Quilter’s Tote Bag – Tutorial

Ask and you shall receive.  Many of you feel in love with our “Quilter’s Think” tote bag.  Here is the tutorial so you can make one for yourself.

Supplies:

• “Quilter’s Think” panel – we have a few different ones to pick from on our website
• 2 yards of Pink Polka dot fabric
• 2 yards of Blue Polka dot fabric
• 1 yard of Sewing Tools fabric
• Fat Quarter yard of accent trim fabric
• 1/2 yard of Quilter’s Grid
• 36″ x 58″ Soft & Stable – 1 package
• Basting Spray
• Rotary Cutter and Ruler
• Wonder Clips

Steps:

1. Iron panel flat and cut out according to the lines.  You will end up with (12) 3.5″ squares.
2. Cut (12) 3/5″ squares of each of the polka dot fabrics.
3. Iron onto piece of grid in the pattern shown in the picture.  (I ironed both sides of the bag at the same time and will trim it after sewing.)
4. Flip and sew each row, leaving the middle seam unsewn for trimming.  (Check out our video HERE to see how to use the Quilter’s Grid).
5. Cut down the middle, unsewn seam to separate into 2 equal pieces.
6. Measure across the middle of each piece to determine the size of top and bottom borders.
7. Cut (4) 4″ wide strips by the width of the main piece.  If you are going to add the accent strip, you will want to cut (4) 1.5″ strips the width of the main piece as well.
8. Fold accent piece in half and iron.
9. You will now sandwich the accent piece, the 4″ border strip, and the main piece together, with right sides together and raw edges towards the seam.  The Wonder Clips are great for this step – NO PINS NEEDED 🙂
10. Sew and iron with the accent piece facing the desired direction.
11. Repeat for 3 other seams.
12. Measure you main body pieces and cut (2) squares of Soft & Stable to match.  I used Basting Spray to attach the stabilizer to the main body piece.  You can now quilt these pieces or just leave the way they are.  I just ran a straight stitch across the seam of the border pieces.
13. Cut out (2) 4″ x the height of the main body piece & stabilizer.  Spray bast these pieces.
14. Cut out (1) 4″ x the width of the main body piece & stabilizer for the bottom of the bag.  Spray bast this piece.
15. Sew the 2 side pieces to the main body pieces to create the body of the bag.  Then carefully sew the bottom piece, making sure you get the corners attached.
16. Cut out (2) pieces of the Pink Polka Dot fabric to the same size of the main body pieces.
17. Cut out (2) 4″ x the height of the main body piece.
18. Cut out (1) 4″ x the width of the main body piece.
19. Cut out  (1) 10″ x 12″ piece.  Fold, right sides together, to create a 6″ x 10″ rectangle – press flat.  Sew 3 open sides, leaving a small gap for turning.
20. Turn right side out and press.
21. Line up the pocket about 4″ from the top of the bag liner piece and centered, making sure the gap for turning is at the bottom.
22. Sew on the pocket on 3 sides, leaving the top open.  You can also add an additional seam in the middle of the pocket from top to bottom to create a double pocket.
23. Sew all liner pieces together to create the bag lining.
24. Insert liner into main body, matching seams.  Sew a small hem to keep the liner in place.
25. Create a “binding” for the top of the bag by cutting a 2″ strip and ironing it to create a double folded strip.
26. Using the Wonder Clips, attach. the binding to the top of the bag.  Machine stitch this on, covering all raw edges.
27. Once done, you will hand stitch the leather handles on.
28. The last step is to show off your beautiful new bag to your friends 🙂

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial.  I’m still new to writing directions, so please let me know if you have any questions or suggestions for future tutorials.

~Happy Sewing!

The Perfect Little Summer Dress (and it’s super easy)

Recently, one of my adorable nieces celebrated her 4th birthday.  She truly believes she is a princess and insists on wearing dresses every day.  So, what is a better gift than a new dress.  I didn’t really follow a pattern, but by using tips and tricks that I learned using Angela Yosten’s Rags to Ruffles pattern.

My girls thought is would be fun to make her a matching dress for her doll as well. 

I found a tutorial for this pillowcase-style dress on the “Creating Kidstuff” blog.  Click here for the tutorial.

Happy Sewing!  ~Jill

Honor your Teachers with this Cute Gift Idea!

