Fabric Map

Last week we had our Mom Group at Sarah Henke's house. Sarah is a fantastic decorator and has an eye for mixing home crafts with store bought items. She shares her love of crafts with her kids. Sarah home schools her children (she has 5) and every time I go to her house there are beautiful and original crafts based on a current holiday or event.

Right before I left I saw a map of the USA on her wall. It was made with scrap fabrics and top-stitched together. She told me she bought it on etsy and I was immediately inspired. I decided to make one for Allison.

Allison and I are both a little under the weather with colds but I had a couple of errands to run so I bundled us up to face the cold (9 degree) weather and we off we went.

I needed a large frame for the map (22x28) but they are so expensive and I didn't want a cheap plastic one. I hit up a local thrift store because I had a 40% off coupon. I immediately found the perfect frame. It is gold with a triple matting inside. It was in perfect shape and must have cost someone a lot of money once.

Allison found a boom box that lights up and dances (and it had batteries) that she really liked and since I still had to go to the grocery store, I bought it for her. Yes, I am bribing my child with gifts (I also really wanted to play with the microphone).

With the daily special and my coupon, my two purchases cost nearly $6.

I printed out a map using Excel. Just a tip for anyone who sews or prints patterns - Excel is the best place to print poster style. It's so simple to change sizing and print. I wish I had known that before I struggled through Word.

After I printed it, I traced each province on freezer paper, then ironed it (in reverse) on fabric and then cut out each piece and topstitched it down. Without Allison "helping" me, I could have done the entire thing in a couple of hours.

I tried to applique the pieces by turning in all the fabric edges and while it looked cleaner, it was hard to get the jutting pieces just right. I'm glad I had only 13 pieces rather than 50 but I left Nunavut for the end and by the fifth piece I was ready to quit.

After everything was sewed on, I flipped the print that was originally in the frame and put my fabric piece on it and put it back in the frame to hang. I think it's cute and it was the perfect quiet activity for a couple of sickies.