Congrats to yesterday’s winner, Lisa Lee, on winning Day 23’s daily giveaway! Congrats too to Day 22’s winner, Elaine. We will be in contact so that you can claim your prize.
It’s Day Twenty-Three of National Sewing Month! Don’t forget to visit Seams and Scissors every day to find daily giveaway opportunities and sewing ideas! To enter today’s daily giveaway, find the contest rules and leave a comment below. Also look out below for details on how to enter our National Sewing Month grand prize that includes a BERNINA 215 Sewing Machine! Too see the daily blog posts, projects of the day, and more National Sewing Month details, click here.
Today’s National Sewing Month post is brought to you by Maris from Sew Maris!
Hi there! I’m Maris from Sewmaris.com, and today I want to show you a really quick, fun project that you can customize to suit your needs, and you can also simplify it if time is short.
The project I want to show you today is my handy sewing machine foot pedal holder. I have a couple of machines with hard plastic covers, and no slot for the foot pedal and electrical cord. Since I don’t want to store those items on the machine bed and risk scratching the, too plastic, I decided to make a quick and simple holder for these items. I am giving you the complete instructions to bind the outside edges, but feel free to change up this foot pedal holder. You can change the size of the rectangles if you need a larger or smaller holder, and you could skip the bias binding around the edges and serge or zig-zag for a super-quick edge finish. You can use fusible fleece and skip the machine quilting step, too! Make it your own in any way that works for you.
Supplies:
1/3 yard quilting cotton
1/3 yard lo-loft batting (fusible or not)
1 fat quarter coordinating print (optional)
8-9 inches of ¼ inch elastic
1 pkg extra wide double fold bias tape
Velcro, snaps, or small buttons
Matching thread
Cutting out:
2 rectangles 8 inches wide X 10 inches tall (quilting cotton)
1 rectangles 12 inches wide X 9 inches tall (quilting cotton)
1 rectangle 12 inches wide X 9 inches tall (fat quarter, or quilting cotton)
1 rectangles 8 inches X 10 inches (batting)
1 rectangles 12 inches X 9 inches (batting)
Instructions:
1. Sandwich the 8×10 inch rectangle of batting between the 2 quilting cotton rectangles of the same size. Fuse according to the manufacturer’s directions, or lightly quilt to hold all 3 pieces together. This is the back of the foot pedal holder. This piece measures 8 inches wide by 10 inches tall.
2. Sandwich the 9×12 inch rectangle of batting between the 2 quilting cotton rectangles of the same size. Fuse according to the manufacturer’s directions, or lightly quilt to hold all 3 pieces together. This is the front of the foot pedal holder. This piece measures 12 inches wide by 9 inches tall.
3. Using a coffee cup or small bowl, round the lower corners of both the back and front pieces.
4. Cut a length of bias tape approximately 8 inches long, and insert the top edge of the back of the foot pedal holder into the center fold of the bias tape. Stitch close to the open edges of the tape.
5. Cut a length of bias tape approximately 12 inches long, and insert the top edge of the front of the foot pedal holder into the center fold. Stitch close to the open edges of the tape, forming a casing for the elastic.
6. Cut approximately 8 inches of elastic, and insert the elastic thru the bias tape casing of the front of the foot pedal holder. Stitch elastic at each end of the casing to secure.
7. Place the foot pedal front piece on top of the foot pedal back piece, matching the rounded corners and the side edges. The casing edge will be about one inch below the top edge of the back piece, and the bottom edge of the front will be longer than the bottom edge of the back piece.
8. Form small pleats along the bottom edge of the front foot pedal piece, and pin the pleated front piece to the back piece. Adjust the pleats as needed until the front and back bottom edges are the same length.
9. Using a very scant ¼” seam allowance, stitch around the foot pedal holder, securing the front to the back. Trim close to your stitching. You are almost done!
10. Extend one edge of bias tape approximately 7-8 inches above the top edge of the foot pedal holder, and continue sandwiching the outer edge of the foot pedal holder in the center fold of the bias tape all the way around, and extending the bias tape approximately 7-8 inches on the opposite side as well. The bias tape extensions are the straps to secure the foot pedal holder to your sewing machine handle.
11. Fold the ends of the bias tape extensions to the inside to create a neat edge. Stitch the bias tape extension/strap, continue stitching all around the outer edge of the holder on the bias tape, and continue stitching to the end of the second bias tape extension/strap.
12. Stitch small strips of the rough side of Velcro on the ends the bias tape extensions, and small strips of the soft side of Velcro on the side edges of the foot pedal holder. (Alternatively, you could apply snaps or small buttons + loops to secure the straps onto your sewing machine handle.)
13. Pop your foot pedal and power cord in your new holder, and attach to your sewing machine handle. Enjoy!
Don’t miss all of Maris’s amazing projects at Sew Maris!
Also remember to check out the Project of the Day right here!
To enter the daily giveaway, leave a comment below telling us:
What is something you cannot keep organized?
Official Rules for Daily Contest
- There is a maximum of one entry per person. The entry will be based upon a comment left on this blog post. Duplicate comments will be deleted and are not tallied.
- Winner will be selected at random from the comments on this blog post below.
- You have until tonight, September 23rd, 2014 at 11:59p EST to leave your comment on this post. Comments posted after that will not be counted.
- Contest open to anyone 18+ in US and/or Canada.
Enter here for the National Sewing Month 2014 Grand Prize Giveaway.
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