Auditioning button in berries sample display CU

Auditioning button in berries sample display CU

It was with some dismay that as I began to write this post, I realize the date of my last post was in late February. ARGH! I’m not sure why this would ‘surprise’ me; this was about the time that my dedicated lymes doctor decided that I needed to change my medication protocol and needless to say, the changes have knocked me off my feet! For those of you who may not be familiar with chronic lymes, this is an unfortunate reality for those who are attempting to drive the lymes into remission! I remember many of my older relatives often commenting that sometimes you have to feel worse before you get better; that sure is true of chronic lymes treatment where successful applications of drugs cause the nasty cells to die off, which cause you to feel quite miserable as your body tries to rid itself of all the toxins! Needless to say, I am looking forward to better days; I just don’t know when they will arrive! Meanwhile, I will do what I can, when I can – but no one can make me like it! 🙂

Meanwhile, it seems that Minnesota has FINALLY decided that it was ok to let winter go and let us get down to the business of spring and summer. It was a beautiful day in late April when I taught a flower pin class at Quilters Haven in Rosemount. In preparation for the class, I made a display board showing the construction of a pin at various stages along the way – a visual tutorial. It seemed to be helpful to the class, so I decided to take pictures of the steps and share them here on the blog. While this isn’t a full blown tutorial, it should give everyone a better understanding of the unique construction techniques I use. My samples were for the berries version of my Blooms’N’Berries Pin pattern, but the general principles will apply to my other pin patterns as well.

Flower and berry pieces cut, fused, ready to go!

Flower and berry pieces cut, fused, ready to go!

Close up view of the fused woven wool flowers

Close up view of the fused woven wool flowers

A bit hard to see -  the batik flower with fusible

A bit hard to see – the batik flower with fusible

The first photos show the pieces cut and laid out, ready to use. Since I used felted woven wool I made 2 of each flower and fused the two layers together – this makes a firmer flower and is easier to bead around the edge. If you are using wool felt, I still cut two layers but do not use a fusible to hold them together. Be sure to press well with your iron – the ladies at the class were surprised to see the amount of heat that was necessary to get a good fuse on wool versus a cotton fabric! I personally use a lot of steam! If you are using a cotton fabric on the outer flower, be sure to apply a fusible to the back. it’s a bit hard to see, but you can pick up a slight shine on the batik fabric in the picture. Berries are always a single layer of wool.

heavy weight fusible and base backing wool pieces

heavy weight fusible and base backing wool pieces

Outside flower with batik applique; beaded edge, gathered & sewn to base

Outside flower with batik applique; beaded edge, gathered & sewn to base

NO stitching in the outer 1/4" of the backing fusible!

NO stitching in the outer 1/4″ of the backing fusible!

You will also be cutting a very heavy weight fusible backing circle as well as two pieces of backing wool. The fusible circle will be fused to one of the pieces of backing wool and then the wool is trimmed to about 1/8″ beyond the fusible circle. The other wool backing piece is set aside for later use. (The photo shows 2 fusible (white) circles – one shown cut out and another fused with the wool trimmed – you only need ONE heavy weight fused backing circle per pin!). The middle photo shows the outer flower with the cotton batik flower appliqued on (Please note that the double layer of wool allows you to hide all the threads and knots between the wool layers, so you will not have any stitches or threads visible on the backs of the finished flowers). The last photo shows the stitching that holds the gathered flower to the backing. I drew a line in red around the fusible circle base to show the NO SEW area that should be left around the edge of the circle. Later on, this will make sewing the final backing wool on much easier!

Inner flower w. beaded edge, gathered & sewn to base in center of outer flower

Inner flower w. beaded edge, gathered & sewn to base in center of outer flower

Backside after inner flower has been sewn to base - a bit more rumply!

Backside after inner flower has been sewn to base – a bit more rumply!

Berry making - gather, stuff and sew berry closed, knot and leave thread attached!

Berry making – gather, stuff and sew berry closed, knot and leave thread attached!

