Monthly Archives: March 2013
Envelope Pillows: Easy Room Refresher
New pillows are a simple project that can entirely change the look of a room with minimal required effort.Basic envelope pillows are so incredibly easy to sew!
To begin, you will need an old pillow or a pillow form of any size as well as fabrics you love.
My talented friend Kelly, over at KelsCozyCorner, shared a quick cheat sheet to help you figure how much fabric you need for your size pillow. No math needed!
Thank you Kelly!
In this case, I elected to make pillows that have the same fabric on the front AND back. This allows me to use one piece of fabric for the entire pillow. I started to write up a tutorial but this one is so well written and the pictures make it really simple to follow. I am not sure I could improve on it, so why try?
If you would like the front and back to be different fabrics then you may prefer this tutorial instead.
All done! Now you have a removable pillow cover that you can change out for the season, as you update your living space or just simply when you need to launder.
Head over and check out what Kelly creates! She is talented, creative, and my personal pillow guru.
(Including lending me her bed for the pillow photo shoot!)
Which room at your home could use a pillow facelift?
Easter Bunny Wreath – How To!
My good friend Kelly sent me a picture of this lovely little wreath she whipped up just in time for Easter this and I was instantly in LOVE! She was hesitant when I begged her to share it with you all but I was able to convince her to tell us all about it! You can see more of her lovely creations at her shop, follow her on Facebook and see where she finds inspiring on Pinterest. Take it away Kelly!
Hello all! I’m Kelly from KelsCozyCorner over on Etsy!
Today the sun is brightly shining here in Ohio and signs of spring are in the air (finally)! My shop has been quiet the last few days and I’ve actually had some time to create something for my own home! I was so inspired by all the beautiful yarn covered Easter wreaths I’ve seen on Pinterest, I had to create one for myself!
I started with a 14”straw wreath form and wrapped it with a heather gray yarn.
I was so excited to get started on this I just started pulling from every direction of the skein of yarn…BIG MISTAKE! No matter how excited you are to get started on a yarn project, ALWAYS make it into a ball.
Here’s a tutorial I found on that process, but it is super easy to do…and will make your project exponentially less frustrating!
To begin wrapping the yarn I placed a small dot of hot glue on the back of the wreath to hold it in place. Place the beginning of your yarn in the glue and let it dry. Once dry, you can start covering the wreath, keeping your yarn strands close and straight. I went all the way around and then started over being sure that every bit of the straw was covered. Once that was complete I started adding the flowers. Here is a tutorial on how to do felt flowers.
I had this bunny image that I’ve used on several pillows and thought it would be perfect for this project. I used a craft knife and cut the image from a small piece of foam board and then covered the foam board with ivory felt to make the bunny look “fuzzy”. I ended up cutting off his tail end to get him to fit properly and then used floral pins to keep them in place. I didn’t want to use anything too permanent in case I wanted to use the wreath after Easter.
Now you can make one of your own! There’s still time!
Fabric Friday: Micro Mod Duo
Happy (Good) Friday to all!
Today I wanted to share these beauties the Cloud9 Micro Mod Collection.
Designer and artist Rob Bancroft created a cool, modern set of retro inspired geometrics on an intimate scale.
(psst! Does this fabric look familiar? That’s because I used it here!)
I particularly love the mix of modern colors and how they were put together in an unexpected way: makes for a fresh look.
I am hoping to use these in a project soon, any suggestions???
Housewarming Gifts Part 3: Llama Love Organic Apron
When I unpacked these lovable Llamas, I knew they had to be an apron!
Maybe put a smile on your face as you do the dishes?
You can find the link to the tutorial I used here.
All you need to make your own:
* A fat quarter of the Llamas
* 1/2 yard of the Little Leaves
This particular apron is part of a housewarming gift for friends who just became new home owners.
The apron goes along with these cloth napkins and these dish towels that I’ve made.
Makes me wanna bake something! What about you?
March Sew Along: Week 4
Here we are at Week 4! The finished product!
The best part right?
My quilt took a bit of a left turn; let me see if I can explain….
To start, it took me WAY too long to decide on the backing fabric. I FINALLY came to settle on the Hexies in Tangerine.
I get so indecisive about these decisions and spend far too much time torturing myself with the possibilities.
Please tell me I’m not the ONLY one who obsesses over seemingly irrelevant details. Anyone else??
Any how, once I was ready to commit to the Hexies moved on to obsess about the binding.
