Sewing Machine Covers
You know you are overdue sewing piping when you find 2 lots of "naked" piping cords in your stash when you are about to click "confirm purchase" to buy some "for the first time". And no, let's not talk about the pre-covered ones that are also quietly sitting in my stash... With 10 whole years of sewing experience under my belt (including a wedding dress, no less), it is rather surprising that I have never worked with piping.
It's time to put an end to that, and what better way to do that than making matching outfits for my beloved sewing machines?
How lovely do they look? From left to right, we have my coverstitch, overlocker and sewing machine under these beautiful covers. I love that they are matching, but also all slightly different in terms of the patterns.
Let's pause for a moment and swoon over that lemurs linen look half panama fabric, from Flamingo Fabrics DECOR COLLECTION, shall we? I wanted something with fairly neutral colours, large-ish scale prints, but also a bit quirky. It also needed to have a bit of body, so something medium to heavy weight was what I was after. This fabric was absolutely perfect! If you were looking for something a bit different, how about this cute rainbow half panama, or this leopard one?
The pattern I used was a FREE ONE, generously offered by Closet Core (Closet Case until recently) Patterns. Look, we even both have pegboards and thread spools in the background!
I love this pattern, because it includes one version for your box standard sewing machine, and one for the overlocker. It includes lines for easy alteration to fit your machine as well. No complaint from me!
First up is the sewing machine cover. It seems that my Brother FS60 is a bit bigger than the machine in the pattern, so I added between 3/8 and 1 inch of length, height and depth to the pattern.
The only design change I added was a line towards the back at the top of the middle piece, to make sure that my lemurs are facing the right way up. This also had the purpose of providing a little opening to access the handle. I basted the opening closed, pressed seam allowances open, overlocked the seam allowance (separately) and topstitched with parallel lines both sides of the seam. After taking out the basting, I added a couple of decorative bar tacks each side of the opening.
You could see the details here. Little things like this makes me happy!
Next, I made the covers for my overlocker and coverstitch. I was lucky because they basically measured the same as each other, and whilst I needed to alter the pattern pieces slightly, I only needed to do that once.
I slashed the middle piece again at the top, to ensure that my lemurs were not hanging upside down at the back. I took extra care when cutting out, which is necessary when working with large prints. I also wanted these two otherwise identical covers to look slightly different in terms of the print.
And back to the piping - in many ways, the piping was essential for this project -- it is a nice detail, but also serves a useful function of adding more structure to the covers. I'm pleased to report that it was actually really easy to make, and to apply! I really don't know why it took me 10 years to try piping! I followed the tutorial here, and simply used my zipper foot for both the making and the assembling steps.
And that's it on my matching machine covers. I must admit, over the years, I've often felt quite guilty looking across at my loyal machines which are either sat on my sewing table naked, or under the tatty old plastic cover. Now, glancing at my machines makes me feel warm and cosy inside.
Before I go, I wanted to share an alternative pattern for a sewing machine cover. It is not free, and is not what I was after this time, but how quaint is this?
Let's leave it there for now. Until next time, take care and stay safe!
Do you make mixer covers or toaster covers if so how much
Many thanks
Mrs coles on
Where are you based please
Julia on