Moore's Sewing, Vacuum and Fan

This place mat can be made with or without embroidery. I decided to try out the new Anita Goodesign ‘Dogs and Cats’ designs.

Choose washable fabrics. Depending on your fabric choices, this place mat can work for any occasion. I used denim. I like the idea of a pocket in which to put a napkin and flatware, but you can leave it off if you prefer.

Finished size: 21” width by 14” height

Supplies:
2 – pieces of fabric 22” x 15” (mat)
1 – piece of fabric 6” x 12” (pocket)
1 – ¼” strip of fusible web for opening (optional)

If you are going to add any machine embroidery designs you will also need:
- stabilizer, appropriate for your fabric and embroidery design
- kk2000 temporary spray adhesive
- Air-erase pen or dressmakers chalk

Cut top and backing fabric to 22” x 15”
Cut pocket fabric to 6” x 12”

If you are not going to sew any embroidery designs then go to the instructions for construction.

Embroidery placement:

1. Mark the top-side mat fabric where you want the design to be sewn. I marked a line 5 ½” from the right edge (where the pocket is going to be) and marked the center of the remaining 16 ½” x 15” area.
2. Fold the pocket fabric in half to create a 6” x 6” square. Mark the center of the square. Unfold before hooping.

Embroidery sew out:
1. Choose a hoop that is large enough for the design.
2. Cut stabilizer large enough to be hooped.

If your fabric choice is lightweight, you may choose to hoop both the fabric and the stabilizer.  If the fabric is heavyweight, you may prefer to hoop only the stabilizer. (I had to spray ‘Best Press” to get the hoop marks out of the denim fabric after hooping both it and the stabilizer…. what was I thinking?…. I don’t hoop heavyweight fabric…..)

I have found, in both cases above, that sticking the fabric to the stabilizer with a suitable spray or glue generally produces improved sew outs. For the heavyweight fabrics, I use my machines’ basting stitch to help hold the fabric in place.

3. Spray the stabilizer with kk2000 and smooth the fabric on top of the stabilizer. Hoop the fabric and stabilizer together or just hoop the stabilizer per comments above.

My least favorite part of embroidery is hooping the fabric. I never seem to get it lined up with the hoop centering cross-hairs. But, I use the camera and ‘snowman’ feature my machine has to automatically rotate and locate the center of my design so the design sew out is exactly where I want it. In the photo above, the screen indicates that the design will be rotated one degree to line up with the snowman marker.

4. Attach the hoop to machine. Orient the design properly for each sew out. The pocket zone is to the lower right of the mat sew out.  The pocket top is the fold.  Stitch out design.
5. When the sewing is complete for each design, remove the hoop from the machine. Trim away excess stabilizer on the backside of the embroidery.

Construction:
1. With the pocket folded to a square, the back side facing up, and the lower raw edges lined up with the lower raw edge of the right-side up front mat fabric, align the raw pocket edge on the right with the line you drew on the front fabric (5 ½” from the right edge).

2. ONLY along the right raw edge, stitch the pocket to the placemat using a ½” seam allowance.
3. Flip the pocket over and press. Now, the raw edges to the right and the bottom raw edges of the pocket should line up with the placemat raw edges.
4. Baste the pocket to the placemat along the remaining raw edges.
5. Lay the backing fabric on top of the placemat fabric, right-sides together and pin in place.

6. Sew a ½” seam along the edges leaving an opening large enough for your hand for turning.
7. Turn the placemat right side out and press. Also, turn the fabric of the opening in ½” and press.

8. To hold the edges together at the opening, you can pin them or you can use a ¼” by length-of-the-opening strip of fusible web .
9. Top stitch a ¼” along the entire outer edge of the placemat. Because my fabric is denim and it ravels, I did another line of top stitching as close to the edge as I could. I also added some top stitching to the pocket.

To really make this a special placemat/napkin combo, how about adding a name or initials to the napkin?

Confused about that plate?  It is NOT part of the placemat. The clear glass plate fell out of the sky in just the right place, centered on top of the mat embroidery design……  OK, I put it there…..

Keep your coffee or tea hot and cozy with a simple sewing project.

A French press is not a weightlifter’s move.  It is, however, one of the easiest shapes to deal with when making a ‘cozy.’ This is because the typical French Press is cylindrical, with a uniform diameter except at the top.  So, a rectangular piece of fabric will easily wrap around the body of the press.  You need to decide if you want to make a narrow cozy that fits through the handle or a wider cozy that has a gap for the handle….. Or maybe a custom shape that has notches for the handle.  Let’s deal with the simple shape and leave the more complex shapes as an exercise for you to work out (not ‘workout’ like a weightlifter does). This is a ‘no sweat’ project.

Supplies needed:
Decorator fabric
Backing fabric
Cotton batting
2 – 5” Elastic cord or ponytail holders
2 – buttons

Measure the circumference of your French press by passing the tape measure through the handle. Add 3” to the measurement for overlap and seam allowance.
Measure the height you want your cozy to be and add 1” for seam allowance.
NOTE: In the photos, you might notice the sample has ¼” seam allowances.  The problem with the narrower seam allowance is tucking in the seam allowance on the open end on the fourth side of the cozy.

