kreatedbykaren.net

Hey everyone. I have been sewing so much that I find myself in a tizzy trying to blog at so many places. I have decided, for now, to write about my projects on my main blog, The Pond. I hope to see you there!

This lady will inspire you!

I don’t know how the professionals make piping but this is how I do it.

First, I cut strips of fabric. I recommend cutting the strips at least 2″ wide. You want enough fabric to be able to sew the piping onto your project.

Sew enough strips together to enable you to go completely around the pillow, purse or whatever project you are working on. Press open the seams.

Position the cord in the center of the fabric. I buy cord by the yard at the fabric store.

Sew as close to the cording as possible. Sometimes I use a zipper foot. I get my best results with my walking foot.

Mark the pillow and position the cord so that the cord falls just inside the marking. You want your piping to show when you sew the backing onto the pillow front.

You might need to clip the the fabric when making corners. I don’t cut all the way to the cording. I stay about 1/8″ from the cord.

Pin the cording to the pillow front. When I come to the point where the ends meet, I cross one end over the other and pull both ends towards the outside of the project. Sew over both ends. Sew as close to the piping as you can.

Pin the backing onto the pillow front. Sew using the stitching, from sewing the piping on, as your guide. Leave an opening if you didn’t sew in a zipper. Turn right side out and check to see if everything is sewn tight. If not, get a little closer.

I might be talking about prairie points until I am sick of them because I am giving a talk about how to make and use them at a quilt guild meeting in February. I learned how to make a new kind of prairie point when I made my chicken table runner. I used that same folded prairie point on this pillow. The difference on this point is that I used decorative stitching on the edge of each point. I’m not sure that it looked as good as it could have. I may have to play around with different stitches. It is hard to get a good stitch along a narrow edge. The prairie point was made from a 3″x3″ square of fabric. I am making another pillow using 4 1/2″x4 1/2″ squares with 2 1/4″ strips. I’ll show you how that turns out when it is finished.

I added the prairie points to 1 3/4 inch strips of fabric.



I sewed the strips together.

press the front and back

I put a zipper into the back fabric, added piping and sewed the front to the back to make a pillow.
It looks like I am practicing accupuncture on the pillow! I put a dot of glue under each prairie point and pinned them until the glue dried.

The finished pillow.

Do you know how easy it is to make piping? I will show you in my next post.

I don’t know about you but I sometimes doubt my abilities. That is why, when asked to make a bag for a teen, I told my customer to pick out her own fabric. I was surprised when I opened the bag to find fabric I had used before! I have made several bags and a laptop sleeve from this fabric. Here is the bag I just finished. She, the 14 year old, loves it. I need to get some confidence!

in a treasury at Etsy! Thanks to the shop owner, StudioCherie , my large tote was featured in her beautiful collection, You and Me and Baby Make Three.

This is my new necklace. I lost the paper work that came with it and I cannot remember what type of stone it is. Does anyone know? I thought the clerk said yellow topaz but I am not sure.

While in Houston at the quilt festival, I bought a new cutting mat and ruler from Martelli. I was mesmerized by the way the demonstrator made cutting look so easy. There was no slippage of his ruler and the blade left no uncut threads. I hate going back to cut threads that my rotary cutter misses. Well, my mat and ruler arrived, finally. Now, to watch the video and learn how to use the tools. I hate learning new things.

I enjoy making large totes as opposed to working with small things. My fat fingers are better suited for working with larger pieces. A friend asked me to make two diaper bags for her. Two of her daughters are expecting new babies this summer.

I bought the pattern for this purse when I was at the quilt show in Houston. It is hard to believe that it was just a few months ago that we drove to Dallas and then to Houston for the quilt show. I had so much fun.

This pattern was a bit difficult and I just about threw the purse in the trash after discovering I put the zipper in upside down. I got it together though and it is listed on my Etsy site!