Bonus! The gift to the mom-to-be, this super cute diaper bag.

Thanks Amylouwho!

I trimmed the material and pressed the edges under. Then I stitched it around both sides of the bag. This hid the stuff that was printed on the other side of the bag. Then I decided to use hot glue to add a burgundy ribbon on the edge and a bow with a button.

I hung it on a shelf with hooks in my kitchen. It turned out pretty cute.

Thanks Trud!

Sewing the 2 pieces of fleece together.

Cutting the scarves ‘fringe’.

4 of the 10 finished scarves! I mixed all the colors together so none of the 10 scarves are the same.

Thanks msbecca!

Congratulations Downrightart!

Victorian Boot Ornaments

1. Cut out shoe pieces with your boot template
2. Embellish the shoe with lace and buttons
3. Inside out the two pieces, front/back and leave an opening at the top
4. Stuff batting and hand sew the top

Congratulations Angela!

Hermione Granger Costume

I finished my daughter’s Hermione Granger robe today.
(Who is Hermione Granger? She is the girl in the Harry Potter movies)

I started with a generic black halloween costume that I got at a thrift store for $4.99 and a fleece scarf.

I removed the hood and cut part way down the front of the “robe”. I kind of made binding using the fleece scarf and covered my raw edges with that, which also added the Gryffindor-burgundy colour to the robe. I added buttons to try to create the illusion that this was holding the robe closed. I also printed out a Gryffindor crest onto a piece of iron-on transfer paper and created a patch with that. When my daughter tried it on, the sleeves were super short so together we decided to add some burgundy fleece to the sleeves for length, even though real Gryffindor robes don’t have colour on the sleeves. I wanted to add a strip to the bottom as well to just finish off the costume, but naturally, the store has no more scarves of that colour.

She will wear this with a white button up shirt with a collar and black pants. My daughter bought the “Official Harry Potter” tie herself, and we bought a wand to complete the outfit. She plans to put her hair into lots of little braids the night before Halloween so that she will have Hermione’s wavy, unruly hair. I think she is going to look great!

Congratulations Mamaslittlemonkeys!

Back-to-School Badge Reel

To explain, a badge reel is an ID holder, many school students as well as faculty have to wear them now. So might as well be ready for back to school with one!

The How-To:

The way to square your fabric is to first, find the weft on each raw edge that runs all the way through from one selvage edge to the other. One way to do that is to make a small cut in the fabric and tear but I’ve found that that makes the edge pretty much unusable and makes the second part of squaring very difficult.

The way I square my fabric is as follows.

1) Start with a woven fabric (this won’t work with knits and non wovens). Cut into the selvage about and inch in from the raw edge. The more fabric you square the better your eye gets at figuring out which side to make the slit. Sometimes you’ll find that the fabric was a far cry away from being cut straight and even cutting an inch in will not yield a weft thread that goes from one end to the other.

2) Pull at the threads along the selvage and find one that you want to work with.

3) Gently pull downward on the thread as you guide the fabric up. The fabric will pucker and gather. When it does, pinch where the fabric starts and gently guide the gathering up the thread you’re pulling. The gathered fabric will smooth out and it will leave you with a line where the thread is shifted. Continue pulling and guiding until you get the end of the fabric or until the thread breaks (which is the more likely of the two).

4) If the thread doesn’t break and you make it to the other end of the fabric then you will want to cut next to the shifted thread. Then proceed to step 6. If the thread breaks before you reach the end, cut along the thread that has shifted up to the point where you can no longer see the shift. Then proceed to step 5.

5) after cutting up as far as you can go, remove the threads in-between the newly cut edge and the shifted thread you’ve been working with, find the thread again and continue with step 4 till you reach the end.

6) Once your weft thread has gone from one end to the other, cut off the excess fabric on the raw side and remove all threads and the shifted thread. Trim down the edge one more time and you are now ready for the final step of squaring.

7) Fold your fabric so selvages touch. If, when you fold your fabric in half, your squared edge lines up with itself then you are ready to rock. If, like my fabric, the squared edge is off then you need to pull your fabric back into square. If your fabric is off like mine, where the bottom layer is showing on the right side, then you will want to unfold your fabric, take the bottom right corner and pull as shown in the picture. Continue working your way up the right side and along the bottom, pulling on the bias, till you get the upper left corner.

