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| Another way to use selvages... |
Over the past several months, various bloggers have featured creations made out of fabric edges, i.e.,
selvages (however you choose to spell it, with the "d" or without). I was amazed by some of the projects and even more so by how many selvages some people have accumulated.
Without a huge fabric stash to draw from, I felt disadvantaged by comparison. I don't have sacks of selvages waiting to be used. As timing would have it, though, when I saw the first of these projects, I had just completed my
Frankenpurse and did have my
Tim Holtz selvages more or less intact.
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| Tim Holtz designer purse charm... |
Another coincidence of timing was that I had just finished making a custom "designer" tag for my purse as part of my effort to
glam up a handmade bag. What can be more fitting for those of us who make our own bags and purses than to shout out the
fabric's designer?
So this bag charm (or key chain) is the perfect thing to make out of selvages, particularly for those of us who don't have a lot of them. You can make one using the selvage off just a single fat quarter.
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| A reverse appliqué on the other side... |
And while you can definitely make both sides of the tag using selvages, I decided to feature a reverse appliqué using some fabric scraps on the other side.
You'll also need some medium weight fusible interfacing (
Decor Bond or
Pellon 809 in my case) and hardware — specifically a 1.25" wide key fob clasp with an attached ring — to finish it off.
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Cut Circles
I made my circles of fabric and interfacing by tracing around a mini CD, which is just over 3" (or about 8cm) in diameter.
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| Old CDs are good tools to keep in the sewing room... |
If you are going to use selvages on both sides of the tag, you won't need to cut any fabric circles and will only need two interfacing circles. The reverse appliqué technique will require two fabric circles and three circles of interfacing in total. (Basically, all fabric "pieces" should be interfaced.)
Make Selvage Side
Take one of the interfacing circles and place it fusible side up. Pin selvages on top. Ideally, you will want to overlap the raw edge of each piece that you put down with the bound edge of the next. (You'll notice that I didn't do this for "Tim Holtz" signature piece since it was unevenly cut and I didn't want to hide any of it.)
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| Prepare and fuse selvages to interfacing... |
Trim as you go to fit the circle. (Turn it upside down to do this).
Fuse the selvages onto the interfacing and then stitch them down for additional reinforcement.
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| Stitch along the edges of the selvages after fusing... |
Rather than sewing (and stopping) across the circle several times, I stitched continuously all the way around. The outer edge will eventually be hidden in the seam allowance.
Again, if you want to make both sides of the tag out of selvages, repeat this process and skip directly down to Finish Up.
Make Reverse Appliqué Side
A reverse appliqué is a "cut out" section of exterior fabric that exposes a second fabric underneath. (I first tried this technique on my
Frankenpurse, but it got lost in the pleats.)
If your handmade purse features a couple of different fabrics, incorporate them both into your tag. The photos here will show how to add a circular cutout, but you can go with a square or triangle or whatever.
Fuse interfacing onto the back side of both fabric circles.
Take the piece that will be on top (i.e., will be cut into) and fold the top part of it down by about a 1/2" (12mm).
I should point out right here that I cut my circular opening too low on this piece. For best results, extend the concept of a 1/2" (12mm) "border" all the way around the circle and ensure that your cutout is contained inside that area.
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| I traced around the bottom of a thread cone and got sidetracked in a couple of spots... |
Draw whatever shape you want and snip away the middle of it. Don't cut too much; keep at least half of it intact.
For a circle, cut slices as shown; the more cuts you make, the more the finished cutout will resemble a circle. (If your shape has straight edges — i.e., a square, triangle — just cut towards the corners.)
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| Press down the pieces... |
Fold down the cut slices against the interfacing and press well. The goal is not to see any of the folded segments from the right side of the fabric.
Once that's done, place the piece on top of your other fabric circle and decide how you want to feature the exposed fabric underneath. Clip in place.
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| Position the top fabric to reveal the bottom fabric in the most interesting way possible... |
Sew the two fabrics together along the top straight edge and around the cut out area, using a 1/8" (3mm) seam allowance and a short stitch length.
Take my word for it:
if you are doing a circle, use a pencil or marker to draw a stitching line around it to guide your sewing. (I tried twice to wing it and did not succeed!)
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| Do yourself a favour and draw a stitching line to follow... |
This completes the reverse appliqué side of the tag.
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Finish Up
Whatever your two final pieces are, clip them right sides together.
Position them so that the key fob hardware will be installed along the top.
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| Place the final two circles right sides together... |
Leave a 1.75" (4.5cm) turning gap along the top (where the hardware will go) and sew around the remainder of the stacked circles with a 1/4" (6mm) or less seam allowance. Start and stop the stitching as shown here, by sewing vertically right to the edge.
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| Sew circles together and notch the edge... |
Use a pair of pinking shears to notch the curved edge.
Don't cut into the turning area.
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| Not so easy... |
Carefully turn the whole thing right side out. This won't be easy given its size, but once you've managed it, give a good press with a hot (and steamy) iron.
Clamp the hardware onto the exposed raw edges of the fabric in the turning gap and you're done!
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| Done! |
At the thickness of this fabric, I can press the two sides of the key fob clamp together with my fingers. If you can't do so, wrap a cloth around it and apply even pressure with a pair of pliers. (My hardware was recycled from another project and you can see where I had previously pressed too hard in the middle.)
Add a split ring and this can function as a key chain or a purse charm.
The key hook and chain assembly — shown in the pictures at the top of this post — can be attached to a zipper head so that the whole thing can be used as a zipper pull. I got them many years ago and I really couldn't tell you what they might be called so that you can search for them. They're most often used inside
key cases.
Variations on the Theme
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| A tag that can hold something... |
The first tag that I made had a vinyl pocket on the front of it.
There's no real mystery as to how that version is put together. The process is pretty much the same as above, except that after making the cutout, you would sew some vinyl to the underside of that piece and then sew a seam across the straight edge at the top (instead of sewing
onto the other fabric circle as you would do for a reverse appliqué). Baste the two pieces together along the sides and then finish up as per the instructions above.
I used some adhesive hook and loop tape to create a closure for the pocket right under the top seam.
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| A tag that identifies who you are... |
Another variation is to use one side of the charm to showcase your
own designer label.
I've often said that I usually forget to attach my little tag to things that I make. If I were a regular maker of bags, this idea might be something that I'd add to the mix. Make a purse charm with selvages on one side to identify the fabrics used and have my own designer tag on the reverse to mark my own "brand".
A third variation has to do with changing the hardware. If you don't have/can't get one of these key fob clasps, you can use fabric to create an "enclosure tab" (similar to what you'd sew onto an exposed zipper end) at the top of the tag to hide the raw edges of the turning gap.
You can then install a grommet and use a fancy cord or ribbon to attach it to your bag.
Happy branding!
