DAISY PEG BAG

BANISH WASHDAY BLUES WITH A SIMPLE FLORAL PEG BAG, IN A YELLOW SHADE SO CHEERFUL IT’LL BRING OUT THE SUNSHINE

Test your sewing machine skills and tidy up with Rebecca Reid’s rustic peg bag project

MATERIALS

Cotton fabric: 37x35cm (back), 15x35cm (top front), yellow

Calico fabric: 40x50cm

Sewing machine thread: light yellow, yellow and orange

Embroidery hoop: 13cm diameter Coat hanger: 30cm length

Sewing machine with a standard and freemotion or darning foot

Basic embroidery kit

Machine Straight Stitch

NOTES

Find the templates on p77. All measurements are listed vertically then horizontally. RS = right side(s).

WS = wrong side(s).

Place a coat hanger on the top of the 01 WS of the back fabric piece so it is 2cm down from the top long edge and placed centrally across. Following its shape, draw a line 2cm above the hanger then measure and clearly mark 2cm either side of the hook. Join these marks with a straight line. Cut along the drawn lines. Using this as a template, cut out a matching shape along the top edge and side edges of the back piece of fabric.

Draw a rectangle measuring 26x35cm 02 in the centre of the calico fabric. Use an erasable pen and a light source to transfer both the small and large flower templates within the rectangle, repeating and rotating the designs in a random pattern. To ensure even spacing of the motifs, you may find it easier to trace out the pattern onto a piece of paper first and make one full template to transfer your design from.

Mount one of the large flowers centrally 03 inside a backwards embroidery hoop. Attach the freemotion or darning foot and drop the feed dogs on your machine. Stitch roughly around the edge of each petal in light yellow, then add another line of light yellow just inside each petal. Stitch inside each petal with a loop of orange. Next, outline the central circle in dark yellow and then work in a spiral towards the centre as shown. Repeat this to stitch all the large flowers.

Work the smaller flower using the same 04 method, but switch the colours so that the central circles are swirls of orange, and the petals are worked in light and dark yellow. Raise the feed dogs and switch to 05 a standard machine foot. Cut the embroidered fabric along the outer drawn lines and press. Place the straight bottom edge of the top front piece together with the top long edge of the embroidered piece, RS together. Mark 4cm in from each side, then stitch to these points using a 2cm seam allowance. Press the seam open (there will be an unstitched section in the centre of the seam). Turn both seam edges under by 1cm then 1cm again and topstitch to hem.

Pin the front and back pieces together, 06 RS facing. Stitch around the outside edge using a 1cm seam allowance, starting at the top of the hanger at one mark and finishing at the other mark. Press open the raw edges of the opening at the top and then topstitch around the edge to create a gap for the hook. Turn the peg bag RS out, press and then insert the coat hanger hook up through the gap.