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Baseball Pillow Sewing Tutorial

10/24/2016

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We had a special request for a sports-themed birthday party. Usually I'm not a procrastinator, but this party was an exception. Two days beforehand, I had NOTHING planned. In fact, I thought we could send everyone into the backyard with all the sports equipment in our garage and say, "Have fun!" Then I saw the forecast for rain. Flooding rain. And I decided there was no way I wanted a gaggle of 8 year old boys tracking that much mud into the house.

​So, two days beforehand, I scoured my studio to see what I could come up with since I'm not one to hand out plastic goodie bags of candy. All of my childrens' friends are probably tired of getting fabric bags of one kind or another as party favors, so I had an idea. Yards of white felt left over from a holiday angel wing-making marathon would make the perfect baseball pillows. I found the giant ric rac at Michael's, and thought I would take some pictures in case you'd like to make some last minute pillows too.
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​Trace and cut two circles of white felt however large you want your finished pillow to be. I used a pizza tray.

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​Cut two lengths of extra wide red ric rac and pin them to one circle of felt in a curved shape. I held up a baseball and approximated where the ric rac should be placed. Stitch the ric rac to the felt. Either use a wide zig zag stitch to make it quick (helpful when you are making 8 pillows), or carefully follow both outer edges of each piece of ric rac with a straight stitch. Use red thread and no one will notice either way!
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​Sew around the perimeter of the circle, attaching pillow front to back, leaving a 3" opening for stuffing. (The back of these pillows is plain white felt.)
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​Trim the edges to even everything up, including the ends of the ric rac.
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​Use fray check on the ends of the ric rac because it WILL fray. This is a handy fabric glue that dries clear and quickly.
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​Stuff the pillow with polyfill.  Don't overstuff! The more you stuff, the more puckered the outer edges will look. The intent is to make a decorative 2-D pillow, not a firmly stuffed 3-D pillow.

Close the open seam.
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​Make a bunch! When it rains on the day of the party, these at least aren't as likely to break a window when the kids play with them!
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Wedding Favors

9/8/2014

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Did you know I do weddings? Neither did I until a brave soul asked. This intimate wedding welcomed about 35 couples, so the bride needed 35 favors. She asked if I could make small zippered pouches. Of course! I would love to! I gave her some fabric ideas based on dress color and flowers. Isn't her choice of fabric gorgeous???
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Exquisite taste, Noreen.
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She also wanted a special gift for her two bridesmaids. The wristlet clutch worked perfectly as a bag for the big day.
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I'm so glad that the lovely bride had the confidence to ask me to make her favors--I loved the whole experience! If you or someone you know is having a small wedding or other gathering in need of favors, I would love to talk with you about it. No bridezillas or guest lists of 200 please. Plenty of lead time also please, since I'm not a sweatshop in China. You know, in case you forgot that for some reason.
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I'm glad I bought extra yardage of this fabric. I might need to make a farmer's market tote. For myself!
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Garden Tea Party

6/4/2014

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We had a garden tea birthday party this weekend, and thankfully the weather cooperated. It's a lovely way to celebrate age 8, don't you think?
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Favors--hand sewn drawstring pouches (along with a teacup each girl decorated herself at the party).
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Strawberry Lemonade cake.
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A simple and pretty table setting outside on the deck (too windy to set up in the garden that day).  Real dishware and cloth napkins. An assortment of tea in a basket. A tiered plate rack (empty in this photo, but filled with finger sandwiches). I think the only plastic we encountered was the tea bag wrappers.
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Strawberry teapot fabric from my stash cut as a simple table runner over a simple white tablecloth (my grandmother's once upon a time).
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Flowers from the garden in a strawberry-shaped pitcher. There were more activities planned, but the weather was so lovely, the girls enjoyed spending most of their time playing together on the swings. It was a beautiful day!
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    Karen Katin

    As co-owner of Stitchery in Portsmouth, RI, I teach sewing classes to children and adults. Welcome to my blog Dancing Threads RI. 

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