"Sew Artsy" Wreath

I love to sew and I love artsy stuff, "sew" this current Front Porch Kit entitled "Sew Artsy" was right up my alley. I loved designing with all the new, vintage and unusual items in the kit.  The sewing wreath above was one of the projects I made with the embroidery hoop (named "Hattie Hoop").

I had the foresight to take a few photos as I was creating, so here are some of the steps for making the wreath. 

First I wrapped the wooden hoop with strips torn from the instructions of the sewing pattern in the kit.  This added some bulk to the hoop.

Then I added another few layers of strips of the sewing pattern tissue.  It was now much thicker, giving me more surface for the next step.

I cut many pieces of the pattern tissue approximately 4" square and stacked 3 or 4 of them together, turning each piece as I layered to achieve more bulk.  I used pinking shears because they were the first scissors I came across, but straight cuts are fine too.  Then I scrunched the middle of each stack, forming a stem-like piece under the "flower."

I hot-glued MANY of these all over the wrapped wreath form - the more the better to make a really fluffy wreath. I also scrunched each flower in my hand before glueing down to add more bulk.  (Don't forget to add a ribbon loop around the hoop screw before covering up with the flowers.  This will be used to hang the wreath.)

I wrapped the pink measuring tape around the wreath like a ribbon and then started decorating with many of the bits and pieces of sewing ephemera in the kit - button cards, tiny wooden spools and floss cards wrapped with thread, a vintage card of snaps (this was mine), reduced copies of the sewing pattern and needle card, and a large wooden spool.  I also cut pieces of the polyester and cotton fabrics, folded them like a bolt of fabric and added a safety pin.  

The chipboard dress form from the kit was covered with more sewing pattern tissue at the top and for the body I used canvas fabric that I had stamped. I used the short strip of black vintage lace for the collar with one of the resin buttons in the center. Two rows of the ruffled cotton trim form the bottom of the skirt and rubons define the waist along with a pink lace tie.

The dark blue flower in the upper left of the wreath was made with part of the zipper that was in the kit. I pulled apart the zipper and only used one half. I started at one end and just rolled and glued it into a spiral.  The pink flower is a yoyo sewn from the pink polyester from the kit. I cut a circle, did a running stitch around the perimeter and gathered it together. The yellow center is yellow pearl cotton glued in a circle and the leaf was hand-cut from the green polyester fabric.  (I've hated this stuff since the 70's but it's great for flowers since it doesn't fray!)

For the turquoise flower in the lower right (sorry no good photo), I cut a wide, long strip of the turquoise polyester fabric and folded it in half lengthwise with wrong sides together.  I glued the cut ends opposite the fold together and then cut slits along the folded edge, stopping each cut about 1/4 away from the glue line.  Then I started at one end, rolling and glueing this strip into the flower, and added a button for the center.

For the bow at the top of the wreath, I first made a bow from the pattern tissue (I used the belt portion of the used dress pattern which had already been cut out) and added another bow from a torn strip of the black and white polka dot fabric, tied with black cording.  I also added two old sewing machine bobbins at the ends of the cords and tucked in a small, old pair of scissors.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial. If you haven't already, go visit all the blogs of the Front Porch Kit Design Team (list and easy links on the right side of my blog). We all are posting today about some of our projects.

This kit is almost sold out, but it can be ordered online at our website: www.thelittlebluehouseonline.com or by phone at the LBH (817-431-7930).

Now I'm wondering what surprises the next kit will bring!