Another Heirloom Machine Mat

I've finished another Heirloom Machine Mat. It's going to be part of a Raffle Basket for the upcoming Smocking Arts Guild of America Convention in Winston-Salem, NC. It was a great way for me to check my pattern instructions while making it since this is a Berryhill Heirlooms class, too.

I love the color choices: pretty florals in yellow and pink with a little Liberty Lawn thrown in for good measure. Here are most of my choices:

It's so much fun to sew up! The Liberty fabrics are from a pack I bought at Liberty in London in the very early 90s. Even the solid pink and yellow are Liberty lawn. I just love the idea of using small, precious bits of fabric to make something so pretty and functional!

The pockets were stitched with fabric strips, Swiss insertions, lots of entredeux. The pink Swiss beading is ready to be sewn down.

I designed the Thread Catcher flat against the mat so it wouldn't stick out too much. I just love the gathered lace attached to the Swiss beading. It hangs from the mat by loop and button. 

Little bits and pieces make up the cute pincushion. A lace flower and another mother of pearl button decorate the top. It can be attached to the mat with hook and loop tape.

I think this will make up a very nice Raffle Basket for the SAGA Convention.  Now, what else shall I add to the Basket?

Heirloom Sewing Mat

When designing and making the Sewficiently Machine Mat I realized we heirloom enthusiasts need our own style of Machine Mat. You know....gorgeous lawn and batiste fabrics, Swiss embroideries, entredeux, Swiss beading and beautiful ribbons....maybe even a little lace.

My brain was working overtime so I pulled out some fabrics to see if my idea was possible. Yup.....a little Liberty Lawn (and I mean a little bit leftover from a trip to London and Liberty in 1996), some pretty print batistes, and some good Swiss insertions. I could put two different color combinations together, one based on blue flowers, one with yellow and peach florals, with what I had on hand. I decided on the blue floral combination.

So after considering the options (and the cost of Liberty fabrics) I set the strips vertically instead of the diagonal. Then the fun began! I loved sewing these gorgeous bits of fabrics together using Heirloom techniques: roll and whip edge, entredeux to fabric, gathered lace to beading or entredeux, beading covering a seam, weaving ribbon through beading and lace rosettes.

I applied the double fold bias binding with decorative stitches: so much easier and pretty! I figured out a neat way to fold over and end bias over bias. Oh...and boning is used in the thread catcher, and it's applied in a very easy way. 

The thread catcher is easily removed along with the cute little pincushion.
I think this Heirloom Machine Mat turned out really well. It's pretty, very functional, and a good way to use up some small amounts of gorgeous lawn fabrics. And it is a new class!