Cool Pillow With Fraying Logo

Boulder, CO is easily one of my favorite cities in the US! I just got back from visiting a couple of my friends who just moved there a year ago and one of my good girlfriends also met us there. I love the mountains and my friends lived literally right next to the Flat Irons and it was beautiful. I loved the views, the weather, and the people! Most of the people seemed as laid-back and casual as they dressed and I loved the fact that it just seems like a very nonsuperficial city. I found it quite refreshing. I am bad about taking pictures, but some pictures will follow this post.

I decided I would make my friends something for being awesome hosts and welcoming my friend and me into their beautiful home. My friend, Daniel Galhardo, started a Japanese fly-fishing company in 2009 called Tenkara USA. It is a company that has grown quickly in a short amount of time and he has such a passion for what he does. Him and his wife took us to the Canyons in Boulder to teach us tenkara. I don't normally like fishing, but once I got the hang of this style of fishing, it was actually pretty fun. If you want more information about Tenkara, please visit his website: Tenkara USA. Anyway, I thought that I would make a throw pillow with their logo on it for them. It was pretty simple to do and you can do use this tutorial for any simple logo or image.


Materials:

• canvas or upholstery fabric (I used (2) 13x13" pieces)
• printout of logo enlarged to fit your pillow (choose a simple image with large cut out space)
• contrasting fabric 2 inches bigger than your logo on all sides (makes it easier to sew)
• stuffing

Instructions:

Cut out the pillow size you desire with 1/2" seam allowances all around.

Cut out the logo on the printout with an X-Acto knife.

Flip the image the wrong side up and trace it on the wrong side of a pillow piece.

Cut out the image with X-Acto knife or scissors.

Pin the contrasting fabric evenly to the wrong side of the pillow piece.

Edge stitch about 1/8" around the logo outline.

Place the right sides of the pillow pieces together and sew together with a 3-4" opening at the bottom.

Snip the corners, turn right side out and throw it in with your laundry!

When you take it out of the laundry you get this really cool fraying effect.

The stitching will keep it from fraying any more than desired.

Stuff and ladder stitch up the bottom.

Now you've got yourself a plush and cool pillow that make great gifts for anyone, including yourself :)

Sewing An Apron For Mother's Day

I decided not to wait until the last minute to sew a Mother's Day gift for Mike's mom. It feels great to cross one project off my list for this week. I gave Mike's mom an apron last year and I decided to give her another one this year. I am satisfied with the pattern I draft, but will give it another go when I make one for myself. I found a cute cupcake remmant a while back at Hancock Fabrics and I had aprons in mind when I saw it. The best part is that I have enough left to make myself one with this fabric too. What do you think?

Materials:

• (1) 3/4 - 1' of outer fabric
• (1) 3/4 - 1' of lining fabric
• (1) 66x6" strip of lining fabric - waist tie (piece together several pieces, if necessary)
• (2) 22x3" strips of lining fabric - neck ties
• (1) 12x12" of lining fabric - pocket (optional)

Instructions:

I fit XS-S sizes and included my measurements for each section of the apron below. The only modification I would make next time is to cut about 2" from each side of the chest section. I rounded all corners, but the waist corners do not need to be rounded (I had intended to add the waist tie differently).

Top - 13"

Waist - 16"

Bottom - 20"

Top to waist - 10.5"

Waist to bottom - 21"

(1/2'" seam allowance)

When the two body pieces were cut, I started preparing the accent pieces. I ironed after each step.

• Iron the waist strip in half long ways wrong sides together.
• Open up with the right side facing down.
• Fold the corners towards the middle crease line, making sure to come to a clean point.

• Fold the both top and bottom edges towards the middle.

• Fold the whole piece in half again and top stitch all around.

• Do the same thing for the neck ties, but skip the pointed corners.
• Fold in half to get your crease line.
• Fold top and bottom edges towards the crease line.
• Fold a little bit of one end in before folding the whole strip in half again. (You can leave the other end unfolded because it will be hidden between the two body pieces)

Optional pocket:

[You can create the pocket pieces like the ties straps (fold sides to the middle and then in half) If your fabric is thick enough, you can just hem the sides. I did it the following way to get the desired thickness for the fabric I was using.]

• Fold the pocket piece in half right sides together.
• Sew the three unfolded sides together and leave a 3" gap.
• Turn the pocket right side out and edge stitch the folded side. This will be the top of the pocket.

• Iron the other three sides in about 1/2".

• Sew the two body pieces right sides together, but leave the top of the apron open.
• Cut notches into the corner seam allowances and turn right side out.
• Pin the neck ties in place (in between the front and back body pieces at the opening) and top stitch the whole apron.
• Pin the waist tie amd pocket in place and sew onto the apron.

 Good luck to all your Mother's Day projects!

