 in  Zipper pocket E or 1 rectangle      5  in x 10 in  Insert pocket E.

EMBROIDERY 

 Using a pen, trace the embroidery design onto tracing paper.
 Place a piece of the transfer paper, color side down, onto the fabric between the fabric and the tracing
 Pressing firmly, trace over a small section of the embroidery design with the empty ball point pen  Lift the traced section to check that it is transferring onto the fabric.
 Use the crewel needle when stitching with two strands and the sharp needle when stitching with one strands of thread.
 Backstitch is an outlining stitch, producing a solid line that will blend around curves when the stitches are quite short.
 For machine embroidery, use the file attached.

SEWING PATTERN PIECES 
Patch pocket  (B and D)
 Fold ¼ in the sides of the pocket over once and press.
 Stitch ¼ in hemline in all sides.
 Make small pleats on D to create volume.
 Add button on B using template. Flap for patch pocket (A)
 Fold square in half with right sides together, press.
 Stitch with ¼ in seam allowance three side of the flap using template.
 Cut around the v shape leaving ¼ in seam allowance.
 Turn the flap right side out.
 At the open end of the flap, fold to the inside. Press.
 Stitch on all sides with ¼ in hemline in all sides.
 Add a buttonhole to the lower center of the flap using template. Strap (F and G)
 Fold square in half with right sides together, press.
 Stitch three sides of the strap with ¼ in seam allowance.
 Turn the flap right side out.
 At the open end of the strap, fold to the inside. Press
 Stitch on all sides with ¼ in hemline in all sides.
 Add a buttonhole to strap G, using template

CONSTRUCTION 

Zipper pocket (E)
 Stitch two squares right sides together to make one rectangle 5 in x 9 ½ in. This is the inside pocket.
 Mark a rectangle 4 in x ½ in on the main fabric where the zipper pocket opening is marked (see pattern)
 Mark the same size rectangle on the inside pocket. (see pattern)
 Align the drawn rectangles and pin in place.

Sew around the market rectangle.


 Draw a line down the center, stopping ¼ in from the ends. Mark from that point to the corners

  Cut on the line and to the corners without cutting the stitching.
  Turn the pocket through the hole to the back of the bag fabric.

From the back fold the pocket in half, right sides and sew around without sewing the folder.

 Press the opening to shape a rectangle hole from the back.
  Pin the zipper over the opening.


 Sew around the rectangular hole 1/8 in from the edge securing the zipper.

Attaching the patch pockets (B and D)

 Position the patch pockets using the template

 Hold the patch pockets on with a pin.


 Stitch the patch pockets with ¼ in seam allowance. Remove pins. Attaching the flap (A)


 Use pattern to mark the position of the flap.
 Pin the flap in place
 Stitch the flap. Make sure your first and last stitch come over the edge of the flap.
 Remove the pins. Attaching the straps
 Pin the ends of straps F and G at the marked position using template.
 Stitch in place (see pattern). Remove pins.

 Pin the 5 loops ( 7 in cord each folded in half) onto strap F using template
 Pin the strap F with the loops using the pattern.
 Stitch in place.
 Remove pins.
Making the Folder
 Place the two “+” shape pieces right sides together.
 Stitch ¼ in seam allowance of 11 sides of the “+” shape, start on pocket D and  leave opening  to turn it inside out and attach the loop for closing.
 Turn the folder inside side out.
 At the open end of the folder, fold to the inside. Press.
 Stitch on all sides with ¼ in hemline in all sides.
 Pin the loop at the marked position using template.
 Stitch in place by stitching a hemline.
 Remove pins.
 Add button to the folder. See pattern