A Little Happy Sew Along ~ Advent Calendar ~ Piecing the Front

Welcome back for week 3 of the A Little Happy Sew Along to make the Advent Calendar I designed.  You can read the introduction post HERE.  Here's a recap of what we have done so far.....in week 1,  we cut out all the different fabrics and trims required, we then embroidered the 'Christmas Countdown' panel and the little numbers for the pockets and prepared them for adding to the calendar.  In week 2, we added all the trims to the individual pockets and sewed them together.   This week we'll be piecing the front of the Advent Calendar together.  

BEFORE STARTING Always Remember to:

1. Read all instructions before you begin.

2. RST means right sides together.

3. All seam allowances are 1/4”.

4. FWOF means width of fabric.

5. If you need any help, please do get in touch!

Lets Get Stitching

This week, you will need:

Fabric B - Front Top

Fabric D - Linen Front

The 'Christmas Countdown' panel (from week 1)

(4) Rows of pockets (from week 2)

First off you position the pockets on to the Fabric D Linen Front, using the photo below as a guide.  (Don't worry if your gaps in between the pockets are ever so slightly different!!)  

Sew the pockets to the linen front along the bottom edge.  You want to try and get this line of stitching as close to the edge of the pockets as possible....

Now 'stitch in the ditch' in between each of the pockets.  Make sure you sew from the bottom all the way to the top of each pocket.  This will prevent any wrinkles in your pockets!

A few little happy tips for a neat finish...... 

• When stitching in the ditch...which basically means that you are going to stitch on top of the seam line of where you joined the pocket fabrics together....I find it helpful to pull the fabrics apart slightly on both sides of the seam as I sew.  Traditionally to help hide the stitches you would use a thread that best matches your fabrics.....as my fabrics were a mix of red and off white, I stuck with Aurifil 50wt #2311 that was in my machine.
• Make sure you do a couple of backwards and forward stitches at the beginning and end, so that the pockets are nice and secure.
• Also allow a healthy amount of thread at either end and if like me you have an auto scissors on your machine DO NOT use it.  This is one of those cases when you need to have enough thread to be able to pull it through to the back and knot...leaving the front with no loose ends showing!

Next sew the Fabric B Front to the top of the Linen/Pocket Front, press the stitches to 'set them' then press the seam open.

Sew the lace trim across the seam and then add the ribbon on top.  I did this on my machine, but feel free to hand sew if you prefer! (Sorry I forgot to photograph this step!)  Finally, position the 'Christmas Countdown' Panel centrally 1" above the ribbon/lace.  Whip stitch in place.

That's it for this week, next time in the final week, we'll be adding all the finishing touches!

Please remember, so that mum and I can follow your progress, if you're sewing along and sharing on social media please use the hashtags:

#alittlehappysewalong or/and #prettyfabricsandtrims

Thank you for sewing along!

Happy Stitches!