If your fabric is not square but in the opposite direction as mine, then just reverse where you’re pulling from and start at the bottom left and work to the upper right.

Fold your fabric one more time to make sure that it is completely even. If it is then you’re ready for some awesome precision cutting. If it’s not then repeat step 7 until the edges align.

Fabric Grain… it’s good for you
Fabric grain refers to the direction the threads are woven in a piece of fabric. Woven fabric has 4 directions that have different names. Each direction has a different quality to it and will affect how your finished garment will fit and drape.

The threads that run perpendicular to the selvage edge are the weft. They make up the crosswise grain. This is the grain that runs parallel to the two raw edges of your fresh off the bold fabric. The weft thread will most likely run back and forth and, when you’re squaring (tutorial to come) you’ll notice that you may have to cut it because at times it is actually woven back and forth as one long continuous thread.

The bias is any diagonal from the lengthwise and crosswise grains.

True bias is a 45 degree angle along the lengthwise and crosswise grains.

Behave!
The lengthwise grain (selvage edge) has very little stretch to it and holds its shape the best out of all the directions. Commercial patterns are marked with arrows that indicate which direction the lengthwise grain should run. The recommended grain line makes it so that your finished piece will behave the way the designer intended. The arrow should be placed parallel to the selvage.

The crosswise grain has a greater stretch to it and this feture makes it ideal to run around the body. It has more give which allows it to form to the body better than the lengthwise grain. This feature also makes it less ideal to drape perpendicular to the floor because over time it will droop, changing the fit of your garment.

The the bias has the best drape and streatch. True bias has the most stretch. Fabric cut on the bias is the most form fitting and designers use bias cut pieces to create beautiful clingy, slinky, and flouncy effects. Fabric cut on the bias has to be treated a little more gingerly because it looses its shape with even minor handling.

So why do you need this?
When you understand the basics of how your fabric is constructed and functions, not only does it give you a higher likelyhood that your finished garment will come out the way the pattern designer intended, it also makes your own designs come to life in the best way possible. When you understand how each direction drapes and holds its shape differently, you are better able to acheive your desired effect and use the fabric to it’s fullest potential.

My oldest daughter received a hand made baby quilt when she was first born. I liked the quilt so much that I made one for my son when he was born. When my youngest daughter was born she too had to have a quilt of her own. Now, a very good friend of mine is having her first baby so I wanted to pass on one of these quilts to her.

Materials:

1/2 yd of three coordinating or contrasting fabrics for the top
1 yd of backing fabric (I use flannel)
seam ripper
scisors or rotary cutter and mat
thread and sewing machine

**note: I used a much larger seam allowance for this blanket because of the terry fabric. The measurements I’ll give you are for a standard 1/4″ seam allowance but when you look at some of the pictures you’ll notice that my measurements aren’t the same as the ones listed… go with the written measurement.**

1) prewash and press everything.

2) with each of the three (3) top fabrics, square the fabric, then cut two strips that are 6.5″ wide and 39″ long. When you are done you will have 6 strips total.

3) decide which fabric is #1, #2, and #3. For me, #1 was white/pink/silver, #2 was green and #3 was the pink terry. Take your first strip of fabric #2 and lay it ontop of your first strip of fabric #1 right sides together and pin down the right side.

4) open up fabric #2 and lay one strip of #3 ontop of #2 with right sides together. Pin down the right side.

5) continue opening and pinning in order #1, #2, #3, till you run out of strips ending with #3. Then fold the top on itself wrong side out with the very first strip of #1 from step 3 is on the last strip of #3 and pin them together.

6) Using a 1/4″ seam allowance, sew from the top to the bottom of every pinned seam. Press your seams. You have now made a tube.

7) lay the tube as flat as possible and, starting at one open side of the tube, cut the tube into 6.5″ wide sections.
**remember the note above**

continue till you have 6, 6.5″ sections

9) OK. Now I realized that I changed around my #1, #2, and #3 fabric from here on out. So sorry, so from now on, fabric #1 is green, #2 is terry, #3 is white. Take your first section and separate the seam between the #3 and #1 fabric. Take your next 6.5″ tube and separate the seam between #2 and #1. Take the next tube and separate the seam between #3 and #2. Repeat with the last three tubes.

