July Challenge Day #31

Hooray, it's day 31, and this month-long challenge is DONE! I'm ending it with one more goody for you strawberry lovers: a strawberry pincushion. I found the pattern at Martha Stewart.com. It is made from wool felt and filled with emery, which I had bought on Etsy quite a while ago--I'm glad I finally got around to using it!

July Challenge Day #26

I made the top of this pincushion a year or so ago, but I didn't actually finish it until now! I wanted to use my new-found love of pom pom-making by adding them to the corners (instead of the small tassels I usually use).

I love the quote on this: "Search the world for happiness, and you may find it in the end, for the world is round and will lead you back to your door"-- but I wonder why I didn't realize that it would be perfect on a ROUND pincushion??

Lavender Sachets and Pincushions

I've been making lavender sachets; this is one of the projects I promised to show you that requires baker's twine.  Two readers have told me that after seeing my post about baker's twine, they placed orders from Talking Twine and Trim--the etsy store where I got mine.  That's awesome, fiddlegirl8 and Lime Riot--I hope you like yours as much as I like mine!


I made these lavender sachets for two reasons:  first, I was trying to come up with new heart-shaped things for my other blog, 365 Sewn Hearts (I need a heart for every day of this year!); and I need stock for my little booth in a local shop.  This project was so perfect for both!  I've made lavender sachets before, but in a different style, so it was nice to make something new.  I had lavender on hand, so I jumped right in!


Sixteen lavender sachets:

The picture below shows how I started.  I printed out words and phrases on the computer, then traced them onto white fabric using my light box and a micron marker. I have an assortment of the micron pens, each with a different sized writing tip, so for different projects I can use whatever size works best with the font size I've chosen for my letters.

I cut out a bunch of hearts from various fabrics, and ironed interfacing onto the back of each to give the finished heart a more "solid" feel.  Then I cut out the words and phrases, and machine sewed them to the front of each heart.  I took all the hearts to my sewing chair in the family room and watched TV while I hand-sewed a running stitch with embroidery thread around the edge of each phrase, using the machine stitching as my guide.  (I always try to have some kind of handwork ready near my sewing chair--I don't like to watch TV without it!)

Then I chose two buttons to accent the front of each heart, and sewed those on.

Back at the sewing machine, I sewed the heart fronts to matching backs, stopping at the top to add two 12" lengths of baker's twine.  Then I turned them right-side-out, stuffed them with lavender, and sewed the openings shut. 

I packaged each heart in a ziplock baggie with my business card, and put them in a basket to take to Country Treasures.

I thought I had an endless supply of lavender in my closet, so I was surprised when it ran out before I had finished filling all the hearts!  I decided to turn the remaining hearts into pincushions.  To keep pins from poking through the back, I cut plastic food-container lids into heart shapes and put them inside the hearts before filling them with polyester fiberfill. 

The front and back of un-stuffed pincushions:

Eleven pincushions, all finished!

This is my favorite one, because I love the the print and colors of this fabric.  I think I will keep this for myself!

Sewing Basket

My partners have received my packages in the Sewing Accessories Swap at Craftster, and I'm super-excited about this sewing basket I made for texscrapper!  I've seen similar things around the internet, most notably the "Bagsket", which is a barrel-shaped bag with a drawstring top.  I love the drawstring closure, but I wanted a more square shape, so I modified my "Leslie Bag" pattern and made this:

My partner has an "S" for both her first and last initial, so that was an easy choice!  The "S" and the scalloped circle behind it were cut from wool felt using my Sizzix machine.

Inside there are two small pockets that close with velcro; they will be perfect for organizing any little parts of a sewing project.  Her sewing room colors are brown and turquoise, and I just happened to have all these perfect fabrics on hand--yay!

She mentioned that she might like a sewing jar, so I added a pincushion top to a canning jar, and filled it will color-coordinated sewing goodies.

I love it when I make something new for a swap!  For me, that's the best part about craft swaps:  going beyond what's familiar and trying something different.  This was the first time I made either of these items, but it won't be the last!

The package I sent to my other partner is completely different!  I'll show you that one next week.

A Pincushion for an Angel...

...an angel package, that is! 

My friend Susan has volunteered to be an angel for a swapper on Craftster who got flaked on.  (Flaking is the worst of all possible swapping transgressions...to agree to a swap, get a partner, receive her package, and then NOT SEND ANYTHING to her...that is just wrong!!  But a lovely Craftster member always steps forward to be an angel by sending a replacement package to the flaked-upon swapper...how nice!) 

I offered to help Susan with the package, which was for the "Old Fashioned Romantic Swap".  Susan is decorating a pretty box, and she will fill it with romantic treasures.  My contribution is a pincushion featuring the swapper's favorite quote...I think it is from "Pride and Prejudice".

Here's how I started, with the quote printed out, a sketch of my idea, and some materials:

Using a micron marker, I traced the quote onto muslin, with the help of my light box.  The assembly was simple, just like making a pillow.  I sewed on the lace and leaves/beads before sewing the front and back together.

The leaves were easy to make; I just free-motion stitched on a piece of linen with my sewing machine, and cut them out, leaving the edges raw.

The little polymer clay bird on a pin was left over from a swap I crafted for last year; it is the perfect accent for this pincushion--didn't that work out well!

Susan will be posting pictures of the completed package...so visit her at The Sloppy Sewer sometime soon!