Incoherent Scribblings

Paws Off Fob

I have wanted to make a scissor fob since I don’t know when, so last night when I got inspired to do so a little after midnight I got all of my materials ready and started stitching right after breakfast this morning.

The pattern that I chose for my scissor fob is Stitchy Kitty’s freebie “Spring Kitty Paw.” Since I knew I was going to make a scissor fob I knew the end result should be small and at 36×34, this piece fit the bill perfectly. However, I wanted to make sure that this fob was really small because I wasn’t sure how I would like something hanging off of my scissors. Therefore, I decided to go one step further in smallness and stitch on a piece of 22 count Hardanger linen over one.

Because this is officially the first time that I have stitched over one, I thought it might be good to use a piece of fabric with a slightly larger count so that I could the feel of stitching over one. Stitching over one was an interesting learning experience for me and since this pattern was pretty easy, I think it made good practice.

Here is what I learned about stitching over one:

First: I wasn’t really sure if I should use one or two strands when stitching over one, so I went ahead and used two. On 22 count I think 2 strands are OK, but if I ever stitch over one on anything with a smaller count I think that only one strand will be better.

Second: One has be careful not to pull the floss too tight when stitching over one because if the floss is pulled too tight it will slide underneath the individual fabric strands and make things confusing.

Third: Stitching over one is hard on the eyes (because the stitches are so small) and the back (because I had to lean over to see where I was stitching).

Fourth: Stitching over one is a fun change from stitching over two and I will definitely have to try it again!
After the stitching over one was finished, I then went about making the actual scissor fob.

While I was stitching the kitty paw, the phrase “Keep your paws off my scissors” kept running around in my head, so I decided to shorten it to “Paws Off” and use it to stitch a back piece for the fob. I then put the paw piece and the wording piece together using a whipped backstitch edge. I stuffed the fob with batting, added a 5 Euro cent piece for weight, attached some pre-made white cording to the top, and tied it onto my scissors.

I am quite please with the way it turned out, but in all honesty I don’t know how long it will actually stay on my scissors because the kitties have already decided that instead of a scissor fob, I actually made them a new kitty toy. And, according to them, I just attached this wonderful new toy to my scissors so that I could torture them by telling them to keep their little paws off it!