School, as it is...

 Today was my daughter's first day of school (5th grade).  Her school is going back in person, and she's wearing a mask and social distancing....  :/  It is all totally necessary and we are staying positive, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous.  I keep telling myself, we're in rural upstate NYS, our positivity rates are low and community transmission seems limited...but still.

But I stuck to tradition and took a vacation day for myself today.  I stitched up a little witch over the weekend ("Salem" by M Designs from an older JCS Halloween issue), and made her into a jar wrapper.  I love the fabric!  The outside is a creepy apothecary print I found at JoAnn Fabric, and the inside is a lime green solid with sparkles.

Finishing is my coping mechanism

An internet friend of mine passed away very unexpectedly last week...so I've been crafting (and plotting new home decor, thanks to Wayfair).

Here's a little jar wrap, using a Lizzie Kate piece I finished years ago and a jar I picked up at the thrift store for 79 cents.

Smalls, Smalls Everywhere!

So I'm working on "cleaning the house" in preparation for Thanksgiving guests next week....but I keep getting hung up at the finishing counter in my basement craft room.  Granted, these things have been waiting there for a looooong time, but I probably ought to get to the mail piles on my kitchen counter and the Legos all over the living room first!  Ah well.  These little completed things put my mind at ease for a bit.

Here is a little Christmas design I stitched up during the first "Year of Smalls" SAL - yep, it has been sitting around since 2015.  I had cleaned out and saved an empty candle jar with the best of intentions, and finally got around to making this "sleeve."

I wish I had documented the process, because this is really easy (I think!).  And while you could do a similar finish with any kind of round container, glass is slippery and makes it easy to "stretch" your fabric just enough to get a snug fit.

1. Decide how much of a fabric margin you want around your stitched piece, and cut accordingly, with an extra 1/2" (1/4" seam allowance on all sides).
2. Use measuring tape to measure the circumference of the container. In this case, my jar was approximately 9" around.  
3. Cut a strip of coordinating fabric that is the height of your cut stitched piece, and the length of the circumference of the container.  You will throw away a bit of this length, so you can measure more precisely if you want, but I prefer some extra in case I screw up!
4. Cut the strip of coordinating fabric in half vertically, and attach it to the left and right sides of the cut stitched piece with a 1/4" seam.
5. Use your measuring tape or a ruler to center the stitched piece and cut excess coordinating fabric from both ends, leaving the entire strip (coordinating fabric + stitching) approximately 1/2" longer than the circumference of the container.  So for this piece, I cut my piece to be approximately 9 1/2" long. 
6. Cut backing the same length as the front piece.  Put right sides together and sew along long sides only, with a 1/4" seam. Turn it right side out and press. 
7. Fold sleeve in half with the stitched design on the inside, and sew the short ends together. I did a wee bit larger than a 1/4" seam here, just because the 4 layers were a little slippery and I wanted to make sure it held and fit snugly, but not quite a full 1/2" seam.  Flip it around - so the stitching is back on the outside and the seam is on the inside - slide it over your container (may take a bit of stretching/working bit by bit at first), and voila!

Wrappin' It Up

I've joined the Smalls SAL again this year, but having completed the SAL last year I now have a significant pile of unfinished finishes in my workspace.  So along with stitching a small every month, I've decided I need to get cracking on some finishing!  It isn't part of the official SAL, more of a personal goal.  Last month I shared the Altoid tin topper, and here is my latest project.

This was my small from last February.  I finished it as a jar wrapper, and I'm really pleased with it!  I was planning to fasten it with snaps, but then I realized that since the jar was glass, I could simply sew the fabric together and "slide" it on (or off, if I want to make others).  And as part of this little project, I was able to use a spool of thread from an old stitcher's stash that my dad bought at an auction.  Seeing that little wooden spool on top of my sewing machine made my heart happy - it is always nice to think that someone's leftovers have been put to good use.