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My fabric bowl projects - bowls #1 to #5! |
Well, I had some unexpected days off of work this week, and decided to finish a long overdue project - making a new cover for my ironing board. I have had my ironing board since college. Why buy a new one, when the old one is perfectly fine? But it wasn't. I needed a new cover, but when I took off the padding - ick! The metal had gotten all rusty. I didn't even want to take a photo of the rustiness, but my husband, normally put to work holding quilts, sanded and spray painted the metal so it was like new!
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Newly painted iron board base! |
I have made many curtains and window treatments over the years, and took apart some old kitchen curtains that no longer matched in the kitchen, but I just loved the fabric.
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The great yellow happy fabric! |
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I had to piece together the curtain pieces to fit the large ironing board cover. |
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I used three layers of batting left over from quilts to go under the cover. I just put the old board on top of the batting, drew a line around it, and cut it out. I later added elastic to the batting to keep it taut. |
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Voila, the newly recovered ironing board! There is still a little too much give in the cover underneath, but that doesn't appear to affect the usefulness of the cover. |
I still had time off, and leftover fabric! I have wanted to try my hand at making fabric covered bowls. I checked out some internet sites, and without too much ado, just jumped into the project.
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Fabric strips and clothesline. |
The first attempt was predictably lame. I cut the fabric strips too wide, and used a non-cotton clothesline. I also didn't make much of a base, so the bowl is a little tipsy!
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My first fabric bowl! |
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The first fabric bowl! |
I tried again, making a larger base, and a larger bowl. This was better, but still not great.
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Bowl #2 |
I got a bit fancy with this one, trying handles, and also a little fancy swirl to end the bowl.
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Showing the handles on Bowl #2. |
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Little fanciness to the bowl! |
To wrap the cord in fabric, I initially started by clipping the cord to the inside of my sewing cabinet, and just wrapping and pinning from there.
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Wrapping the cord. |
Still more time off - I tackled Bowl #3. I found a left over piece of fabric I had used in my daughter's
broken dishes quilt. I was still using strips I cut at 1 1/2 inches, which I now realize was too wide. This was a much bigger bowl, with a pretty large base. I used some light blue threads for the zigzagging.
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Bowl #3, finished |
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A close up of the stitching and fabric |
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Close up of the bowl. I wish the fabric was wrapped tighter on the top of the bowl. |
I then bought some 100% cotton cord at a hardward store, which made a difference in how the wrapped cord handled.
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The new 100% cotton cord |
Bowl #4 used some I had some leftover quilting fabric from the quilt
backing on my exotic garden quilt, and cut that up to use.
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The blue backing fabric. |
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Bowl #4 had a larger base, and the cotton cord made for a smoother bowl. |
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This bowl just looked better to me. |
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A close up of the inside of the blue and roses bowl. |
I then watched a
video on making fabric baskets that was quite helpful. I should have watched it sooner! The big tip was to use very narrow strips of fabric to wrap. I had some leftover fabric I had used for curtains and a seat cover in the foyer, and cut it up in strips about 1/2 inch wide.
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The gorgeous fabric with rich jewel tones before being cut up! |
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The narrow strips. |
Bowl #5 was a great improvement. I used a deep red thread to complement the colors in the fabric.
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The finished bowl. |
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Bowl #5. I love this bowl! |
I am glad I got the hang of this. It is a great way to use up fabric scraps, especially home dec fabric that I wouldn't use (anymore) in a quilt. I am envisioning using some holiday fabric in a bowl or two!
I am also working on some quilts which I hope to share in the not so distant future.
Take care,
Gretchen
Can you add a link to the site where you found the pattern/instructions for the bowls?
ReplyDeleteSo cute!
So cute!! Love seeing your progression from 1 - 5. I think you've mastered your fabric bowls!!
ReplyDelete