Organize Your Fabrics With Mini Fabric Bolts

A couple of months ago I had posted a question to the sewing subreddit to ask for some ideas for fabric organization/storage and I received some great suggestions. One suggestion was to use comic boards as the core to my own mini bolts as mentioned in this blog post: Mini Fabric Bolts {tutorial}. I liked idea this a lot and borrowed it. Although I didn't bother to pin the fabric, it turned out fine. I had already starting creating fabric bolts, but was using crudely cut pieces from Target and Amazon packages. I admit it was a bit tacky. I wanted to try foam boards, but comic boards was the most cost effective solution. Comic boards can be found on Amazon, but I found out later that they were cheaper at my local comic store. Well, now I know for next time! For ~$10/100 boards, it was worth it to give it a try. I used all but about 5 boards for my bookcase of mini bolts. I was able to fit all my non-fleece fabrics in a 5-shelf bookcase! I have a ton of fleece that I have in a storage bin and also on hangers... in my coat closet still.

I posted this blog earlier that you guys might like:

A Quick Idea To Transform A Bookcase.

I updated the shelves with wrapping paper.

Oh, and check out that suitcases I picked up at Joann's. I love them! I've always wanted a funky vintage looking suitcase. Now I have two! I just have to figure out what to put in them.

A Quick Idea To Transform A Bookcase

My coat closet has been over flooded with fabric for the last few months, but I had been procrastinating about doing something about it. I've been looking for a house in the last few months, so my excuse has always been that I would wait until I can have a dedicated craft room. Considering the lack of progress in my house hunt, I couldn't wait that long! So, last week I finally ordered a bookcase to store my fabric. I shopped around for a long time and finally decided to get a white bookcase from Walmart. I originally got one from Target, but it was um... a piece of junk. For $35, my new bookcase from Walmart was perfect for an interim solution and was sturdy enough (here's what I bought: Ameriwood 5-Shelf Bookcase, Multiple Finishes). I wasn't too thrilled about the bottom of the shelves being uncoated, so I picked up some cheap wrapping paper for $1 from Target and taped it to the bottoms. I didn't want to commit to it anything since I plan to move soon (hopefully!), but if you want a more permanent solution, try this:

• Place a shelf on top of the wrapping paper, trace around it, and cut.
• Spread a thin layer of Mod Podge on the bottom of the shelves.
• Place the paper on top, align, and smooth out.
• Let it dry, and add a couple more layers of Mod Podge over it while allowing it to dry in between. Be sure to coat the edges. Finish with a varnish, if desired.

I think this makes the bookshelf look so pretty!

If you're interested in how to organize your fabric the same way,

check out my post: Organize Your Fabrics With Mini Fabric Bolts.

Grocery Bag Dispenser

I've got another tutorial!  Yay!  I must say that doing tutorials are little more involved than I thought they'd be.  :)  I also wish that I had better pictures to share.  For now, it's just my iPhone, bad lighting, and Photoshop.

I have had a kitchen drawer overflowing with grocery bags and finally decided it was time to do something about it.  I made this grocery bag dispenser and hung it over the trash can in my kitchen.  Now, I have a much needed free drawer!  This was super easy to make.  It probably took me longer to figure out the right dimensions for the fabric and elastic pieces and how I wanted to construct it than it was to actually sew it together.  I am already thinking of making more to give to my friends as small Christmas gifts.  However, I don't think I will get around to this soon enough.  I am too eager to try a bunch of new projects instead.  :D  I didn't think to count how many bags I stuffed in there, but I am guessing there are 25-30 bags with room for a few more.  You stuff from the top and pull from the bottom (if you look closely you can see a bag poking through).

Materials:

• 19x15" cotton fabric
• 2x8" cotton fabric
• 4" elastic (3/8")
• 8" elastic (3/8") *Instead of doing an elastic opening at the top you could go with a drawstring.  Cut a 2x15" strip of fabric and follow the same steps used to make the hanging loop.
• 1 safety pin

Costs:

• fabric ~ $1.50/yd, Joann
• elastic ~ $1.50/6yd, Walmart

Instructions:

Place the large piece of fabric right side down.  Fold in 3/4" on both sides and sew with enough space for the elastic to go through.

Attach a safety pin to one end one of the elastic pieces.  Leading with the pinned end, work the elastic through one of the casings you just sewed.  Stop as soon as the unpinned end disappears into the casing.  Sew this end of the casing and elastic together with zigzag stitches.  Continue working the rest of the elastic through the casing.  Remove the safety pin and sewing this end shut.  Repeat with the other elastic.  Distribute the gathering evenly.

Sew the long ends of the fabric together right side in.

Fold the remaining piece of fabric in half (long sides together) and crease.  With the right side down, fold the top and bottom towards the crease, and then fold in half.  Sew all around and keep as close to the edges as possible.

Flip the bag right side out.  Place one end of the strip over the inside vertical seams of the bag and sew over the casing stitches.  Sew the other end of the strap the same way next to it.  Be sure to expose the same side of the strap on both ends and not twisting it.  It hangs better this way.

Stick a nail in the wall, stuff, and hang!