Crazy Patchwork Project

This is a fairly easy project for a child with some sewing experience. My eldest girl, JJ did this when she was about 10 or 11 years old using a combination of machine and hand sewing. I was showing it to my youngest recently to see if she'd like to do something similar.

What you need:

1) Remnants of fabric - JJ used some velvet & satin scraps my sister gave me (there should be enough to cover the rectangle of cotton (see 2)

2) A rectangle of fabric - calico, homespun, cotton etc, for the lining

3) A rectangle of iron-on (fusible) pellon the same size as the rectangle of fabric. You could use a piece of muslin or even cotton

3) A rectangle of felt to fit inside, smaller than the lining - if you're going to make a needle holder bag, which is what JJ made

4) Rick rack, braid, embroidery thread (metallic looks pretty) or ribbon to cover the joins of the patchwork

5) A fancy button & some ribbon to close the bag

What you do:

*  Lay out the piece of pellon or muslin and arrange the fabric scraps to your liking.

*  Iron the pieces onto the pellon to secure them. If using another muslin or cotton you can sew around the edges of the pieces to secure them.

*  Sew the rick rack and braid over the seams where the patches are joined. You can embroider over the seams but just make sure you do a stitch that takes in both pieces being joined so you don't have raw edges showing.

*  With wrong sides together, sew the two rectangles together leaving a large enough gap to enable it to be turned turned the right way around. Iron inside to get it to sit nicely & sew the gap shut.

*  Centre the felt on the inside fabric and hand sew only going through the top layer.

*  Fold bag into thirds & sew button onto outside; attach ribbon just under the edge of the other end.

 Linking this to Learning by Hand @ Crossing the Brandywine