10) Open up the first strip and lay it out right side up. Open up your next strip and lay it out above your first strip, right side up. Make sure that each block on the top is diagonal to it’s matching block on the bottom. Open the next strip and make sure that it matches the diagonal pattern started by the first two strips. Continue till you have your strips open and in the diagonal pattern.

11) start pinning the strips together making sure that you keep the seams that are supposed to be together, together. Make sure that when pinning you remember to lay the sewn seams on their sides in oposite directions. Unlike garment construction, quilt seams stay together. If you cut correctly and precisely, which I didn’t, your seams will line up flush with each other and your finished top will


Pinned and open:

12) Sew your pinned seams and press.

13) Square up your quilt top.

14) Cut your backing fabric to a little longer than your top.

15) With right sides together, pin your quilt top to your backing.

16) Round the corners if desired.

17) Sew a 1/4″ seam around the entire perimeter of the blanket making sure to leave a 1 square width opening in order to turn the blanket through it. Backstitch at the beginning and end. Press.

18) Turn the blanket right sides out through the opening.

19) To finish we’re going to topstitch the edge. Press the edge of the blanket. Turn the opening inward and pin closed making sure that it is at least 1/3″ in so when you go topstitch, the seam is closed.

20) Start topstitching at the beginning of the open section. Topstitch a 1/4″ away from the edge, all the way around, finishing by stitching over the section one more time to make sure it is closed and secure. This would be a great place to add a cute decorative stitch.

21) press your edges and enjoy!
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Here are the two other quilts I’ve made using this technique. The first one is my son’s and the second one is my youngest’s.

I love the comfort of a fild-over waistband. It’s fit is so forgiving on those days and it’s nice and wide so I don’t have that pinching feeling that I sometimes get from elastic waistbands. I’ve also been on a skirt kick lately because summer is fast approaching and I just don’t look that great in a pair of shorts. So what could be better than to put the two together. This tutorial is pretty general so that you can adjust it to whatever size you may be.

Materials:
Cotton print (I used a yard of 44″ wide quilting fabric and I’m a size medium)
medium weight cotton knit (I used a half yard)

1) square your fabric and then fold it from selvage to selvage (this folded edge will be called fold 1). Fold it again from raw edge to raw edge (the folded edge from this will be called fold 2). Measure your waist at the widest part and add 7-10 inches to that number. Take your new number and divide it by 4. My original measurement with 10″ added was 48″. Divided by 4 turns into 12″. Measure your final number from fold 2 (right side of the picture) along fold 1 (bottom of the picture) and mark.

2) Take the fabric from after your mark in step 1 and fold it into a triangle whos longest side runs from your mark in step 1 (left side of the picture) to the corner of the raw edge (right side of the picture).

3) Cut along the longest side of the triangle you made is step 2.

4) Open up fold 2 and cut along fold 1. The two pieces you are making are the front and back of the skirt. The shorter edges are the waist and the longer bottom is the bottom hem edge.

5) take the two pieces, place them with tops and bottoms matching and right sides facing each other. On each side, seam, zigzag stitch the edges and press.

**note: after step 5 I gathered the top. In hind sight I reaize that this is really an extraneous step so I’ve excluded it but you will see that in the next pictures, the cotton print is gathered.**

6) take the measurement for your hips and subtract at least 2 inches from that. I think I subtracted more like 5″ or 10″. The joy of knit fabric is it has a lot of give and as the day goes on, it stretches out even more. Seam the sides, press open and fold the whole thing in half, raw edge to raw edge. Mark where the middle front is and the middle sides are on the waistband.

7) Turn your skirt right side out and mark the middle front and middle back (you can choose which side is which because at this point it doesn’t really matter). Align the waistband raw edges up and place the skirt inside the waistband. Start matching and pinning fronts, backs, and sides of the skirt and waistband.

Pin the waistband to the skirt, distributing the extra fabric of the skirt between the pins.

9) Sew the waistband to the skirt, stretching the wasitband as you stitch from pin to pin.

10) trim down the cotton print edge of the waistband seam and then zig-zag stitch that edge to the knit fabric. Use a slightly higher number of stitches per inch than you would normally to not limit the stretch in the waistband.

11) Hem as you please and press. I zig-zagged the raw edge and the used two lines of stitching to hem. My reasoning: so I didn’t have to shorten the skirt by too much, so the hem is light, and so it doesn’t flip up on me. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

12) Put on, fold down, and enjoy.