by Mac

It’s All About the Zig Zags!

February 21, 2012 in Projects

Well, lately I have been drooling over chevron and zig-zag sewing projects, quilts, and fabrics so I thought I would share a few of the items that are currently on my DIY to-do list and of course I made sure they hall had tutorials!

 

1. ModKid Zig Zag Quilt - first of all, she uses a serger to construct this quilt, which is awesome! But, you can also certainly make it with a sewing machine as well. (click the pic to open the tutorial pdf)

Photo and tutorial courtesy of Patty Young

2.  Ombre Painted Chevron Curtains from Remodel-Aholic- Okay, so this is cheating a little since it is not exactly a sewing tutorial, BUT we craft too right? And say you sewed these curtains yourself a long time ago and don’t need those instructions right? Right! (click the pic to open the tutorial page)

Photo & tutorial courtesy Nancy of Owen's Olivia

3. Chevron Clutch Tutorial + Pattern from See Kate Sew- So this is the cutest thing ever. It can be a diaper clutch for your mom friends or a simple cute pouch for those days when an entire purse is unnecessary. Also, this would be very cute (an easy!!) as a gift to your bridesmaids filled with lip balm and tiny hairspray and gum and stuff! (click the pic to open the tutorial page)

 

photo and tutorial courtesy of See Kate Sew

 Do you know of any great chevron-ish tutorials?

If so, please link to them in the comments section so I can continue to cover everything in my life with chevron!

by KellyC

If you Can’t Buy it, Dye it!

February 17, 2012 in Tips & Tricks

Can’t find the right color of fabric for your next project? You’ve searched high and low for that shade to match another material, but no luck? Here is your solution! I recently did some dying myself on English cotton netting and I was having trouble getting the specific shade I wanted. I came across Rit Dye’s website that solved my problem. It not only gives you color formulas to make all different shades, but forecasts the latest Spring, Summer, and Fall 2012 colors!

Shop for fabric online?

February 9, 2012 in Find It / Buy It, General, Sewing supplies

 

Do you shop online for fabric? If so, where? I would like to sew a new swimsuit this season, so, I am currently in the market for cute print swimsuit fabric, which isn’t the easiest to find! I am still early in my search, but, I stumbled upon this article I read awhile back from Threads Magazine’s website (which is where the picture above came from as well), “Online Shopping and Resource Guide.”

They have many many fabric stores listed!! I’m sure there are even more than listed, but, it’s nice to have a place to reference new stores rather than searching through a search engine! If you have a favorite online fabric store, let us all know!!! I, for one, would love to check it out!

Update! Found some cute swimwear fabric on etsy…just bought this (click picture for link)…

Can’t wait!! Stay posted for the end product!! :D

Also, I thought this swim fabric was interesting too, also from etsy (click picture for link)

by Susan G

A Cute Ruffled Valentine’s Shirt Tutorial

February 9, 2012 in Projects

Photo courtesy of Craftiness is not Optional, click for scrap tutorial!

We found a great idea for an adorable Valentine shirt on a really cute blog, Craftiness is not Optional.  The original project (at right) involved sewing fabric strips into a heart, but we thought it might be easier (and just as cute) using ribbon (tutorial below)!

Supplies needed:

  1. 1 plain shirt
  2. some decorative ribbon
  3. disappearing ink pen
  4. cardboard for tracing.

With our Ellure Plus, we were able to make this shirt in less than an hour. Little Charlotte will look so cute wearing it on Valentine’s Day!

Step One:
Cut a heart shape out of cardboard and trace it onto the shirt with disappearing ink:
I used a pin to hold it in place while I traced it:
Before adding ribbon ruffles, we thought about embroidering a name or initial in the center of the heart.  We decided not to simply because Charlotte has a baby cousin who wants to get her hand me downs :)
You can add a name or initial in the center before adding ruffles

Step 2:

Cut 2 pieces of ribbon about 24 inches long. This seemed to be a good length for the size we did (shirt was size 3T). Tip: The nice thing about using ribbon instead of sewn fabric strips is that you can add more ribbon if it is not long enough.  It is easy to “splice” more pieces along the way by hiding it in the ruffles.

Step 3:

Start sewing one piece of ribbon from the bottom of the heart going along one side.  Fold the end under and back up a few stitches when starting.  As you sew, fold/pleat the ribbon as you follow along the line drawn.  Back up a few stitches at the end of the ribbon.  Do the same with the second piece of ribbon and follow the heart outline.

