De-trimming

Remember these brown and white toile pillows?  I did a tutorial on how to sew them, and I was pretty happy with the final product.  Unfortunately, they only looked good for a couple weeks, and then the ball trim started to pull out in places (this was a mysterious occurrence that I'm sure had nothing to do with the fact that James kept throwing them across the living room and Sammy kept kicking them onto the floor).

I finally went through and pulled/cut out all the trim.  It was sad because adding it took so much extra work in the first place, but at least the pillows are still functional, and I do like the more streamlined look.  I guess that teaches me a lesson about trying to be all fancy when I have a preschooler and a rambunctious dog.

Tutorial -- pillow with trim and a zipper

Last week I posted on my new brown and white toile pillows and promised a DIY.  Here are the steps I used.  I'm by no means a master seamstress, so please let me know if you have questions!  Normally I just do a simple pillow with a knife-edge and hand stitch it closed, but this time I incorporated some ball fringe and an invisible zipper.

 Materials: cut your fabric one inch wider than your pillow form to allow for a 1/2-inch seam allowance on all four sides, and plan for a long enough zipper so that you can easily fit your pillow form into the finished pillow.  Press your fabric and the zipper so that everything is flat and wrinkle free!

Start by pinning your trim onto the right side of one piece of fabric.  Try to make as much of a right angle as possible at the corners.  Align your trim so that the two ends meet in an inconspicuous place, probably the bottom of the pillow.  Overlap the trim slightly and play around with it until it looks seamless, then pin carefully.

 Using a straight stitch, sew the trim onto the fabric.  This picture shows the trim once it's been sewn on (see the line of stitching on the wrong side of the fabric?).

 Next, place your two fabric pieces right sides together, then open them up and lay them face down, lining up the seam where you plan on installing the zipper.  You will be sewing the two fabrics together but leaving a space to install the zipper.  This picture just shows how the zipper will be installed in a couple steps; for now you don't need to worry about flipping up the edges of the fabric.

 I lay the zipper on top of the fabric, used pins to mark where the zipper would be installed, removed the zipper, then sewed the two pieces of fabric together, sewing from the outside of the fabric in towards the edge of where the zipper will go.

 Here you can see that the fabrics have been sewn together on the left side of the picture, but there's a gap for the zipper.  Carefully line up where the zipper will go and pin it to one side of the fabric.

 Using your zipper foot attachment, sew as close to the zipper coil as possible.  (I had somewhat unruly trim, so I ended up pinning them down so I wouldn't accidentally sew over them.  This shouldn't be a problem if you're using a standard welt or braided trim.)

 I'm halfway finished with the zipper installation in this picture: the zipper has been sewn to the side with the brown trim, so now I'm pinning it to the other piece of fabric and will sew again as close to the zipper coil as possible, but this time on the other side of the zipper.

Yay, a successfully installed zipper!  Can you see it?  It's hiding right by that one little errant piece of ball fringe.

Now things get easier!  Unzip your zipper (or you'll accidentally end up sewing your pillow shut and won't be able to put your pillow form in!), and pin the two pieces of fabric together on the other three sides.

 

Using a 1/2-inch seam allowance, sew a straight stitch all the way around the three sides.  When you're finished, trim the seam allowance back to about 1/4 inch.  Cut the extra fabric away from the corners, being careful not to cut any threads.

 Using your zig-zag stitch (don't forget to change out your zipper foot attachment or you'll break a needle!), go around the edges of the seam and zig-zag stitch to keep them from unravelling.

Here's the final product:

The front and the back of this pillow are identical, but you could also make a patterned front and solid back.  And of course you could eliminate the trim, which would make this a faster project.  I'm pretty happy with the zipper; I think I might be using this system more often, since I could change out the covers more easily and would just have to store a cover instead of a bunch of bulky pillows!

Repurposed pillows

Lately I've been trying to wrap up existing sewing projects before buying materials for any new ones.  I am also trying to reuse items rather than throw them away.  One recent quick project that accomplished both goals involved reusing a couple of old pillows.

I bought these two red pillows a while back, when we were staging our previous house to put it on the market.  They added a little color to the living room, but they were cheap and have suffered a bit at the hands (mouth?) of our dog--notice the chewed corners in the "before" shot:

I had already purchased the animal print material you see underneath the original pillows in the shot above, so I made some piping, cut open the red pillow covers, and reused the stuffing in my new throw pillows:

They add a little pattern to our living room couch, and I'm planning on making some striped pillows to pull together all the colors--green, tan, brown, cream.  I have another repurposing idea involving pillows and an old throw (another victim of the dog--there are many of these!), so stay tuned for that coming up soon.

In the meantime, Sammy, back away from the pillows!  Doesn't he already look guilty?!

Instant autumn

Around here the leaves are changing and the grass is getting crunchy and the temperatures are a cool...85 degrees.  Wait, what?!  Isn't October supposed to be slightly cooler than that?  Well, the air may feel a bit warm, but the fall season is definitely upon us.  Here are a couple ways to bring some of that autumn feeling into your house.

