OH NO...DARN IT...

As you know, on the 15th I posted my Grandmother's Trunk  Creative Challenge rug and then started to hook on that little primitive kitten rug kit that I won from Rugs and Pugs. I was happily hooking along and as I was swiveling my frame, I notice that there was a bit of resistance and I torqued a bit to turn it and the little piece of wood that holds the swivel ball cracked and fell to the floor. Now what... I was totally in shock. How could that have happened???  So I took my frame off the stand and glued the little piece of wood back together and put it aside to dry for a day or so feeling very disappointed that I couldn't work on the kitty rug.

Here you can see the little crack still visible but totally mended. My husband drew the pattern on a piece of cardboard and will make a replacement piece out of aluminum on his metal lave.   I hope that the piece will hold for a while.

Here you can see the piece from the other side. 

Since I couldn't hook, I decided that now was a good time to make a cover for my frame since I tear my hands so often on those sharp gripper bars. An octagonal  frame has so many sharp corners. I thought that the worsted wool plaid skirt that was unusable for my fine cuts would be just the right thing for my cover. It's soft and since it has some measured squares it would be easy to work and keeping the fabric straight.  I used the frame as pattern and cut the fabric 4 inches from the outer edge, but then I took off about an inch of fabric from each side that was close to the bottom bar for a better fit. 

I cut two identical pieces and I trimmed off some more fabric from the center so the hole would be bigger when sewed together so that I would have a larger work area and at the same time just cover the sharp gripper strips.

I folded and pinned the inner edges together and sewed all the way around as neatly as I could. I'm no seamstress and I'm just feeling my way through this project.

Here is a close up of the inner seam.

Since  worsted wool tends to fray a lot I decided that I better zig zag the edges since I don't have a Serger sewing machine. You can see the two pieces divided. I zig zag both pieces.

A close up shot 

Now I folded and pinned the two sides together and carefully sewed around the outside edge leaving about an inch opening for the elastic band.

I then sewed another seam about 3/4 of an inch wide all the way around this time  to accommodate the 1/2 inch or 10mm elastic band.  I place the cover with the elastic face down under the frame and the smooth side face up.

Now I only have to be careful when I put the cover on my frame that I don't slice my hands on the sharp corner wires. I'm so pleased to have found a good use for this wool. I also used a piece of this wool to extend my little kitty may that didn't fit my frame and it holds better than jute on the frame.

Now today I finished hooking my very first primitive kitty rug and also my very first round rug.  All that is left to do on this is to whip the edge and add the binding tape.
I hope that this will help you make your very own frame cover if you have been hesitating to make one yourself.

Thanks for stopping by and please leave your comment.  JB

FROM BORROWED RIBBON TO A GOLD DIAMOND NECKLACE

Thank you so much everyone who have left comments on my Grandmother's trunk Creative Challenge. I've had a question about the necklace and I want to show you what I used.

 My idea was to use a narrow gold ribbon but alas my search at three different stores left me disappointed. I found a silver one but had my heart set on gold.   My daughter Jackie the fiber artist has all kinds of beads and ribbons that she uses in her many creations and she lend me a ribbon that had a narrow gold strip in it, and also some beads since I wanted to incorporate beads in the necklace.  Since the ribbon was a bit too wide for what I wanted to do I folded it and sewed it by hand with a gold colored thread and hooked it in.  I then decided that it was good enough and I wouldn't use the beads.  So here is the ribbon in question.  Many thanks Jackie. I'll return your  beads and what's left of your ribbon when I go to your place.

And here is the necklace in question.   You can see the nuances of the color changes in the necklace.

Thanks for stopping by my blog on this cold and rainy day and leaving a comment.  I've got to go feed my babies now.  JB