“A teacher is a compass that activates the magnets of curiosity, knowledge, and wisdom in the pupils.”  ~Ever Garrison

As National Teacher Appreciation week fast approaches, I find myself, yet again, scouring Pinterest for ideas to make for my girls’ teachers.  As they get older and have more teachers, I find myself looking for gift ideas that help me stretch a buck.  After looking through my stash of school supplies (yes, I am addicted to them) and came across my extra composition books.  My search then turned to ways to cover them with fabric.  My favorite came from one of my favorite fabric designers, Vanessa Christenson of V and Co.

I used her tutorial to make this adorable cover for my oldest daughter’s teacher – I hope see likes it 🙂

It’s amazing what you can do with some fabric scraps, a sewing machine, and a little time.  I used some jelly roll scraps that I had lying around.  Check out our collection of pre-cuts on our website!

A Simple Coaster Tutorial

 Hey there…I wanted to show you an easy tutorial that would make a great gift out of a charm pack.  

Patchwork Coasters without all the work.

 I started with a Deep in the Heart of Texas charm pack.  I was checking to see if we still had these…it looks like we don’t but you could easily use a Deep in the Heart of Texas Fat Quarter Bundle or any of our other charm packs or precuts.  Just make sure you cut your fabrics to 5″ x 5″ squares.

 You will also need fusible fleece.  

 Separate your charms into 4 stacks of 5 pieces.   

 Cut a 5″ x 5″ square of fusible fleece for each stack.

 Iron your fleece to the wrong side of the fabric piece that you want as the bottom of the coaster.

 Take the other 4 pieces, fold them in half and press.

 Now you want to start “stacking your 4 folded pieces onto the back piece.  You want to lay the pieces down so that half of each strip is showing.  I took several pictures to demonstrate this step, above.

 Repeat the stacking for each stack of 5.

 Sew your pieces together using a 1/4″ seam allowance.  Then cut the corners at an angle.

 Now you want to turn your coaster right side out.  Open the center and pull the back through the hole created by the 4 folded pieces.

 Keep pulling the piece through.

 This is what it will look like.

 You want to work your corners out so they are more square.  See that really pretty Classic Crystal Point Turner?  I absolutely adore this tool.  I always used scissors or a pencil and always wound up poking out my corners.  I would recommend that everyone needs one of these.

 Get your corners squared as much as possible and press your coaster.  You are now DONE!  Wasn’t that easy?

 Repeat for the other 3 stacks.  

 I had enough of the charm pack left to go ahead and make 8 coasters.  I have a certain someone in mind who I think will love this coaster set.

Here is the back of the coasters.  Just as cute as the front.

Enjoy the tutorial and I hope you are all having a fantastic day!

Curling Iron Cover–Tutorial

Hey everyone!  It is 4 a.m.  I can’t sleep…know why…my step-daughter is graduating from high school tonight.  Wow, where has the time gone?  We were talking yesterday about all the preparations for graduation, her graduation party, her last day of school…let’s just say, we ended up in a very tearful hug full of happy and sad tears…Jeez…I am actually tearing up right now thinking of it.  I just want to say, I am the LUCKIEST step-mom in the whole world.  My “kids” are the BEST!


Ok, enough of that and 3 tissues later…because I can’t sleep I have decided to show y’all a tutorial this morning.  My version of the curling iron/flat iron cover.  I love this bag.  You can slide your irons in it as soon as you are done…while they are hot…without having to wait for them to cool down.  How cool is that?  You can do this because you will be using InsulBright Material for the inner “batting”. 

I used fabric from Home a la mode…you can find the Tangerine Dottie Fabric here, the Ric Rac here, and I used one strip of fabric from our Scrap bags.

To start with:  you will need 1-3 coordinating fabrics.   InsulBright Material. Fastener, I chose to use a velcro tab, you can use whatever you like.  Any type of extra trims you like.

Cut from Fabric

2–18.5″ x 6.5″ rectangles–if using 2 fabrics cut one from each.

2–14.5″ x 6.5″ rectangles–if using 2 fabrics cut one from each

2–13.5″ x 6.5″ rectangles–if using 2 fabrics cut one from each

From the fabric that you want to “trim” the bag with, cut a 2.25″ inch strip to make a binding strip.  You will fold this piece in half and press. 