First, make up a no-sew wool throw to hang over the back of a chair or a couch.  I bought a yard or so of this pretty wool plaid at Hancock's and cut it into two pieces so I could make throws for a pair of chairs.

Next, I started fraying the edges by pulling out individual threads (warning: this may take a while so get comfortable while you're working; this is something you can easily do while watching TV or listening to music).

Here you can see that I've gotten about a quarter of an inch in on one side and am just starting another side:

I ended up making about an inch of fringe around all four sides; I think it looks more finished that way, not like a plain length of fabric.  Here is the throw draped over one of our new chairs:

If you get a thick enough piece of wool, you could make a big one of these and use it as a throw during the cooler weather months.  I'll probably use these as more decorative than functional.

Next, go to Target and buy some candles in the Home Scents "Orange Clove" scent.  The bit of citrus makes the smell not cloying like some pumpkin pie-scented candles can be.

Or maybe you should buy the candles first, then light them so you can get into the autumn mood while working on your wool throw.  Either way, these are helping to tide me over until fall weather gets here in earnest!

What signals the arrival of fall for you?  Raking leaves?  Football?  Cozy sweaters and warm boots?  Starbucks pumpkin spice latte?  :)

Before and after -- bench slipcover

It's been a while since I've had the time to complete a sewing project.  The key word in the previous sentence is "complete," because I have started many projects.  In fact, Josh looked around the house this weekend and said, "There are piles of fabric everywhere!"  This was true, and I also have plastic sacks full of matching spools of thread and invisible zippers and yards of trim.  My sewing is progressing at such a slow pace in part because I refuse to pay full price for anything from the fabric store.  By the way, pillow forms will be on sale for 54% off (good price!!) at Hancock's Fabrics starting this Thursday, so I will hopefully get around to making a few throw pillows this weekend.

In the meantime, I did (finally!) complete this little bench makeover.  I already had some green tweed-like upholstery fabric, so I decided to make a slipcover for a bench we already had and use it in the living room for some additional seating.  Here are a couple before and after pictures.  In case you're interested in the step-by-step process, I'll post pictures below.

Before

After

The "how to" steps:

 Materials: foam (I used 2-inch foam), fabric, and piping.  See how bored the dog is by my ongoing projects and the photographing of these projects?

 I ended up using three packets of this pre-made piping, although you could easily make your own if you want to do self-welt or want something more custom-looking.

To cut the foam, use a serrated knife or (if you have one) an electric carving knife.

 Here is the foam cut to fit the top of the bench.  I also added a couple layers of light batting just to bring in a little more cushiony feel.  (And in case you're wondering, yes, my son is wearing a long-sleeve thermal shirt that says "Snowy Peaks Mountain: Fresh Hot Cocoa."  It was 90 degrees outside at the time.)

 Cut all your pieces of fabric: one for the top, and a few to piece together for the skirt of the slipcover.

 I cut the top of the bench out first, leaving an extra half-inch all around for seam allowance.  I pinned the piping to the top, carefully keeping it right at the edge.  Then sew this piping on to keep it in place.

 After sewing on the first piece of piping at the top of the seat, I sewed together four panels to make a box around the top of the foam.  I sewed this band to the top of the seat, then pinned on another piece of piping, again leaving about a half an inch at the bottom for the seam allowance.

 Next, I sewed together the skirt itself.  Unless you're using a fabric with no discernible vertical or horizontal pattern (in which case you can just run a length of the fabric all around the skirt without seams--called railroading), you will probably have to sew together a few pieces of fabric to make the skirt.  I pinned the skirt fabric to the bench before sewing to make sure that the seams would be hidden within the corner pleats.  Then just sew them together in one big band and iron your seams open.

Once the skirt has been sewn together, pin it to the top of the slipcover and fold in pleats wherever you want them.  Carefully sew the two pieces together, making sure to stay as close to the piping as possible to get a nice, clean look.  Once everything has been sewn together, hem the skirt by folding up some fabric, pressing, then folding again to get to the correct hem length.  (You can hem the skirt before sewing it to the rest of the slipcover, but I like to wait till the end because measuring isn't my strength and I'd rather not have to correct a mistake at this point!)

 The finished slipcover has two lengths of brown piping running around the top and bottom of the seat, with a pleat on each corner.  I may sew some strips of fabric with velcro underneath to make the top of the slipcover more taut, and I'm thinking of adding some sort of tie at the corners just to reign in the heavy upholstery fabric.

And here's the final look: the bench neatly fits a spot in the corner of the living room.  Right now we're using it to hold magazines and books, but we could easily pull it out to seat one or two people when we have company.  Also, what do you think of the chairs?  I decided to use the ivory slipcovers for now because I don't think it will be a huge pain to remove them for cleaning periodically.  Do we like the ivory/tan/green/brown color scheme going on here or not?  I think we need a new lamp with a darker shade, but we had this floor lamp already so it will do for now.

