A few years ago I made an embroidered nativity advent calendar. The site I bought the design from recommended using a repositionable fabric adhesive-bad idea, very bad idea. It worked well the first year, but never again. It just left the back tacky and made it difficult to attach the pieces with a straight pin. So this year I decided to fix the problem, I had, after all, spent quite a bit of time making those pieces. I bought a piece of metal sheeting, some super strong magnets, and an open back frame, and went to work.
First of all, I had to sew (by hand because the adhesive kept gumming up my machine's needle) some fabric to the back of all of the pieces, to make a sort of "pouch" for the magnet to fit in. I then had to embroider new numbers, since the old ones wouldn't fit within the frame. Eric helped out by cutting an additional 2" piece of sheet metal for the backing, along with some backer-board to adhere it all to. I backed the whole thing with some mat-board and glazier points.
It took far less time than I thought it would to fix the calendar, and all for around $25. I love how it looks now, much better than before, and it still gives the kids the ability to put their people wherever they choose (with the exception of Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus).
3 comments:
I love love LOVE this advent calendar! I love that it has a spiritual aspect instead of commercial. I need one! It turned out so great. I love the idea of magnets. Way more durable and reusable. I have an advent calendar made of felt and Velcro. Every year I have to re-glue stuff. It's getting old.
Ok, I really love this calendar!!! do you have an embroidery machine? How did you make those?
Amy, yes, I've got an embroidery machine. I bought the design online, and the machine did the work (I had to change the thread colors). My mom has a larger machine, so she did the background for me. I'm rather happy with it.
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