Custom KitchenAid Mixer Cover

Update: brief tutorial here.

Mom bought herself a nice big red KitchenAid Mixer (ah, I so want one, too!) awhile ago.

Isn’t it lovely?  I like the candy red color.  Definitely suits her red-supplied kitchen (red apron and cooking utensils, too).

After she bought it, she asked me to make a cover for her.  This was back in April.  When I went to Material Possession’s anniversary sale in May (yes, during Finals), I picked up some fabric for it.  I spent some time sketching and designing the cover, and then I decided to put it aside (you know, to study).  I picked it up about a few days ago again and decided I was super lazy and didn’t want to design it (although my design was cute…I might try to make it a reality eventually), so I checked out Etsy and Google for some inspirations/tutorials, and here is the result…

The yellow fabric is Martha’s Vineyard Watercolor by Susan Branch, and the blue fabric is Belle by Amy Butler.  I got both fabrics at MP, for $4.50/yard heeeheee. 😀  The red binding is good ol’ pre-packaged bias tape, which I had to buy two packages of since I needed 3.75 yards, and of course they are sold in packs of 3 yards.  BAH.  I still need to practice my binding technique.  The side where I top stitch turns out fine, but the other side is all wonky…anyone have any tips?

So while I was lazy to figure out how to construct my design, I DID make up for it by quilting the entire cover.  The quilting pattern was pretty simple–I totally copied my Calvin Klein purse for it.

Basically squares, but with a little quirk.  I think it’s cool.  I’ve been wanting to do this quilting pattern on something for awhile, and it worked really well with this cover.  It took me SO LONG to quilt.  My gosh, and this only consisted of straight lines!  I did get a chance to use my walking foot for the first time though, and I’ve discovered that I love love love using my walking foot.  It’s fantastic.  And quilting bars?  I thought those were useless, but they aren’t!  WOWIE!  Now all I have to do is master how to use my darning foot and I’m well on my way to making cool quilts hahah.  Yeah, baby steps Kristine, baby steps.

And, of course, the cover is reversible.  I got this general idea from this sewing machine cover tutorial.  Note: Please ignore the threads I still need to clip.

I’m not sure if Mom has figured out that it’s reversible, although I do prefer the original side better.  The Belle fabric gets a bit dizzy when used as the main panels.  But, she does love the colors, which is GREAT, because we all know how much trouble I have with colors.  All that needs to be done now is to wash it so the batting can shrink my initial quilting line markings disappear!  Wheee!!

So sadly this is probably the first thing I’ve actually completed this summer.  Next on the list is probably a shirt (or a skirt).  Hopefully it gets done as quickly as this did.  This one took 2 days–one day to quilt, and one day to assemble.  If I ever get myself a KitchenAid mixer, I’ll have to make a cover for myself, too! 🙂  In the meantime, I might work on a muslin for that cool design I thought of…