How to sew a French seam

I was repairing a duvet cover this week (naughty dog, Sammy!) and used a French seam for a finish that is both polished looking and durable for a piece that will receive multiple washes (again, thanks, Sammy!).  A French seam only takes a little more time than a regular seam but looks much nicer.  Here's how to do it:

Usually, you sew a seam by putting the right sides of the fabric together, but for a French seam, you will actually be sewing the same seam twice, so you start by pinning the wrong sides of the fabric together.  Figure out what your seam allowance is and sew a seam that is half that amount.  Most seams have a 1/2" allowance, so your initial seam would be 1/4".

Once you have sewn the first seam, use a pair of scissors to trim away any excess fabric so you have a small (about 1/8") strip of fabric beyond the seam.

Open up the fabric and iron this strip over to one side.

Then turn the fabric inside out so that the right sides are together.  Pin along the seam if the fabric is shifting at all, and sew your second seam, using the same width as the first seam (usually, 1/4").

Turn your fabric right side out and iron along the seam to smooth out the fabric.  If you want to, you can top stitch along the seam on the right side of the fabric to tack down the little flap of fabric inside.  I didn't do that on this seam, but I did for a couple of other seams on the same piece.

On the inside of the fabric, the seam should look like this: a neat, finished band so you won't have to worry about the unfinished edges fraying over time.

Here's the finished look on the right side of the fabric.  Without a top stitch, it looks like a regular seam:

With the top stitch, it looks like this:

Questions?  Let me know!

How to make cloth napkins

A while back, when listing some ideas for homemade Christmas gifts, I posted a quick guide to making napkins.  However, I was thinking that people might appreciate a slightly more in-depth tutorial.

1. Wash, dry, and press your fabric.  You will obviously want a washable fabric, but besides that, pick something that will match your dishes and taste and preferably not an overly thin fabric.  I used a brown 100% linen fabric, but you could use a cotton or a blend of some kind.  Sometimes the clearance bins at fabric stores are good places to find fabric for napkins; even if they only have a yard or two left, that is plenty to make up a few napkins!

2. Decide on the finished dimensions of your napkins.  Most dinner napkins are around 18-to 20-inches square, luncheon napkins are typically 12- to 14-inches, and a cocktail napkin would be much smaller (around 6 inches).

3. Measure and cut the napkin squares.  You will want to add 1 1/2 inches on each side of the square to allow for the fabric you will lose for seams/turning under.  Using a piece of chalk, a pencil, or a special pen for marking on fabric, outline the napkins onto your fabric using the dimensions you figured out.  Cut out the napkins with a pair of sharp scissors or a rotary cutter and self-healing mat (if you have one of these, you can use a straight edge to get a nice, straight cut).

4. If your fabric has gotten wrinkly during the measuring and cutting process, pull out that iron again (you will use it often in this project!) and quickly press each fabric square.  

 5. Once you have all your fabric squares cut out and ironed, lay it right side down and fold the fabric up 1/2-inch on each side and press, then fold it over 1 inch and press again, as illustrated by the dotted (1/2-inch) and straight (1-inch) lines in this amazing illustration below:

6. Unfold the 1-inch crease and fold each corner in so that the visible creases line up; press all four corners to make little triangles.

7. Unfold your little triangle corners and this time fold the napkin diagonally, putting the right sides together.  Pin, if necessary, and sew a straight stitch along the last crease you made by folding the corner.  Stitch all four corners, then take a pair of scissors and cut the tip of the triangle off each corner, trimming so that there is only about 1/4-inch of fabric beyond the stitch.  Grab that iron again, spread the napkin flat again, and press the seams open so that the corners are flat.

8. Turn the napkin inside out so that it (and the corners) are now right side out.  Press the whole napkin flat since you are getting ready to do your final sewing and you want the edges to be straight.  You should have a 1-inch flap folded under on the wrong side of the napkin.

9. Sew a straight line all the way around the napkin, about 1-inch in from the edges, so that you sew down the the edge of the flap.  Take your time and try to get a really straight line of stitches.  When you get to each corner, slow down as you get close to 1-inch away from the edge, then, with the needle inserted in the fabric, lift your presser foot and rotate the fabric.  Then lower the presser foot again and continue sewing down the next side of the napkin until you finish all four sides.

When you're finished, the wrong side of the napkin should look like this:

The same corner on the right side should look like this (notice that the stitches are not that noticeable):

The final touch: use some napkin rings to draw some attention to the product of all your hard work!  I love these cute little vintage ceramic owls I found.  They are the perfect way to wrap up (literally, ha ha!) your project.

Questions?  Comments?  Feel free to leave me a comment or send me an email at onehalfworld (at) gmail.com and I will get back to you as soon as I can!

Happy sewing!