Tag Archives: sewing

More binding!

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This week has somehow gone by without my doing much sewing.  Instead of sewing, I ended up crocheting an infant hat for the annual Mariners Stitch ‘n Pitch night.  I’m not much of a knitter (still learning and still very, very slow), but I can crochet fairly well, and I can certainly appreciate the time and effort and skill hand-knit items take.  I can also drool over super soft, awesome-colored yarn (if you ever touch baby alpaca yarn, you will feel like everything else is so ridiculously coarse!).  And it’s a great excuse to hang out with friends!

But today, I went back to a bit of sewing.  Actually, I finally ironed my binding for my linked chain quilt (and finished ironing the pile of clothes on the sofa that have been hiding under a quilt project for a few weeks…but I digress).  This binding is different from other bindings I have done.  Why?  It’s pieced.  Why?  Because I learned that Joann’s Fabrics carries some of their precut lines only for a limited time, and that seems to be the line I fall in love with, and I fall in love with it too late, so that I find myself scrounging for coordinating fabric to finish the project I started with the precuts!  Last year, it was the summer quilt.  Maybe next year, I’ll remember the lesson from the past two years and plan ahead?

At any rate, I couldn’t find any yardage of the fabric I originally wanted for the binding.  Instead, I ended up taking the fat eighths I had purchased (when I couldn’t find another jelly roll and needed just four more strips for the quilt front) and cutting strips from the fabrics for the binding.  I really hope it works!

As a roll, it looks pretty awesome!
Pieced, ironed in half, and ready to be rolled up.  I love how the patterns all blend together.

I also am nearly finished (as in I have maybe 2 feet left to stitch down) with the binding for my Berenstain Bears quilt!  I loved the look as I stitched it on, and I’m loving the look as I hand-stitch the back.

Loving the way the binding brings it all together!

My husband gave me a challenge for piecing that will let me try my hand at a bit of applique in quilting.  As soon as I manage to clean up my ridiculously messy sewing corner and unearth my sewing machine again, I’ll be back to cutting and piecing!  I’m excited for the next few projects I have up my sleeve!

Quilting and Binding the Berenstain Bears Quilt!

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Two tries, and I finally got a binding fabric that ties the Berenstain Bears quilt together!  I love it!  I realized I hadn’t posted photos of the quilting I had done on this quilt, so here’s a photo-heavy look at the quilt with the binding attached (but not completely stitched yet).  This was my first attempt at more modern quilting, breaking out of loops and stars and flowers.

I love the binding!

Textures!

Quilting those diamonds is a lot tougher than it may look.

A better view of the loops in each patterned square.

On the ironing board.  I love the texture this shows!
Another view of the binding and quilting from the front.  And some random hangers.

Closer look at the wavy pattern on the border and the binding.

I tried to frame each center block a bit with the quilting.

And here’s a look at the back!

I really love the little frames all over the back of the quilt!

You can see each “frame” from the back and the squiggles between each frame.

I find quilt backs like this just as fascinating as the quilt fronts.

The binding is attached on the front, and will be hand-stitched on the back.

Tutorial: Hemming Napkins

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Photo courtesy of:  A Pretty Cool Life
This is another tutorial from a Christmas project I did.  I made a napkin + placemat set for one of my sisters, inspired by this tutorial for the placemats found on Pinterest. Sadly, I didn’t get photos of the finished products (I think I was just so happy to be done that I completely spaced it!), but I didn’t get enough photos of the napkin hemming to show you my own process for it, since the tutorial I had followed focused on the placemats, and I found myself trying to figure out how to make nice crisp corners for the napkins.  Thankfully, the process is really pretty easy.
First, each napkin measured 15.5″ x 15.5″, unfinished.  The end result was 15″x15″.
After cutting each square of fabric, I ironed a half-inch hem on all four sides.  
A view of the pressed edges.
Then, at the sewing machine, I folded the hem in twice.  Basically, I just took the raw edge, folded it to meet the pressed line, then folded over once more.  This gave me a 1/4″ hem.  I sewed close to the inner folded edge.
Starting to sew the first edge.








Before reaching the end of the side, I stopped, opened the side I was working on at the bottom corner (corner facing me), then did the double-fold on the side that I was going to be sewing next.  Once this double-fold was done, I re-folded the side I was working on.

Folding the bottom edge.
Result after folding bottom edge, then refolding side edge.

