Pretty Stenciled Tissue Holder DIY for Your Purse by Jill McDowell

Hi, Today I have a really quick and easy project to share with you. Recently I went on a business trip to attend a conference in Orlando, Florida. Along with all of the great information shared, I picked a fully bonafide summer cold while I was there. My cold started me reminiscing about the first sewing project I ever made. It was in Mrs. Ramage's 7th grade Home Ec class. (Do they even teach Home Ec in school any more?) She taught us how to make an embroidered tissue holder out of a piece of linen.  (Mine was embroidered with a strawberry pattern and I gave it to my Mom for Mother's Day. She carried that tissue holder in purse for years.) I was wishing that I'd had a tissue holder of my own while I was in Florida ... And so the inspiration for this month's Creative Team project took hold.

This month's StencilGirl® theme is Summer.  

My inspiration began with a Summer Cold...

(Yeah, my mind works strange like that!)

So I headed to You-Tube to see if I could find a pattern. I found a lot of patterns but I chose to follow this one by Needlepointers since it was short and to the point. Now, despite all of Mrs. Ramage's efforts, I'm not a very good sewer. In fact, I'm pretty terrible. Believe me, when I say that this is an easy and quick project, it really is. The sewing part is only four straight seams. If I can do it anyone can.

I started out with a piece of an old sheet that I had salvaged. I gesso'ed it with a disposable foam sponge brush and then hung it up with some bull clips to dry. Then I added the first layer of my design with Jessica Sporn's Squares and Circles Stencil by StencilGirl®. It's always a good idea to add some repetitive pattern in the background.

For the second layer, I sponged on some color, (I primarily used Paper Artsy Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic paints.) I was really feeling the greens and the blues.

I used Traci Bautista's Deconstructed Floral Bouquet Stencil to flood the third layer with flowers.  Normally, I would use a dry cosmetic sponge to get a crisp image, but to get this two-dimensional effect, first I applied "wet" gesso through the stencil with a cosmetic sponge.  

Then, while the gesso was still wet, I pounced in the color, pushing it with my sponge into the corners of the stencil. 

The result is a two-dimensional flower.

I used the Squares and Circles Stencil with gesso to fill in between the flowers and add more interest. As you can see I was not being very precise here either, I just painted on the gesso with my disposable foam brush.

Almost finished....

Once my design dried, I added some sketchy outlines with a black Faber-Castell Pitt Pen. I really love watching the design come to life at this point.

I only needed two pieces of cloth for my tissue holder: One for the lining (7 1/2" x 5 1/2"), and one for the cover (6 1/2" x 5 1/2"). So I chose two sections that I liked and cut them out of the master cloth. (And now I have lots left over for another project.)

Then I sewed the two pieces together following the simple You-Tube directions from Needlepointers- How to Sew a Fabric Pocket Tissue Holder. 

With only four straight seams to sew, my tissue case whipped up in a flash.

This is the lining of the Tissue Holder before it is turned in. It would have made a nice cover too.

After sewing, I just flipped the cover to the outside and pushed the corners out with a bone folder, (but even a pencil would have worked).  And voila, my tissue holder is ready to be thrown in my purse.  (Notice how nicely it coordinates? That's the beauty of making it yourself.)

This really was a quick and easy project to make for yourself or for a personalized gift. The sewing actually took me less than 10 minutes. I enjoyed working on a repurposed sheet and am currently on a quest to find more ways to use it. It ended up being the perfect substrate for this project; thin enough to sew through and yet it feels sturdy enough to hold up to the abuse that I'm sure it's going to get in my bag. Since I've still got my cold, I've got a feeling that it is going to get its first good workout this week.

Thanks for spending time with me today. 

Hugs, Jill 

 For more inspiration join me on my blog Infinite Possibilities.