Adding the inner flower (the off white wool) is done much the same as the outer flower, but you must gather it to a smaller diameter so that it fits in the center of the outer flower. In the center photo above, you can see how the back looks after it is stitched down. Don’t get alarmed if it seems to get even a bit more ‘rumply’ with this addition; later steps will address this! At this point it is time to make berries. Use a running stitch to gather around the edges of the small circles that you cut out in the beginning – place a small amount of stuffing in the berry as you gather it. I like mine a little ‘mushy’ – not too firm! Once gathered, sew back and forth to seal and close the berry, tie a knot in your thread, but don’t cut the thread as you can use this thread to now stitch your berries to the flower. One very important hint here is to remember not to sew in that NO SEW zone of the base fusible circle! I often make sure my needle goes in at an angle – toward the center of the base when going through to the back, and angling out toward the petals when coming back up to the front of the flower. (Pattern instructions show where I locate the berry placements.)

Close up of the stuffed berry sewn closed.

Close up of the stuffed berry sewn closed.

Berries sewn to front of flower (watch that 1/4" no sew zone on the backing!)

Berries sewn to front of flower (watch that 1/4″ no sew zone on the backing!)

Auditioning a button for the center!

Auditioning a button for the center!

I like this button a bit better!

I like this button a bit better!

Plastic reinforcement and pin backing glued on the back.

Plastic reinforcement and pin backing glued on the back.

Close up of the pastic and pin back - notice the placement of the pin back

Close up of the pastic and pin back – notice the placement of the pin back

After sewing your centerpiece button to the center of the flower base (you may have to ‘push’ it into the center of your berries – this is fine!) you can then glue a piece of very firm plastic – cut very slightly smaller than the fusible backing circle. If you cut your plastic piece out at the very beginning and used the same template at the fusible base circle, you might find it is slightly bigger and needs to be trimmed – this is due to the ‘shrinkage’ caused by the stitching and gathering of the flower. I use E6000 glue for this because it holds incredibly well, but I have also used Gorilla Glue (Super Glue) with good results, especially if you can not afford several hours of drying time!! Be sure to firmly push the plastic and back of the flower together and I recommend using a heavy weight or a couple of clamps to hold them together for good contact. ( I have some of those gigantic ‘paper clips (not the little wire ones, but the clamping type!) and they work quite well!) Once the plastic is glued and dried in place, you can glue the pin back on. You’ll notice in the photo that I glue my pin backs on just a little bit above the center of the backing as this helps the pins to hang much nicer and do less ‘flopping’ around that when glued exactly halfway on the circle.

Backing wool placed over pin back for making the first cut for the pin stem

Backing wool placed over pin back for making the first cut for the pin stem

Second cut made and the pin back is 'through' the wool backing!

Second cut made and the pin back is ‘through’ the wool backing!

After the glue holding the wool backing is dry, trim to match edge of the first backing piece

After the glue holding the wool backing is dry, trim to match edge of the first backing piece

The next photos show the application of the wool backing after the pin back has been glued and is dry. By placing the wool backing piece over the closed pin back and base circle (make sure it covers the entire base circle!), you can make a tiny cut over one side of the pin back stem. Bring the pin back stem up through this little cut, and holding the backing wool in place once more and feeling for the location of the pin clasp, you can then make another tiny cut that will allow you to accurately bring the pin clasp up through the wool backing. Once both ends of the pin backing are up through the backing wool, I close the pin back, carefully lift up the backing wool and apply a thin coat of glue – only on the plastic! – and smooth the backing wool down. After letting this dry, you can then trim the backing wool to match the edge of the base circle wool as shown in the photo on the right. (The photo is of a different pin – thus the different color!) All that needs to be done now is to finish these edges – either edge bead them together or use a blanket stitch!

Trimmed backing wool - read for a beaded or blanket stitched edge!

Trimmed backing wool – read for a beaded or blanket stitched edge!

Finished back of pin!

Finished back of pin!

These photos (again these are different pins) shows the completely trimmed base backing circle, ready for finishing and the back of a pin that is totally finished. Remember that little 1/8″ edge you left around the fusible base circle? That will be the edge that you have to bead or sew around. Try not to get glue on this area as it is no fun to stitch through glue!! Hopefully you were able to avoid stitching in that outer 1/4″ of the fusible base, and you will find that by doing so, this final finishing stitching is much easier!

Well, there you have it! Again, this post really is meant to visually support someone who is using one of my patterns. However, it will also give someone who is wondering just what is so unique about my pin patterns a glimpse of the construction and process.

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