I learned from Thelma at Cupcakes ‘n Daisies that yesterday was National Pink Day. I’m working on a project right now that has a lot of pink in it, so I thought I would post about it, even though I’m a day late. Take a look:

Regular readers of my site must be thinking, “What? She’s making another sewing machine dust cover?” (I’ve already made several versions, which you can see in my Small Pieces Gallery here.)

Yep. Two reasons for it: one, I needed a partially-made sample for a class I taught recently, to demonstrate how I sew the side panel to the main body and add the bias binding strip, and two, in response to multiple requests, I have written a pattern. (I always make samples while writing a pattern to test my directions.)

I’ll introduce my pattern later this week along with a giveaway — my first! — so please check back. I’ll be giving away several copies of my pattern, and one winner will get a custom sewing machine dust cover made by me for her machine.

Yesterday also happened to be National Pecan Sandies Day. (Who thinks these national days up, anyway, and why June 23?) If you’re inclined to celebrate after the fact by whipping up a batch of pecan sandies, here is a recipe from allrecipes.com.

Yes, I’m still at it. Still playing with the design and construction of a sewing machine dust cover designed to fit my Janome 6500.  Here’s my latest version:

Since I’m going to be teaching a class on this soon, I wanted to test my directions again as well as an idea I had about the binding process. Versions 1 and 2 (which you can see together here) have the bottom edges of the front, back, and sides bound first, before the side panels are joined to the front and back piece. Wouldn’t it be easier, I wondered, if the side panels were bound first? Then one long binding strip could be added around the bottom of the dust cover.  The answer: yes, much easier!

I really had fun with this fabric. The floral print is from Denyse Schmidt’s Flea Market Fancy line for Free Spirit. The chevron stripe is by Riley Blake, and the binding fabric is Teeny Tiny Flowers by Holly Holderman for Lakehouse Dry Goods. The whimsical lining fabric, seen in the photo below, is Sew Stitchy by Aneela Hoey for Moda:

Now on to the next good thing: finishing one of many Works-in-Progress!

Regular readers may remember the sewing machine cover I started in July when I was in Sisters OR with my quilt group. My intention was to make a cover for the Janome 6500 that spends most of its time in my sewing room. I have a smaller Janome for classes but the big one goes with me on extended trips.

My Janome 6500 was with me in Sisters when I took its measurements and made the block for the front. Weeks later, when I was ready to work on the cover again, I realized the measurements I had taken in Sisters, while accurate, were wrong for this project. My sewing table features a drop-in ledge for the sewing machine so that the bed of the machine is flush with the table top. My sewing machine sits a full 3″ below the surface of the table, something my original measurements didn’t take into account. Oops.

The block I had already made couldn’t be cut down so I decided to finish the sewing machine cover and use it for traveling, and then make a new one that would stay in my sewing room.

That’s what I’ve been experimenting with. I decided to make a really simple cover without batting or quilting — and without a pattern. I just followed the lines of the vinyl cover that came with my Janome 6500. Rather than making a test version in muslin, I chose to use a beautiful cotton print. My rationale was that if I made the cover in muslin and it turned out well, all I would have was a plain muslin cover. If I made it in a pretty fabric and it didn’t turn out well, I could cut it apart and save the scraps for another project.

But it did turn out well! Take a look:

The main fabric is from the Garden Medley line by Susie Johnson for RJR and the binding fabric is a lime green Kona Bay blender. Here’s a slightly different view:

The fabric on the inside is a soft striped batik from my stash:

I interfaced the inside fabric to give the dust cover extra body. Instead of finishing the binding by hand, I fused it with 1/4″-wide Steam-a-Seam 2.

Now my mind is racing with ideas on refining the design. I don’t really need another sewing machine dust cover but I’d love to make one in different fabrics — I already know which ones — incorporating some patchwork and/or applique. I’d also like to try piping on the top and side edges and double-fold bias tape around the bottom edge.

I probably won’t get to it right away but — you never know. Sounds like a good rainy day project to me.