The measurements for my Bodum French Press are 8” from base to lid and 12” in circumference. The between-the-handle measurement is 5”.

My cutting measurements are:
6” x 15” for top fabric, backing fabric and batting

Construction:

1. Layer the pieces together with the batting first.
2. Align the back piece right-side facing up on batting.
3. Align the front piece on top of the back piece, wrong-side facing up.
4. Pin in place. Mark a 4” opening on one short end and sew a 1/2” seam around all sides leaving a 4” opening on one short end for turning.
5. Trim excess fabric from corners.
6. Turn the cozy right side out.
7. Turn the open end in 1/2” and press.

8. Use ponytail holders or cut two strips of elastic to 5 inches long and fold in half to form loops.

9. Insert elastic inside the open end of the cozy, placing one in each corner.
10. Secure the elastic loops with a basting stitch. This will prevent them from moving when you edge stitch the opening closed.

11. Edge stitch the opening closed.
12. Top stitch a ¼” from edge around the entire outside edge of the cozy.
13. The edge with the loops will have 2 rows of stitching. Remove basting stitches if necessary.

14. Wrap your cozy around the French press to determine button placement.
15. Sew on buttons.

Have you noticed that most of these blogs start off with a question? Well, this one does not. (Actually, I guess it does, but this question does not count as a question.) Starting with a question is a way to entice you to read to discover the answer. Does this early February blog session need a question to tie the project to Valentine’s Day? (Oops, another question that does not count as a question.) I doubt it, because the picture above definitely has a heart in it, and there is pretty much a direct correlation of hearts and Valentine’s Day. So, forget the questions above and just read the blog for the fun of it. Maybe it will spark you to action and solve a problem that you did not know you might have – what to give for Valentine’s Day?  (Oops again, sorry. That is the last question that does not count as a question.) The narrative follows.

I love Valentine’s Day. It is sort of like Christmas without the holiday stress. Likely, when we were in elementary school we exchanged cards. Just because we are no longer in school doesn’t mean we can’t send a valentine to someone special. Here is a quick and easy project that the recipient can use all year.

Supplies:
2 – 9” squares of fabric (I used denim)
1 – 9” square of Insul-Bright batting
1 – 9” square of 100 % cotton batting
1 – 6” square of fabric for heart applique
1 – 6” square fusible web (I used steam-a-seam)
1 – 2 1/2” X 40” strip of fabric for binding

1. Draw a heart shape on the paper side of the fusible web approximately 5 ½ inches high and wide.

2. Trim excess fusible web approximately ¼ inch from cutting line.
3. Press fusible web (with warm iron) to the wrong side of the applique fabric.
4. Cut heart shape out of fabric following the line you drew.

5. Remove the paper backing from the fusible web. If you have problems getting the paper off, use a pin to score the paper, then start peeling from the score. This is much easier than trying to start at the edge of the fabric.
6. With one piece of fabric right-side up, center the heart applique on the 9 inch square.
7. Follow the fusible web manufacturer’s instructions and press the applique heart to the 9 inch square of fabric.

8. Create a sandwich of layers including the back fabric wrong-side up, both layers of batting (only one layer of batting is shown here, but 2 were used), and the top fabric with the heart right side up.

9. To hold the sandwich together, use a blanket stitch along the edge of the heart. The length and width of blanket stitch you use is a personal choice. I used 3.0 width and 2.5 length. The fusible web will keep your fabric from fraying when washed.
10. This is how it will look on the back side when you are finished.
11. Square up your potholder to an 8 inch square (with the heart centered) using a ruler and rotary cutter.

Binding
If you have one, use your favorite quilt binding technique to finish the edges.
The following instructions detail the technique I use.

1. Cut a strip of the binding fabric 2 ½” wide by the width (selvage edge to selvage edge) of the fabric.

2. Line up the long edges, fold in half and press.
3. Start at the corner where you want the hanging loop to be. With the back side of the potholder facing up, line up the cut edges of the binding fabric with the sandwich edge. Set the needle in the center of the presser foot. Line up the edge of the presser foot with the fabric sandwich edge. Using a slightly long stitch length (about 3.0 stitch length and a Jeans size 14 needle because there are 6 layers when using 2 layers of batting), start sewing from the back edge of the sandwich along the first edge. BUT…..
4. Stop sewing at the width of your seam allowance from the end of the corner. Pivot fabric 45 degrees and sew off the corner of the fabric. Cut the threads.
5. Fold the binding away from the sandwich, forming a 45 degree angle.
6. Fold the binding back down, lining up the raw edges of the binding with the raw edges of the next side of the sandwich. The fold in the corner should be even with the edge that you just sewed. Align the binding and sandwich edges with the presser foot edge and start sewing from the back edge of the sandwich along the second edge. Continue this technique on the remaining sides.
7. When you get to the corner where you started, move the folded edge of the first sewn run of binding fabric out of the way so it won’t get caught by the needle. Stitch up to, but not over, the line of stitching on the first sewn binding strip. No new stitching should touch the fabric of the first sewn run.
8. Measure out a 6 inch tail and cut off the excess binding fabric.
9. On all 4 sides, fold the binding strip to the front of your potholder, covering the stitching you created when you sewed from the back side.
10. Starting with the first side sewn, pin the binding fabric to the front along the long edges, mitering the corners as you go.
11. If done correctly, the 6 inch tail on the last side should cover the raw end of the binding sewn to the first side.
12. Fold the long raw edges of the tail inward toward the long folded edge of the binding so that the width of the tail matches the width of the binding sewn to the edges of the sandwich. If necessary, pin the tail to hold the folds.
13. Starting at the end of the of 6 inch tail and using a zig-zag stitch or a straight stitch, sew towards the potholder. I used a zig-zag stitch on the tail and changed to a straight stitch when I got to the potholder. Top stitch (or edge stitch if you prefer) near the folded edge of the binding all around the square.

