String quilt

I've been working on this quilt for a while. It's for someone special, but I won't say who yet. This type of quilt is called a string quilt.
If you'd like to see how it's done, I'll show you! Start by choosing a bunch of random fabrics and cutting strips of varying widths. Mine ranged from .5" to maybe 3".

It uses paper piecing, which I was sure would be really complicated. I really ended up loving the method. You start with a square of paper the size you want your final blocks to be. I used old computer paper that was going to be recycled. At first I was going to make bigger blocks, but then I realized I didn't want them to be bigger than my sheets of paper or I'll have to tape sheets together. It was just easier to make them 8.5" square.
After cutting your papers into squares, draw a line on the diagonal from corner to corner.

Choosing one solid fabric that is used consistently and only on that diagonal will create a neat effect when the quilt is put together. I'll have to show you that later. I chose white. I believe these strips were 1" wide. Use a fabric glue stick to stick this first strip to the diagonal.

Randomly select a bunch of strips in differing prints and widths. Lay the first one right-side down on the white strip, with the right edges matched.

Sew a quarter inch seam allowance right through the paper. Use a small stitch length so that your paper will perforate well and you can more easily pull it off later.

Press the strip open.

Repeat with another strip on the other side of the white strip.

Add another strip to either side of those.

Keep on going until you have covered all of the paper. As you can see, as you approach the corners, you need smaller and smaller pieces. So I cut off any major excess and set it aside to use for these corners on future blocks. I barely had enough fabric for all of my blocks, so I'm glad I wasn't wasting long strips on these tiny areas.

In the end, your block will look messy, like this. Incidentally, I mostly tried not to use the same fabric twice on the same block, but here I did.

Now, to make it all pretty. Get your rotary cutter, square ruler and mat. Turn your block over so you can see the paper.

Line up your ruler so that the edges on the top and right sides match up with the edge of the paper. Use this opportunity to square it up as much as you need to.

Cut the top and right sides off.

Rotate your square and repeat.

And looky what you've got! A beautiful and perfect square. I'll show you later how to put them together to look purty. (And, yes, that's a different block than I showed above. I lost that one in the pile.)

Tutorial: How to make a toddler sleeper sack with foot holes - 2 sizes!

Even though my son is 15 months old and considered out of the direct line of fire for SIDS, I'm still nervous about having thick blankets in his crib. Also, he kicks them right off. Last year, we used regular sleeper sacks, but he outgrew them for this year. Plus, this active toddler needed his feet free.













Unfortunately, I do not have $20 a pop for the store-bought ones. I whipped up this pattern and tutorial, did some smart shopping at Joann Fabrics and made these for very little. I got my fleece on sale for $3.99 a yard, bought a zipper and some black ribbed knit. Since the ribbing for the knit runs crosswise, you end up with a length of it. So I bought black and made sure all of my three fleece fabrics would go with that one piece of ribbed knit.

  


 



Here is just one example of my fantastic photography skills. You'll be treated to many more throughout this tutorial.


I have added a size large to this tutorial and suggested a few changes throughout. If I get around to sewing another one, I'll put some photos. I whipped this up and sewed one quickly, so I apologize if it's not a perfect pattern, but I promise it will do the job. I'm just very overwhelmed with work right now.




Supplies, 1 sleeper sack:

• 1 yard of fleece (either size)

• 1 18" zipper (size small) or 22" zipper (size large) that coordinates

• 2 pieces of ribbed knit that are at least 7" wide (size small) or 9" wide (size large) and 4" tall

• Obvious things like pins, thread, sewing machine, scissors
  
• Matching fold-over elastic - 1/2 yard plus a few inches just to be safe. This is totally optional and used for the armholes. Alternatively, fold over the edge of the armhole and stitch.

Tips: 

• Use a 1/2" seam allowance, except where noted.

• Fleece is easier to sew with a longer stitch length. My machine goes from 0-4 and I found that 3 worked nicely. Normally I sew on 2.

• One thing I forgot to mark on the small pattern was the grainline. Grainline is parallel to the straight edges (front edge and center back).

Finished measurements for size SMALL (I made this for a 15-month-old of average size. ETA: My son is going on 22 months and still fits in these just fine.):

• Center front length, neckline to crotch - 21"
• Center back length, neckline to crotch - 23"
• Length in front from bottom of leg band to shoulder - 27"
• Width from shoulder edge to shoulder edge - 15"

Finished measurements for size LARGE - I'm sorry, but I don't have these. My son is now 5, so I won't be making another of these. If someone wants to send me the measurements after making one to share with others, that would be wonderful!

