There are a ton of "freebies" on the internet and I must admit I take advantage of a lot of them. This one however cost me the grand total of $1.99 from http://craftsy.com You have to register on this site (as you do on a lot of them) and once that is done you can look around and find what you want.
This is called "Ready for Takeoff" and I knew when I saw it I was going to make it for Karl and I. It will be great at Christmas for our coffee and cookie in the evening.
I traced all the shapes onto a product called TransWeb, which I will post about tomorrow. I pressed the fusible web to each of my fabrics and cut them all out at Stitch and Chat. I left early that day and came home and pressed the shapes onto my appliqué pressing sheet. I press everything together, let it cool and then place it on the background fabric.
I started with the runners
and then the sleigh
I only pressed the bottom of the sleigh, not the top half. I still had all the parcels and Santa's bag to put on.
I followed the numbering sequence given with the pattern, but I wouldn't do it that way again.
To me they are backwards.
In the past when I have used fusible web the numbers correspond with how you place your pieces. You start at the bottom and work you way to the top.
I have re-numbered the pieces, circled them in red, so I catch it if I choose to make these "rugs" again.
Following the numbering from the pattern I started with number 1 and placed each "gift" in the sleigh. It was a bit of a challenge as they tended to move about a bit and you had to fiddle and fool
When I was happy with what I had done, I quickly grabbed my iron and pressed them into place.
My Sapphire sewing machine with all it's fancy stitches has a wee problem at the moment, so I chose to use my travel machine. You can't free motion with this little gem, but I found if I work slowly I could do everything my Sapphire does without the free motion. I did the blanket stitch around everything, the ribbon on the gifts, the tie on Santa's bag. No fancy thread, just Gutermann and Connecting Threads. To make the stitching stand out I shortened my stitch to 2.0 and sewed it twice.
Even the snowflakes/stars on the sleigh were done on the 100Q H Class machine. If you are looking for a lightweight machine, I highly recommend this one.
I only took a shot of one of the rugs after they were both done. They didn't take long, maybe a full day of sewing if you are slow sewer.
TIPS: 1. If you are making more than one of anything, trace all the pieces at the same time.
If you need two runners trace them close to each other and you won't have to look all over the fusible web when it's time to adhere them to the fabric.
2. When fusing the pieces, use an applique pressing sheet. If you make a mistake you may be able to take the pieces apart and it will be easier on the sheet than on your fabric.
3. You can fuse everything together and then do the stitching. I haven't done individual pieces for a long time.
4. If you aren't sure about the length/width of a stitch grab a piece of fabric and practice until you get the desired size.
5. Instead of switching threads constantly decide where you will be using your colours and do everything at the same time. It will amaze you how much time you will save.
The only sewing difference between the two sleighs are the snowflakes on each sleigh.
I'll wrap this up tomorrow with some close ups of what I did.