Sew-Along #34 - Christmas Traditions Advent Calendar - Lesson #2

Welcome to Day 2 of the Christmas Traditions Advent Calendar sew along!

Today we are going to finish our Advent Calendars. Are you as excited as I am? 

Important: if you would like to see an image on our blog in a larger format, just click on it to enlarge. This may prove helpful for some of the steps in our sew alongs.

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1. Grab your calendar, it's time to quilt it! We are going to start at the bottom on the line separating pocket 21 and 22. You can use whatever thread you want. You can even change up the stitch and use a decorative stitch on this part. The options are endless. Get creative if you wish!!

2. If you are using just a regular straight stitch and regular thread like I did, consider stitching a few stitches past the top of the pockets, then back-stitching 2-4 stitches. This will give the pocket tops extra strength and help keep them from tearing out. This is especially helpful if you have little hands that will like to play by putting things in and out of the pockets. 😉

 

3. Once you finish the middle line (starts with 21/22) move on to the line to the right, between 20 and 21, and stitch from the bottom to the top of that line. Next you will move to the left and stitch the line between 22 and 23. Continue stitching, alternating right side, then left side, and so on working out to the edges. Once you have completed all 7 vertical lines move on to the bottom and top horizontal lines (printed in grey on the fabric).

Note: You DO NOT need to quilt the outer most lines on the panel. Those are the cut lines. We will get to that later.

 

4. If you wish, you can add extra stitching around the white edges of the banner like I did (see image below to see where my presser foot was lined up). My stitches are hard to see because I used red thread and stayed just on the red plaid alongside the white banner.

5. Next, carefully trim the calendar along the outer most printed lines.

6. If you are adding hanging loops, now is the time to add them. I placed two of mine 1" from the outer edges and then the third dead center. Simply fold the loops in half with the seam on the inside. Then, matching up the raw edges of the loops with the raw edge of the calendar. Pin in place.

7. Once your hanging loops are pinned, quickly stitch over the loops, close to the raw edges, to tack them in place. I forgot to take a picture of this. Oops!

8. Now, grab your long binding strip. starting on a side of our calendar, pin (or clip) the binding to the back of the quilt matching raw edges of the binding strip to the raw edges of the calendar. You might want to work clockwise around the back of your calendar attaching the binding like I did. 

Make sure to leave a 5+" tail of the binding strip unstitched. Leave a little more if you have have never bound a quilt before. Trust me, it will make it easier for you when we finish off the binding. 

9. Begin stitching the binding down to the calendar edge, stopping 1/4" from the edge of the calendar. You can see I've marked it with a pin here.

10. Once you are 1/4" away from the edge of the calendar bury your needle, lift your presser foot, pivot 45 degrees and sew off the edge of the binding. 

11. Your stitching should look like this.

Click to Enlarge

12. Now, place your left thumb under the binding like so.

13. Pull up the binding folding it as you do so and lining it up on the edge. If this part is confusing, click here to see a short video tutorial.

 14. Continue to sew around your calendar attaching the binding. 

15. When you get to the side where you started attaching your binding, stop 5 inches (or more) from the tail you left. Measure up 2.5" from the end of the tail. 

Note: If you binding is a different width you will need to adjust the 2.5". This measurement should ALWAYS match the width of your binding. So if you are using a 3" wide binding, measure up 3".

16. Overlap the two binding ends marking the 2.5" measurement. This is where you will cut your binding so measure carefully!! Remember, if your binding is wider you will need to adjust this number. Now cut the extra binding away. You should now have 2.5" of binding overlapping each other.

 17. Open up the binding on your right with wrong side facing up.

18. Open up the left binding with right side facing up. 

19. Forming a right angle and matching up raw edges, pin the two binding strips together like so. I like to point my pin diagonally to remind me where I am supposed to stitch. If you would like, use a straight edge and draw out a stitch line. I also clipped my excess fabric on the calendar together with a binding clip to help make it easier to sew. It's hard to see, but look at the bottom center of the picture.

20. Carefully stitch across the diagonal.

21. Before cutting, fold your binding back down and make sure everything is done properly and fits.

22. Once you have confirmed that your binding has been pieced together correctly, unfold and trim off the corner. 

 23. We are now going to secure the hanging loops with a zig-zag stitch. Set your machine to zig-zag.

24. Zig-zag stitch close to the raw edges of all three loops. You will have a sandwich you are sewing through that has the binding on top, loops in the middle, and calendar on bottom. This is to make sure that the loops are securely attached and will not get pulled off if little (or big) hands tug on the calendar.

25. Now, flip your calendar over and pull your binding to the front. Flip your hanging loops up. Make sure both your binding and loops are smoothed out flat. Stitch along the upper edge of the calendar over where the loops are located, avoiding stitching the binding front. This will make sure the calendar hangs straight.

26. Your loops should  look like this from behind.

27. Begin pinning or clipping your binding to the front. As you get to the corners, carefully trim a tiny bit of the calendar corners off.

 28. As you get to the corners flip up and and examine the bottom binding. Whichever side of binding is on top on the back of the calendar you will want on bottom on the front of the calendar. Confusing? 

For instance, the binding on the left is on top of the binding on the right in the image below. So, reverse that for the front. The binding on the right needs to be on the top on the front of the calendar. This will help the corners lay flat.

Binding on Right Side is on Top

Thus, the binding on Right Side will need to be on Bottom for the front of the calendar.

29. Pin or clip your binding around the entire front of your calendar, clipping corners and folding the binding properly at each corner.

30. The final step is to top stitch you binding in place. I shortened my stitch length just a bit...

...and carefully stitched as close to the edge of the binding as I could get. It's also super helpful to make sure your binding is fully pulled over from the backside as you go. Take your time and stitch carefully to create a beautiful finished edge.

That's it! We are all done. 

You can make cute little stuffies from the printed characters on the directions panel to place in the pockets. Or you can put small presents, coins, or candy in the pockets. We printed off these bible verses from Happy Home Fairy, tucked them in each corresponding pocket, and will use them for family devotion time. Whatever you do with your calendar, make sure to admire your work of art and give yourself a pat on the back.

Thanks for joining me!!

Happy Sewing,
Danielle Storm
WhimsicalFabric.com

*If you would like to earn entries into the prize drawing, please make sure to submit a photo of your completed project to this Facebook Album by 12:00 noon CT, Monday, November 30th. If you have any questions the Facebook Group is a great place to ask.