Jar Pincushion Tutorial

A while back when I posted my first jar, Tracey inquired if there was any tutorial, I wasn't sure as I did mine the way I thought how it should looked and through trial and error. I also mentioned that I will try to put one up, so here it is, Tracey this is for you. Sorry I took so long to put this up.

Supplies : A jar (mine fits jar cap size 5.5 cm Diameter Approximate)
Glue any kind that is stong enough to hold the fabirc cushion to the cap, I use the glue gun
Fabric 12cm x 12cm Approximate (also depending on your cap size but a 1/2" allowance all round is good enough)
Thread, needle and a bit of polyfiber for filling
1) Make a circle on the wrong side of the fabric, for my cap size, it measured size 7.5cm diameter
2) Draw another larger circle around the first circle, mine measured at 9.5cm diameter giving the first circle a 1cm allowance all round which will be the seams
1) Fold the 1cm seam allowance inward, pressed and sew loose running stitch all round
Complete a circle and pull the thread to form garthers on the fabric

Stuffed a generous amount of polyfiber fillings into the fabric and plumed it up

pull the gathers closed tightly, make sure your threads is strong enough for this and

stitch over the gathers to securely sealed it.
The cushion is now done

Heat up the glue gun, and squeeze enough glue to hold the pincushion in place.
In my case, I fill the inner cirlce of the cap with glue as shown below

and place the pincushion over it, position it in the center.

Note : a bigger size pin cushion may fit the cap, but take note that the opening of the jar may not fit the cushion into it . So it is wise to determine the size of your jar and cap by doing a test run after the cushion is done before you glue it to the cap.

Pressed firmly and hold for a little while. A heavy object like a book may give it some weight.
Let it dry and firm up

It dries pretty fast. For the flower pins, have put up a tutorial in the link.
Taaa...da.....done  !

Final touch, dressed up the outer jar with ribbons or laces if you desire Enjoy !

Happenings in May

Stitching wise, not much of a progress made since my last posting on the Rose Sampler and the Lighthouse. I was drawn to stitch some smalls instead, some peeks here .

My Sweet Tooth mail art finally flew on the 23rd after a long wait. I finished it sometime in March but hold on to it till now since the mailing date is June 10 and it takes about 2 weeks to travel. I found a cute little cake pin at Living Cabin. Completed my Rose theme mail art although the mailing is end of July.

Made more flower pins , a FLOWER PIN TUTORIAL to make one to look like this

You will need these to make the pins.

1) Strong glue, I used Super Glue which I wrapped with a piece of tissue to protect the glue away from my fingers

2) Beads - Good size, not too large in MHO, and not too tiny, for the 'show' piece. You will need to judge the size yourself and the tiny seed beads as stopper so that it looked well balanced, to me that is

3) the pin size, longer ones will give you more space for more beads, which are hard to find from where I am at the moment coz' I've never found one yet at my local haberdashery but the colored ones on a pinwheel will do anyhow.

Place enough glue on the pin head, seen here I had put in the flower before the glue for easy handling. Thereafter add the tiny seed bead, add glue  to hold its position, you may add more beads before ending here, if you wishLet it dry, room temperature and its done ! really simple and easy, make sure the glue is strong enough to hold the pins . Happy trying  !

"Jung Cheet" (Dumpling Festival), a delicious savoury or sweet glutinous rice dumplings wrapped in bamboo leaves mark the celebration of the "jung cheet" festival. Celebrated on the 5th day of the 5th lunar month every year, the dumpling festival is heralded by grand dragon boat races in Penang. The festival this year falls on May 28.

MIL makes deliciously beautifully wrapped dumplings enough for everyone, grandma too when she was around, I shamefully admit, never tried, not even once, maybe next year I should I will.

Next mail art theme Initials. Patterns found, still undecided which or what or how.
Jeannette, sorry for my long overdue reply, here's the details on Pandan leaves which are widely used in Asian cooking for its aroma or natural green (coloring) in food, desserts and cakes. In Western countries, it might be available dried or check out Asian grocery?Healthwise, it has not been good lately. Jackie, thank you for asking, and like always the recovery period always makes me more prone to tiredness and feeling like a vegie.

Friday, marks the last day of school. School closed for 2 weeks for Diane, while Vincent starts his first freshman year on Monday.

Thank you everyone for visiting, hope you will all have a good Monday and a beautiful week ahead.

Goodnite.

edited : June 1 10:51am

Mail Art Tutorial

I believed there are many ways of finishing a Mail Art. I don't claim this to be my method, only that I find this way to my convenient as I don't need a sewing machine to finished this.

First determine the size of your envelope.
Complete your stitching first. Make sure your stitched design is correctly placed.

Shown here is Aida 16ct approximately 19.5cm(W) and 33cm (L) including allowance for seams.
There's no standard size for Mail Art but I find this the most comfortable size to worked with.  My Mail Art varied in sizes according to my stitch design. Also, your mail art must not be too small. Afterall its going into the mail system or should fit in your envelope if you are mailing it in an envelope. So do take these into considerations.

I apologize for not revealing the  face of  this MA for this is actually for an exchange and I never really got to finish it off yet but its possible to show the finishing method.
I iron my interfacing on to the lining fabric (on wrong side) and not the stitched fabric, for fear of possible staining .Place right sides together, the stitched piece plus the lining fabric after iron-on and mark approximately 1cm from edge and sew running stitch along the Width (W)  which will form part
(B) in the diagram below.

