My Christmas Project

A peek at my new Christmas table topper...

Hubby bought himself a used motorhome about a month ago.

That's a whole other story that may not merit any further attention here. What it has to do with today's post, however, is that it came with some red window coverings that he proclaimed to be too dark.

Therefore — of course — my first assignment was to come up with a brighter solution. (That story will likely show up as a future blog post.)

When I looked closely at the fabric from the unwanted curtain panels and valances, it occurred to me that it seemed rather Christmas-y. The print features pine cones and pine tree tips.

Sorta Christmas-y, right?

I don't have any holiday themed fabric, so this was a good find for repurposing. Coincidentally, around the same time, a festive table topper project caught my eye on YouTube. It came from a crafter whose projects I highlighted a few months ago. 

The video is called Christmas Tablecloth / Tablecloth For Centerpiece and was uploaded November 27.

Image courtesy of Estadistica Datos del Mundo...

To provide the contrast fabric for the topper, I looked to my stash and pulled out a golden brown selection that came from Craftsy's Boundless line, called DECOdent.

By the way, I like that this is a six-pointed star. It can mean whatever you want it to mean.

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The contrast fabric needed to be made into bias strips, which I immediately proceeded to do with my "start with a single square" method. The 18" square yielded approximately twelve feet of 2" wide bias tape.

Making twelve feet of a continuous bias strip...

Unfortunately, per the YouTube tutorial, I actually needed 4cm wide bias tape. Nothing I could do about it after it was already cut; I would just have to be prepared to make changes later if it affected anything.

The project consists of making six diamond shaped sections and then joining them together. The diamonds measure approximately 15.75" tall and 9.5" wide (converted from metric). Given that they are diamonds, if cutting from a regular piece of fabric, a "stack and stagger" method would be best so as not to waste fabric. 

Cutting my "diamonds"...

In my case, I had to fit them onto pieces of a certain size, so the best I could do was cut them one at a time, linearly. I did this by cutting rectangles measuring 15.75" x 9.5", folding them into quarters and then slicing off the outside triangles. (This method results in twenty-four scrap triangles, so again, a more efficient way of fabric allocation would be preferred when using traditional fabric.)

One diamond finished...

After trimming one diamond with the bias strip, it became obvious that I'd need more than twelve feet of bias.

Back view...

As you get into the routine of this, you'll see that there's an optimal way of proceeding from edge to edge regarding the placement of the bias strip. It's not wrong otherwise, but you'll end up wasting more if you don't pay attention.

Optimal way of placing the next bias strip...

As it turned out, the twelve feet of bias managed to trim three diamonds and one side of a fourth.

Joining the six diamonds seemed to be a fairly straight forward process until I attempted it and then didn't know exactly where to stop sewing in the centre. In retrospect, I believe you need to leave an amount equal to your chosen seam allowance unsewn when you get to the middle.

A weird little fold...

As it happened, I ended up with a tiny glitch in the middle of it all, but given my fabric choice, no one is ever going to notice it. (Wanna know another reason why no one is ever going to notice it? I decided to make use of my Kenmore's fancy stitching cams for once. Decorative stitching now hides the middle... but more on that later.)

Recall that my bias strip was cut 2" wide instead of 4cm? Once the diamonds were sewn together, the entire piece wouldn't lie flat.

When unpinned, this will not lie flat...

I pinned the marked areas in the photo above to show where I'd need to increase the seams in those six places in order to get it to lie flat.

Adding a gradual increase to the seam allowance...

After a bit of fiddling, I marked and sewed along a 6" line deviating from the original seam allowance (the white line above), making it progressively wider. Then I unpicked the unwanted stitches along the original seams, pressed them out again and here it is:

Problem fixed!

Ta da! Lies flat. (At least it does once it's interfaced with some fusible fleece.)

Adding a line of black stitching around the inside perimeter of each diamond...

After the application of fusible fleece, instead of straight away putting a backing on it and finishing it per the video, I wanted to add some simple quilting.

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In a project like this, it's easy to keep going and not know when to stop. (My other half kept saying at various points, "It's fine the way it is!") However, it's a fairly large piece and with relatively "quiet" fabrics, embellishments do help to kick it up a notch.

Decorative stitching adds interest...

I don't think I've ever used the design cams that came with my Kenmore — never had a reason to, I guess — so I didn't hesitate to take advantage of this rare opportunity.

Tighter stitching from higher speed?

The only difficulty I had was to keep a steady pace while trying to sew straight. I had a seam line to follow, but the gold dotted brown fabric occasionally made my eyes go buggy, leading me astray.

I tested the stitching on some scraps before starting, but my speed must have varied a bit on the first go-around; the pattern is definitely more compact for a couple of inches here. (In the manual, the stitch is illustrated as looking like the longer pattern.)

I know I was going slow for the most part, because my foot pedal started to heat up. It does that whenever I use a zig-zag stitch for an extended period of time too.

Done... for now ;-)

After adding the back fabric, I chose not to topstitch around the edge and instead used some Stitch Witchery to seal up the turning gap. For now, this is how the main side looks. I'm still thinking about doing something with the back side to give this some reversible value.

 

Decorating our coffee table... (with my adjustments, this measures 3' across, tip to tip)

But no rush.

To close off with a holiday gift for you, may I suggest that you visit Bernina's "other" blog. They've produced a sewing themed advent calendar that's totally fun to open up. (The link I've just given you is to one of my old posts about their blog; click on any of the projects at the bottom of it and you'll get to their site.)

On that note, may you have a stress-free, relaxing Christmas, or whatever it is that you may celebrate. (And I sincerely hope you're not spending it at an airport!)

'Til next...