cheater pillowcase tutorial
3 seams (plus a hem). 1 cut (more like a trim). 5 minutes. endless possibilities. Supplies: 1/2 yard fun cotton fabric 1/4 yard contrasting cotton fabric First things first: trim off the selvedge from the 1/2 yard print, and send it to my friend Jules. Fold the fabric inside out (so the right sides are together, but it’s still a “hamburger” fold, not a “hot dog” fold) Starting on one of the folded corners, sew 1 side all the way to the end, and finish the seam (in the picture below, the seam is on the left side, the fold on the bottom, and the...
Read MoreSelvedges and order.
So I made 1 of the 9 Swoon blocks (with soon-to-be-released Fiesta fabrics, by Robert Kaufman) last night, and did all the cutting for all the blocks… In order to stay organized as I chain piece, I used my selvedge trimmings to mark which fabrics (there are 18, plus background) go where. I trimmed at least 1/2 an inch of fabric with the selvedge so I can see the print. It’s making piecing so much easier! (and they’re pretty) Plus when I’m done, they’ll get used by my friend Julie for some awesome selvedge...
Read Morea little quilt marking tip (and more finished projects)
So, you know when you have to draw diagonal lines on squares? Sometimes I don’t have a fancy water-soluble pen handy, and chalk rubs off if you’re doing hundreds of squares at a time (ask me how I know)… but if you try to mark with a sharp pencil, especially a regular 2B pencil, sometimes it snags and stretches the fabric: So, um, I might be showing something TOTALLY obvious— in which case, skip down to the end, and see some more finished quilt tops and another bag— but here’s how I use a regular pencil and ruler to mark my diagonal lines: See how it’s...
Read MoreHow to make a toddler playsuit/romper from an adult t-shirt (part 1)
Today I’m going to show you how to make THIS: I took OODLES of pictures, so every step should be really clear, but email me if it’s not! you will need: a shirt (I used adult small. It needs to be as long as your child from shoulder to ankle…. (or to knee if you want shorts) too big and you will have to hem/fix the collar, and the whole point of this is to use what’s already done….) some coordinating scrap t-shirt fabric (for the crotch facings) sewing machines, clothespins, thread, etc. Measure your baby from shoulder to mid-crotch (where a onesie would snap)....
Read MoreHow to make snap crotch for a toddler romper/playsuit
OK, so hopefully you’ve read the part about how to cut/sew the basic shape of the romper, and all that remains is to make the snap crotch (that sounds so weird!) so, take one strip of stretchy coordinating fabric, serge the narrow ends, and line the ends up with the ends of one “U”, wrong sides together. Clip the ends and the mid-points together like this: It should seem impossible to sew, but the stretch, assuming you cut it the right way, will STRETCH (and the crotch area is not a good area for oodles of extra fabric… taut is good!). start serging, and as soon as...
Read Morelinks…
I saw 2 really awesome tutorials in my google reader today, and while I don’t usually link to other people’s stuff here, I am going to today. Purely selfishly, since I want to be able to find these again! first, I saw these awesome flowers: tutorial here then I saw this awesome tute on how to do Flying Geese blocks quickly and easily. LOVE. P.S., if anyone out there feels like making something for D, he really wants one of these, and I don’t have any socks like that…(nor do I want to go out and buy socks just to cut...
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