Saturday, September 27, 2014

An altered cuff with a metal embellishment in a zipper bezel!


Another cuff!!  This is the one I created for the swap that more closely follows the guidelines provided for the Altered Cuff Swap on AFTCM.  I started with two strips of sky blue cotton fabric.  I stitched the lace, piping and teal bias trim to the right side of one of the pieces using my sewing machine.  I cut an elastic to serve as the closure, pinned it at one end, laid the other piece of fabric right side down and sewed both ends and one side being careful not to capture the lace in the seam.  I snipped the corners and turned it over.  I added the white and turquoise ebeads over the teal bias trim using white embroidery thread and then added the buttons using turquoise sewing thread being sure to leave enough room in the middle for my embellishment.  I used clear thread to attach the embellishment to the middle of the cuff.  I really like how the zipper teeth create a bezel for the metal piece!!  After that, I turned it back to inside out and sewed two short seams from each end, snipped the corners and turned it back to right side out.  I pressed the whole thing and hand stitched the opening closed.  I thought it needed a bit of something so I used white embroidery thread to add blanket stitching to both sides.  That was better!! I added yet more stitching - French knots in between the eyelets in the lace and a stitch in the center of each eyelet to help keep it from rolling up.
The embellishment was created using an old earring, a piece of zipper, some sequins and clear thread.  You can check this post for the construction details.  I submitted it to one of my groups in their Zipper Challenge.  
Therese

Felted wool cuff with layered flowers


I created this felted wool cuff for an Altered Cuff Swap I am participating in on AFTCM.  I used felted wool that my daughter gave me along with some coordinating fabric.  I pieced three pieces of navy together to create the base onto which I sewed the teal flower die cuts (TH) using turquoise thread.  I used heat and bond to adhere two strips of fabric together to create the smaller flowers.  They were die cut using the smallest flower on the Tim Holtz Tattered Flowers die.  I sewed them on over the teal ones stitching over each petal as close to the center as possible.  As a final embellishment I added a large turquoise sequin with a gold bead in the center.  I added two small snaps as a closure for this cuff!!    I really like how it turned out!!  
Upon rereading the guidelines it would seem that I have strayed too far off the mark and will be making another that complies more closely.

Therese