Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Traced Hands Pillow

My latest creation moo awww awww awww ah! lol



As it just seems to go these days, I was trolling Pinterest late one night and I ran into a post that said MAKE ME! Isn't Pinterest just so good at that!

Well, my version is similar but since every wall in my house is either used or accounted for I went for a pillow instead :) I really love how this turned out. And believe this could also make a wonderful gift!

My version began with a simple piece of muslin in cream -- cut to 10 x 10.5 inches.

Onto this I traced first my husbands hand (the largest) using my very favorite Ticonderoga #2 pencil ensuring that he spread out his fingers just a bit. 

A bit on procedure here. On his hand, as well as all the others, I used DMC floss and chose to use just 3 strands. I also used a simple embroidery back stitch. I did also use a small embroidery hoop to keep my fabric manageable.

Hubbies hand was back stitched using a steal gray floss.

Next came my hand. I used a lightish medium purple. Things were getting bit confusing but I took my time and it came out nice!

Next I had some figuring to do. Next in line would be my 10 and 9 year olds who happen to have the exact same hand size. I figured it would look really funny to do two rows of the same stitching so I elected to only use one of them, which the 9 year old volunteered and the 10 year old was a-ok with ;). Their hand is represented in the red.

Finally came baby girl. Her hand is so tiny and fit so nicely into the nest of the rest of our hands. She just had to have baby pink for her color.

After I finished all my stitching I took a trip to JoAnn Fabrics and was so pleasantly surprised to find the background fabric!

It is gray in color with white flowers that have poka dots and wouldn't you believe! the same color scheme as the colors I chose for the hands! perfect match! I love it!

I ironed my fabric, then cut a strip 15.5 inches by the width of fabric. From this I cut a 15.5 x 14.5 inch piece for the back. I set this aside for now.

Then I cut 4 strips 3 inches wide by 15.5 inches long. I knew these would be too long but I placed the long strip on the top of the embroidered piece and sewed them together using a 1/4 inch seam. After sewing I cut off the extra fabric then went on to sew the bottom strip on. Again it was too long but I sewed and trimmed again. I ironed my seams towards the gray.

Next came the 2 sides which fit perfectly. After sewing all 4 strips on I ironed my seams again towards the gray.

I picked up both the top and bottom and pined it all in place. I sewed using a 1/4 inch seam, and left a 3 inch hole for turning on the bottom.

to sum up...
materials used:
cream muslin 10 x 10.5
#2 Ticonderoga pencil
DMC floss in desired colors
background fabric15.5 inch strip
       from this I cut a 15.5 x 14.5 backing and (4) 3 inch strips.

I still need to purchase some batting to call this one done, but I'll get to that soon!

Happy Sewing :)



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