I’ve had a lump of plastazote* knocking around the studio for ages. I kind of knew there was something I could do with it, if only I could work out what that was. Eventually I worked out it was destined to be the pinboard I so desperately need by my desk at home.

What fabrics to cover it? A print? A plain fabric? Something I have embellished? Do I have time for such frivolities? No.

But aha! A vintage tray cloth thing with wonderful cut work and drawn thread work!
I was given this one by a friend, along with a whole pile of lovely linens which belonged to her mother.

First I covered the plastazote with plain green fabric (organic cotton in this case), then simply pinned the tray cloth and the cotton fabric around the edges. I used teeny tiny sequin pins – glad to find a use for them after all these years. (I don’t much use sequins and never found any need for these short, stubby pins even when I did). Ok, now I’ve looked up sequin pins I see that they are recommended for intricate applique which makes sense. But I think they are far too thick to use on most fabrics anyway so I still can’t imagine using them for their intended purpose.

Anyway. So that was it really. Pinned the edges and made neat corners. It was pure luck that the tray cloth is EXACTLY the right size to go neatly around the edges of the foam for a perfect fit. Amazingly lucky really. You could cut the foam to size I suppose, just don’t cut the nice embroidered tray cloth unless its a boring one anyway.

Now I’ve got it, I don’t want to pin anything to it, I just want to hang it on the wall and admire the stitching. So for now its just resting next to my desk. (although these photos of it are in my studio).

* super-duper foamy stuff. I know it as packaging material for museum objects. Other people have other uses for it, apparently.