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Stitch in Time SewingMachine Cover

© Bustle & Sew 2015

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SewingMachine Cover

It’s important to keep you sewingmachine free of dust – but themanufacturer’s plastic cover canbe oh, so boring – white and shiny– not pleasing to the eye. So nowthere’s the easy-to-sew solutionfrom Bustle & Sew to keep yourtreasured machine safe and cosy!

This is purely a dust cover, but ifyou wanted to make it moresubstantial then it would be easyto replace the fabric lining with aquilted alternative.

My cover measured 16” x 24” andwill fit most machines as it isunstructured and ties at the sideswith ribbon or tape.

Materials● 17 x 25” piece stripey or plain medium

weight fabric for outer

● 17 x 25” piece medium weight fabric forlining (if you don’t have any heavier weightfabric, a light weight fabric with fusibleinterfacing will work just as well).

● 10” x 6 ½” navy, black or other darkcoloured fabric for the sewing machine

● Scraps of cotton fabric for the appliquedetails, including a nice bold floral print

that you can cut out some of the shapesto add as decoration to your machine

● Small scraps of crimson and light greenfelt

● Stranded cotton floss in black, pale pink,pale green and crimson

● Bondaweb

● Temporary fabric marker pen

● Embroidery foot for your sewing machine

● Black/navy and cream sewing thread

● 48” x ½” ribbon for ties

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Method● Transfer the text to your main exterior

fabric. Position it centrally and with thetop of the “T” in “Time” 12” up from thebottom edge. Work the text in split stitchusing 3 strands of black floss.

● Trace the outline of the sewing machineshape onto the paper side of theBondaweb. Cut out roughly, then fuse toreverse of navy fabric and cut out carefullymaking sure the edges are nice andsmooth (1)

● Position on your exterior fabric with thebase 2 ½” up from the bottom edge andthe left hand edge of the machine armaligned with the “t” in “stitch.”

● Fuse into place using a hot iron andprotecting your work with a cloth ifnecessary.

● Repeat with the other parts of the sewingmachine using the photograph as a guide.

● For the decoration on the machine useyour bold floral fabric and cut out somenice motifs taking care the shape of thecut outs will work well with that of themachine.

● Fit the embroidery foot to your sewingmachine and drop the feed dogs.

● With cream thread in the bobbin andblack or navy in the needle (this gives amore attractive, less heavy effect thanusing black thread in both) stitch aroundthe edges of your shapes twice. Don’t betoo neat, you are aiming for a sort ofscribbled effect.

● When finished press lightly on the reverse.

● Draw in the shape of the spool holder onthe sewing machine and also the threadusing your temporary fabric marker. (2)Stitch the holder in black and the threadin crimson floss using three strands andstem stitch. Work a row of cross stitchesin alternating pale pink and green usingtwo strands of floss to represent levers.

● Cut your ribbon into four equal lengths.From the pale green felt cut fourrectangles, each measuring ¾” x 2 ½”and fold them in half lengthways. Pressand insert ribbon into the folds. Machinestitch to secure (3)

● Place the lining and exterior fabrics rightsides together and pin. Mark four points,two on either side, each 4 ½” up from theshorter edges of the fabric. Insert yourribbons (4)

● Place a cup or similar on the corners,mark and cut a curved edge.

● Starting at the back edge stitch all the wayaround the cover using a ½” seamallowance. Leave a 6” gap for turning. (5)

● Trim seams and clip curved edges. Turnright side out and press. Press raw edgesof turning gap inwards.

● Top stitch around edge of cover 1/8” fromedge. Press lightly again.

● Your cover is now finished.

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● Have your sewing machine serviced annually. It's also a good idea to carry out regular mini-maintenancesessions yourself as recommended in your sewing machine manual.

● About every 8 hours of sewing time, or once a season if you don't use your machine frequently, cleanthe bobbin case as dust and lint gathers here. Use the cleaning brush supplied with the machine toremove this.

● Change needles frequently as a high proportion of problems begin with the needle. You'll save yourselfa lot of frustration while stitching!

● One of the best things you can do for your machine is to use a good quality thread. Poor qualitythreads, or those actually intended for overlockers will shed more lint and break more easily which willclog up your tension discs.

● Cover your machine when not in use to keep it dust free.

● Clean your machine before putting it away if you're planning to store it for a while. When you take yourmachine out of storage, run it for a bit unthreaded.

Six of the Best …. Tips for Caring for your Sewing Machine

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Sewing Machine Cover

Pattern given full size. The text is given theright way round and reversed to suit yourpreferred method of transfer. The sewingmachine is reversed for tracing onto thepaper side of your Bondaweb. The smallimage is to help you place the pieces.

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Why do we love to stitch? After all you can purchasemass-produced textile items at many high streets storesfor very little cost. These days handmade meanssomething special - a unique item created with love, a giftfrom the heart, not one that can be bought. Hand stitchingis also a great way to personalise an item, or perhaps tobreathe new life into an old favourite that has seen betterdays.

Bustle & Sew offers my own unique patterns, designed to appeal to all skill levels and bring out allyour natural creativity. And you can keep up to date with all the latest news from Devon where I liveas well as the newest patterns and much more over on the Bustle & Sew Blog.

PS If you love stitching, then you’re sure to enjoy my Bustle & Sew Magazine. It’s delivered byemail to your in-box each month and is crammed full of ideas, projects, features, articles, patternsand more to inspire you. Your family and friends will soon be queuing up to take delivery of yournew Bustle & Sew creations. To learn more please visit the Bustle & Sew website.

Helen xx

Please respect my copyright and do not copy and distribute this pattern for any purposewhatsoever.

You are welcome to sell items you personally have made using this pattern provided you creditBustle & Sew with the design. You are not licensed to go into mass production. Thank you.

© Bustle & Sew 2015