Scarecrow Fest!

Today my mom and I took the little one out to the Scarecrow Festival that my teen was volunteering at. We tossed the house looking for clothes he'd outgrown ( yes, those are my absolute favorite pants to dress him in, and yes, they're far too short). Armed with a pile of clothes we went out, bought the heads for $2 a piece, and helped ourselves to about a third of a bale of straw. The park district provided fabric markers and a directions sheet. All in all, it took about 45 minutes to build three, and it was a lot of messy fun.

What traditions does your family have for celebrating the harvest season?

Folding 5 yards of bias tape, in 10 minutes.

Try It Tuesday

So you've taken the fabric you picked to make your own homemade bias tape and turned it into a parallelogram of doom. You've marked it, folded and pinned it so that the first marked strip pins to the second and so on. You've pinned it, lost hope and stitched it anyway, all the while grateful you decided to try it with a fat quarter instead of larger yardage. You took your twisty wonky mess to your sewing machine, stitched skeptically, then used your good shears to cut out one bit continuous string of fabric, on bias.
That's a triumphant place to be, but also a daunting one. If you're like me and cut those strips at 2", suddenly you have just over 5 yards of bias tape, and therefore a LOT of edges to turn under and press.
Yeah, major time suck.
Well, I don't believe in time suck, so here's what you do to quickly turn that strip of bias tape into something functional.
Get TWO long needles and a ruler. Decide just how wide you want your bias tape to be when both edges are turned. I went with an inch.
Take your pins and put them, about 2" apart so they go through your ironong board cover and back up, then through and up again, so that the space created in the middle of each needle, over the ironing board, is your desired distance, in this case, 1". do it with both needles, 2" apart. It sounds complicated, but it really isn't.
Now hand turn the edges at one end of your bias strip and feed it through the needles. Pull it out about six inches, slowly, and press this section. It's "the hard part."
Now, your can take the ironed end of your folded bias tape and just pull the rest through, under your iron.

You'll want to move your iron around a little so you don't scorch your ironing board.
If the bias tape starts feeding unevenly, just stand up your iron, manually readjust the fold a few inches away from the needles, and start up again. I find I have to readjust about ever 2 or three feet, but it's not a big deal, and still so much faster than painstakingly folding down one edge, and vastly superior to spending money on one of those "bias tape maker" contraptions. It's a free modifiable bias tape maker that you didn't even know you already owned. Pretty cool, huh?

Let Them Play Dolls

In the spirit of the Halloween season, I spent the evening in the Sewing Cellar working on a Marie Antoinette Zombie doll.

They cut off her head, but now she's back, and she isn't looking for cake.

I'm pretty pleased with how she turned out. This was my first attempt at a cut & sew fabric design from both perspectives. I'd never designed one, and I'd never tried to sew one before either. She came together almost exactly the way I had envisioned, and all in less than the time it took my daughter to watch the latest in awful vampire dramas on television. :-)  The hardest part was turning the sewn doll body. I always struggle with turning, and this was no exception.

Now that my ghoulish gal turned out so well, I may be on to making more cut and sew dolls. It was a lot less labor intensive than my usual process, and since I had the design printed on Kona Cotton, she's just as durable as my typical Raggedy Rebels.

Now that I spent this evening playing, tomorrow it's back to the serious work of sewing on Halloween and Teslacon costumes.

What are you working on these days? 

Spoonflower Giveaway

Once in a while, an opportunity arises to give your readers something fantastic. This is one of those.

While I've been sew busy around here lately, I've also spent a ridiculous amount of time looking at all the beautiful fabric designs on Spoonflower. And by beautiful, I mean geeky, and by designs, I mean TARDISes.  Because that's how I roll.  

In case you aren't familiar just yet, Spoonflower is an on demand fabric printing company that lets you design, buy, and sell fabric designs that perfectly fit what you want, opening up the artisan's world of fabric possibilities immeasurably.

Spoonflower has a plethora of different fabrics on which they can print.

(T.a.r.d.i.s. design by Unicornandthewasp)

You can pick sizes from a 5x5" test swatch, fat quarters, yards, and many many yards.

You can read about their design guidelines here.  

They even have a color chart so you can design in colors that print best with their printing process.

