Monday, March 19, 2012

antique-style tape measure growth chart



Antique-style tape measure fabric for sale here and here!




Basic instructions: leaving selvedges intact and a 1/2-inch seam allowance along each side, cut out the two panels that will make up your tape measure.

Press selvedge edge under on one end (near the 3.5 foot mark) with a hot iron. All white fabric should be hidden.
Overlap the two ends to make a nice join at the 3.5 foot mark. Carefully unfold and pin the pressed edge and stitch.




Press down seam, and trim to 1/2 inch.

Press down long edges (hiding all white fabric) and stitch along the length with tan or white thread.








Press short edge under at the zero foot mark and stitch.






Cut vinyl for tape measure ends. Top piece (near the 7 foot mark) should be the same width as the prepared tape measure's width, and long enough to cover all selvedge on the front, and a little more than that on the back. Bottom piece of vinyl (near the 0 foot mark) should cover no more than an inch on the front and back. Round corners slightly.




Cut Heat n' Bond to fit the backside of vinyl exactly and follow package instructions to adhere to vinyl.




Peel off backing paper when cool.




Using your fingers only (no iron!) crease the vinyl at the point where it will cover the end of your tape measure.




Put it on the end of your fabric and get ready to iron it into place.




Follow package instructions to adhere vinyl to your fabric, using the old backing paper or a cloth to cover the vinyl.




When cool, use a grommet setter to apply a large grommet to the top (near the 7 foot mark).




And there you have it!




(p.s. you can make these photos bigger by clicking on them . . . but you probably knew that!)


Linking up to:

mop it up mondays

7 comments:

  1. Why don't you have a million and 1 comments about how fantastic this idea is? I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE IT!

    amy@ whilewearingheels.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. I agree with Amy! This is so super cute!! I NEED one...wish I could sew {or sweet talk my mom into putting this together for me}! I'm so delighted that you linked up with us last week. I'm featuring you at tomorrow's Mop It Up Monday {coming out later tonight}! Hope you've had a wonderful weekend!

    {HUGS},
    kristi

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks so much for the great feedback, both of you, and thanks for stopping in!

    Amy: my mom would tell you, "Oh honey, they're just jealous, that's all," but really it's because I'm still building my readership. Hopefully, Kristi's feature will inspire more folks to join up!

    Thanks, Kristi!

    ReplyDelete
  4. So sorry about getting the links all wonky! I've corrected it now! Thanks so much for stopping by!
    --

    And my mom would totally say the same thing!! :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Love this!! I'm going on vacation for a week, so I have to wait to order it from Spoonflower, but this is the first thing I do when I get back.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Love love love this! I will be placing an order soon on Spoonflower for the fabric, I am heading on vacation for a month so I have to wait.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Can you tell me what size grommet you used? It looks like the perfect size. Got my fabric in the mail last week and look forward to making a really cool first birthday gift!
    Thanks!
    loritfrench@comcast.net

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for leaving a comment! You rock!

(Unless you are a spammer, in which case, knock it off, toots!)

Please note: I have comment moderation turned on, so your comments won't immediately appear. Give me an hour or so, though, and they'll come through!