Happy (Belated) Birthday America!

I hope everyone had a fantastic 4th of July weekend.  We surely did.  First up was a day at the Annual Litchfield Pet Parade.  It is sponsored by the Litchfield Historical Society and everyone seemed to have a great day.  There were everything from hamsters to puppy dogs and the only downside to the day was that it made me want a puppy!  There were dozens of different breeds there and it was so hard not to go home with the little beagle who was wearing an "adopt me" coat in the parade :-)  But alas, our tiny apartment and our two cats would never allow it.  So, we went home without any extra pets, and headed towards the local fireworks...which, as always, were my favorite part of the day.

To gear up for the Pet Parade and the general patriotic mood of the day, I made a red, white, and blue cockade.  I found the tutorial, here, at American Dutchess.  The best part of this project...I used things I already had!  Since it did not require a large amount of ribbon, I was able to do it with scraps I had lying around.

I quickly found that having something to pin the cockade onto, that had a whole in the middle, ended up being a VERY important part of the process.  I did not have a cork board as American Dutchess suggested, so, I pulled out an old piece of cardboard I was saving for something and cut a small hole in the middle to allow me to sew the cockade together in the center when I was done pleating it.  Even though I kept getting my thread caught on the pins, it still worked far better than trying to hold it in my hands.

After doing another layer in red, I stitched the two together and added a white vintage button.  I added a pin to the back so it could be easily attached to a white t-shirt for the Pet Parade.

I think I may have to make some more of these!  


Did you create anything special to celebrate America's birthday?