Decorative Embroidery Hoop Tutorial

Do you have a piece of vintage embroidery

 that's seen better days?

Consider this easy up-cycle.

My embroidered pillowcase

had several loose and damaged threads.

I picked it up at a garage sale for next to nothing: 

 it was the perfect candidate for an up-cycle.

Choose a wooden needlework hoop that fits the

 size of the embroidery you wish to feature.

Stamp the front edge of the hoop with a water-based ink. 

Choose any color that coordinates with your embroidery. 

 I wanted mine to appear vintage and chose a

dark brown from the Ranger line of Distress Inks. 

Use a small brush to apply water to your ink.

  It will act as a stain to the hoop's front.

Brushed-on water has been applied

 to the left of the brush in the right photograph.

Choose a stripe from your scrapbook papers

 that coordinates with your hoop and embroidery.

  Unless you are using a very small hoop,

 you will need to cut two stripes from the 12" by 12" paper.

Cut the stripe to the width of the wood on your hoop.

Attach the paper to the hoop with Aleene's Original Tacky Glue.

End each stripe at the halfway point/bottom of the hoop.

Glue a vintage button no bigger than the

width of the hoop about 1 1/4" from the top.

Prepare your tag art. 

Be inspired by the embroidery design.

Use buttons, charms, and ribbon

to embellish your embroidery.

Use these items to hide loose threads and damage.

Place the embroidery in the hoop. Tighten the top screw

 as tight as you can once you get the fabric in the desired placement.

Cut the extra fabric as close as you can

 to the back hoop with fabric scissors.

Add your tag art by wrapping a ribbon around the button!

What do you think?

Amy



Bedside Caddy from Vintage Pillow Case

Using only the straight stitch on your sewing machine and a vintage pillowcase you can make a sweet bedside caddy.

Are you ready to begin?



1.  Choose a standard vintage pillowcase with an all-over floral motif.  Launder and press.  (Estate sales, thrifts stores, and Goodwill all have great vintage pillowcases that have long ago lost their matching sheets.  You can also check with Grandma.  The back of her linen closet may yield some long lost beauties.  Etsy and Ebay also sell vintage pillowcases, but the sellers will charge you several dollars per case.)

2.  Fold long sides together forming a long rectangle.  Pin along the edges.  Sew a 1/4" seam around all four edges.

3.  Choose your favorite vintage image cropping and/or sizing to no more than 3 X 5 inches.  Print the image onto June Tailor's Quick Fuse Iron-on Ink-jet Fabric sheets following the manufacturer's instructions.  You can borrow my image below.  (This is one of my relatives.)  The other caddy samples that you will see in my photographs use images from Sandy Babb's at Quill Cottage  and Karen at the Graphics Fairy.



4.  Cut out the image and iron onto a coordinating piece of non-fraying fabric such as fleece, felt, wool, or flannel.  Use pinking sheers to cut around the fabric leaving about a 1/2" border outside of the vintage image.

5.  Use Scotch Blue Painter's Tape (It's wonderful for marking fabric!) to mark a 7" square at the top of what was the opening of the pillowcase.  You will build your vintage collage in the 7" square.

6.  Attach the vintage image to the 7" square by taking 3 strands of embroidery thread and sewing a free hand running stitch around the border fabric.

7.  Embellish with bits of crochet, old buttons, charms, lace, and ribbons.

8.  Fold the 7" collage pocket up wrong sides together.  Slip stitch the outside edges.  Remove the bottom Painter's Tape.

9.  Straight stitch along the edge of the remaining Painter's Tape to form the two pockets needed for the caddy.  Remove the Painter's Tape.  Last minute embellishments can still be added.

10.  Slide the long flat part of the pillowcase between your mattress and box springs to secure your caddy.

You are only limited by your imagination!

 

Amy

"The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying,

Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love:"

Jeremiah 31:3