Project designed by Lynne Farris.
These realistic looking cacti will make an attractive addition to any casual decor. They are easy to make and best of all, they never need watering! Group several together in a clay pot or a colorful basket to form an everlasting cactus garden, or pot each one individually for use as a pin cushion.
Using a preset scallop stitch on the sewing machine in conjunction with a homemade circular stitching device, you can easily make the pieces you need to create a cactus with no patterns required.
Materials:
thumbtack
transparent tape
piece of cork - optional
sewing machine with scallop setting
marking pen
artist paintbrush
fiberfill
hot glue gun and glue
terra cotta pot
fabric:
- eight, five-inch squares of green, foam- and tricot-backed fleece fabric or green sweatshirt fleece lined with fusible tricot
- two, 1-1/2-inch squares of orange, foam- and tricot-backed fleece fabric or green sweatshirt fleece lined with fusible tricot
Steps:
Cactus
1. Tear off a piece of transparent tape. Pierce the sticky side of the tape with a thumbtack so the pointed side of the tack is sticking up from the back side of the tape (figure A).
2. Tape the thumbtack onto the bed of the sewing machine, so that it's parallel with the machine needle, about 2-1/2 inches away from the needle (figure B). You can adjust the size of the cactus by moving the thumbtack further away from the needle for a larger size and closer to the needle for a smaller size. You'll need larger squares of fabric if you're making a larger cactus.
3. Stack two of the fleece squares, right sides together. Mark the center of the stacked squares, then position the center of the fabric stack onto the pointed tip of the taped thumbtack, tucking the fabric under the sewing machine needle. Secure by piercing the thumbtack with a piece of cork if desired.
4. Set machine to a scallop stitch setting. Run sewing machine, letting the thumbtack do the work to stitch the two pieces of fabric together in a circular pattern (figure C).
5. Trim around the outside perimeter of the scalloped-stitched circle and clip off the bottom of the circle (figure D).
6. Turn the stitched circle right side out. Use an artist paintbrush handle to push out the points.
7. Repeat steps 1 through 6 three more times. Stack the finished cactus circles- -cut ends together (figure E).
8. Using a straight stitch, sew the stacked cactus components together vertically, down the center of stack, starting from the cut ends and stitching toward the closed ends, stopping about 1/2 inch from the top. This will leave the cut ends seperated into open channels for stuffing (figure F). If you need a larger opening at the channel end, trim each opening slightly with scissors (figure G).
9. Stuff each open channel with pieces of fiberfill, once again using the paintbrush handle as a tool. Stuff until the cactus channels are full and the cactus takes shape. It's not necessary to stitch the channels closed.
10. Run a bead of hot glue around the inside of the terra cotta pot rim. Position the cactus in the pot, channel side down, pressing it into the glue to secure.
Flower
1. Make a flower to add to top the cactus by stitching a small scalloped circle using fleece- and/or tricot-lined orange fabric. To accomplish this smaller circle, move the taped thumbtack 1/2 inch from needle, and stitch two, 1-1/2-inch squares of orange fleece. Trim around the perimeter of the circle, but don't cut off the bottom as you did with the green circles of the cactus (figure H).
2. To turn, cut a small hole in the center of the one side of the orange circle and use the paintbrush to push the circle right-side-out. Once turned, push a small bit of the uncut center of the fabric back through the hole on the cut side to complete the flower (figure I). Glue it into place at the top of the "potted" cactus.
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REAL VIDEO
