SRE Covered Music Box

Lay your music box down on the wrong side of the fabric. Cut a piece large enough to cover the music box completely, front, back, and sides.

I cut my fabric larger than I will need. It is easier to trim off later and make sure you have enough when you begin. Cut a piece of batting about the same size as the fabric, it can be a little smaller. Just make sure it will cover the music box on all sides.

Run a ring of glue around the top edge of the music box.

Place the music box top down with glue against the batting. Center the music box on the fabric and batting.

Let this set 15 – 20 minutes until the glue is dry enough to hold the batting in place. Place a line of glue down the middle of the back of the music box. Remove the winding nut by turning it counter clockwise.

Fold one side of the batting up to the glue line and press in place, holding tightly until dry enough to hold the batting. Next, run another line of glue right against the edge of the glued batting and fold the second side over butting it up against the first edge you glued. Trim batting so that the two edges come together. I sew the seam together. It holds better and you will not have to worry about it slipping. After the seam is sewn, carefully clip away the batting from the hole where the winding stem is. Cut batting a “tiny” bit larger than the hole.

The next picture shows you how to trim away the excess batting.

First Cut

Second Cuts

You just want your seams to come together, not overlap.

Fold the two ends up and whip together so that the entire music box is covered with batting.

Tack all the seams together and secure batting all around music box.

Lay the covered music box back down in the center of the fabric you are going to use to cover the batting. Stick a pin in each corner. Remove music box and draw a square

Use pins to mark each of the four corners.

Baste over the line you just drew. This will be visible from the front and you can see where to do you SRE.

Work your SRE in the square area.

Center finished design so that it will be exactly on top of the music box. I use glue again to help hold my embroidery in place while I am sewing the fabric on. I let it dry for at least an hour.

I fold, trim, and sew the fabric using a blind appliqué stitch. I wrap the music box much the same way you would wrap a gift box. I sew as I go so the fabric stays in place. The batting gives you something to sew to.

After the fabric is sewn on, I find the hole where the winding stem is, and very carefully trim the fabric away. I go around the hole with a button hole stitch to finish off the trimmed edge.

Replace the winding stem nut.

You can stop here, or continue to embellish with trim around the edge.

The batting on the satin box is heavier than the one with the gold frame. It has a slightly different look.

This picture shows the finished back
.

The finished music box sits on its side and looks something like a little pillow. This is a good way to use small amounts of ribbon and trim that are too small for larger projects.