Gifted Gorgeousness and a tutorial for binding small items

Hello My Friends,

Today I'm joining in with Gifted Gorgeousness. 
Visit Jo of Serendipitous Stitching HERE to see what it is all about.


On my last Gifted Gorgeousness post HERE I teased you with a picture of my then current WIP ..... and today it's finished!

A little needle case that will eventually be a gift for someone. I couldn't resist making ..... such a simple pattern to stitch. OK, I know I didn’t need to do quite so much quilting, but I love those stitches! Tee hee!

Some of you might remember I made one earlier in the year which I sent off as part of a "swap".  It was actually a pincushion swap but if you look at THIS post you'll see I got carried away!! (the link to the pattern is here too)

I am always hopeful that I might encourage some of my friends to try a little bit of patchwork, and this seemed a small enough project that might possibly piqué their interest.

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Oh, and I had a lovely surprise at my Handicraft Group recently. I had been admiring a bag one of my friends had made and the next week she very kindly gave me the remaining fabric!

Annie Downs fabric - I don't have the name

I know exactly what I'm going to make already!

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When I was stitching my needle case I thought I ought make myself a tutorial for the next time, as I can never remember how to start and finish, and I can never find a suitable tutorial anywhere!

I've been meaning to do this for soooo long!!!!!

So here's a few notes for binding something tiny.

Binding Tutorial:

I'd just finished quilting ..... I use the sticky tape (decorator's masking tape) to keep my stitching lines straight.

Binding is from stash. Cut on the bias, 2" wide, folded in half and pressed.

Measure all round edge with a piece of wool or thread and add about six inches for the length of binding, this should give sufficient for finishing. Cut the binding fabric on the bias.

Leave two or three inches free at the beginning. Start on a straight edge, pinning all round (being careful not to stretch binding around curves ..... and this was almost too tightly stretched), finishing back on the straight edge again. Machine in place, ending with two or three inches remaining.

Turn in a quarter inch on the bias cut edge.

Push one end inside the other, as per the following photos:

If the fabric you are pushing into the binding is too bulky, cut some off, but be careful that when the fabric is stitched you don't have any raw edges. 

I snip teeny pieces off, and test positioning a few times to be sure it will be right.

Once it sits neatly, machine in place,

 use tiny hand stitches along the diagonal join.

Fold binding in, and hand stitch to finish 

Stitch popper on. Use thread doubled.

And there we are finished!

If you make one I really do hope you'll let me know!

See you soon. 

I have a follow up on my Curry Dye Job to show in a few days because I also want to show you my "Cactus" project on the 30th August! I should have a button for that but I can never remember how to add them ..... tee hee!

Anyway, see you soon!!!

Hugs,

Barbara xxx