You’ll see what happens:  a nice, clean corner fold that doesn’t catch on the machine as you’re sewing down and then rotating at the corner to keep sewing.

Keeping the corner secure.
I held on to that edge very firmly with one hand while keeping the double-fold on the side I was sewing folded with the other hand.  It sounds more tricky than it was.
Next edge!
Rotate at the corner, and continue with the same process for all four edges!  

Quilt in Progress!

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I’ve been busy working on Christmas projects lately.  I’m working on a pieced quilt for my mother using this pattern:

I bought a charm pack of 40, 5-inch squares of food-themed fabric that I’m using (reminded me of my mother’s gardening).  Funny enough, it was late in the evening as I was pairing these with the white blocks, and I started feeling hungry, though I was full from dinner.  It finally dawned on me that I was hungry because I was working with this photo-realistic charm pack!  Yum – salad!

I’ve also been learning about values (ranges of colors) from a blog I’ve recently started following, Stitched in Color. It makes me want to make this quilt to play with values of different colors:

But before I do that, I have a few other quilts, a bag, and a serving set to finish for Christmas gifts!  I now understand the idea of starting home-made Christmas gifts in July…

Tutorial: The 1-yard Skirt

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The finished skirt!

The Shirt Skirt tutorial provided on Instructables was my inspiration for this project. Rather than purchase a t-shirt for it, though, I thought I’d try my hand at creating the skirt using cotton fabric. One of the stores nearby was having a large sale last week, so I purchased a yard of fabric for about $5, hoping it would be enough. Considering I was going from a tutorial that used knit to using cotton, I knew things would turn out a little differently.

I pre-washed my fabric, mainly so that once I wore and washed this, it wouldn’t end up too small for me! (It’s happened before.)

Using elastic thread, the fabric naturally shirs as you sew.  I was nervous about this, because I had cut the material wider than in the tutorial I was working from, and didn’t know how the material I was using would react.  Thankfully, it worked out beautifully! 

I LOVE the result!  I’ve typically only made skirts from stretchy knits before, since I don’t have to be too accurate with measurements, and love the fact that I can gain or lose weight and have the skirt fit me fine throughout!  But this project opened up a whole new world for me!

Here’s my tutorial for making this skirt with a yard of cotton fabric.  Next time I make one, I’ll take more pictures than just the finished result!  (I was nervous about this, so I didn’t take pictures along the way in case it didn’t work out. Silly Z.)

Tools:

Elastic bobbin thread
Regular thread for top thread (use a matching color or contrast for your fabric)
Scissors
Ruler/measuring tape
Iron
1 yard cotton fabric

1.  Fold the material in half, selvages on bottom, cut (and now frayed from the washing process) portions on the sides.  Cut 28 1/2″ long, and then cut along the fold at the top.  Since most fabric is about 45″ wide, this leaves you with 2 rectangles about 28 1/2″ long by 22 1/2″ wide. 

2.  Press a 1/2″ seam along the bottom, folding twice for a nice hem.  NOTE:  I left the selvages on, so the selvage ended up being folded up into the hem. 

3.  Press a 1/8″ seam along the top, folding twice for the top hem.

4.  Sew both top and bottom hems on both pieces of fabric.

5.  With fabric right sides together, sew along the sides, allowing about a 1/2″ seam.  You should now have a nice tube about 55″ in circumference.

6.  Wind an empty bobbin with elastic thread and load the bobbin.

7.  Starting about 1/8″ from the top hem seam, start sewing on the right side of the fabric, so that the elastic stays on the wrong side of the fabric.  (I did this wrong for my first line of stitching.)  I secured each line of stitching with a little backstitching; keeping the elastic thread on the inside of the skirt makes for a cleaner look on the outside.  Go all the way around the skirt.

8.  Stitch another line about 1/4″ from the first, securing at the end of each line.  Continue stitching until you’ve completed 8 lines.

9.  If desired, press the stitched area.  This will shrink the stitching just a little more.

10.  Wear your new skirt!

Sewing Tutorial: Chenille Washcloths

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Tutorial:  Faux-Chenille Baby Washcloths 

I had seen a couple of tutorials for chenille blankets on Pinterest while looking for some cute baby shower gifts to make. I loved the idea of the blanket, but I wanted to use the baby flannel and miscellaneous fat quarters I’d found in my fabric stash. The answer? Chenille washcloths. I tried these with a quilting fabric (cotton) backing, and, while I liked the idea, once it was done, I didn’t like the feel. So, I tried it again with ribbed knit for the backing and loved the result!  (Looks like those fat quarters will have to wait!)

