By Janome Artisan: Sarah Ann Smith
By Janome Artisan Sarah Ann Smith www.SarahAnnSmith.com,
I had so much fun making my Summer Buoys Garland, I decided I’d like another garland for winter. That led to a hunt through my stack of fun fabrics for something wintry. I found a delightful dose of whimsy with a border print that offered lots of imagery for a big garland in our entry/kitchen.
All you need is fabric, fusible web, felt, thread, and a sewing machine—especially one with a buttonhole stitch, but a zigzag or even straight stitch works well (and don’t take as much time as the satin stitching I did on the buoys). My fabric has ©2013 so it has been in the stash a while, and I’m so excited to have these friendly gnomes ready for winter! Raid your stash or go shopping for the perfect print to suit your personality. AND, if you aren’t a fan of garlands, this process works for making ornaments and gift decorations for any season or event. (Summer Garland link here: (here: https://www.janome.com/inspire/projects/buoys-summer-garland/ ).
Supplies:
- Janome Sewing Machine, preferably with a buttonhole, “bold” buttonhole or zigzag stitch
- Janome open-toe Applique foot for your machine, F2 Open-toe
- Optional: the new Bilevel 2 foot for the gift bag
- Thread for decorative stitching
- I used Aurifil 50/2 cotton. I opted for matching instead of contrasting for this project—do what makes you happy! Usually I go for bright and bold. This time I felt my fabric and theme were better suited with a blendy color (Ivory and chocolate brown).
- Narrow cord, string, ribbon, heavy perle cotton, rattail cord, cotton yarn or whatever works to hang the garland. For the gift bag, you can make a cord out of fabric or use a cotton cord or ribbon for the drawstring.
- Fabric
- You can make this using any print you want, for any season. Cheater and sampler panels also have great potential to use this way. How much you need depends on how large the motifs are and how many individual pieces you want to create.
- For the bag, add some coordinating prints to use with any leftovers from your garland. In the instructions I’ll show how to make a bag that will fit a large shoebox, but you can use the process for a bag of any size from small paperback book (or generous candy bar assortment) to BIG.
For the Garland you will also need:
- Fusible web
- I prefer MistyFuse, but WonderUnder also works.
- Optional: Batting
- I skipped the batting this time—somehow holiday décor seems like it ought to be streamlined and less work! If you do want to add some puff, I prefer wool or a wool blend for its “puff-osity” but you can use cotton or polyester. Be careful with too much heat from the iron with poly—it can melt or compress. Check the Buoys Garland pattern for details, but just cut a shape about ¼” narrower all the way around to go under your fussy cut motifs
- Felt:
- For the backing, to simplify the project and speed it up (no edges to finish!) I chose wool felt from my local fabric and art supply store (www.fiddleheadartisansupply.com). You can use any felt for this, but if you choose acrylic felt be careful of your iron settings so you don’t melt it! In some places you can buy felt by the yard.
- I used one 8×12” sheet of felt in red, and an 18×18” quarter cut each in the white and green (with leftovers). I had about 18 different motifs in my garland
Make the Garland:
Making the Motifs:
Fabric before the cutting began—motifs range from about 2 ½” diameter to 5 ½” tall by 6” wide in the border section.
Pre-fusing and cutting:
In my world, I use the F words: FUSE your FABRIC FIRST. Prepare your woven fabric with fusible using the manufacturer’s instructions, then begin cutting and fusing. My fabric had a border on one side, so I cut a scant half inch above the top of the border the entire 1-yard length. I then fused about a fat quarter’s worth of the remaining yardage. I studied the print and figured out how many different motifs there were, then pin marked an area around all of them. I then cut out that section saving the rest of the fabric for the gift bag.
- I fused the entire section of border print. I then used a chalk marker to decide where to cut the strip into five different vignettes.
- For the motifs, I fused up a section about the size of a fat quarter by studying the repeat and how the prints overlapped. I decided I wanted to cut the designs out with a scant 1/8” of the cream background showing. That meant I needed a second repeat to use the neighboring motif. Apply the fusible web using the manufacturer’s instructions.
- Trim across the top and bottom of the rough-cut sections to remove any fusible goobers there as well. This helps keep your iron clean!
- Determine which motifs/designs to cut out, then cut! I love my serrated Karen Kay Buckley Perfect scissors for this task (not affiliated, just a fan). They have tiny little serrations on the edges that make it possible to fussy cut the smallest pieces—you can feel them cut a single thread in the fabric.
- DO NOT Cut your felt YET! Place your trimmed motifs on the felt leaving at least ½” (3/4” is better) between the shapes. (NOTE: if you choose to put some batting under your appliques, check my Garland Buoys pattern for pictures, but you do it now, before you fuse the fabric to the felt.)
- Fuse the appliques in place according to the instructions for your fusible web. You will cut them out later, but it is easier to stitch the applique in place when you have a larger piece of felt. If you buy a piece of felt that is 18 x18”, as I did, once you have fuse the appliques in place, cut around the whole batch leaving at least ½” clearance on the outside.
The FUN Stitching Part:
I used the “bold” buttonhole stitch on my M7 Continental. I first tried using the zigzag with my fine, matching thread. Boring. So I then did one with the buttonhole stitch—SO much better.
Because I trimmed my appliques with a scant 1/8” of the background showing around the motif, I used a Very Narrow width, just 2.0. I kept the stitch length at the default 2.5.
I customized the bold buttonhole stitch as follows:
- Stitch width 2.0
- Stitch length 2.5 (default)
- Mirror Image (standard the sideways stitches swing to the right. I prefer to sew clockwise around a motif with the straight part of the stitch on the outside of the applique, so I need the sideways stitches to swing left.)
