Stop staring and start sewing!

Velvet by Amy Sinibaldi is available to order now! I just got my tracking number, woohoo!

If you've been waiting to get your hand on this gorgeous Velvet collection by Amy Sinibaldi....it's time! 12 beautiful fabrics in soft, crisp colors. So many ideas! Here it is!

 

Art Gallery makes the softest, most delicious fabrics!

AND I have fat quarter bundles!

A tea towel tutorial

Here's a quick little tutorial for a pretty little tea towel.  I've wanted to share this for awhile but I really hesitated because I couldn't figure out what a tea towel is for.  So after I did a little research I realized they are for a lot of things...you can use them to dry your dishes (linen is great for your glasses because it won't leave fuzz), or as a cute hand towel in your powder room, or as a pretty little place mat for your tea set if you're feeling fancy.  Anyway, they're actually pretty versatile and make adorable gifts too.  Here's the linen one I made with some cute pig ribbon (I got the linen here if you want to take a look).

 Here are some quick and easy instructions.  Cut one piece of fabric (this is a home dec weight twill) 25 x 18 inches (give or take, really), and two pieces 30 x 3 inches for the ruffles.

 Hem the ruffle pieces on one long side (I just folded under about 1/4 inch twice) and sew to gathering stitches on the other side (at 1/4" and then between that stitch and the raw edge).

 Pull your gathering stitches and pin in place on the 18" side.  Sew in place and then press open making sure the seam allowance is pressed toward the tea towel.  You can serge or zig zag to finish the seam if you want.

 Then topstitch on the right side just above the ruffle.  Make sure you stitch close enough to the seam so the seam allowance on the other side is secured down with your stitches.  

Grab some ribbon, rick rack, or any cute trim and try to decide.  I really like all of these but I kind of want something summery so I picked the citrus (I'm doing the pink birds soon because I really like those!).  Cut a piece about 1/2 inch longer than the width of the towel (so 18.5 inches on this one) because I found out this ribbon really shrinks up when ironed and it became almost too short when I pressed it.  So press your ribbon before securing it in place, just in case.

 Then, this is the best part, rub some elmer's glue stick along the place where you're going to put your ribbon (I set mine 1" up from the edge of the ruffle).  Work pretty quickly because this stuff dries in under 30 seconds.

 So there it is.  Just press the ribbon in place and then heat set the glue by quickly setting then lifting your iron along the ribbon.

 

Then sew along both edges of the ribbon (you can see where the ribbon shrank up a big but I decided not to let that bother me).

 Fold the sides under twice and hem the edges.  Give it another quick pressing and you're done!  Now make a lot because they are so cute and will lift your spirits whenever you walk into the room and see them.

 See?!  I'm only showing you this much because the rest of the kitchen is messy.  But the towel makes me happy.

 

Let me know if you try it!  Keep on sewing and have a great weekend!

A new cover for my mini ironing board

Sorry for the long blog absence.  Not really.  I was tired....and busy...and tired.  Anyhoo, we've gotten a lot done around here (still a ways to go) and I wanted to share a little bit finally.  I've been creating a new "ironing station" so I traded my old ironing board for my daughter's mini ironing board from IKEA.  It was a little grubby so I got to work on it.

This was a very quick project and didn't take much fabric.  I used my ironing board cover tutorial but made and easy, smaller version.

 

Here's a quick run down.  I removed the string from the original cover and kept that to use again.  I traced around it with an extra 1.5 inches around (give or take).

 

I cut some fabric on the bias (2 inches wide).  I stitched the lengths together until I had about 90" to work with.

 

After folding it in half, and pressing it, I sewed it in along the outer edge of the WRONG side of the fabric using 1/4" seam allowance.  The ends (which meet at the bottom center of the ironing board) are tucked under before folding and stitching down. 

 

 

Then I folded the the bias tape over to the right side, encasing the raw edge.  Now it just needed to be stitched around the edge.

 

Finally I fed the string through (you can use a safety pin or bodkin) and pulled it tight before tying it (no need for a knot, just a regular bow should hold).

 

Nice!

 

I made it easily accessible by hanging it from a hook just above my iron.

I'll share some more projects from my ironing station (it's really cute!) very soon.  Keep on sewing!

 

Make a fast baby shower gift

If you're running short on time, like I was this past weekend, but really want to bring a nice, handmade gift to a baby shower then I've got your solution!  This is my go-to gift these days and although it's a simple one I'm always amazed at how much awe and appreciation a home made gift gets.