Pattern:

Like many downloadable, print-yourself patterns, you will print this on several (12-size small, 16-size large) pieces of regular paper and then tape them together according to the markings. I am not very high-tech at making the pattern -- I just drew it, no computer. To make it print correctly, the pages have a border. You'll cut off at each of the border lines and tape the pattern together at the letters and marks. I have also numbered the pages. Here is a layout of the pages taped together:

After taping your pages together to form the entire pattern pieces, cut them out.

NOTE ON SIZE SMALL: WAIT. Don't cut them out yet. I have edited this to add that throughout using the ones I made, I have often wished the leg holes were a little wider. I do not have time to redo the pattern, so you might want to simply draw the leg openings a little wider and also cut your ankle ribbing a little bigger. I would just do this on the inside of the leg and adjust the curve to meet with your new line. Ours functioned fine and I have continued to use them, but I just think they'd be better with a little more room there. After deciding if you want to adjust this portion of the pattern, cut out your pieces.
Size LARGE is already adjusted with wider leg holes.

I know I'm not an expert pattern maker. I just did the best I could to throw something together. No doubt many of you can come up with a better way to put it together or improve the pattern, so feel free to make changes as you go!

Print these PDF pattern pieces. Sorry that they are all separate. Let me know if you have trouble with any of them. There is a 1" square gauge on one of the pieces so you can be sure they printed correctly.

For some time, I've had trouble with PDFs on here and asked people to email me to get them. However, I'm hoping I've solved that problem now, so hopefully you can access the patterns below.

Pattern, size SMALL
Pattern, size LARGE


Cutting layout:

This is the cutting layout. It's pretty basic. The back is cut on the fold and you cut two of the front piece.
For the ribbing, you need two pieces 4"x7" NOTE: 4"x9" for size LARGE. I had trouble using words to describe how the ribbing should be oriented, so I made you a really helpful drawing. I'm not kidding when I say that the only things I can do in Photoshop are draw lines and add text.

Instructions:

Take one of your front pieces and your zipper. You might like to press your zipper a little to smooth it out. Lay your zipper next to your front edge, lining the top of the zipper tape with the top of the straight edge. Make a mark just above the zipper stop (I also made a mark on the pattern piece that you can use). That's where the arrow pointing up is. From that point down, sew the two front pieces together, right-sides together. You will add the zipper in the next step.

 Pin your zipper right-sides together with one of your front pieces. Since it's face-down in the picture below, I'm working with the side of the zipper tape that's closest to the edge of the fabric.

Here is a zoomed-out view.

 Using your zipper foot, sew your zipper to the fabric. I realized later that I was doing this sort of the way you'd insert an invisible zipper, even though this is a regular zipper. It worked just fine. I'm not sure why I did it this way. If you prefer the standard way, that's just fine.

Flip your zipper around so that you can see how pretty it will look.

Now lay this piece right-sides together on your other front piece and align the other side of your zipper tape to the front edge of that piece. It's hard to see in the picture below. Sorry about that.

Sew the other side of the zipper tape to the second front piece. Turn your whole front piece over and press. It will look like the picture below. In this picture, I'm top-stitching to secure the area around the zipper and prettify it.

 Now you'll sew your shoulder seams. Place this newly finished front piece right-sides together with the back piece and sew along the top of the shoulders.

 I chose to trim my seams with pinking shears. Most fleeces won't really ravel or shed, but some do. This one doesn't, but I thought it would be nice to reduce bulk and make the seams look neater.

 Next, sew along either side of the sack. With right-sides together, pin and sew from bottom of the armhole to the foot opening. Use a 1/2" seam allowance, but as you round the curve to the edge of the foot opening, reduce your seam allowance to 3/8". I should have done a better job on this part of the pattern, but this will allow for a roomier foot opening. It's probably no big deal if you go ahead and use a 1/2" allowance, though.
In the photo below, the flat area on the right is the foot opening. The pinned area is the side of the sack.
NOTE: Size LARGE is already adjusted, so use a 1/2" seam allowance and disregard the part above.

 Now sew the area between the foot openings, shown pinned together below. (In other words, you are not looking at the neck opening below. The sack is upside down in this picture.) Sew between the openings as described above, 3/8" right by the openings, merging into 1/2" in the rest of the seam. Sorry if that's confusing. If it is, then just do 1/2" from start to finish. I'm sure the leg holes will still be roomy enough.