What You’ll Need (makes 4 washcloths):

knit fabric for backing (or something stretchy and soft) – 1/4 yard
3 coordinating flannels – 1/4 yard each

Note:  I’ve read on some tutorials that pre-washing isn’t as necessary for this project, since it will be washed all together, but some fabrics shrink differently than others, so I still pre-washed my fabric.

Also, I’m estimating it takes about 1/4 yard of each fabric for this project, since I had 1.5 yards of everything and just cut strips of the widths I needed. 

Step 1:  Cut

Cut 8″ square blocks from the knit. Cut 6″ blocks from the flannel fabrics. You’ll need 3, 6″ blocks for each washcloth, one of each piece of flannel.

Knit blocks – 8″ squares
Flannel blocks – 6″ squares.

Step 2:  Assemble

Place the knit wrong side up (with the knit I was using, there wasn’t an “outer” or an “inner” side, which was nice, but if yours has a print, put the print facing the table). Place the three flannel squares print-side up, facing you, centered on the knit block. To help, I’d measured 1″ from each edge and marked with a washable fabric marking pen, then placed the flannel blocks according to the guide. You can pin the blocks in place, but the flannel against the knit stays pretty well, so I didn’t pin them together.

When deciding the order for the flannels, realize these are going to be fraying together.  If you’re using strong colors, try putting your strongest color either in the middle or on the bottom so it peeks through, rather than dominating.  If using prints, remember you won’t be able to tell what the print was when it’s completed.

I ended up placing the footprints in between the other two, with the yellow stripes on top.
Almost ready for sewing!

Step 3:  Quilt (Sew)

The first line will be diagonal from corner to corner of the flannel. Because I was using light fabric and white thread, and because I have some issues sewing straight lines, I used my fabric marking pen to draw lines on the flannel where I’d need to sew. Once you’ve sewn the center diagonal, you’ll need to continue quilting. Each line should be 1/2″ away from the last. Again, drawing these lines really saved me! During the quilting process, your flannel pieces may shift a little. I tried to keep the shifting from happening too much by keeping the fabric tight as I sewed it. There was still a bit of shift but not too much.

NOTE:  Stay-stitch at the start and end of each line.  I just like to be sure the stitching is secure.

You can see the lines I drew to help guide my sewing. Always sew the center line first.
Sewing right along!
Completed sewing. You can see where the flannel shifted a little.
Back side – looks cool!  Colored thread makes this look pretty cool, too!

After quilting, trim the threads from each line.

Step 4:  Cut

If you have a chenille cutter, great – use it! I don’t, so I used my scissors. Simply cut the flannel between each line of sewing. This was a bit of a slow process for me, as my scissors got caught on the knit now and then. Thankfully, I never cut THROUGH the knit. So, take it slowly if you need to.

You can see my guide-lines for placing the flannel blocks.
Keep on cutting…keep on cutting…just be careful, and don’t cut the knit!
Phew! Done cutting! Since this will be fraying, the fact these aren’t perfect lines doesn’t really matter.

Step 5:  And with the machine, bind them.
 
(I couldn’t help the Lord of the Rings reference…)

I pressed the binding for each cloth without clipping corners first, to see what would happen. I ended up with very bulky corners that I didn’t like. So, I went back and cut the corners of the knit and re-pressed the binding. The corners ended up much more manageable with the lack of so much fabric.

I didn’t measure anything for cutting the corners.  I cut far from the flannel first, then folded the edges, and trimmed closer because the corners were still too bulky. Just don’t cut right up to the flannel.
Pressed, and ready to stitch the binding down!

Once the edges are pressed, simply stitch the binding down! I was nervous still about my stitching, so I used white thread and a zigzag stitch to let the knit keep its stretchiness on the edges. I made sure to stitch the corners, too, as I was sewing around the edge. 

Yo, ho, bind the thing down!
Ready to wash!
I really like how these look on this side, too!

Step 6:  Wash and Dry

I realize this step is self-explanatory, but this is where the magic really happens.  During the washing and drying, the flannel will start fraying.  The cool thing is that the more you wash and dry these, the softer they will get! 

These are so soft!
Bundled up and ready to gift!