I actually have a stash of plain onesies and baby/toddler t-shirts for decorating.  If you see any good sales just grab a package to stick in your gift stash.  

First I whipped up 4 burp rags using my tutorial here (with downloadable pattern!). I got smart this time and traced the pattern onto freezer paper.  I ironed the freezer paper onto the top of a stack of fabric (4 layers of printed cotton and 4 layers of dotted flannel) and used my rotary cutter to cut everything at once.  I had 4 soft, absorbent burp rags finished in under 10 minutes (I serged the edges so that made it a quick process). 

 Then, using scraps from the burp rag fabric, I cut out the designs I wanted to applique onto the front of my two onesies.  I used to iron Wonder Under onto the wrong side of the fabric first but now I have a better solution that removes that step from the process....

 Glue!  I swiped the whole thing with glue, especially around the edges and set it in place on the front of the onesie.  You have to work fairly quickly at this stage because the glue dries pretty quickly.  I ran over it with a dry iron right away to set it in place.

 

Then I swiped glue onto a piece of tear away stabilizer for the inside of the onesie behind the applique (I cut a piece big enough to cover the area I'd be stitching around).

 I slid the stabilizer into the onsie right behind the fabric and patted it into place after making sure it covered the area behind the applique completely.  Here you can see the stabilizer peeking up through the neck so the front of the onsie is sandwiched between the applique and the stabilizer.

 Slide the onesie onto your sewing machine arm and zig zag all the way around using a short, fairly tight stitch.  You want to make sure you do a good back stitch or lock stitch when you start and finish so it doesn't unravel with all the wiggling and stretching babies do.  When you're finished just remove the stabilizer and you're done.

 I like to fold the onesies and burp rags, stack them, and put a cute ribbon around them.  Throw them in a cute bag with a package of diapers (you can never have enough diapers, right?) and you've got a beautiful, unique, and practical gift to give!

 

 

 

My new vintage headboard (how we did it!)

My bedroom re-do project has finally tipped into the "mostly finished" category and I couldn't be happier (well, I would be happier if it were in the "done" category but I'll take it...).  We finished our headboard and the final product is everything I'd hoped for.  I've been pinning "padded, framed headboards" on Pinterest, trying to find the right inspiration.  I wanted something that was padded, tufted, and a little bit over-the-top without being too fancy schmancy.  Mission accomplished.

Here is a picture of our bed as it looked for most of the past 10 years (and yes, the cat has been there for 10 years I swear).  I was so tired of the dark colors and tan walls.

 I've had this old quilt hanging around for a few years.  I bought it at Goodwill in Portland a few years back and almost made a tree skirt out of it this past Christmas.  I'm so glad I never got around to it because when it hit me that it would be perfect for my headboard I was breathing a sigh of relief.  The center swath was pretty threadbare so I cut that part out and sewed the two less worn sides together.

 Joey created this frame for me and it was the most expensive part of the whole project.  I'd kept a tight budget but I really wanted the fancy trim work framing it so I shelled out 75.00 for 3 lengths of fancy trim at Lowe's.  I painted it a glossy grey enamel.

 Then we took a separate board which had been cut to fit within the frame and started covering it (after Joey pre-drilled the holes for the buttons).  First I put the 1" foam padding down and cut it to fit with my electric knife (I bought it at Goodwill years ago and keep it on hand just for this purpose).  The board was sprayed with upholstery adhesive to keep the foam in place.

 I bought batting for a twin sized bed quilt and it was just the right size to cover the padded board and wrap around the edges.

 

The buttons were covered with some silky striped fabric I've had forever.  I just cut out the fabric from the stripe that I liked and I have enough left to make a pillow cover or something else to coordinate in the bedroom.

 

So here it is after we got all the buttons tied in place.  We started at the middle and moved outward from there, pulling the fabric gently as we went.

 Joey bought some thick cotton string at the hardware store which was a pain to thread into the big doll needle hole but it was a good choice since it's so strong.  Here he is trying to fish around for the hole to pull the string back through.  That part was trickier the later the day got.

 On the back side of the board he tied the string to a washer and everything held nice and tight.

 Then we flipped the board over and pulled the fabric tight and stapled it down all around the edge.  Sorry I don't have pictures of this process (I was too busy stapling with my macho pneumatic staple gun).  We set the padded piece into the frame and Joey drilled some screws through the back of the frame to pull the boards together.