14. When you near a corner, slow down and leave the needle in a down position at the miter fold. Pivot the potholder 90 degrees and stitch towards the next corner. Continue stitching all the way around the potholder.

15. To form the loop, fold the 6 inch tail over to the back. Adjust the loop to the size that you want and figure out how much, if any, of the tail to cut off.  You need to allow for a fold at the end to conceal the raw end and some overlap along the side where you will tack down the loop end.

16. If your machine has a stitch for sewing on buttons, you can use it to make a great bar tack. Otherwise, set your machine to do a wide zig-zag stitch with 0 stitch length.

Do you engage in activities where your purse is too large and/or too heavy or your pockets just won’t quite hold enough?

This bag might be just what you need. This bag is relatively small, has a zipper closure to keep things in (and maybe other things out), and has a wrist strap which makes it easy to ‘fasten’ to your body.

Supplies:
2 – 7” x 9 ” fabric pieces for exterior
2 – 7” x 9” fabric pieces for lining
1 – 2” x 12 1/2” fabric piece for strap
2 – 7” x 9” pieces of fusible fleece
2 – 7” x 9” pieces of fusible interfacing
1 – 9” or longer nylon tooth zipper

Strap Construction:

1. Fold the 2” x 12 1/2” fabric piece in half lengthwise, wrong sides together. Press to form a crease.
2. Unfold, and fold the long edges toward the center crease. Press.
3. Refold at the center crease and press.

4. Top stitch along the open side to close. To make the strap look more finished, top stitch along the folded edge also.
5. Set the finished strap aside.

Fabric Preparation:

1. Iron fusible fleece to wrong side of exterior fabric pieces. Iron fusible interfacing to lining fabric pieces.

2. Mark a 1” square at each end of the bottom edge of the exterior and lining pieces and cut out.

Inserting the zipper:
1. Stack the fabric and zipper in the following order:

Lining fabric right side up.
Zipper pull side up.
Exterior fabric right side down

2. Pin all three layers together. Using a zipper foot, sew the pinned layers together.
3. Press the fabric away from the zipper.
4. Repeat the process with the other lining and exterior fabric pieces.
5. IMPORTANT CHECK: with the assembly lying flat, the corresponding edges of the fabric should be in line with each other. Place a straight edge (ruler) along the edges to check this.  If the edges do not line up or if either edge forms a ‘V’ shape with the ruler, correct the problem before proceeding.

6. Top stitch approximately 1/4” from the zipper teeth.

Bag Construction:

1. Fold the strap in half, matching the 2 raw ends and baste only to the exterior fabric about 1/2” from the top edge.
2. Open the zipper wide enough for your hand to fit through.

3. Match up the exterior fabric pieces to each other with right sides together. Pin sides and bottom of exterior fabric.

4. Match up the lining fabric pieces to each other with right sides together. The teeth of the zipper should be towards the lining fabric. Pin sides and bottom of lining fabric, leaving an opening at the bottom of the lining fabric large enough through which you can turn the bag right side out.

5. Using a 1/4” seam allowance, sew along all four sides, BUT do not sew the opening for turning nor the four cut out corners. Trim off excess zipper ends.

6. For each corner cutout – open the bottom corner and match up the bottom and side seams.

Sew the opening closed.

7. Pull the bag right side out through the opening in the lining.

Machine or hand sew the opening in the lining closed.
8. Press if needed.

Need a quick and easy project to add some color to your table? This table runner is just the project for you.

This project is based on the Ten Minute Table Runner originally designed by LaRae Bunnell Clark from Utah State University.

Fabric Requirements:
12 inches of  ‘theme’ print (center panel) by width of fabric
18 inches of a coordinating print by width of fabric

Directions:

1. With right-sides together, stitch the long sides with a 1/2 inch seam allowance to form a tube.

2. Press the seam allowance away from center fabric.
3. Turn the tube right-side out.

4. Position the theme print so the backing fabric creates equal width borders on each side of the theme print and then press.

5. Trim short ends inside the shortest selvage edge.
6. Fold long edge creases of the tube together with the theme print out. Stitch 1/2 inch seam on both short ends.

7. Press seams open.

8. Turn seams inside to form a point. You may want to use a point turner to get a nice point, press.

9. Edge stitch.