Papercraft Sewing Accessories Gallery

Quilter's dolly and spools.

Teabag-style thread cards and storage baskets.

Ribbon hangers. Gift presentation idea!

Pin storage: wheels or fans.

Ribbon winders, Flower Garden Ribbon Reels (and basket).

Button storage. The mini cigar box has compartments, like a printer's tray.

Storage caddy and bead trays.

Cantilever sewing box and spools. Yes, the spools are papercrafted!

Today's blog post is part of my Papercraft Fabrications strand - papercrafted sewing accessories: it makes so much sense to papercraft practical, pretty projects that have a life beyond gift presentation. No how-tos here - just plenty of inspiration.

I have a few more ideas for papercrafted sewing accessories, and I'll be posting them on the blog.

Hooray for Paper Patchwork!

The look of a patchwork quilt... in a jiffy.

The folded triangular edging is called Prairie Points (or Somerset Patchwork).

You can engineer where the Prairie Points fall to make fancy closures.

Double layer of Prairie Points.

Get the point! Free Prairie Point download below.

Paper Patchwork is the ideal way to use up small quantities of paper from your stash. It looks great in mixed prints. A dead ringer for its fabric-crafted counterpart. These cards have a couple of quick-make secrets. First of all, the traditional quilt block designs are made using my new papercraft template for Hot Off The Press, Paper Patchwork HOTP 7411. Instead of cutting out lots of small pieced shapes, as for fabric patchwork, the quilt blocks are made of larger layered shapes. The shapes for the top layer of the motif are linked all-in-one to speed the cutting process. Here's the template:

The other secret is in the Prairie Point borders, which are easy to make from notched paper strips, download below. There are also downloads for the patchwork house motif and the card sentiments. Here they are:
PrairiePoints.pdf
PrairiePoints.svg 

LabelsPaperPatchworkCards.pdf

Here's how to make the Prairie Points:

A small metal ruler makes accurate folding a cinch.

1) Cut out the Prairie Point strips. The vertical snips are the most important bit. Next, fold the diagonals using a metal ruler as an alignment guide (it helps you make the bases of the triangles level).

2) Next, glue the tabs on the triangles. A tiny dab of tacky glue does the job. That's it. Your Praire Points are done. As you can see, there's a border strip below the triangle points. You can either slip the border strip underneath the edge of your card, or you can position it on top of the card front and camouflage the strip with contrast trim. The speedy way to attach the Prairie Points to your card is with d/s tape.

Here's how to make paper patchwork, pronto:

1) Cut out the shapes.

2) Layer the shapes. You can glue them with tacky glue or fix them together with d/s tape. Camouflage the link in the middle of the uppermost patchwork shape with a smaller contrasting shape - or with one of my printables. Simple! The finishing touch: mock stitching drawn with a Zig Millenium fine-point pen.

Make a dinky card from just one patchwork block!

The printed papers are from a 6 x 6 paper pad: Times & Seasons from Echo Park Paper Co.

The HOTP template also has the Orange Peel pattern - which can be used to make mock Cathedral Window patchwork. And a hexagon shape, which can be used to make the Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt design. But that's another post...

Milk Carton Coin Banks/Coin Bank Envelopes Tut

Milk carton savings bay.

Choice of square or oblong base trays.

Another option: Coin Bank Envelopes and caddy.

A coin bank envelope. What are you saving for?

Happy New Year! Hope your New Year is creative and fun. Are you tightening your belt after the festive season? Here's a fun way to scrimp and save: Milk Carton Coin Banks or Coin Bank Envelopes.
The concept is to choose your savings goal and have a dedicated container for it. The savings cartons are all neatly arranged in a tray - your personal savings bay. The coin slot is big enough to accommodate a UK pound or a 50p piece. Of course, you can adjust the slot size to fit other currencies.

There are downloadable files for the cutting templates, both digi-cut and hand-cut. And an accompanying tutorial for you.