I love this site and spend too much time drooling over the possibilities.  You can check out their flickr pool to see what people have done with their fabric. 

Would you like to try out some of that creative fabricy goodness?  Well, if you would, you'll be happy to know that Spoonflower has deigned to give one lucky Paisley & Pretties reader a $50 gift certificate to use on their site!

How to enter-

Mandatory Entry-

Sign up for a Spoonflower account and comment below with your Spoonflower username.  

Extra Entry options-

Leave a comment with a link to your favorite fabric design.

Upload your own design and comment with the link.

Make a purchase from Spoonflower of any amount during the contest. Leave a comment letting us know what you ordered. (If you win, you need to show proof of the transaction of some sort, email, screenshot, something.)

Enter the weekly fabric competition.

Contest will run through Midnight on July 30th 2011.  Winner will be selected via Random.org. Winner will be contacted via email and have 48 hours to respond.  If winner does not respond, a second winner will be chosen via some bizarre method that amuses me.

Why are you still reading this, shouldn't you be signing up for a Spoonflower account?

Disclaimer- I am not being compensated in any manner for this post.  I have not received any product or other compensatory item.  Have a nice day.

WIP

These two are *almost* finished. So close to finished they'd be finished if the toddler hadn't just decided to wake up and demand nursing.
Wish me luck, because I want to get them finished and grab some good outdoors pictures before I loose the light!

Sent from the TARDIS Intergalactic Temporal Mobile Service

Tutorial Tuesday: Rosette Hair Clip

I found myself behind the other day.  I needed a gift for a teenage girl, and I needed a gift in less than 20 minutes. Solution? A frayed rosette hair clip.  I apologize for the quality of the pictures, but like I said, I had about 20 minutes, and I didn't want to miss the opportunity to share what I was doing with you.

Pretty, isn't it?

Materials:

Fabric Rosette (I'll write up that tutorial for you too.)

Green felt

Alligator Clip

Scissors

Hot Glue gun with glue sticks

Step 1: Plug in hot glue gun. Make sure it has something under the tip to catch the drips. 

Step 2: Using scissors, cut out a leafy shape from the green felt at least as long as the alligator clip.

Step 3: Pinch the end of the alligator clip so it opens. Apply hot glue to top side of it (the side with the bend) and with it still open, gently apply the leaf and press into place, still holding it open.  Hold this way long enough to sing the Alphabet song.

Be sure to cover the entire length of the alligator clip.

(the funky paper is there to catch drips, and yes, it's scrap paper)  I found it easiest to hold the piece upsidedown to apply pressure to both the opening mechanism and the leaf while taking a picture.

Step 4: Apply glue to the top of the leaf in a straight line approximately the size of the flower that is going to go on top.

Step 5: Press rosette into glue and hold there long enough to sing a round of The Song that Never Ends.

Step 6: Unplug hot glue gun and put away materials.

Step 7: Look at the clock and be proud of yourself.

Note: I'd much rather have glued this together with E-6000, but it's really stinky and I didn't have that long to let things dry.  However, it is a better adhesive, if you have time.

Big Questions

Since he's more and more interested in using the potty chair all of the sudden, I have a deep and important question for all you DIYers out there.
Do you think we should go ahead and buy some pull up training pants, or should I make them myself?

Opine.

Tutorial Tuesday: Pillow Case

I like making pillow cases. They're quick, easy, and a great way to add some interest to your bed, or to lug your laundry home from a week camping.

Pillow cases make me happy.

Because I heart pillow cases so much, when I made my nephew a blanket for his birthday, I decided to make him a coordinating pillow case too. 

 I keep thinking that I need to make a set of three matching pillows for our bed, one for myself, one for spouse, and one for the JabberWalky, since we co-sleep.

About this pattern/tutorial:

This pattern makes a Standard sized pillow case.  The method can be adapted for other sizes of pillow, however, I have not yet crunched the numbers, and it would not be as elegant as a simple "one yard." And since I'm putting this pattern out there for free, I'm too lazy to do the other figures right now.

This design leaves no exposed raw edges by using French Seams. They're not complicated, and I explain the process, but you can be proud of yourself for having learned how to do them when you're finished.

Have fun, feel free to play with fabrics, and look forward to seeing variations posted in the future.