Cut from  InsulBright


1–18″ x 6″ rectangle


1–14″ x 6″ rectangle


1–13″ x 6″ rectangle–I chose to use regular batting for this piece.  It is up to you what you use.

Next you will need to make a “sandwich” with your fabric and  InsulBright/Batting.

Begin quilting.  I chose to go with a straight line stitching.  I found the center of my fabric, sewed down that line…then just lined up the edge of my walking foot with the center line and used that as they width of my rows.

Repeat this for all 3 rectangles.

Next you want to put “trim” on the tops of the 14.5″ x 6.5″ and 13.5″x 6.5″ rectangles.  Take your trim piece place your raw edge across the top of the rectangle on the 6.5 ” in edge and sew using a quarter inch foot.  Fold the trim piece over the top of the rectangle then secure it to the back by sewing down the edge as close as you can.

Layer all three rectangles together and sew them together.

Now you want to take your trim piece and attach it to your layered rectangle just like you would quilt binding. 

I usually finish binding by hand.  I wanted to try using my machine this time.  I really like how it turned out.

Now you can add your fastener.

Now just finish up with whatever trims you would like to add.  There are so many ways you could “dress” this up or you can just leave it plain and simple.  I also wanted to show you a case cover that I made my sister.

I hope this has been helpful.  If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.  I would also love to see any that you make!!!

What in the world is Ruching?

According to wiseGeek.com the definition of Ruching is:

Ruching is a French term which means to gather, ruffle, or pleat; the term is a sewing technique in which fabric or ribbon is gathered in a repeating pattern to form ruffles, scallops, or petals. The technique has been used for many years to decorate clothing, accessories, and quilts; since then, modern technology has allowed seamstresses to use multiple tools to create precise, even ruching that has kept the technique current. Today many items can be ruched for added visual detail, including wedding dresses, flower appliques, pillows, and blinds. The technique is a detailed technique that should be learned, but it basically consists of evenly folding, stitching, and gathering a length of material until reaching the desired result.

I recently learned how to do this technique and would like to show you how to do it.


You can use any size of fabric you like.  For this tutorial I used 1 strip from a Jelly Roll.  It measures 2 1/2″x44″.  Feel free to experiment with different sizes and widths to get the desired look you want.

Start by folding your strip in half lengthwise and press.

Fold each half in half again and press.

Mark a 45 degree alternating angle down the entire length of your fabric.  For demonstration purposes I used a much darker chalk than I normally would:

Stitch along your marked line.  Do not backstitch your ends. You want to have long ends hanging to gather your fabric.  Set your machine to the longest straight stitch that you can.  Take your time.  When you get to the edge of your angle, put your needle in the down position, pivot your fabric so you can follow your marked line:

Start pulling your bottom thread to gather the strip.  Don’t pull too hard or your string will break and you will have to start over:

Play with, how gathered you want your strip.  Different tensions will cause you to have different results.  I prefer a “looser” gather:

Now you have your finished strip and you can use it to decorate your project, however you like.

I hope you have found this tutorial to be helpful.  If you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment. 

Let’s Go Sew!
Kristin

Cute Little Flower Tutorial

Raise your hand if you are obsessed with blogs. (ME, ME, ME)  I love waking up every morning pouring a cup of coffee and just spending a few minutes seeing what all the wonderful people out in Blogland have created.  I actually have learned how to do the type of sewing I am doing by reading different tutorials.  There is sooooo much wonderful information out there.  Last week, a post came out on how to make a super cute fabric flower using ric rac.  You can check out the tutorial here.  Well I love ric rac! So naturally I HAD to make my own.

Isn’t that adorable?  I love this color combo.  Well, I couldn’t just stop with a flower.  I had to put this little cutie on something.  But what? A hair clip for my little angel?  Make a grouping for a wreath for the front door?  How about some stuck in a vase as a little flower arrangement?  Nope I settled on making a little zippy bag. 


I started by selecting fabrics from the Ready Set Snow fabric line.

This is what I came up with.

Not sure about you, but I think this little bag is PRECIOUS!  I was so excited about how it turned out, that I decided to make some more just in case you might want to order one.

You can purchase them here

Hope you are having a GREAT day!  Let me know what inspires you.

Let’s go Sew!
Kristin