A HANDMADE HOLIDAY

It’s Picture Walk Time!!

Every year – I swear that I’m going to make handmade gifts for friends and not soon after I am glad to know that I don’t have that many friends!! 😉

A few years back I bought this great tablecloth at a vintage store. It wasn’t necessarily my colors, but the handwork was nice, it was clean & obviously well cared for. I assumed at some point I would use it as a cutter project…I just wasn’t sure what it would be.

In early December I had one of those flashes…Cathy, you have 5 days to get something done!!!  (There’s nothing like a looming deadline to spark creativity!)

I cut a 4 x 8″ template & placed it in strategic spots on this hand stitched tablecloth.

Here’s my stack of tomatoes-in-the-making – I tried to get pretty sections on each rectangle. I knew it was going to be fun to watch each pattern come to life on a tomato!

Right sides folded together, I sewed the 4″ edges together with a 1/4″ seam. I chain pieced them so I was getting ready to cut them apart here!

Press the side seam open. While it’s still inside out, press what will be the top of your tomato down approx 1/4″

 

It’s a tomato stack!!

Sew around the bottom edge (non-ironed side) with lacing thread & cinch the bottom tight!

Turn right side out!

Stuff your tomato with your choice of fill – I used wool roving! Baste around the pressed line on the top edge of your tomato & cinch closed! Do you like my assembly line style?!

I used coordinating floss to create the sections of my tomato (& gave it some poofiness…a technical term!)

I attached woolfelt leaves (benziedesign.com) with a Just Another Button Co Button (that button Lover’s Club comes in handy again!) – These sweet pink corsage pins were perfect!

I loved watching my stack of ‘mato’s grow!

 

There is a complete step by step tomato tutorial available with my Tomayto, Tomahto pattern – I just thought this picture walk was fun. I don’t often get to do crafty handwork like this, so it was a joy to gift them to my friends. I hope whoever took the time to stitch this tablecloth is happy with what I did with their piece – now it lives on.

Enjoy the stitch!

Cathy, Hands On Design