NOTE : Before  sewing, determine the back fold/pocket where the slot will be for this part is to from the pocket edging for the back

Spread the sewed two pieces of  fabric apart, flat on the surface with the lining piece marked  L (b) on the lower part (nearer you) to work on W2  (when you get a hang of this, you need not follow this to the T)

Pressed iron over on the sewed seams downward towards you (B) with a 1cm fold

Now bring and fold the lining fabric marked L(b) over to the stitched piece, pressing along the seam  with both wrong sidenow facing each  other in which it should looked like below (Giving the edge now a bias like look ) (Hope I make sense here)

You will note that now the stitched piece is longer than the lining piece. No fear.
Its meant to look like that. Now pressed/fold 1/4 length (or your desired pocket length/depth) of the fabric to form the pocket.
I fold approximate 11cm out of my 33cm length which should look like below

Next, marked  the side seams as shown below approximate 1 cm on each sides  (you may want to pin the fabrics down at this point) Pin any where you felt threated it will fall apart, LOL

This is where you will worked the side seams,  fold or by tucking in approximately 1cm on both sides as marked above.  For sides seams closures, tucked in approximately 1cm on both  sides, working only one side at a time
You will note that were the pocket area is,  will now have four layers
The stitched piece and lining (sandwiching the iron on interfacing) from the pocket's end plus 2 more layers (in between sandwiching the iron on) from where the frontal of the stitched piece.

From along where that pocket area is, you will need to fold/tuck in 3 layers from;  the back pocket stitching fabric plus 2 lining layers leaving only one  layer which makes the stitched piece
Note : FOLD only this 3 layers leaving the stitched piece facing frontal folded as it is.Pic above : Lift and fold 1 cm inward from where the pocket is, leaving only the outer layer of the stitched piece which will be folded as a single layer.
Pic below : Fold and smooth the corner and the edge of the Bias look-alike (B) with fingers to keep it from creasing.Make a smooth tuck in to complete the pocket section. The section above the pocket (closure) will be only 2 layers, the lining fabric (plus the iron-on) and the stitched piece. Confuse ? I hope the photos below will give you a better view View : On your  Left is the upper section flap envelope closure ---->  right is where the pocket after fold is. Note that the fabric is visible on the insdie of the front flap. Before heming the edge, this is how it should look like after the 1cm fold /tuck-ins all round . What you see facing you is the back where the flap/cover and the pocket (take note how the edge of  Bias (B) of the envelope is folded.
Note the outer layer which is the stitched piece of the envelope with seams folded in as it is
Also, on your left is where the frontal or flap cover with a very visible fabric lining on the inside of the envelope

Press and  pin or running stitch before heming the seams up with any stitch ( Hems, Banket stitch, Herringbone ) you are comfortable with.
This is the part to add laces or ric-rac edging if you want a little decorated side edging.
There is no  correct way or wrong way to sew as long as you seams it. You can also use the sewing machine here.

A closeup on how the edge/side should look like
 I leave you with some pictures to show the side heming/sewing in progress

Repeat for the other side
Remember to add the edging if you had done so on the opposite end.  Once done, you will have a pocket like below

To work the closure or the  flap of the envelope.
You will note that my envelope size leaves you with approximately 2 cm longer on the stitched piece from the lining fabric. Fold that 1 cm, iron and press  or simply add laces or ribbons to complete the edging.

If ribbon is intended to close the envelope, cut a length of approximate 24cm, or any length you are comfortable with, fold half and attached to the centre of the envelope as indicated by the arrow.  make another 1cm fold after and hem it and with that make another fold of about 5cm more or less from here to create the envelope flap.
You may have two ribbons or more, buttons or velcro to secure the flap. Put a tiny stitch to hold the ribbon in place before heming the flap edge. Laces or ribbons may be added to finishing that top seam.
To secure the flap,  mark the centre for my case,  just below the closure or one or two even three cm away and sew a button for the ribbon to tie on . Add any embellishment to decorate your envelope You can finish the flap or the length size anyway you desire

AND DONE !

This is how the Mail Art should look like with the above sewing method.

The front ? The front is considered simply because that is where the address of the recipient isThe Back is so identify because it is where the address of the sender is.

BUT we know that it is not necessary on Mail Art envelope. It can be just the opposite.

Thank you for taking a peek.  I hope my tutorial make sense. LOL, enjoy .

Tape measure tutorial

This is for Dawn B, I've promise a tutorial for the tape measure. I've never written a tutorial before I hope the photos are a good enough guide.This is how I made the tape

* 2 pieces fabrics for the cover.

   I had one stitch and the other a cotton fabric.

* 2 pieces exact tape size batting

* laces to go round the tape  and fabric glue

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I use 2-way tape to hold the batting on both sides

I work on the cotton fabric first using multipurpose glue by Clover.
Make a little slit where the opening of the tape is drawn and tuck the fabric into the opening.
Work one piece at a time.













Fold or tuck in the fabric where the opening of the tape is drawn

Making sure the fabric  is smooth and no creases and the tape can

still be easily drawn out or in

Place the stitched piece on the other side and trim away

any excessive fabric that might be too much for the lace to cover.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glue all round the tape .

With laces of your chocie, placed it around the tape.

 

 

 

 

 

This helps to eliminate finishing the edge by any sewing and yet giving it a very neat finish.

Once done, test run the tape to make sure it works and the tuck-in fabrics is not drawn out everytime the tape is pulled out.

Lastly, finishing off the tip of the tape any way you desire.

DONE !

Thank you for dropping by and leaving me your comments. Hope you find this useful.
Please do not compare me with any other finishing tutorial,  for this is my way of finishing the tape measure and it never failed me yet.

Happy trying !