NEW Sweet Sweater 'Sweetie Pies'!

May I present my newest Sweet Sweater Original creation? 

Say Hello to the 'Sweet Sweater Sweetie Pie'! TM 

I've been thinking about this project for a LONG time... decades, actually. The idea was originally inspired by the art of Mary Engelbreit, resulting in a 'Sweetie Pie' chair that I painted to sell in my shop. A client saw the chair, bought it, and requested the same art on a cabinet she already had:

Way back then, I thought of making little felt or sweater pies to coordinate with this theme... a great idea, I just never got around to making any. Until recently, when I discovered a positively CUTE find that made me think 'Oh that is the PERFECT prop for the pies!!!' It was this cute lil' container (it holds lip balm) at my local DAISO store that kicked me into gear:

I purchased two of them and then hustled across the street to the craft store to buy some red pompoms - I already had everything else I needed at home. With February on the horizon, I thought I should share it in time for you to make your own versions for Valentine's Day decor!

Follow along with me as I finally make a ''Sweet Sweater Sweetie Pie'...

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Materials:
. tan / light brown sweater fabric OR felt 

. red pompoms for the 'cherry filling'

. a shallow round container for the pie form (mine is a balsa wood cheese container, and I used the bottom of it for the pie crust) OR make one from cardstock

. scissors . hot glue . white fine-grain glitter . aerosol hair spray

Method:

1: Begin with the round container, scissors, and the tan sweater fabric.

2 - 3: I cut the folded seam that was on the fabric off, to use in a later step. (You can cut a long strip of fabric @ 1/2 inch wide and @ twice as long as your container circumference, and set aside.)

4 - 5: Sit your container on top of the sweater fabric and cut a circle out that is at least an inch larger around than the container.

6 - 8: Wrap the fabric around the container bottom and pull it up the sides, gluing it to the inside of the container edge as you work around the circle. The entire outside of the container should be covered.

9. This step uses the strip you cut off previously. If you didn't have an edge seam, make one by folding the fabric over to double it lengthwise, then glue the inside of the cut edges to adhere them together. 

10 - 12: We're going to fold and glue the strip in a wavy pattern, to replicate the effect of the edge crust on a pie. I laid the strip flat on my work surface, folded it over on itself in 1/2 inch sections, and glued each fold to the flat fabric beneath it. When finished, place the 'pleated' fabric inside the round container, with the front/finished edge facing inward. The fabric should go completely around the inner edge, meeting end to end.

13 - 14: Starting at one end of the pleated piece, pull it up @ 1/4 inch above the container edge and add a thin bead of hot glue between the inner container rim and the fabric to hold it in place. (Watch your fingers!!!)

15 - 16: Run a small thin bead of hot glue all the way around the top of the fabric covered container edge - and press the pleated edge down onto the glue as you go. You're making the pleated edge lie down onto the container edge, so it looks more like a pie crust. Flip the container over and let it sit on the pleated edge for a minute or two to help the glue hold well.

17. Fill the container with red pompoms - fill it very full, then press them down to compress them a bit. You want it to be rounded a bit on top. No glue is needed.

18 - 20: Cut thin strips from the sweater fabric - I used a piece that is a bit lighter than the bottom 'crust', from a ribbed sweater - the ribbed lines helped me cut pretty straight strips! I used 5 strips both horizontally and vertically, and after placing them evenly over the top, I wove them together to create a basketweave pattern.

21 - 22: The end of each strip was tucked between the red pompom 'filling' and the tan edge 'crust', and secured with a small drop of hot glue. I glued both ends of all of the vertical strips, then both ends of all of the horizontal strips, one at a time, so that they stayed in position as I went around.

23 - 24: The strips can be adjusted after you've glued the ends, to make sure they are evenly spaced. 

Now just a few final details...

1 - 2: Here's where the hairspray comes in! It is an excellent adhesive for the glitter... but it has to be aerosol hairspray to work! The pump ones spit out too much adhesive. Carefully spray the entire top of the pie with hairspray. Then sprinkle the fine-grain white glitter over the pie, to get the effect of a 'sugared' pie top.

3. I placed the top part of my balsa wood cheese container inside a white ceramic ramekin - when I sit the pie on top of it, the pie looks like it fills the whole ramekin!

4 - 6: One red pompom, a sewing pin, and a green felt leaf make a perfect 'cherry' for the top of the pie... just assemble and push the pin into the top 'crust':

The 'Sweetie Pie' turned out exactly as I planned...


And then I just had to try another approach... a pie SLICE.

1 - 3: I cut another round balsa wood box into a triangular shape as support for the slice. The side of the box became detached when I cut it, so I secured it to the box base with some hot glue.

4 - 5: Another piece of the tan sweater fabric was cut @ 1/2 inch larger than the triangular shape, then hot glued on to cover the entire triangular shape.

6: A strip of sweater fabric was folded over lengthwise and hot glued to create an edge piece. I repeated the 'pleating' action to create a wavy 'pie crust edge' piece, and hot glued it to the edge of the triangular shape just as I did for the round pie.


7. Six red pompoms were hot glued to the 'bottom crust' of the slice. I fit them as tightly together as I could to cover the bottom.

8. Using four of the thin tan sweater fabric strips cut previously, I tucked the two longest strips between the red pompoms and the tan 'crust' edge at the top of the slice, and glued them into place.

9 - 10. The two long strips were pulled over the pompoms, and I added two shorter strips horizontally across the pompoms. I wove the four strips into a basketweave top, just as I had done on the pie. I used a dot of hot glue under each strip to hold them in place.

11. I cut the end of the strips off at the edges of the pompom 'filling' - and I cut them on an angle, so they would look as if they had been cut right out of the pie.

12. I repeated the 'sugaring' process of applying fine white glitter with hair spray as an adhesive.

...and now dessert (breakfast??!!) is ready!

Is that not the cutest pie you've ever seen??!! 😍

I'm pleased as punch that something that lived in my imagination for 30 years turned out as I always envisioned it! (Deb really needs to stop procrastinating....) I hope you give this cute project a try!

Displayed with white ceramics, a vintage tablecloth, and my Mom's red gingham Better Homes & Gardens Cookbook, they are perfect for a Valentine's Day display in a kitchen!

Here's a 'Behind The Scenes' story for you:
One of the recipe cards tucked into Mom's cookbook fell out as I arranged it... and I immediately recognized my Grandmother's handwriting. This isn't a recipe for cherry pie, but I just had to include it in my photos. 

There's another of my Sweet Sweater Original creations that would pair quite well with the pie...


..........Sweet Sweater Sips 2021

My next post will be the first week of February - I'll share more of what's inspiring me for the month, and link up my favorite Valentine's decor & gift projects! See you then!


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