That put me right over the edge! I could’ve made TWO more quilts in the time it took me to decide that nothing looked RIGHT.
So, I switched gears!
Instead I used the pillowcase method like in this tutorial, leaving an opening to turn right side out.
Then top stitched along the Chevron pattern which I LOVE!
Next time I promise to be braver and TRY a binding I ‘m unsure of….but that is for next time. 🙂
In the end, it’s a perfect lap quilt for my daughter during summer road trips.
Small enough for the car and travel or just cuddling on the couch.
It’s a whole lotta orange but that’s what my girl likes, so orange it was!
I would love to see what you made!
Feel like sharing?
Peaked My Pinterest: Washi Tape Projects!
If you have not been introduced to the world of Washi Tape yet, you might want to take a look at some of the goodies you can create!
There are so many fun ways to use it and a little goes a long way!
(Click on images for links)
To stand out:
To transform:
We have made pencils, cards and gift packages so far! What have you made?
Seeing Dots!
I couldn’t wait a MINUTE longer to let you see what the Fed Ex guy dropped off today!
These lovely little organic Dotties are back in stock!
A feast for the imagination!
Just in time for Easter!
Happy weekend to all!
Fabric Friday: Easter-Inspired Duo
Happy Friday!
I, for one, am looking forward to the weekend after a hectic week! This weekend is especially welcome as sewing is part of the “To Do” list! There are a few Easter goodies on my list. Which got me thinking an Easter outfit! Normally, I purchase an Easter dress for my daughter; however this year it’s just our little family to celebrate so we are going Easter casual. I wanted to make her a skirt out of one of these little lovelies. I couldn’t quite decide so here is a duo for you!
I’m leaning towards that wonderful chevron but those buttons keep calling out to me!
Which would you vote for?
Quick Striped Blanket
Spring has sprung in the shop (even though it is still snowing outside!) with so many bright and cheerful colors!
With all these happy colors I was understandably eager to get to work right away, but first, I had to find a place to put it all! Once it was all stored, photographed and posted for sale in the shop, I had one of those quiet, nocturnal sewing sessions that, when it goes well, makes it so much easier to tolerate lugging myself through the following day. I had previously pinned this little ‘lovey’ on Pinterest and now used it as inspiration.
I needed a quick gift for a new baby, so I opted to make this a pillowcase-style blanket, instead of a quilt (using just minimal quilting and skipping the binding).
I backed mine with this incredibly soft organic fleece from the shop; super buttery soft.
Do you want to make one too?
You’ll need:
1/2 yard white cotton
1/4 yard each Circle Stitch print in red, orange, yellow, green, teal and grey
1-1/2 yards organic fleece for backing
batting
What to cut:
SIX 1.5″ strips of the white cotton by the length of the fabric
(*These two colors are cut a little larger to absorb the seam allowance when attaching the backing, as well as to account for any squaring of the top when the time came.
Sewing:
Start by sewing a white strip to each print and then assembling them, or sew them in succession. Press seam toward the colored print.
I pressed as I went, because that’s how I sew, but have heard from many experienced quilters you can skip the pressing until the end if you prefer.
Once complete, I folded the blanket top in half each way and used my large ruler to make all of the edges even and straight.
Then I laid the batting on the work table (use the floor if you don’t have a large work surface), laid the fleece (fuzzy side up) on top of it and then placed the top of the blanket face down on top of those. Make sure you have all those little wrinkles out before you pin; then pin away.
I did a rough cut around the edges. Since you have made the edges of your blanket straight and wonderful (right?), you can use the edge of the blanket top as your guide while stitching. I like a 1/2″ seam allowance myself. But it isn’t really important, as long you are consistent all the way around.
When I sewed them all together I left an 18″ opening and sewed around the rest of the blanket. Once the sewing was done, I then trimmed all of the edges down to 1/2″ from the seam, except for where the opening for the turn was; I left that longer and trimmed the corners. I turned it right side out, used my super high tech….orphan chopstick… as a poker to make the corners square, and pressed all the way around. Once all was pressed I top stitched around the top edges and along the print side of each strip . The end result is a kind of modern, cheater quilt in a fraction of the time of a traditional quilt.
As I have mentioned in previous posts, I like faster better. The thing I love most about this type of blanket is it can be broken down into smaller increments of time if, like many of us, you are only able to work in half hour sittings. It’s also quick and easy just to pick up where you left off.
If you need more instruction or courage to give this a try, just drop me a note!
Happy sewing,
Jodi
Sew Fine Fabric 