Small Projects

-

 One Month Before Gift Giving

2021 Graduation gift  

There is a little more than a month left before the flurry of December's activities prohibit handcrafting!!! Perhaps this is more a reminder to myself that to the readers of this blog. If I want to accomplish all the projects on my gift giving list, it is high time to get started!

The pillow above was a graduation present, gifted earlier this year. It was reverse appliquéd, of course, and that was probably the most time consuming part of the project. (This blog post gives info on that technique:  https://creativelifesampler.blogspot.com/2021/10/basics-of-reverse-applique.html)

The thing that elevates any homemade project is attention to details. For instance, the piping on this pillow outlines the shape and gives it a professional finish. Ready made piping is usually available in the home decor section of your local fabric store, but if you are particular about an exact match, you can DIY (do it yourself.)

You will need the raw cording, also available at said store, and a strip of fabric that measures the perimeter of your pillow, + a bit extra to seam it. Cording comes in various thicknesses, so the width of the strip needed to cover it can be gauged by wrapping the cord and leaving ¼-½ inch of extra fabric to attach the piping to the panel. 

Prefabricated piping, either bought or home made, is sewn to the edge with the zipper presser foot to get as close to the cording as possible. In the example shown here, I have created the piping directly on the panel by sewing the fabric strip to the perimeter first and then folding it over the cording.


Now the front panel is ready to be attached to the backing. One side will need to be left open in order to turn the pillow casing right side out. But it is best to sew all corners in place. I always sew about two inches from the corner on the first edge, turn the corner, sew three sides, turn the last corner and sew two inches in. This leaves an opening wide enough to turn the casing out and get the pillow form inside. With the pillow form in place, the last edge can be sewn shut either by hand or machine.

If you have any questions about this process write them in the comment section and I will do my best to help out!

Extra detailing makes a project extra special and they frequently don't take that much more effort. Sometimes it elevates an item from "homemade" to "designer." 














 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular Posts

The Huntington- Galleries (3 of 3)

-
Image
If you're not into gardens, or there's just so much sun you can tolerate, there are plenty of indoor galleries to visit at our destination spot. After all we're talking about The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens. ( https://huntington.org/ ) The gallery exhibits cover a wide range of art movements, styles, and periods. (In fact this would be a great place to study millinery designs for women's hats. LOL)  This vast collection is not exclusively one of painting.  Many art forms and disciplines are represented. And it's really interesting to have divergent styles to compare and contrast in one visit. We happily stumbled on the American Art Galleries. Walking into this room felt like coming home, with it's nod to American quilts and textiles.   This yarn sewn rug attributed to Hannah Rosina Maynard Phillips stood out to me. Loved the rich colors and the intricate floral design.  Contrast Hannah's piece with this one by artist Cai Guo-Qiang a
Read more
-
Ability to be Creative Ability , ( noun )- aptitude, intelligence, innate qualities, powers, potency, talent, capability, competence, proficiency, knowledge, technique, craft, skill, dexterity, artistry, facility, mastery, experience,understanding, faculty This is a partial listing of the synonyms for the word "ability" in Webster's New World Thesaurus . It seems to me that these words can be divided into two categories. The first category would be nouns which people generally think of as qualities that come naturally to the individual-  "innate qualities" . I propose that everyone has intelligence, capability, dexterity, even artistry, though some might say people possess them in varying degrees, and in different combinations. But isn't that called "individuality"? Now consider the second group of words. These are nouns that can be acquired: knowledge, experience, technique, skills, mastery . These are things you have with practice !
Read more

The Huntington- Textures & Colors (2 of 3)

-
Image
  There is so much to visually take in when you're surrounded by the natural beauty at The Huntington! Whether you soak in the vibrant colors and incredible textures of the many floral species, . . .  Or you pull back to absorb the magnificent collective textures created in the various themed gardens like the bamboo forest: or the cactus garden: There are also subtle color palettes created in garden displays that include a variety of plants: And then there are the man made textures that are thoughtfully scattered throughout the gardens: Plenty of inspiration for, say, quilt textures, and color choices; even shapes and design elements to borrow for future projects.
Read more