I mentioned this great tool in yesterday's post and thought I would share a bit more about it today.
While I was at Market in Houston this past fall, we did the "designer pillow" presentation for the MODA schoolhouse. It was a packed house and we had to do the presentations twice to accomodate all of our wonderful customers who wanted a sneak peek at what we were up to. We felt a little silly repeating all the stories twice, but it was fun.
After we returned to our booth with our little button pillow in hand, it seemed that every few minutes someone would come by and ask us if we had used the i-TOP for the pillow. At first we just politely told people that we used standard covered button kits but it didn't take long for us to become intrigued by this new tool that everyone kept asking us about.
Well, it turns out that we could have been doing sales for the i-TOP team because so many people were excited about it and doubly excited after they saw the fun use of buttons on our button pillow.
Needless to say, the i-TOP team graciously gave us a tool to play with and we have been having fun with it ever since. The buttons on those Sit Upons I mentioned a few posts ago? All done with the i-TOP. And this pillow too. And a few other upcoming projects.
HOW TO USE THE TOOL
1. Cut out a circle of fabric according to the package instructions. To be honest, I usually eyeball it after a couple but you should probably start with the guide to get yourself started.
You can use the i-TOP buttons forms or any of the standard button forms available at craft and quilt shops. This versatility is one of the things I like most about it. It accommodates several sizes of buttons and I hear that they are in the midst of a remodel to accommodate even more sizes. The new i-TOP will be available late Spring.
Here we are using the 7/8" button forms from our local quilt shop.
2. Snap the larger side of the tool out so that it is facing toward you [[it just releases if you pull and makes it effortless to turn around 180 degrees]. Place the circle on the top of the side of the i-TOP tool that matches the size of button you are using. In this case that is the larger side.
3. Make sure that your fabric circle is centered and push the fabric down with the metal button form, placing & pushing it down into the inside of the tool.
Make sure that you kind of gather or push the fabric into the center with your fingers if it doesn't want to do it on its own as shown in the above pic. The fabric needs to be slightly "tucked" in as shown above before the next step.
You can also use the smaller pink side to do this if you like [that will work if you are doing a bigger button like we are here but not vice versa if you are doing a tiny button].
4. Place the button cover on top of the "squished" fabric.
5. Now for the fun part. Pop the tool up [it just releases if you pull and makes it effortless to turn around 180 degrees] and over so that it is now facing inside the way it was when you opened the package. The 2 sides should be facing each other like shown here. Press the 2 sides together lightly.
6. Voila.
7. Snap the button out and do it again and again.... and again!
If you would like an i-TOP of your own, we have some available here. Once they sell out, we will also be carrying the new models in late Spring.
If you haven't already, make sure you to and comment on yesterday's post to be entered in all the fun giveaways. And follow along on the PILLOW TALK BLOG TOUR to all the remaining designers too!
Talk to you soon.
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