Sew Many Buttons: April JABC Button Lover’s Club Tutorial

I am pretty sure that every month I tell you that this month’s collection of buttons in the Just Another Button Company Button Lover’s Club box is my favorite… and then another month comes along and I say it again. But seriously, this month’s collection is truly my favorite! I simply adore the sewing themed collection, very appropriately named Sew Many Buttons! This month’s art card and tutorial is all about celebrating the love of sewing!

The exclusive art card for the month features a favorite sewing quote and uses colors from the buttons. I wanted to make a project that included sewing that would be fun to display so I created a mini tufted “memo board”. You can use it to display the art card or a favorite photo.

Memo board tutorial:

The base of the “memo board” should be firm. I used a 5″ x 7″ piece of mat board. (I love this mat board pack from Dina Wakley, it has a nice assortment of sizes and the weight of the board is really nice.)

Lay the board on your fabric. Cut loosely around it. (Isn’t this fabric wonderful? It is hand-dyed velveteen from Lady Dot Creates. Shop link in the supply list.)

Cut a piece from cotton batting and muslin also.

Layer all three together.

Sew through the layers in straight lines. I use my presser foot to space my lines. Don’t worry if they get a little crooked, imperfect is perfect.

Add additional lines in the opposite direction. Don’t worry about snipping the threads, the fabric will be trimmed.

Place the mat board on the fabric. Trace around the edge with an air dissolve pen.

Cut outside the pen line with pinking shears.

Pin a piece of ribbon or twill tape from corner to corner.

Pin a second piece at the opposite corners forming an X.

Continue adding ribbon strips. Weave each one over and under with one exception, the lower right corner. Be sure that strip is on top so that your card (or photo) can slip under it later.

Sew around the edge of the fabric and ribbon. I sewed two times and two different spaces to create a “border”.

Trim around the edge again to cut away the excess ribbon.

Place small sprinkles buttons on all the intersections of the ribbon. Add a small drop of glue to hold them in place. When the glue is dry, stitch each button in place through all layers.

Note that the button (the star) on the lower right corner is only stitched through the top layer of ribbon so that you can slip your card under that strip of ribbon.

Add adhesive to the mat board. Place the assembled fabric piece to the top of the mat board.

Adding the bow…

Cut an 18″ piece of ribbon. Wrap the ribbon around the left edge of the assembled board. Tie the ribbon with a simple tie.

Stick a pin in into the tie to hold the ribbon tight.

Cut a piece of ribbon to about 25″. Wrap the ribbon around the Fluffy Bow Tool, three loops on each side. (Download the free tool and tutorial.) Don’t pull the ribbon too tight around the tool or it will be hard to remove later.

Lay the tool over the ribbon on the memo board. Bring the ribbon tails from the first ribbon to each side of the ribbon on the tool.

Tie the ribbon tails tightly around the ribbon on the tool. Remove the clothes pins and the tool.

Trim the ends of the ribbon as desired.

Embellishing the art card…

Brush the edges of the art card lightly with brown ink.

Select the buttons you would like to use on the card. The larger buttons (as shown above) all fit on the thread heart in the illustration.

You can add one of the smaller buttons to the base of the B.

The finishing touch…

Quilt a scrap piece of fabric and batting like before. Freehand or die cut a heart from the quilted scrap (I used the small heart in my Prim Hearts die collection).  I used a piece of Meadow Week’s Dye Works Wool for my heart.

Cut a 7″ piece of ribbon or twill. Sew the ribbon to the top of the heart. Add a button to the top of heart over the end of the ribbon.

Sew the button in place. Bring the needle up through the button. Wrap the thread around the heart and pin the needle through the heart. Leave it in place as an embellishment.

Tie a knot in the end of the ribbon.

In conclusion, the details…

Pin the knotted end of the ribbon to the center of the bow with a mini safety-pin.

I simply adore this handmade button from this month’s button box! It is one of my very favorite buttons from JABC. It served as the inspiration for the…

mini “pin cushion” embellishment. It is my take on the traditional tomato and strawberry pincushion!

The fun thing about this month’s project? You can use it to display other club cards or photographs!

I love that the finished project has so many wonderful layers and textures. It is vintage-ish and shabby. And let me tell you, that velveteen, soooo wonderful!