Fold the ribbon under as you sew along the line.
In progress:
The finished product :
So cute and so simple!
Related Projects:
We found this to be so easy and so cute, that we did a few more items.  We are also looking for green ribbon to make shamrock shirts for St. Patrick’s Day!  Maybe a Christmas tree out of ribbons. . . .
Smaller heart on hoodie for our 10 year old niece
Large initial out of ribbon on another shirt for little Charlotte
Thank you for the inspiration Craftiness is not Optional!

by debbie

Sewn and Embroidered Valentine Lolli-Covers

February 8, 2012 in Projects

ts_lollypops_web

Do you love Valentine’s Day? Do you love to brighten the day with sweet treats? Give your sweet treats a special touch with fun lolli-covers. Whether they are for your child’s class or your closest girls, they are sure the make the recipient feel loved!

Download project

by Susan G

Embroidered Baby Gift Ideas and Tips

February 6, 2012 in News

Looking for easy, inexpensive baby gifts? Many of our friends are having their second and third children and, therefore, do not really need another toy or outfit.  However, bibs and burp cloths start to show some wear with multiple children.

With our Ellure Plus, we found ways to make cute, inexpensive gifts for friends and family with new babies.

Starting with store-bought burp cloths and bibs (about $2/piece at Babies R Us), diaper covers, and ribbon (we found cute ribbon at Costco for $9.99/10 rolls)  we can embroider names or initials for the little ones, as well as embellish with some ribbon or rick rack.

It was very inexpensive to buy all of the supplies, and we have plenty to keep on hand for future gifts :)

With narrower ribbon or rick rack, we found it easier to use spray adhesive to hold it in place while sewing, instead of pins. 

****Big brother/sister gift ideas:

As a mother of three, I am always grateful when I receive a gift for my new baby.  In addition, many people include “big brother” or “big sister” gifts for the older siblings, something I now continue to do when I give baby gifts.  We found that a store-bought pillowcase or fleece blanket embroidered with the child’s name can be an easy, inexpensive gift to celebrate the “big kid’s” new role in the family.

It is easy to find plain or patterned blankets and pillowcases on sale at different department or big box stores.

We embroidered all of the the baby and big brother/sister gifts with the six preloaded fonts on the Ellure Plus.

We have three more friends who are expecting, so we hope to expand our ideas (and sewing and embroidery skills) before the next round of babies arrive!

 

 

 

 


 

 

by Mac

Chatting & Improv Piecing with Shanny-Pants!

February 2, 2012 in News

Remember in the Fall when we went to The Sewing Summit and met the most awesome group of sewing bloggers on the planet and then came back and gave away the Baby Lock Audrey machine to one of the attendees here on Totally Stitchin’? Well, since then our giveaway winner, Shanny-Pants, has been hard at work of her new machine and we wanted to catch up with her on how things have been going since the Summit!  Oh an of course we asked her if she would pretty please make a Valentine’s Day inspired tutorial that we can all enjoy, and she said yes!

Here’s the bloggerview:

TS: How long have you been sewing?

Shanny-Pants: About 2 1/2 years now and I’m more addicted than ever!

TS: Are you a general sewer, quilter, craft sewer, garment? Or all of the above?

Shanny-Pants: I would have to go with general sewer, quilter and craft sewer. I wish I could say I was an amazing seamstress, but in the clothing department, I have only made skirts so far. My favorite thing to sew is quilt tops for sure!

TS: What brought you to The Sewing Summit?

Shanny-Pants: I was following both Amy and Erin’s blogs so when the first announcement came out, I thought it would be so fun to meet like minded women who had a modern style. I knew I had to sign up!

TS: What was your favorite part about The Sewing Summit?

Shanny-Pants: I loved so many things about it, I don’t know if I could pick one favorite thing! I loved the improv piecing class taught by Jessica Berrett (Urban Patchwork) as well as the Machine Quilting taught by Allison Harris. LOVED the Baby Lock Sewing Room and meeting so many wonderful, cool, creative women was the icing on the cake!

 TS: Who do you follow most in the world of sewing/quilting and why?

Shanny-Pants: That is a hard one! I honestly don’t think I have 1 favorite. I love Denyse Schmidt  fabrics and patterns and get inspiration from Pinterest and about a million blogs…There isn’t enough time in the day!!!

TS: You restarted your own blog (for the 3rd time) after The Sewing Summit, what inspired you to try again and stick to it?

Shanny-Pants: I’ve always love the ” idea” of a blog, but I always got caught up in the actual mechanics of it – posting, thinking of new things to write about, blah, blah, blah, and pretty soon, I just overwhelmed myself with expectations. What I think finally clicked for me was that I want a blog for ME. I want to look back and see what I’ve created, what I’ve done and hopefully what I have learned along the way.

