Christmas Gift for a Sewist

Yes, that bow is made from a flexible plastic tape measure. :)

I actually made this project several weeks ago, but I couldn't post it until the gift exchange was complete. I made a gift for a sewist, though I wasn't sure which sewist it would go to.

After much cogitating, I found this pattern by CurryBungalow for a thread catcher, to keep by your sewing machine. It also includes a detachable pincushion.

Cute, isn't it?

I haven't been to FabMo in maybe a year, but I have loads of fabric samples from FabMo (a place that rescues supplies that would otherwise be dumped) and I always love an opportunity to use them. I have used them for making zippered pouches, tote bags, and my Koos bag, to name a few things. (You can see all the posts I've tagged with "FabMo" here.)

I decided to make two, since I could use one of these as well. (In fact, I could use two - one for the sewing machine and one for the serger station, but that will have to wait for another day.) As I dived into my bags of FabMo samples, I decided to focus on blue, as that is a color that appeals to many. The dimensions of my bags are slightly smaller than the pattern calls for (maybe half an inch in each dimension) and slightly different from each other. With the sample fabrics, you have to work with what you have and I used every inch of that lining fabric.

The pattern calls for quilting cottons and I used two kinds of fabrics. Mostly I used tapestry home dec fabrics which are much thicker than a quilting cotton, but they worked. The solid blue fabrics came from a jeans sample - several chopped off jeans legs, maybe 18" in length, were stapled together and suspended from a cardboard "hang tag". These samples demonstrated different washes/distressed finishes that were available from the vendor. The distressed fabrics were very soft. I used the denim as the trim on the bag, and to connect the bag to the weight.

I made some changes to the pattern. For the flat weight that stabilizes the thread catcher, the pattern calls for a "subway tile". When I went to the big box home dec store (my local indie hardware store did not carry these tiles), I found that the subway tiles were not heavy enough. I hunted up and down the aisles and I found some heavy steel plates. These things are much heavier than a subway tile and each one cost less than $2.

I cut a piece of non adhesive shelf liner and glued it to the bottom of the covered weight. Because of this, coupled with the heft of the plate, it doesn't slide at all.

Because the plate is square, I made the pincushion in a square shape.

The pincushion is filled with ground walnut shells.

I also bought some flower shaped head pins to decorate the pincushion.

The gift I brought home is also hand made: a beautiful smock-style apron, with lots of pockets:

Front
Back
Kathleen, my friend who made this apron, used a pattern called My Neighbor's Apron.