Christmas Project Material List: Origami Purse

Please excuse the picture — the flaps really ARE the same size, but one just wouldn’t lie flat for picture-taking!

• Fabric, approx 14″ x 19″. Both sides will show, as will the edges. My sample uses a placement with a border on one side and an allover pattern on the other.

• Purse handles. Make sure they are full rings or squares, as they are attached to the purse by folding fabric over the bottom edge. My sample uses squarish ones, 5 1/2″ x 4″.
• Buttons or beads. 4 or more. These are used in 4 places — to fasten the sides and to attach the handles. My sample uses 1 at each handle and three on each side. Optional.
• Tough handsewing needle. Thin enough to go through the buttons or beads, thick enough to go through several layers of your fabric. You’ll want a thimble!
• Thread. To match or coordinate with the buttons or beads.

Christmas Project Material List: Glass Jar Pin Cushion

To make the glass jar pin cushion—

• Ball wide mouth jar with canning lid and ring (smaller size, 8 oz, for example)
• 9-inch square of fabric to make pin cushion
• Items to fill jar—buttons, notions, etc.
• Hand sewing needles and thread

Wool batting (to stuff the pin cushion) will be provided.

November Meeting Plans

Our November meeting (the 6th) will be a working day — we’ll all get a jump on our Christmas projects! We’ll have a brief business meeting at 1:30 and at 7, at which we’ll do announcements and the election of next year’s officers, and the rest of the day, from about 2 to oh, say, 9, will be devoted to working on the projects we picked at the September meeting. Each project will have a separate work station, and you’ll be able to move from station to station at your own pace, working on as many projects as you please. If you just want to pick up instructions for all the projects and work at home, that’ll be ok, too!

We are assembling materials lists for the projects, and will publish them here and in the newsletter.

If you have any questions, contact Carol Wiens!

September Meeting

Our September meeting was very interesting!  The assignment was for members to bring ideas for easy Christmas gifts or decorations…and the variety was impressive.   We saw ideas for gifts, like purses, jewelry bags, and shrugs.  We saw decorations, like ornaments and wall hangings.  We saw packaging, like gift bags and Santa buckets.   It was hard, but we narrowed it down to about a dozen to work on at our November meeting.  Watch this space, and the newsletter, for more information about our plans.