I'd made some yellow gingham piping to go around the egdes so we hot glued that in place making sure we started and ended at the bottom of the headboard so it would never be noticed by anyone.

 Joey mounted it on the wall using a French cleat picture hanger and made me swear to never ask him to remove it, ever.  That thing is seriously, hernia inducing heavy.

 I was really happy with it but knew I wasn't finished.  I had been shopping and shopping for something to decorate the top with.  I googled all sorts of millwork appliques to find the right look without spending a fortune and was getting quite frustrated.  Then I saw a decoration on Pinterest that was called a "pediment".  Once I googled the word pediment I hit pay dirt.  I found exactly what I wanted at Hobby Lobby and it was 50% off so I got it for 18.00 (as opposed to those fancy appliques which were 50.00 - 100.00 easily).

I painted it to match since I wanted the frame and pediment to look like they were all one piece.

 

Joey attached it to the wall and I was 20 shades of happy.

 

So there it is!  My beautiful, one of a kind, shabby vintage, French-ish, tufted, padded headboard!  We are so proud!  I painted our side dressers a lighter shade of the grey, got some new lighting (which I'll do a post on soon) and called it done.  I love how pretty it is and Joey loves how comfortable it feels when he's sitting up in bed reading.  Win win.

 

 

In a Snap pillow covers (another tutorial!)

Sorry for the glut of tutorials (not really!  I think they're awesome!) but I am still doing a major spruce up here at the house and every little improvement lifts my heart so it's fun to share.  I've been making envelope pillow covers and they are so quick and satisfying that I can't believe I haven't been making them forever.  I bought my pillow forms at Jo-Ann (they are the Fairfield/Jo-Ann brand and I'm really happy with them) with my 1/2 off coupons, or catching a sale, and the biggest ones I got (22" x 22") were only 10.00 so these are really affordable.

I've seen other tutorials but mine has a little shortcut (only you will know) and a smart little touch at the end to give them a crisp shape.  They only take a few minutes to make and a little fabric from your stash.  So here we go!

These instructions are for the 16" x 16" pillow and the finished cover will be 15" x 15" to give it a nice full (no sags!) finished look.  Cut your fabric 16" x 35" (or put together a patchwork and trim it to those dimensions!).  I got this terrific gingham at IKEA and I'm really in love with it.

 

Now fold one end over 1" and hem it.  Leave the other end unhemmed because it's going to be tucked on the inside and nobody will ever see it (and I've decided to stop worrying about things people will never see or notice).

 

Now fold your ends in toward the middle and overlap them until your pillow measures 15" across.  Make sure the wrong side of the hemmed end is facing upward and the un-hemmed end is on top of that.  Yours will look more over-lapped than this picture since I made the dimensions longer after I finished this one and realized it needed more overlap.

Now pin or glue (I used my purple glue stick and got great results) the un-sewn sides together and sew across both sides using 1/2" seam allowance.

Now here comes the smart part.  Turn your pillow right side out, press your seams nicely, and press the top and bottom edges to give them a crisp fold.  Then stitch along the folded edge as close to the edge as you can get without falling off.

 

I stitched mine about 1/16" from the edge.  Take your time so you can control your seam and keep it straight.

 

Here's what it looks like when the pillow is in it.  So much nicer than a round, quasi-shapeless edge.

 

I didn't stitch the rounded edge on the yellow pillow so you can see how much sharper the edge and corner are on the gingham one.  The extra effort makes a difference.  Make a bunch of these and layer them and you can change the look of your room in an instant!  They just add so much personality and they are so quick and easy, there is no reason to wait.  Plus they make great gifts!

And here's a look at the over-lapped envelope closure on the big pillow (22" x 22").  No velcro needed!

Have a great week and keep on sewing!

Sweet storage solution (another tutorial)

Look at these cute boxes!  They were plain and boring but I'm determined to start working through my fabric stash this year and this is a great payoff for finally cutting into some of my precious fabric.  My daughter uses our guest bathroom (which is very short on storage) and I desperately needed a way to keep the shelves looking orderly but still give her a place for her stuff.

Here's why it was worth the effort!  Such a difference!

