Week 110 : Sewing Jar

Late one night, browsing Pinterest, I saw great sewing kits made up in glass jars and was inspired to make some myself.

I made quite a few.

Here is the first. The fabric is a scrap from the leftovers of crepe de chine silk. The dress predates this blog.

Then a made a couple more.

 The Love motif is from a silk dress in Week 24. The print is a tattoo pattern in silk.

The dog (close up its a springer spaniel) is silk from a novelty tie my husband has had for many years. It was understandably unworn and about to be got rid of. I hung on to it, sure that such garish fabric would eventually find a place.

I carefully push the pins in this one though. it doesn't seem right to pin the puppy!

My sewing kit contains, black white and translucent thread. The clear plastic (?) thread is good for sewing metal school blazer buttons on. Scissors, seam ripper, thimble and needles. More than this I can go looking for, but having these few essentials nearby makes uniform repair less time-consuming.

My method. The photographs read top left, bottom left, top right, bottom right.

I cut a cardboard base a little smaller than the diameter of the jar lid.
The fabric circle is cut with twice the base diameter to allow it to curve up and wrap over.

After a few trials, I cut a hole in this base card to make it easier to fill the cushion.
My next photo doesn't show this. It was fiddly getting the fluff in, tying it all neatly with no escaping bits. But if the cardboard has a hole, the fabric is easier to gather up and secure just over the cardboard circle. Then the the fibre filling can be tucked inside, it doesn't catch over the edge of the cardboard and make the base edge more bumpy. Its a much neater finish.

Anyway, getting the base as flat and neat as possible is key. It makes it a lot easier to glue.

I used a PVA glue. It dries clear but is slow to do so. I taped all the fabric edges down and added a few pins through the tape just to make sure the tape didn't slide off the silk.

Having finished last week's mohair monster (which I am still too scared to try on to see exactly how enormous it is). I pulled out an old unfinished project. This was started in Week 89. I was very excited with the vintage buttons I bought for it. It will be a cardigan in Sundara Aran Silky Merino. I added a few inches to the yoke. I might stick with this one, see if I can get it finished quickly.


It is sitting on some printed canvas. A small local shop was selling what I mistakenly thought were tea towels with a world map and the suggestion to embroider a journey on the.

When I unwrapped the plastic I saw it was a tote bag, not a towel, so there was some unpicking to make it a cushion for my boy's room. I chain stitched in wool yarn two holiday journeys. our 2011 holiday to Beijing and last years trip through the US. I will photograph it made up shortly.


Still on cushions, I picked up some end-of-roll fabric from Cloth Australia. these three fabrics will make cushions for our living room sofa.