Hello everyone. I popped back in here this morning to see how many others have shown their potmen. I love the different looks, but kyponder's is still my favorite. It looks more like the first one I ever saw in a Southern Living Magazine years ago which was was my inspiration. I like her's better than I like my own. I've saved her picture for something to refer to next spring. I still have my pots on the back porch waiting for next spring, because like msbeaniac, I'm going to build mine in the flowerbed instead of trying to move it after it is put together. When I built my first one I assembled the legs and arms in the living room and waitied til I had the torso in the flowerbed before attaching them, then I glued the top and bottom of the torso together. I stuck a piece of rebar through the hole in the top of the torso and then put it through the hole in the head to hold the head on. I'm interested in learning how some of you attached the heads to your pot people. Gramadelie has a link to her pot person in her post and it didn't come through as a link. I hope it's okay to post it here to make it easier for others to see her cute potman. Linda Here is a link that might be useful: Gramadelie's pot man

Hi Elle123, My wife is a free motion artist and I am familiar with some the problems that arise. I am not familiar with your machine, but at the bottom of this message is a troubleshooting link for your machine that may be helpful. If you have already tried everything in the link, here are a couple of thoughts. Make sure that no pieces of thread are caught in the upper head threading track or in the bobbin case. Try a different brand of thread. Some thread brands work better than others. Make sure the needle size matches your thread size. Try a different size bobbin thread. Here is a link for setting up your machine for free motion: http://www.nancyprince.com/Video_Player_Machine_Set.html You may have to cut and paste this link into your browser. Hope this helps. Here is a link that might be useful: Brother PC6500 Thoubleshooting

I'm going to agree with annie. You're asking for a mess if you try to stuff those two into a cover. The cording will both show and be felt when someone sits on it, and given time, will wear on the velvet differently and leave a pattern of the cording. That stuff needs to come off. Personally I'd then lay the two foam covers together and draw around them as a pattern on paper, then cut the same shape from a high quality upholstry foam. Then wrap the foam in batting as noted above, and muslin slip. Then make your one cover removable if you wish. If you can't get the new foam, rewrap the existing foam instead. But I do think after time it will separate somewhat and again, ruin the look you're after by leaving a gap. You're working with a very very hard fabric, and trying high level techniques (cording with a quilted velvet). I am very confident with this stype of stuf, and the thought makes me want to curse in advance for you. I do recommend that you first make a muslin pattern before you try cutting the velvet. Velvet walks away from you when you sew it face to face so be sure you pin the heck out if it (use french silk pins). And as to the cording, don't even try if you don't have or won't pick up a cording foot for your machine (which you'll fall in love with). If I were making this, I'd first make the muslin pattern (hopefully you've figured that out in your discoveries) and then try to make it up using cheap cording with a cording foot and be sure you have your technique down. Then, if that comes out well, go ahead with the velvet, but remember, more pins verses less, and I like to use two with particularly slippery velvets. The pattern will be lost if you try to remove the velvet backing (or the quilted batting) and it would be a huge amount of work for something that won't even show. I'd find a nice contrasting fabric or a velvet that matches without batting. But again, personally...I'd not do the velvet cording because it's a pain in the kiester! I'd do it in silk dupioni in the same color which flows well with the velvet and is easy to sew.

I've been thinking a lot about this lately, not having any idea there is actually a book that addresses it. We sold our home at the top of the market in late '05 after having updated it to reflect some of the HGTV trends of the day. We purchased a home built in 1977 with outdated bathrooms and gold and blue shag wall-to-wall in the upstairs bedrooms. Obviously that wall-to-wall needed to be replaced since it was 30 years old, but what I've realized is how silly it is to turn my home into a showplace based on how it might benefit potential resale value one day. I've read many times on this and other forums (but this one is particularly bad for it) some condescending and even downright snotty advice from people who perhaps unwittingly give off the impression that not only would butter not melt in their mouths, but that they would sooner run naked over hot coals than cook an omelet on anything less than a Wolf or Viking range. Don't get me wrong--I do enjoy living in a nice home, and my home is indeed a nice one. It's just not one that is currently or will anytime in the near future be tricked out with granite, stainless, 'hardwoods' (because 'hardwood' is no longer in fashion; it's 'hardwoods' in the plural or we all might just as well go with the horror commonly known as laminate), or a marble counter in the bathroom topping a trendy but completely impractical vanity. I still enjoy home improvement projects--at least, I enjoy the result--but these days I seem to be looking at the most cost-effective way to update rather than the one they would do on any number of HGTV shows. I think it might actually be a bit more fun than throwing money at the biggest, shiniest/most matte model of modern design I might come across. Granite, soapstone, marble, inexplicably vast expanses of reflective stainless? They are great. I enjoy coming across them here and there. However, one place I am unlikely to come across them is here in my very nice, certainly above average, structure that has truly become home to my family. I will continue to enjoy tweaking things and decorating my 31-year-old home, and I will enjoy the process as well as the result.