- Set needle to the down position
- If you have it, engage the “pivot” function which lifts the presser foot automatically when you stop stitching. This makes turning corners and rounding curves must easier.
You can see a short video tutorial of me appliqueing one of my motifs on my YouTube channel here: https://youtu.be/SL6hI2nEWIM Or look for @SmithQuilts on YouTube and click on the video titled Buttonhole stitch applique mini tutorial with Sarah Ann Smith
Trimming:
- Trim the felt around the motif, about ¼”. It’s a good idea to mark with a chalk pencil where you want to trim. I used my Karen Kay Buckley serrated scissors which make trimming a breeze.
Once the trimming is finished, lay out your motifs in the order you want them to hang.
Guess how I learned that was a mistake. Twice LOL!
- Alternatively, you can also sew a plastic ring on the back when everything is done, use yarn, string, slender rope, or perle cotton to make a loop—whatever works.
And it is ready to hang!!!!
Make the Gift Bag:
I used a sneaker shoe box to size my bag: 11 3/4” long by 9 1/4” wide by 5” tall. If you want a different size, aim for about an extra inch or a bit more in circumference. You need a fair bit extra in height because you are gathering it to the center to close and have a nice bunch at the top as a ruffle.
Bag Outside:
15 3/4” x 36 1/2” main fabric
1” x 36 1/2” accent (brown)
4 1/2” x 36 1/2” base (green)
About 60” cord or 1/4” ribbon
Use 1/4” seams unless specified otherwise (lining side seams only are 3/8”)
- Sew together the three outside pieces
- Press seams toward the bottom
- Edgestitch using bilevel 2 presser foot; 2.5 needle position 2.5 length (see photos below on how to use the Bilevel 2 presser foot)
- Sew side seams, aligning piecing seams
The assembled bag pieces are 20 1/2” tall by 36 1/2” wide; if you wish you can just use a single fabric instead of piecing.
Bag Lining and drawstring accent strip:
- Cut lining 23” tall by 36 1/2” wide
- Sew short side together using 3/8” seam
- Press seam as stitched. Smooth out and press the other side. Then press seam open (avoid removing the crease you just added— you will use that line for measuring and folding the boxed corners)
- Cut the drawstring tube at least 2” wide by the width of the bag. I cut mine 1 ½” and it is REALLY tight with a 3/8” ribbon in it once you have sewn down the folded edge. I’ll be swapping out for a narrower cord or ¼” ribbon to make it easiser to close up the top!
Assembly:
- Slip outside bag over your box— leave it inside out!
- Center the seam on the side
- Decide on placement for the boxed corners (see photos below).
- Starting with the seam end, about 1/4 – 3/8” away from corner of box, place a pin though the center of both sides
Boxing the corners:
My outside the original blue chalk line was 4 1/4 inches long total, so the center of the pressed-open seam was at the 2 1/8 inch mark on the ruler. I decided it was a little loose so I sewed 1/8 inch toward the inside of the bag from that blue line.
I used the 4 1/4 inch length as my interior corner width for the lining. This means the lining is about ¼” smaller which helps it fit nicely inside the outer bag. Because the crossgrain of the fabric goes around the box, the inherent slight stretch allows you to easily “fit” the inside and outside together on the top with just a little easing and have it turn out neat and tidy. Give the bag and lining a test fit:
Things fit and there is enough extra on the lining to fold over nicely. To avoid sewing a buttonhole, I made an accent strip that attaches to the lining to hold the drawstring. In made my green drawstring tube one that finishes at 1/2” to match the bottom. Mistake! Once I stitched mine down it is Very Narrow—make your life easier and cut yours about 2” wide.
Fold the drawstring tube fabric in half lengthwise, press a crease, and sew it to the top of the lining. You want the opening to be exactly in the center of the front of the bag (you get to choose which side is the front!). In the photo below, you’ll see I stitched down the folded end to begin, but waited to do the same for the end until I had sewn the strip onto the bag. REINFORCE THE STITCHING at the opening—I already ripped a couple stitches pulling my too-snug ribbon tight when photographing the result!
- Press the seam allowances toward the inside of the bag (in my case the brown fabric).
- Fold the top over, pin and stitch in place. I LOVE the new Bilevel 2 presser foot, but you can use a zipper or stitch-in-the-ditch foot for this, or if you are REALLY precise, you’re A or F2 foot. I am not precise, and I find the Bilevel 2 gives me the best and easy results.
ALMOST DONE! Use a bodkin or a sturdy safety pin to thread your cord or ribbon through the drawstring tube (green in my case). Because my tube was too narrow, I couldn’t use my bodkin, so I doubled the end of the ribbon over before pinning the safety pin through it—that prevents ripping out the end of the ribbon. DO leave a little extra ribbon length though…this end gets a bit mangled and you may want to trim it off.
When the ribbon is all the way through and you have about 12” extra on either end, center the ribbon in the tube. The last step is to machine sew at the center back; this prevents enthusiastic gift recipients (or gift-givers wrapping things up) from accidentally pulling the ribbon out!
Ta DAAAAA! Now you are ready for gift giving! You can use all sorts of fun fabrics, piece together leftovers for all occasions using this process. Sometimes I skip the drawstring and make the bag long enough to fold over the top then wrap 1” wide ribbon around it to hold it closed. Make big ones (the largest one I have I think my tiny 5’ tall daughter-in-law could fit inside! Perfect for big boxed gifts), little ones, make many! And if you knit, you can make as many project bags as you want!
Enjoy!
