Cord Holders- #2 FAL

It was a process; but, I finished stitching 42 cord holders for the fall retreaters and I also made a few extra for Christmas stocking gifts. . .so I completed 49! In the process, I used about two and a half yards out of my stash! My goal at the beginning of the year was to stitch 50 yards from my stash. I've stitched five and a half yards now.

Back to the cord holders!









Because I was making so many of these, I made a production line. I cut the squares of my fabric and had them in stacks. I used batting that I had pieced together from scraps from previous projects. This was a great project to use these pieces. It was virtually "free." I also use these pieced batting scraps for placemats, bags and small projects. Of course, did a take a photo of the stacks in process???  NO!!!

But, I did figure out that if I "pieced" the hole of the stabilizer, I would use less stabilizer. Because this is water soluble stabilizer, I stitched the piece into the hole.

Here it is ready for the fabric. I only replaced the outer stabilizer once so I did save quite a bit of stabilizer with this process!

The whole project is stitched in the hoop and with one thread color so although there were times when I removed the hoop to trim the fabrics, the process was fairly streamlined. It did take about 25 minutes to stitch each cord holder! This was  what it looked like when it was finished stitching. I used 5 1/2" squares of fabric.

I added a snap closure. These were "free" as I had them in my notions stash from when I use to sew and gift western style shirts to all the men on my gift list. This was more than 20 years since I've made a men's shirt!! It was GREAT to use the snaps. I sill have a couple packages left so there are still materials left to play with me!

The last stitching step was to add the hair band to the center. My machine didn't always like stitching through the hair band, but, we survived! Here are the stacks ready to be gifted to the fall retreaters.

The theme for the retreat has to do with music so that is why you see the note motif on the fabric.

This is how the cord fits through the holder and how it is used when the cord is in use. I think having the cord holder stick out like that will encourage me to remember to put the cord in my case when I leave instead of leaving it on the table!

This is how the cord holder looks with the cord inside. Whew! This is the second FAL goal. You can read about it here.

It cost about $6 for the thread; $15 for the fabric and $4 for the stabilizer. I also used three needles for about $2. I bought the hair bands at the dollar store--$3. Each item cost about 64 cents!

The pattern came from an embroidery spree event I participated in at Quilting Delights. Thanks, Thea!