Embellishment Party - Week 2!

I'm linking up today to share at the Shady Porch! Click this link to check out all the fun projects and ideas there!

Yay! It's my turn to show you my embellishment for totes, purses, bags and more. Wherever you want a little "Wow!" you can use these embellishments.

Jackie of Jackie's Art Quilts showed us her Scrap and Slash Flowers --- thank you, Jackie! They were scrap-happy fun, and I can imagine a lot of uses for them.  (Pssst! You want to see another embellishment from Jackie? Check out this link to the Riley Blake Cutting Corners College.)

Sunni of Love Affair had some super bad weather and a three-day power outage, so she's going to be a little late to the party, but that's OK. She's bringing a really neat project with her on Thursday!

So now, it's my turn. Gack!  The pressure, the intimidation!  Hold on a minute whilst I grab a paper bag and breathe a few times!

OK, I'm alright now. Are ya ready? Here we go!

We are going to make a Cherry Charm embellishment for your enjoyment --- I think you'll get lots of positive comments on your tote or purse, with these babies displayed there!  I'm adapting this from our Cherry Charms tutorial, so instead of a cross between fuzzy dice and quilter's emblems, we'll end up with purse embellishment!

We're going to start with some scraps of fuzzy red fabric, fuzzy green if you have it, and the brown cord for the stems. Fleece works great for this project, so if you made some funky slippers or apparel for Christmas, just go root around in the scraps and then come back. Want us to wait?  OK.  (Slipper scuffing to kitchen for coffee, then returning.)
You ready now? Great! You'll need to go to our file cabinet in Google docs and download and print the pattern. Once that is done, you are ready to roll.
You'll want to cut out the pattern pieces on the solid lines, first.

Then you will use those to cut your pieces of fabric. Most of us will use the red for the cherries and the green for the leaves, but if you really want to reverse it or even do something totally crazy with different colors, don't let me hold you back. (Grin)

Next step will be to mark WS of the cherries. On our tutorial, Elby used a marker (gasp!) but you can use whatever method you have handy, and mark the darts to form the cherry half.

Then you need your trusty needle and thread, and sew up those darts! (Is it just me, or do you feel like you're back in Home Ec, too?!)

If you find the nap is caught in the dart, just use your needle to fluff it out, this way:

(Just look at those smudgy fingers....I told Elby that would happen!)

Once all the darts are sewn, your cherry half should look something like this:

Now you need to construct the other half of the cherry --- second verse, like the first!

Then you can put them right-sides-together and sew them up. It makes it a LOT easier if you don't match up the darts. Oh, and don't forget to leave a small opening for turning . . . don't ask me how I know to warn you about that.  I'm just old and wise. Well, old, anyway.

Now, where was I? Ah! We now have what could pass for a deflated cherry. Make another one. And then one more. You want three, all told.

Now comes the stuffing part --- hey, nobody said you could head toward the kitchen! We're stuffing the cherries, not our faces! This is where a pencil or chopstick comes in really handy.  You can use scraps of fabric, thread snippets, etc to pack into the cherry and make it nice and plump. I know plump.
You could use fiberfill for stuffing if you wish, but I prefer the solid way that the scraps and snippets pack in there. Like Daffy Duck used to always say, "So round, so firm, so fully packed!" 

Now grab some red thread, and sew that opening closed! I'm not really taking that much in a stitch, I just placed my needle there so I could use that hand for the camera.

When you are sewing the opening in the cherry closed, stick one end of your brown cord into the hole, and take a couple of stitches through it to secure that bad boy right where you want him.  When we attach them to the bag, you can loop the stems back under the cherry charm unit, and the loops will look all artsy and 3D and such. (Wink)

Next, you'll put the pieces of green fuzzy wrong-sides-together and blanket-stitch around the edges. Sure beats turning them right side out, and besides, it gives them a nice edge!  (Elby used embroidery floss on hers.)

Now, let's get organized . . . you should have three cherries with stems, and two leaves. You'll need a large yarn needle, and yarn, and a stout heart for this next step. You are going to (be brave, now!) pierce each cherry and pull your yarn through, to make one unit. (I know you can do this.)

Pull them together kind of loosely, and arrange the leaves in a way that is pleasing to you; then stitch those into place with sewing thread, so it won't show.

Now, sit back and admire your handiwork . . . Ain't they cute? Now all that's left is to secure them onto your bag, purse, or other project. I placed mine with a large safety pin, but you can use whatever method you like to attach yours.

I think my Mary Engelbreit bag looks wonderful! Well, at least it will when I get the handles on! (If you like the bag, the pattern is an original by my friend Kiera. Here is a link to her blog, and here's a link to the pattern.)

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial, and I really hope that you try this project --- and let me know if you do! Show pictures!!

Love,