For a How-To on how to make the child sized blanket, see my Blanket Tutorial.

Materials:

1 yard quilting cotton

2" to 4" strip contrasting fabric

Matching or delightfully contrasting thread

Tools:

Sewing Machine

Iron and Ironing Board

Scissors

Rotary cutting mat

Rotary cutting ruler

Rotary cutter

Step 1:  Pick out your fabric.  This may take months, it's okay.

Step 2: Wash, dry, and iron fabric. This is crucial to having a long lasting finished item that doesn't look like it was sewn by the cat.

Step 3: Cut a 9" strip of fabric from your one yard piece from selvage to selvage. You will now have two rectangles. One 27"x 42"-44", and another 9"x 42"-44"

Step 4:  With Right Sides Together, pin contrasting fabric to the larger piece of your main fabric.  Stitch together with a 1/4" seam allowance, remembering to backstitch at beginning and end.  Remove pins, press seams flat toward contrasting strip.

Step 5: With Right Sides Together, pin 9"x 42"-44" strip of main fabric to the contrast fabric. Stitch together with a 1/4" seam allowance, remembering to backstitch, backstitch, backstitch.  Remove pins. Press seams open.

Step 6: Fold over and press a 1/2" hem along edge of smaller section of main body. Stitch in place

Step 7: With WRONG sides together, carefully fold down hem so that it completely overlaps the contrasting strip, aligning the seam lines. ( I skipped sewing in my hemline as it's a redundant step, but if you're nervous about alignments, it's a good idea)

Step 8: Pin in place sparingly, flip over, and slowly stitch along the seam between the contrasting strip and the main body.

Step 9: With WRONG Sides Together, pretty side OUT, fold "hotdog style" so that you have a rectangle approximately 22" x  38" (Approximately because fabric widths vary and the width of the contrasting stripe can vary per your preference.)  Pin the long edge and the edge furthest from the contrasting stripe, leaving the hemmed area unpinned.

Step 10: Using a 1/4" seam allowance, sew far and long edges, remembering to backstitch. Pretty side still out.

Step 11: Turn inside out and iron seams so it all lays down nicely.  Now it is Right Sides Together. Pin  along the long side and the far side, so you don't get confused about where you're sewing.

Step 12: Using a 1/2" seam allowance, stitch the long and far sides.  Remember to backstitch where you start and stop. Clip loose threads.

You've just learned how to sew a French seam.  Pat yourself on the back.

Step 13: Turn right side out and enjoy

GREEN TIP*If you are making a pillow case and blanket as a gift, I say fold the blanket neatly and wrap it in the pillow case.  It's cute, efficient, and saves wrapping supplies!

UFOs

Just before my son was born, I was working on a quilt for my daughter.
Here I had it all laid out on the bed, trying to decide just which colors would flow nicely into the others.

Sadly, I was placed on bedrest and I put it away.

Then, when my son was born, I became bizarrely paranoid about ironing with him in the room. What if there was a freak accident with the iron and he got burned? Well, certainly I can only quilt while he's sleeping then, right?

But laying out a whole quilt takes up a lot of space, and what if I accidentally make a mess? What if I loose a piece?

Well, maybe if I just work on it in parts while he's napping.

But he sleeps so much better if I nurse him down.... and then I want to lay there and cuddle.

You get the idea. The reasons compound.

Since then I've made more than 20 sock monkeys,

 bunnies, 

bears, 

elephants, 

and other creatures,

 upwards of 15 dolls,

 at least 2 purses, 

one complicated hexagon quilt, 

eight blankets, 

three slings,

one pillowcase, 

and a couple hats, 

And some other odd projects of which I seem to lack photographs...

but I still have this UFO staring me down.

What sorts of projects do you have on hold, and what *really good reasons* are you using to convince yourself not to finish?

Tutorial: Toddler Blanket

This year for my nephew's birthday, I decided to make him a blanket and matching pillow case.

 I made blankets for all of my parents' other grandkids for Christmas, and a couple of their half-siblings, so it was time to make sure the latest toddler on the list had a blankey too.

