Sewing for Slice

A few weeks ago my friend Cindy statused on Facebook that she needed a some sewing done, and I accepted the work. She works for a company called Making Memories that manufactures craft and scrapbooking supplies. (Side note: Cindy's an amazing and patient artist, as seen here.) Now I'm not a scrapbooker, nor do I generally craft in the way that "crafting" is understood today. But it turns out that the product they wanted me to use for their promotional purposes is pretty neat.

The product I used is called Slice. It's a little automated machine with a blade that cuts out shapes in paper. There are loads of memory cards you can buy with different shapes and themes. But they wanted me to cut shapes out of fabric and applique them onto a bag, a wallet, and a phone case—all of my own making.

I made a phone or iPod case out of dark purple felt with cream and mustard accents. I followed this tutorial for the most part, but I modified it as my experience dictated. I hand appliqued the details on this item with a simple slip stitch. The Slice didn't really want to cut the felt in one go, so I picked the simplest shapes so that there would be less room for error when I ran the machine twice. The single layer of felt didn't turn out to be very sturdy for a potentially oft-used case. So if I were to make it again I would either get industrial-grade felt or I would try using iron-on adhesive to stick two layers of felt together.

I also made a small bag and I "put a bird on it!" (See sketch comedy show Portlandia.) I followed this tutorial for the most part and it worked out fine. I thought the straps were a little too wide in the finished product, but they weren't egregious.

And finally I made a wallet with a cameo detail. This was the most complicated applique, but it was worth it. It took time and patience to machine zig-zag around all the scallops and the fine features of the face. I followed this tutorial for the wallet body, but I wouldn't use it again. There was more than one problem with this pattern, but mainly there's a lot of bulk in the seams that I had to figure my way around to make it look more professional. But it was a great idea to use hair elastics as closures; they come in many, many, many more colors than the round elastic you can buy at craft and fabric stores, and they're cheap, to boot.

From what I understand, Making Memories will be using these items in a promotional video for the Slice. If the video becomes available for public consumption, I'll post it. 

I didn't want to do a tutorial for these, but will be happy to answer any and all questions about the sewing and the project. Also, I apologize for the sad novice photographer skills.