The tiny scraps that I sorted out earlier this week have been transformed into a handy little cosy for my great-niece to put her MP3 in. The mobile phone cosy with a button that I made last year I gave to my sister in law, and her granddaughter, aka my great-niece, loves it and wanted one for her MP3.
So here it is, ready to be put in an envelope and posted off to Surrey. I will have to write a grovelling note of apology because she particularly wanted me to include the teapots fabric used in her grandmother's cosy, and I clean forgot... something along the lines of "terribly sorry darling, I am a great aunt after all, more ancient and forgetful by the minute, especially when caught up in a creative whirl... " should fit the bill.
Here is the back, and especially for Esther ipatchandquilt, who thought it was a bit of a lark having a post just featuring a picture of scraps, giving them the movie star treatment, I have stood the cosy on its own little red carpet.
And here it is opened out, so you can admire the naff brown striped lining in all its 1970s glory.
To compensate for me forgetting the teapots fabric, I hope my great niece enjoys a game of spot the fabric next time she visits her grandparents and sees this quilt. In the quilt she will find the pinky purple flowers at the bottom of the second picture, and the green floral and brown floral on the third picture, which all belonged to her great grandmother, and which she bought in the USA.
A very satisfying little project, making something useful with tiny scraps. In fact, the strip that I used for the button loop was already chucked into the rubbish box on my table, and I suddenly thought better of it and fished it out. I am so glad I did. With the blue button it clashes so fascinatingly horribly with the green.
Linking up today with Kelly's blog My Quilt Infatuation for Needle and Thread Thursday.
This is the second piece of quilting, now transformed into a mobile phone cosy. This is the slightly more sophisticated version, fastened with a button and loop.
I sewed on the button before doing the side seams - it would have been tricky getting the needle through to the inside otherwise.
The loop is sewn firmly in place with a rectangle of machine stitching with crossing diagonals.
Here are the two finished cosies side by side. Although they are made from the same quilted rectangle, the effect is different because I used them the opposite way round, so each one has a different part showing on top for the flap.
My daughter's verdict is that they are a bit wide and square shaped. So what, said I. It all depends on the size of the mobile phone. This one has room for her mobile phone and lipstick.
This post is linked to Barbara's blog at Cat Patches so you can see projects lots of other people have started in March... plenty of inspiration there!
Bind across one end of the quilted piece. This is the end that will be hidden under the flap. I used an odd end of binding left over from an old project.
Fold the cosy over and sew the two side seams. With the mobile phone inside it you can see that there is a generous sized flap to fold over, Also you can see the material I used for the inside. Not particularly attractive, but it will rarely be seen.
Before putting on the binding, trim with the rotary cutter down each side to give a clean straight edge.
Now the first line of stitching for binding is done, with the top two corners mitred. At the bottom left I had a selvedge edge at the beginning of the binding; at the bottom right I had to fold in the raw edge.
This shows the binding with the second line of stitching finished. There is a piece of black elastic going across the back, with each end held in place under the binding. It might be difficult to spot, because is goes across the navy strip below the broad green strip.
Here is the view of the other side...
... and with the flap folded over...
... and of the back.
The elastic can be pulled over to the front when the phone is inside to keep the flap down. The other option is to sew on a button and make a loop to fasten over it. Perhaps I will do that with the second one.
This is the first project using the 1949 Singer 15K hand machine that I have recently cleaned up.
Mobile phone cosies are so easy to make, so I will show you the method.
First, I raided my jar of scraps and found a few strips, which I have sewn together to make a small panel.
I used a seam guide to keep the seams straight and even, and ironed the seam allowances to one side, all in the same direction.
I haven't been fussy about measuring it because a sheet of A4 size paper will give you the approximate measurements you need. Here is a sheet of A4 laid over the panel, showing that there is a little extra all round.
Next, make the quilt sandwich. Here it is, held in place with a few safety pins.
Straight line quilting along the seam lines is the quickest and easiest method. This isn't a fancy project.
A line of machine stitching at each end will make it easier to put the binding on later.
Next, use the rotary cutter to square off the quilted panel into a neat rectangle.
Finally, cut the panel in half lengthways. Each strip is approximately four and a half inches wide.
This way you will end up with two mobile phone cosies. If you make one, you can be sure somebody else will want one, so I've decided to save time and just make two in the first place.
I threw this together last night - not my neatest piece of work ever, but I needed to try out the latest acquisition, a 1936 Singer 201K treadle. The treadle belt was a bit slack and slippery, but there's absolutely nothing to complain about with the stitch. The machine is now cleaned up, oiled and gleaming. When I get a new treadle belt on it it should run like a train.
This is the back of the mobile phone cosy. Once the phone is inside you can pull the elastic over to the front to keep the flap down.
We saw the machine out at the front of a second hand furniture shop on Saturday. It was an instant purchase - a 201K treadle in good condition is not to be sniffed at. The car was parked a few yards along the road and two young lads from the shop lugged the machine along the pavement and heaved it into the boot. One of them was really interested in the machine and said he was sad to see it go. I promised to make him something on it, so this mobile phone cosy is for him, complete with his initials.
Welcome to Felicity, the latest follower - thank you for joining!
I made this for my daughter a year ago using odd shaped scraps. No sophisticated mitred corners here, the black binding was too thick and awkward. It was a quick botch job, but it has held in one piece. Don't look too closely - it could do with a wash.
Most important - the phone has been kept protected from knocks and scratches.
Brighton Pavilion on pink. Very snazzy, very 60s.