Here are the files for the Envelope Coin Bank:

EnvelopeCoinBank.pdf 
EnvelopeCoinBank.svg

EnvelopeCoinBankCaddy1of2.pdf
EnvelopeCoinBankCaddy2of2.pdf

EnvelopeCoinBankCaddy1of2.svg 
EnvelopeCoinBankCaddy2of2.svg

Here are the files for the Milk Carton Coin Bank:  
MilkCartonCoinBank.pdf
MilkCartonCoinBank.svg 

MilkCartonCoinBankSquareTray.pdf
MilkCartonCoinBankSquareTray.svg

MilkCartonCoinBankLongTray.pdf
MilkCartonCoinBankLongTray.svg

Looks like a lot of stuff, but the project of your choice is really pretty straightforward to make up. Here's how:

Envelope Coin Bank:

1) Above, the pattern pieces you need for the coin bank envie. Mock kraft paper for the envelope, gold paper for the purse frame, a print for the purse body. Pierce the string holes. Crease the envelope folds.

 2) Glue the slot reinforcement onto the wrong side of the envelope.

3) Seal the envelope back seam with glue or double-sided tape. The adhesive goes on the short bottom flap (folded on top, not tucked in).

4) Seal the envelope back seam with glue or double-sided tape. The adhesive goes on the short flap, which goes on top.3) Seal the bottom flap.

5) Stick the purse frame onto the envie front, about 1.5cm (5/8in) above the envie base. Tip: apply tiny glue dabs to the purse clasps at top, use d/s tape for the rest of the purse frame piece.

6) Stick the purse body on top of the purse frame, aligning the base with the purse frame base. Stick on the oval label.

7) Thread baker's twine through the holes (30cm/12in). Knot on envie front. Use a tapestry needle.

8) Tie twine in a bow. Knot ends. Trim twine below knot. Use a tapestry needle tip to un-ply the twine, forming a self-tassel.

Completed Coin Bank Envelope.

Make at least six envelopes to put in the caddy. Coin bank envelopes also make great gifts or party favours for kids. Just replace the oval label with the recipient's name.

Now for the envelope caddy:

1) Print the pattern pieces. Crease on folds. Apply coin purses as shown.

2) Join caddy pieces side-to-side. Use tacky glue or d/s tape. The arrow shows the join. Then join the flap at the right side to the edge on the left, making the box sides into a ring.

3) Next, glue the three bottom flaps.

4) Apply d/s tape to the bottom of the box flaps and fold the flaps inside the box. Like so:

5) Finally, apply d/s tape to both ends of the caddy liner and drop the liner into the base of the box. The caddy is complete. Fill it with the Coin Bank Envelopes.

 

Now it is time to make the Milk Carton Coin Bank.

1) Cut out the milk carton and crease as shown. Use an embossing tool held against a metal ruler to make the creases. Fold the embossed lines. Suggested cardstock: American Crafts or Bazzill. Also glue the coin slot reinforcement behind the coin slot, same as for Step 2, on the Envelope Coin Bank, above.

2) Join the flap to complete the milk carton sides. Used d/s tape or tacky glue.

 3) Fold down the base flap with the slot in it.

4) Fold in the side flaps.

5) Tuck the tab into the slot to complete the milk carton base.

6) Use a large glue stick to tamp down the bottom closure from the inside of the box.

 7) Drop in the base reinforcement and tamp it down the same way.

8) Pierce thread holes in the milk carton top. A 1/16in circle hand punch is ideal for this job.

9) Thread bakery twine through the holes: down through the outer holes and up through the centre hole, one thread end on either side of the twine stitch.

10) The bow is finished same as for the Envelope Coin Bank, above. The labels are applied in the same way, too. Make sure the base of the coin purse in 1.5cm (5/8in) above the milk carton base.

Making a deposit.

Make four Milk Cartons in this way.

Tray:

I think we both have how-to fatigue by now, so I'm going to talk you through making the Milk Carton Coin Bank Trays. It's easy.

Choose either the square tray or the long tray. They are made in the same way. Cut the tray out, emboss and crease the folds, as for the milk carton. Turn up the tray sides and glue adjacent side flaps. Finally,
turn the liner flaps inside the tray, either gluing them of adhering them with d/s tape. Insert four milk cartons to complete your Coin Bank Savings Bay.

Arrange the milk cartons as desired.

Of course, solo milk cartons make cute gifts or party favours.

Pretty patterned paper purses: the paper is Buttercup by Lilybee Design.

Happy thrifty New Year!