I bought three of the "before" boxes at Big Lots for 5.00 each.  The are 7 inches deep which was just what I needed for the bathroom shelves I was sprucing up.  They have a lot of bigger ones in this style and I saw a bunch at Michael's as well.  But I'm going to show you how to cover the smaller box and if you get the bigger one's you can use the same method I'm explaining here just fine.

This box is actually made from two pieces.  I didn't realize that until I got home and I wasn't happy trying to figure out how I was going to wrap the darn thing with fabric.  It turned out to be a blessing in disguise because it allowed me the easy opportunity of using two fabrics once I separated the two elements that made the box.  

So just take a razor knife and slide it between the box and the lid flap all the way around and they'll come apart.  Be careful.

 

So now you'll have two pieces.  The lid flap and the box.

To cover the lip flap just lay it down on the fabric you've chosen (this fabric will be on the top, back and bottom of the box when you're done).  Cut around it leaving an extra 1/2" of fabric on each side for wrapping.  If your box has a curved flap then snip some notches along the curve to reduce the bulk.

 

I used Scotch Super 77 for my spray adhesive.  It was around 6.00 for the small can (but I had a good coupon!).  It did a great job but I had to work quicker than I'm used to (it's much more aggressive than basting spray).  For this part be sure to cover your work surface with some form of drop cloth since it gets very messy and sticky in the area where you're working.  I used brown craft paper and it was perfect to used then toss.

 

Spray the wrong side of the fabric evenly.  Lay your lid flap down on the fabric.  Turn it over and smooth it out nicely on the right side of the lid flap.  Lift the fabric and re-set it carefully if you have too.  Now on the under-side wrap the edges over and smooth them in place.  You can tuck the corners and be sure to cut the fabric around your velcro dot.

 

 

 

Now on to the box.  Measure around the 3 exposed sides of the box and add 1 inch to that number.  Measure the height and add an inch to that number as well.  Now cut your rectangle of fabric out using those dimensions.

 

Lay your fabric on the box in place and draw a circle around the place where the velcro dot is.  Cut the circle out.

Now spray the wrong side of the fabric evenly and, setting in on the front where the circle is first, smooth it into place all around.  Tuck in into the inside corners and fold and tuck it around the bottom, corners, and the back.

Now use a glue gun to glue it back together.  Glue it far enough from the edges so the glue can't be seen when it's assembled.  

If you feel the need to keep going then use the adhesive spray to apply some pretty vintage trim down the middle and get some fun embellishments (buttons, numbers, handles, etc.) for the front.  I bought these cute retro-locks at Michael's.  They are designed by Tim Holtz and I think they add the final touch.  I spray painted them with black "hammered metal" spray paint.  I put a tiny piece of black fabric behind each lock because I didn't like the trim showing through the hole.

 

Anyway, there they are and I love them!  They turned out much prettier than I'd anticipated and so I couldn't wait to share!

Another timely towel tutorial (totally!)

I'm having guests tomorrow.  So I'm panicking.  I want my guest bath spruced up so I grabbed a couple of cheap, fluffy, white towels at Big Lots (about 3.00 each).  A little fabric, a little time, and now they're cute!

Here's how to "get the look".  Measure across the end of your towel.

Cut a 2" strip long enough for both ends plus 8" (2" to tuck under the ends and 6" for the tab to hang it with).  The towel tab tutorial (say it 5 times quick) is here.  If you have some pretty ribbon or twill tape you can totally by-pass this part and go straight to the glueing and stitching part.

Fold in half, press, then fold into the middle.  Press again.

Cut each strip to go across the ends with about 1/2" overhang on each side.  I placed mine 1.5 inches from the bottom of the towel.

Now glue the bottom side of each strip.  Work quickly since this stuff dries pretty fast.  If you don't have glue....get some!  It makes sewing so much easier and you'll see I didn't use even one pin while making this!

Now set in place (press down with your fingers as you're going along) and tuck the ends under.  Dab a little glue on the ends and set them in place.

Stitch all the way around and across the ends.  Make, and attach the tab and you're done!

So fast!  So cheap (I used a fabric scrap from my stash)!  So cute!

A shout out to Fran's Sewing Circle!

I was thrilled when my friend Allison (over here at Within A Quarter Inch) let me know her local quilt shop had been having a contest with my book!  At Fran's Sewing Circle (in Wilmington, North Carolina at 5751 Oleander Dr., Unit 5, if you are lucky enough to live nearby) the employees made their choice of a skirt from the book (17 skirts to chose from, plus maternity!) and then held a contest where the customers guessed which employee made each skirt.  Such a cute idea, especially in a place where customers and employees become friends (it's like Cheers but with fabric instead of beer).

