Vintage Jelly Jar Pincushion + Eclectic Elements Inspiration!

I'm sure I wasn't the only person who freaked out just a bit when Tim Holtz released his Eclectic Elements fabric line back in May. Although I'm not a quilter, I love fabric and started imagining all the cool projects that could be made with it.

A couple days ago an idea for this little pincushion came from out of the blue. It combines all the things I love - vintage jelly jars, mercury glass, and of course, Tim's wonderful fabric. At the bottom of the post I have a full tutorial on how you can make one of your own!

Since I was posting this project using the fabric, I thought you might enjoy a couple other projects using it.

A couple months ago my very sweet husband surprised me by telling me he'd ordered enough of the new Eclectic Elements fabric from Tim Holtz to cover an old chair I'd had for ages. I was so shocked - I had no idea he even listened to my ramblings about stuff like that! Like a lot of people, I had fallen in love with the chair that Tim had done for his Quilt Market booth. I was very lucky that I just happened to have the perfect chair sitting in my attic, waiting for the perfect fabric.

Gorgeous, right? Eek! Even though it was a mess, when I spotted it at an estate sale years ago, I knew it had potential. Since then, it had been sitting around, waiting until I could afford to have it recovered. I also had never found any fabric that I'd really fallen in love with until Tim's came along. Let me tell you, this chair was a MESS! Horsehair stuffing that was falling out all over the place...it was hideous. On the plus side, it only cost me $30! Thankfully, we'd found the sweetest little old man who has done upholstery all his life and recovered the chair for a song. He retied all the springs, made a new cushion, and replaced all the horsehair (yay!).

One note - a lot of people mentioned that, since this fabric isn't upholstery weight, it's a bit lightweight for this application. Of of my fellow Sizzix DT members, the incredibly talented Amy Friend, suggested using lightweight fusible interfacing on the back of the fabric to make it more sturdy. I asked our upholstery man and he said he'd cover the whole chair with muslin first, which seems to have done the trick!

I made these sweet little stuffed pumpkins for the Houston Quilt Market that took place earlier this month. The photo is a bit deceiving - they look big, but the largest is only about 6". I think they're so cute! They are also a perfect project for anyone who isn't much of a seamstress. Check out Paula Cheyney's blog post for more pics of Tim's incredible booth. Tons of inspiration for sure!

Okay, here is the promised tutorial!

You will need the following:

Eclectic Elements Fabric

A small, shallow jar (I used a vintage jelly jar)

Krylon Looking Glass Spray Paint

Polyester Fiberfill (stuffing)

Upholstery Thread

Needle

Button

Hot Glue

Begin by spraying the inside of the jar with several coats of Looking Glass paint. Build the layers slowly, letting each coat dry before you spray again. When the paint is dry and opaque, spritz it lightly with water. Wait a few seconds and then gently rub, removing some of the paint. This will give you a mercury glass look. If you accidentally rub off too much, you can dry the jar and add additional coats of paint.

Next, determine how large the cushion needs to be to fit your jar. I doubled the size of the opening of my jar, which was 4" and cut an 8" circle, using a plate as a guide. Cut the fabric to size.

Knot one end of a piece of strong upholstery thread, and sew a running stitch around the edge of the fabric, leaving a long tail for gathering.

Pull on the thread, gathering the fabric. Stuff tightly with fiberfill, pulling the thread as you go.

When fully stuffed, pull the thread tight and stitch to secure.

From the underside of the cushion, poke a needle threaded with upholstery thread through to the center. Pass the thread through a button, and insert the needle back down through the cushion. Pull tight and tie or stitch to secure.

Add more fiberfill to the jar so that the cushion rests and the right level. Use hot glue to secure. To finish the pincushion, glue a length of idea-ology Trimmings around the rim.

I hope you've enjoyed all these different projects. Oh, and make sure you check out that tile work in the chair pic - I laid that all myself (I about died, true story)!

Inspiration Emporium has all the different sizes and bundles of Eclectic Elements fabric available for preorder. Make sure you use my coupon code - stamptramp - to save 10% on your order!

clectic Elements Documentation 12" idea-ology Trimmings - Red and Cream dea-ology Accoutrements - Fanciful Sizzix Tattered Leaves Die

InLinkz.com

Thanks so much for stopping by today. Have a great weekend!