Stupendous Stitching

 



The last class I did with Craftsy was Carol Ann Waugh's Stupendous stitching.  We all have those lovely decorative stitches on our sewing machines but when do we actually use them in our quilting.  Are you like me answering, "Well never".  In her class, Carol Ann shows how these stitches can be used in a very simple but very effective way to create something just a little different.  Here is the sample I made from watching her class.

Stupendous Stitching Sample

In this small sample I used different decorative stitches in a variety of colours as well as some hand embroidery using simple straight stitches and French Knots.

Hmm I then had the idea of using this method to make a new cover for the back of my hand mirror on my dressing table.  Hubs gave me this dressing table set probably 50+ years ago when I was still at school - wow imagine that - and all that is left of it is the hand mirror which I happen to use every single day even though the mirror was cracked across the top.  So I set to work cutting out a rough pattern the shape of the mirror and ironing on a piece of vilene which stabilizes the top fabric on which I will do the decorative stitching.

Then comes the embellishing and fancy stitching and finishing off with some hand embroidery.

I then added a piece of batting and quilted around the decorative stitching.

The next step was to pack the template behind the prepared piece and somehow come up with a way to keep its shape.  I crisscrossed some stitching at the back which seemed to do the trick!

I had a new piece of mirror cut to exactly the same shape as the metal frame but unfortunately the small glass factory in town in our local town could not bevel the edges.  What a disappointment as I then had to undo all the crisscross stitching at the back and cut the quilted top to exactly the same shape as the backing as the bulk of the mirror as well as my prized piece of stupendous stitching would not fit into the small groove of the mirror frame.  Oh well, it still worked after I glued the edge of the top onto the cardboard template which I then left intact and it fitted beautifully.

I polished up the very tarnished handle and frame, and wallah.....

 

My new hand mirror, well as good as new anyway!

Hand mirror and table topper to match!

So this was another use for some stupendous stitching and I'll surely come up with other things to make as well.

Thank you for stopping by and I wish all my followers a Blessed Christmas and a Happy and Healthy 2014.