Here is a view of all the skirts hanging together (I love the clothes line idea too).

 Here is a close-up.  I'm so thrilled to see they took the leap to try different things.  Look at how great these look!

 More!  Such cute fabrics and you can never go wrong with a solid black skirt (ever).  It's a wardrobe staple.

 And more!  Seriously, these are so darling and the work looks impeccable.  

 

Such a great idea for a store (or for a sewing circle).  A huge thank you to the folks at Fran's Sewing Circle for including my book in their fun!  If you have a shop and have made any projects from my book please let me know ([email protected])!  I'd love to let people know!

My dog has fleece

I found a sweet little pattern for a dog coat on the Compulsive Craftiness blog here.  Sarah worked up a great pattern for her little dog and was kind enough to share it.  Our little Cupcake is a chiweenie (chihuahua/dachshund) and she shivers all fall/winter/spring.  Not in a shaking, nervous chihuahua way but in a cold way.  Problem solved.  I downloaded the pdf, taped it together (super simple and great instructions), and went shopping.  I got two 1/2 yard cuts of fleece for the outside and another 1/2 yard cut for the lining on both of them (the green dotted fabric).  With the 40% sale I spent under 10.00 for everything!

 

Here she is doing a loooong (dachshund remember?) stretch in her blue owl coat.  This fabric is minky-ish and fluffed up my nose a bit but it was worth the sneezing.  She used to squirm out of her store bought coats but since she loves fleece she's actually started running to us when we hold them up to dress her.

 

Here's her strawberry coat (or Strawberry Cupcake coat as Joey has dubbed it).  She likes this one too. Sarah's pattern was made for a dog in the 10 pound range so it's perfect for us but with just a bit of sewing savvy you could adjust it up for a bigger dog.  Each coat went together in under 1/2 hour once I had everything cut and ready to go (I already had the velcro in my stash too).

 

And I had enough fabric left to make a pillow for her.  She used to sit on this skuzzy old pillow form I had and it was kind of embarrassing.  This is the same pillow form, but with a styling new cover we can all be proud of.

 

That was a fun little project and I feel like such a good doggie grandma (Cupcake is actually my daughter's dog) for making these.  Thanks for the pattern Sarah!

Love hurts, and so does sewing

Maybe that's why I love sewing?  A few days ago we were sitting around having a regular Norman Rockwell type of family evening with me sewing (finally trying to finish these quilts 2 years later!) and the menfolk tying flies for some up-coming fishing day.  Everything was great.

Asher's expression kills me (smile, Mr. Crankypants.  You're on candid camera).

 

The guys had left the room for something when this happened.  So fast.  And loud.  And kind of crunchy sounding.  I had just been reading this harrowing account of a needle accident a few days prior and was sure that it had been a warning to me to be extra careful.  I didn't listing apparently.  But it could have been so much worse.

 

The needle went in right next to my nail (whew) and through my finger meat, where it broke off and the broken part came out the other side.  So my finger was neatly threaded .  I grabbed my finger and didn't even look at it and began yelling "Joey, I need you!  I need you!  Now!  Right at this moment.  Joey, now."  I turned my head and let him look.  My first thought was "I should have him take a picture to post online!" but my second thought, "OUCH!", was louder.  So he pulled the thread the rest of the way through and rushed me off to the bathroom.  Lot's of blood later we got it cleaned and bandaged and it really wasn't all that bad.  I'm fine now.

 

Here's what happen when the needles doesn't come out.  Peety was 3 (she's turning 20 in 2 days!) when she stepped on a needle that was stuck in the carpet.  She was crying and wouldn't even let us get a good look at her foot.  So we did our best to comfort her and get it bandaged up.  It seemed to heal fine but there was a hard lump in there which I convinced myself was scar tissue or something.  I took her to the pediatrician for something entirely different but asked him to take a look at it.  I wish I had a picture of the x-ray because there it was.  

She had to go under general anesthesia to have it removed (more traumatic for me than anyone else I think).  It was already encrusted with calcium (or something) and 1/2 long.  So it's a part of her baby book.  She's fine now, but complerely left handed which probably has nothing to do with the needle.

Be careful out there but keep on sewing!