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Happiness is scoring a bunch of reusable grommets... |
It was subsequently turned into a couple of bags, the
Oriole
and a modified
convertible backpack, as well as a zippered pouch and a
wallet. You also saw it last week as my
tangram puzzle.
The main reason I bought the drapery panel, however, was because of the grommets. A lot of discount store curtains have grommets on them, but not
many have the kind that you can remove and reuse.
These are identical to the plastic snap-on version sold by
Dritz. I did a quick search and a package of eight would cost me
$21.91 online. My entire curtain panel only set me back nine dollars (and
yes, there were also eight grommets on it).
Funny thing, though, about the grommets. Every previous time I've
considered using them, they didn't quite make the grade.
Recently, however — after making yet another scarf for myself — it
occurred to me that I needed a scarf hanger, with the grommets functioning
as holes to pull the scarves through.
So it was that in the early morning hours of another of my many
restless nights, I pondered how I could make a scarf hanger as easily as
possible. The next day, I pulled out my remaining
fat quarters of Tim Holtz's Eclectic Elements fabric
and picked one.
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| An Eclectic Elements fat quarter... |
If you stop to think about it, there aren't many things that you can make out of a single fat quarter that's not a pouch, a placemat or something similarly mundane. I actually run across many projects designed for fat quarters, but when you look into them, they call for multiple fat quarters.
This one truly uses only a single fat quarter. But don't let that stop you
from considering other fabric sources, such as a pillowcase. I've used
several pillowcases in my projects (most notably, the lining of my
Goddess of the Sea bag
used to be a pillowcase); those found in discount shops often feature
decent prints and yield a good amount of material for a couple of bucks.
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| Putting grommets down to plan the spacing... |
In terms of difficulty, what could be simpler than attaching a panel of
fabric to a clothes hanger? (This one came from a dry cleaning service
years ago and is a bit wider than a conventional wire hanger, but the
concept is the same with any hanger.) The best part is that a fat quarter
— i.e., a piece of fabric that's approximately 22" x 18" — of quilting
cotton is perfectly sized for this project.
Choose one with a print that isn't directional, because the fabric will
need to run sideways. (Oh, and because I really like this particular
selvage, it's staying on as a design "feature".)
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| Ensuring that my grommets holes are properly spaced... |
To give the whole thing some firmness, I used a piece of Peltex.
And because I learned my lesson from a previous experience, the holes were
cut into the Peltex before inserting it between the fabric.
The interfacing provided a clean slate to draw whatever lines I needed to
position the openings evenly.
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| Holes cut out with a seam ripper... |
Since I used the grommet as a template to trace holes, I cut about 1/8"
around the
outside of the traced circles to ensure that the holes would be big
enough. (A seam ripper was the perfect tool for the job, by the way.)
To confirm the title of this post, sewing this up consisted of only three seams. The first two are these ones along the sides:
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| Seams one and two... |
After sewing up the sides, I turned it right side out, then inserted and
fused the piece of Peltex (fused to the front). The next step was
to snip away the fabric at the location of the holes (again, a seam ripper
works well to start the job) and install the grommets.
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| Grommets installed... |
I had briefly considered a "removable" solution for the hanger, but then
thought, why would I ever take it off? So while hook and loop tape, snaps
or buttons are an option if one were to go that way, I just wanted to sew
across the top and make the hanger a permanent part of the contraption.
(Note that if you have an open ended pants hanger, this would not be an
issue.)
Therefore, the third seam is the one that encloses the hanger across the
top.
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| My new chiffon scarf gets first crack at the hanger... |
As I said above, I liked the look of the selvage and therefore decided to
make it part of the design.
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| View of the back... |
You can see from the above view of the back that I did not sew all the way
from end to end, due to the hanger being in the way. (I folded the hanger
down onto the panel when I sewed, since I would otherwise not have room
for either side of it under the arm of my sewing machine.) I did some
bar-tacking along the selvage at both edges to compensate.
May I say again how much I love this fabric collection? This particular one is called Correspondence, and features various stamps and postmarks. (It's still available online.) When I chose it for this project, it was because it was one of the few non-directional prints that I had. In seeing the final result, however, the fabric stands out in a way I hadn't expected.
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| Room for the rest of my chiffon scarves... |
Yes, I've made a lot of scarves over the years. Here are my two
t-shirt infinity scarves
added to the hanger.
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| Loaded up with my t-shirt scarves... |
Speaking of fabric, my new chiffon scarf is made out of one of my own
designs:
Blooming 1.
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| Something that proves its usefulness within seconds... |
Mustn't forget the very
first scarf I ever made, out of my Pride and Prejudice fabric.
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| Accommodating all of the scarves I've made in last five years... |
I'm thrilled when something easy to make serves an instant purpose.
While I can't say that I've been waiting forever to make a scarf hanger,
it's clear that I can use one!
And how great is it that I finally got to use my grommets? I'm pretty
sure, however, that I never envisioned them being put on a scarf
hanger when I bought that drapery panel years ago.
'Til next...
Your scarf hanger looks great, and bonus on the grommets. Funny I should be reading this right now after raiding my supplies for bias tape just before I was considering buying some. I know I can make my own, but premade is so much easier. Anyway, I checked and found some fleece, yes fleece, bias tape! Yay! Baby blue and baby pink, perfect for the flannel nightgowns I want to make for my granddaughters!
ReplyDeleteKathleen -- kakingsbury at verizon dot net