Sewing Jar DIY Tutorial

After working out some kinks with the new sewing machine, I've finally started on that skirt tutorial that I talked about in my hobby post. It took me forever to figure out the pleats (damn you!) but those are finally pinned and ironed, so I'm about a quarter of the way through. Ish. I'll certainly be posting the final results of that when it's completed, but until then, a small preview...

In the interim, I made something that I've wanted to try out even long before I decided to purchase a sewing machine. See, I have a weak spot for mason jars, as I'm sure many do, and now that I'm sewing, this project makes the perfect easy DIY. May I introduce: The Sewing Jar.

Martha Stewart 2006

I love these jars. They've been around for quite awhile and it seems every other blog offers a tutorial (yes, now including me). The idea is a pincushion/storage container all in one so they're practical and super cute to boot. This project is super quick, easy, and best of all, cheap.

YOU WILL NEED:

1. Sewing odds and ends. I bought a pre-packaged kit at Hobby Lobby for $5.00 that included Scissors, a Needle Compact, Tape Measure, Pin Wheel, Tracing Wheel, Safety Pins, Thimble, Snap Fasteners, Hook & Eyes, Wool Needle, Needle Threader, Shirt Buttons, Seam Ripper, Dressmaking Pencil, 10 small spools of thread, and a Pin Cushion (no longer needed!) Or if you're a sewing extraordinaire, just use everything you already have on hand.

2. A mason jar of your choice. It can be tall, squat, large, small, whatever, as long as it has the two-piece lid. Just make sure it fits everything you want to throw in there to keep around. Mine was just about 70 cents - half off the original price. Can you really get much better than that?

3. Stuffing of some kind. I put off doing this project for awhile because I thought it was ridiculous to buy a huge bag of filler (I never saw small bags during my trips to the craft store, though to be fair, I didn't look overly hard). Of course, that's exactly what I ended up doing, so now I have enough to make about 300 sewing jars. Or I guess I could keep it around for future projects... After I finished my jar I saw somewhere online that you could use cotton balls, so if you have those around, put them to good use!

4. Fabric (not pictured, ob-v). This is a great time to use any scraps you have lying around and to try out some fun things. I'm using all of my patterned fabric for my skirt, so I used a bit of some nice, heavy duty black fabric I have since I haven't gotten to that "box of scraps" point yet. Not all that exciting, I know. But the great thing is you can change it at any time, so for now it'll do.

WHAT TO DO:

Step 1: Draw a circle on your fabric one inch larger than the lid insert. This is a lot simpler to do with a drawing compass, but if you haven't had one of those since middle school (like me), it's pretty easy to freehand it. Cut out the fabric shape.

Step 2: Get a handful of filling ready. This is going to take some trial and error on your part. It depends on how big of a cushion you want on top and how firm you want it. (Note: if you want an extra large cushion bump, make sure to cut out a larger circle of fabric to accommodate the extra filling)

Step 3: Hold the outer ring of the lid upside down and place the fabric circle on top, also upside down (put the side of the fabric that you want to show face down). Then start filling it in, being careful to not let the fabric get pushed out through the hole. If this happens, you have too much filling, so start over and add less.

Step 4: Watch as the bump is pushed out the other side. Keep adding filling until you reach the size you want it to be (again, watch the fabric). Your fabric will probably pucker a bit at the sides (like in the picture) as you work with the filling. To get it smooth, gently pull the ends of the fabric a little at a time until it is smooth around the perimeter.

Step 5: Once the pin cushion is the size you want it to be, take the lid insert and push it back into the outer ring. It should snap back into place, holding the filling at bay. At this point you want to glue the remaining edges of the fabric down so that the top is easy to screw back on the jar. It's best to do this with a glue gun, which I didn't have with me today, so for now mine is hanging out in all its glory!

THE FINAL RESULT

This whole process took me maybe 20 minutes and I love how it looks! All of my little sewing bits fit perfectly in the jar except the scissors, but that wasn't really a big concern for me. So now I have everything at my disposal in an adorable jar instead of an ugly green plastic case. No offense, Hobby Lobby.

Cost breakdown:
- Sewing kit: $5.00
- Mason jar: $0.70
- Filling: $3.50
TOTAL: $9.20

A New Hobby

Let me start off by saying that I did not making a sewing joke in the title like I was really tempted to do. We'll leave that to the professionals (just wait for it).

I've never been interested in sewing. Like, at all. I've never drooled over sewing machines or read all of the how-to books or subscribed to all of the magazines (which all, by the way, are titled with terrible, terrible puns. I know this because I worked in a bookstore. Don't judge.). Anyway, what I have been interested in is DIY of every kind and this obsession has finally made its way to the sewing corner. See, I'm really tired of how much it costs to buy new clothes. I hate that you have to pay upwards of $40 for a new shirt of decent quality now days and while I don't really need anything new to wear, sometimes it's nice to have one thing that's fresh and fun to spice up a drab closet.

The one and only time I've ever sewn anything on my own was this past May, when I had to sew the three pieces of a stocking together to finish it off for my Mom, for Mother's Day. Since it was a present, I couldn't ask her for help and after sneaking her (very very old) sewing machine over to my apartment, I grit my teeth and prayed that I wouldn't screw it up. Not that a straight stitch is all that hard, but in my defense, there were a lot of curves...

I think the thing that really finished me off in terms of resigning to the fact that I'm now interesting in sewing, was discovering that there are so many free tutorials and patterns online. The one I'm currently drooling over? This Socialite Skirt tutorial over at Elle Apparel.

Isn't it absolutely adorable?!

This is the very first thing I plan to attempt. Even if I crash and burn, at least I'll be learning along the way. So now that I've decided I want to give this sewing thing a good ole college try, I need a way to...well...sew. Like I mentioned before, my mom's sewing machine, while nice and heavy duty, is quite old. And with age comes simplicity, which isn't a good starting point for someone who doesn't know a thing about sewing. So this is why I've been setting my sights on a new modern sewing machine. Nothing fancy, but one that has those built-in stitches I can take advantage of. Some might think this is cheating, but this is one time that I think I'll just embrace the advantages of technology over being a purist. Enter the beast:

Stylish and fairly priced at $85.00 on Amazon

I've been eying this guy for a couple of weeks now and was planning on saving up for it, and then my wonderful in-laws insisted on paying me for my sister-in-law's senior portraits I did this weekend (more on that later), so I have a little room to play. This is by far not a high-end machine, but it has excellent reviews and is a step up from the $35 Michley I was considering previously.

Once I order this thing, set it up, begin to read the instructions only to get impatient/annoyed and toss them aside, and give it a good test run, I'll give the tutorial a whirl and report back here with the results!



Oh. And now for the puns. I told you they were coming. And you don't even have to look that far. Turn your attention to none other than the packaging of this delightful sewing machine:

Sew advanced! Sew affordable!