For toddlers, small children, and people who like a light weight blanket while watching tv, I like to make them either 42"x60" or 42" x 72".  42"x72" is what my great-grandma called "bunk size," and was about the size she made all her quilts for children, since they didn't need them hangin' off the bed and makin' a mess.  She sold quilts by the side of the road and pieced ones for her own family from the scraps from the ones she'd sell.  To make a baby blanket I would reduce the size to 42" x 36" or use the same size, because I'm a big fan of borrowing my kids' baby blankets when I'm watching Doctor Who.

(note- finished blanket sizes are closer to 41"x59" or 41"x71")

What you need:

 Fabric-
2 yards quilting cotton, 2 yards Minky. (If you want to make the blanket only 60" long, you can get away with only using 1 1/3 to 1 1/2 yards of Minky, as it is 60" wide)

Thread- matching or complimentary to your fabrics
Iron
Ironing Board
Scissors,
Pins
Either Measuring tape or cutting board and rotary cutter with rotary cutting ruler.  I highly recommend  using rotary cutting methods as I'm awful with scissors.
Sewing Machine
Bobbin
Extra needles for your machine.  If you don't have at least one, go procure one before starting any new project.

How to make the blanket:

Step 1:  Pick the fabrics that are going to make your heart sing. Then Wash and Iron the quilting cotton.
Step 2: Straighten your work area, double checking that you have all the supplies you'll need.
Step 3: Thread your machine and test your stitches and tension on a scrap of fabric.
Step 4: Cut  quilting cotton fabric to your desired size, taking care to cut straight lines at 90 degree angles.  Note- This is fairly easy if you are cutting for a 42" x 72" size blanket and you've bought exact amounts from a supplier who takes great care in their cutting of yardage, as your quilting cotton will already be the right size and you can trim your minky to match in Step 7. Because I didn't use exact yardages, I had to cut mine, and I used my rotary cutter to trim it to length.

Step 5: Lay fabrics flat  and smooth on top of one another, right sides together. (This is easier said than done. In order to keep the Minky smooth you need to have some amount of friction with it, so I usually lay it on a bed, carpet, or on top of an acrylic afghan to keep it from slip-sliding around.  Some people prefer to lay the cotton down first to act as the gripping agent.)

Static clingy afghan of goodness.

Step 6: Pin edges all of the way around.  At this point you have to decide where you want the opening to turn the blanket.  I usually place it about 10" from a corner, and use the length of my hand as a guide.

I mark the extremes of this area by double pinning at each end so I'll know where to stop and start stitching.  (This is a good time to cut the Minky layer if you still need to)

Step 7: Trim excess Minky away.

Step 8: Begin stitching at the first set of doubled pins and stitch around the entire blanket.  I usually use between a 1/4" and 1/2" seam allowance.  Always backstitch when beginning or finishing a line of stitches.  When I am a seam allowance's length from the end of a side, I lower my needle through the fabric, raise the foot, and turn the fabric. Then I lower the foot again and continue stitching so as to not have to start a new seam.  At the second set of double pins, backstitch, remove from machine, and clip loose ends.

Step 9: Remove all those pins.
Step 10: Turn rightside out. I generally worm my whole arm into it and grasp the far corner, then pull it out first.

This is the fun part.

Step 11: See that open area? Time to handle that.

Take the whole mess and the pins back to the open area where you first pinned it and  carefully arrange the blanket so it lays flat with all of the seams nicely open.  This takes patience. You can iron the seams in place if you like, but use a low temperature, as the Minky is synthetic and can melt.
Step 12: Pin the edges so that the nice seams you've just lined up don't move around. Be sure to carefully turn in the open section and pin this area more densely than the rest of the blanket, again marking the starting and ending points of the opening with doubled pins.
Step 13: Starting with the opening, stitch all around the entire blanket, remembering to backstitch at the end as before, turning at the corners.

Step 14: Remove all pins except the doubled pins.
Step 15: Gently pull back the seam between the double pins to make sure that it is properly closed and there are no exposed raw edges.  If necessary, run a second seam between the doubled pins nearer the edge to make sure to enclose any raw edges, backstitching at the beginning and end.
Step 16: Trim all loose ends
Step 17: Take pictures so you can show off your spiffy cuddly new blanket masterpiece.

This is anotherI've made using that technique:

Ta-Da!