TS: What is your 2012 sewing/quilting goal?

Shanny-Pants: I have a few! I want to improve my quilting skills enough that I actually feel confident in my abilities. So far I have only quilted 2 baby quilts and a few place mats! I also want to make a Chevron quilt and a totally improv quilt as well.

We think it is so inspiring that she was stuck in the expectations phase in starting a blog, but then realized that she had to have a purpose and with that purpose, her blogging made sense!

And now for the tutorial! How cute is this Valentine’s Day inspired improv-pieced pincushion?

Click for the free tutorial!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Click the here to hop over to Shannon’s blog for the full tutorial

Thanks Shanny-Pants!


 

 

How to Pin Correctly

February 1, 2012 in News, Tips & Tricks

 

When I am teaching students how to sew, I often teach, what I think is, the easier way (and what I would consider as the “correct” way) to pin. I just read this article this morning, confirming that there is a “correct” way to pin: “How to Use Pins the Right Way” from threadsmagazine.com. The author,Susan Khalje, explains with a number of reasons why to pin perpendicularly to the seam/hem. It’s also more convenient to pin perpendicularly to the seam when you are machine sewing because they are more easily removed (I teach students not to sew over pins as best they can so that we avoid bent pins, bent or broken machine needles, and/or machine damage). Also, if you incorrectly pin parallel to the seam to machine sew, if the pin heads are heading towards the sewing machine foot, often they are harder to remove because the pin usually gets to close the foot, if not under it! On the other hand, if your pin points are heading towards the sewing machine foot while sewing, it is way too easy to stab your finger really hard because the machine is pulling one way, your hand is sliding the other way…you get the picture! Done it…it hurts!!

by Stacey

Sew a Valentine’s Outfit for your Little Sweetheart!

February 1, 2012 in Projects

This easy-to-make boutique style outfit is perfect for your little sweetheart.

Download the free sewing tutorial!

A Nifty Jean Hem

January 26, 2012 in Projects

Keep the manufactured edge of your jeans with this hem! You can hardly tell they’ve been hemmed! This works best with jeans that have smaller manufactured hems, but, can be done with larger hems, you may just have to figure the math differently. In this case, the hem is 5/8″. You also may not be able to implement this hem on anything that is too tapered. Use a jean needle, a presser foot with a button (if you have one), and navy or jean thread (or the color to best match your jeans)

1. Try your jeans on and have someone, preferably someone other than yourself, pin your jeans to the desired length.

2. Measure pinned hem; this is where you will cut.

3. Mark the length you just measured on the front and back of the leg.

4. It may seam odd to cut off right where you want your finished hem to lay, but, this is what you will do (shown below). Keep each cut piece with the correct jean leg; I like to pin one hem to the correct leg while I’m working with the other to make sure I keep them straight).

5. Measure the manufactured hem because your seam allowance will be this amount. Shown below, my hem is 5/8″.

6. Turn the piece that you just cut off inside out and mark what you just measured (in my case, 5/8″) above the manufactured hem (shown below).

7. Cut on your mark. This is now part of your seam allowance that you will sew back onto your jeans. It sounds weird, but it looks really great when finished!

8. Now we are ready to pin the hem to the jeans.

9. The picture below shows the hems placed “pretty” or right sides together on the correct leg with correct seams together (I say correct seams because more often than not your outer seam is top stitched with jean thread and your inner seam is just a normal seam). You may need to stretch just a bit.

10. My JEAN needle is in the center and I stitched as close to the manufactured hem as possible without stitching on it. If you have a machine foot that has the button on it, use that foot! Definitely use a jean needle, they’re trucks when sewing jeans!! I just use navy thread or jean thread (I like this jean thread for some jeans).

11. When you are sewing over the thick hem, your foot may look like this and or skip stitches…check out the next step!

12.  Lift your foot up, let it flatten out, engage the button so that your foot will remain flat as it stitches over the bulk of the hem; it pops back out on its own. It works great!

13. Serge the raw edge to avoid fraying! I have a Baby Lock Diana and love it (on a different note, check out my blog post about the cover stitch)!

14. Now, fold your hem out, iron if necessary.

15. Stitch close to the left side of the seam to flatten out  the hem with navy thread or this jean thread, whatever will hide and blend the best! You may have to pull the right and left side slightly as you sew to keep it flat and from rolling over to the hem side.

16. I like to stitch up the side seam above the hem for about a half inch so that my seam allowance underneath doesn’t flip to the outside (in this step you are sewing on top but the underside seam allowance is facing up towards the top of the jeans).

The Finished Product

The Finished Product

Step 17: Wear them without stepping on them!! :D Let me know if anything is unclear!