Scissor Covers and 8 weight threads

The soon to be released 8 weight 2 ply cotton thread from Aurifil was a dream to experiment with.  Before becoming an Aurifil Artisan I'd really only used 40 wt and 50 wt threads and have since  played with 28 wt, 12 wt, 80 wt and monofilament too but 8 wt is all new to me.  

I rummaged through my fabric scraps to find something special to make my scissor cover from.  The subtle color of thread 2420 Light Blush, 2930 Golden Toast and 2840 Loden Green are three of the 20 that will be for sale debuting at QuiltCon next month in partner with Suzy Quilts and her evolve collection. 

The tie dye velvet scraps that I had picked up along the way, (probably from a guild destash event) fit the task nicely.  With the thickness of the 8 wt thread, I was pretty confident that my stitches wouldn't get lost in the texture of the fabric and was right. 

My original plan was to cut two pieces of velvet using a hand drafted paper template for the front and back.  I forgot to reverse the orientation and ended up with two fronts instead.  Digging deep into my stash I came up with a tan faux leather, for the lining I chose a loose weave and included bamboo/silk batting. 

I also chose to hand stitch with an organic free form approach, changing thread color, style and direction as I went along by letting myself be influenced by the design of the velvet.  For the construction of the front and back by machine I used 2315 Shell 40 wt and after turning the parts right side out, I used 80 wt by hand to close the opening.  

Golden Toast blended well and reminded me a bit of book binding.  For my first cover I kept to the woven lining shown above but on the second you can see below that I embraced the holes and indents created from the needle as adding more texture. Another difference is that I left out the batting, used two of the three thread colors on the front and didn't line the backing, a green faux leather.

For the snap of the first cover I had to use the stitch on style because if was an afterthought and I'd already turned and closed up my seams.  An advantage of doing another version was that I could use the prong style snap and I like the way the pearl shows off in the back.  

The 8 wt thread was surprisingly easy to work with even through multiple layers.  Although I did try using a doubled strand of Loden Green, I preferred the look of a single strand for this project.  The weight is so nicely visible that it works well in a more minimalistic design. I'm definitely a big fan and look forward to using the other colors in the future.