Hello darling!

I hope you had a nice weekend. I would like you to meet the newest addition to our family. Her new name (was Fancy Dancy---a huh) is Dexie. She is 3 months old, a purebred short hair Chihuahua. We adopted her from the local animal shelter. She is the sweetest thing ever. It was love at first sight. She has been thru quiet a bit in her short life, she has a scar on top of her little head, looks like she may have once had a bad cut. She was born with a kink on the end of her tail, and altho we where told otherwise (that it should clear up) we think that she may be blind in one eye. We do not care about all that. She has an apointment with the Vet on Friday to have her stitches removed (was recently spayed) and we will see what the doc has to say about her eye.

As you can see, she and Ziggy are getting along just fine! As I write this post, they are both asleep on Ziggy's bed. She still has not met the kitty cats. I can not believe we have to start all over again! Ziggy has been with us for a year, and barely a few months ago BB stoped hissing at him, and it has been about 2 weeks, since Peanut started playing with him. Yes, it was a  very long time until I was comfortable having Ziggy alone with the cats, but these things are not easy, and do not happen overnight. So later today, I think we will make the first introduction, and get ready for the hissing, growling and puffy tails.

I have some shop news as well, but right now I have to list a few things and then do my excercises! I will be back tomorrow, with SALE previews for you.

Tutorial: Patchwork ironing board cover --- uber cuteness!

First tutorial (ever) so please bear with me if it gets a bit loopy!

*BTW, I Highly reccomend the Oliso iron. It turned out to be 1000 times better than my Rowenta, and if you are the kind of person, who has scorched a thing or two, with this iron, that will never (ever) happen again. And no, I do not sell these or anything of the sort, it is just an awesome iron.

Patchwork ironing board cover materials list:

Ironing board cover pattern (The one I used is from 1967, but it is for a standard size ironing board, so any pattern should be OK)

Lightweight fusible interfacing

1 ¾ yards cotton fabric for base (optional, but highly recommended)

4 yards single fold bias tape

1 7/8 yards of ¼” wide elastic

348 assorted fabric squares measuring 2 ¼” wide x 2 ½” tall

*Note: I used a mixture of cottons, canvas and linens

All sewing done was with ¼” seams.

 

 

Color palette used:


Red
Yellow
Pink
Green
Multi-color
Orange
Blue
Brown/tan
Purple
Black
White

I recommend you organize the squares by colors in little stacks!

Start by cutting out your ironing board cover base. It works as a placement guide, and not to mention to give your cover some heft. I go thru those cheap mass produced covers a lot, and I finally have a sturdy cover that will last a long time.

 
To make the patchwork cover, there are a total of 30 rows of fabric squares.


Row 1-26 : 12 squares
Row 27-28 : 11 squares
Row 29: 8 squares
Row 30: 6 squares

Start with your first row of 12, choose your color and fabric placements, and don’t forget that you are using ¼” seam to sew all the squares!

Once you have sewn all 30 of your strips, press open your seams.

Having pressed open your seams, you can start piecing together the cover. Star with row 1 and 2, using ¼” seam and continue on until you reach the smallest strip (row 30)

Once all rows are sewn, and you have to go back and press open your seams. Yes, that is a lot of ironing, but if you want to have a lumpy cover, just skip it.

After you have pressed open the rest of the seams, add the fusible interfacing to the wrong side of the patchwork cover. Not only is it going to make it sturdy, but it will prevent your seams from unraveling later.

Now, lay your patchwork cover down (back side up) and place the cotton cover on top. Pin in place, and baste together.

Remove pins, and cut out cover shape.

See how none of your seams became un raveled, that is why I used the interfacing!

Your almost done!

Now, look at your handy work, and smile....

Or in my case, shoo the puppy away, there are a few more things to be done.

Pin (if you like) bias tape and machine stitch in place (right sides together) and don’t forget (like I did) to clip your corners!

Attaching elastic: Leave about ½” out, and secure in place at the top of your cover with a few machine stitches. Fold over (under side of cover) bias tape, and stitch in place as you stretch and feed the elastic thru. Secure end of elastic with a few machine stitches. Remove your baste stitches.

Final step: Most ironing board covers come with a very thin (and flimsy) layer of foam. I happened to have some ¼” thick foam, that I placed on the ironing board. I purchased the foam at JoAnn’s, if you want to add a foam base to it. Or, you leave the old cover one, to add some cushion to it. Slip the cover on your ironing board and Voila, your done.

I had a lot of fun making this cover, and writing the instructions down along the way. This tutorial is for your personal use only. Feel free to make one for yourself, or a friend, but not for sale in any way (Etsy, Artfire, Ebay, blah, blah blah).If you have any questions or if I missed a step (sorry) feel free to contact me. If you make one, send me a link to your picture, I would love to see it!


Simbiosis_etsy@yahoo.com