 I'm switching fabrics on you now. For the neck opening and the armholes, simply turn under a little bit of fabric and stitch. Like I said, fleece doesn't ravel and usually doesn't shed, so you shouldn't need to hide the edge of it inside a seam or anything. Just one turn and stitch is sufficient.
If you want to use fold-over elastic for a nicer finish, simply cut out a piece the size of the armhole (measure after sewing -- I'm sorry but I'll have to find the measurements and add later) plus a seam allowance on either end. Sew ends together, right side together, forming a circle. Lining the seams up, fold over the raw edge of the armhole and stitch in place.

Now we'll add the cuffs to the foot holes. First step is on the right in the picture below. Fold your cuff in half with right-sides together and sew along the 4" side. Leave it this way and then fold in half with wrong-sides together so you get the object on the left in the photo below. The raw edges are at the bottom and the top is a folded edge.

 Make sure your sleep sack is right-side out. Place the cuff over the foot opening, aligning all raw edges. Pin and stitch. You can do smaller than a 1/2" seam allowance if you like. Maybe 3/8".

Flip the cuff down and repeat on the other side.

If you're lucky, you'll have a cute little helper to get in your way. If you don't have a cute little helper, this project can probably be whipped up in an hour or so. 

Fix a torn sheet, ghetto style

Six years ago, we got a nice pair of sheets for our wedding. Somehow, we have reached a point where they are our only sheets, and we are broke because the stock market has gone to hell and our entire future is up in smoke. OK, so I'm only pretending to be as freaked out as my husband is. But he kept bugging me to fix the sheets, and I really didn't know what he expected me to do with them since the tear is right in the middle.

Because I hate mending jobs, I suggested we have a "gift party" for ourselves and tell people where we are registered. But he thought that was tacky. Hmmph. So off to the sewing room while the baby naps. 

I'm pretty sure nobody else on Earth wants sheets that look like this, but I'll post my tutorial anyway.

I decided that there was no invisible way to fix these, so I'd just find a way to keep them from tearing even more. I grabbed a few leftover squares from my Dream On Charm Pack (from which I made this quilt).

The squares were just the right size, so I didn't have to cut them. If you are using regular pieces of fabric, just use pinking shears to get a zigzaggy edge.

I needed to apply one on each side lined up just right, so I used quilt basting spray to temporarily attach one. Then I used a fabric marker to mark the corners, knowing that I'd be able to see the marks from the other side.

Then I flipped it over and used basting spray to attach the other square. This stuff isn't all that strong. It allows you to peel off and reposition if you want. I didn't want my squares to shift, so I added pins.

Then I did a wide but short zigzag stitch all the way around, almost like an applique. I actually stitched just inside the edge of the patches, but you could go right over the edge if you like.

And that's it! Hopefully, no more fingers will get caught on the hole and rip it further. Ghetto? Hells yes. But that's how we roll.

Amy Butler Lounge Pants

I bought the fabric for this project at Hip Stitch months ago and then had no time to actually make them. I wanted them for summer usage, but I wore them for about an hour last night and was so hot I couldn't bear it. I always wear pants to bed, but these just have a ton of fabric, I guess. They are big and wide and long.



They are from Amy Butler's "In Stitches" book. So far, they are the only project I've tried from the book. When Brock was about 8 months old, I suddenly felt ready to sew again and I went a little crazy buying cute sewing books and fabric. Then I felt exceedingly overwhelmed because I do not much like having projects piling up and staring me in the face.



I left them a little long, and with the grass, they just kind of hung up. So I am standing tippy-toes to let them hang nicely for the pictures.

I think my pants look a little dumpier than other people's versions, but maybe I needed to make them smaller.



The book appears to have contrast fabric at the bottom in the photo, but I think it's actually just trim that's sewn on top. There are no instructions for contrast fabric. It's obviously easy to figure out, but when I first tried them on before doing the waistband, I thought I had made them suitable for a giant.



But after I sewed up the waist, they were just about perfect. I just needed a slightly larger hem than the instructions suggested.

I ended up adding elastic to the waist in addition to the drawstring. I just find it more comfortable that way.



Instead of using my sewing machine, I serged the pants together. Then I switched to the sewing machine for the buttonholes, waistband, hems and drawstring.



I think one reason I put this project off for so long is that although the pattern book comes with the pattern pieces, it only comes with partial pieces for this project. You have to then attach long pieces of paper and extend the legs to where you want them. I had bought contrast fabric for the bottoms and did lots of calculations when doing my patterns. Calculations and guessing, really. But for me, those are sort of one in the same.

I made a size medium. They fit, but I think a small would have been better. I am 5'4" and still have some baby weight to lose, so I went a size up. Here are my calculations for the leg lengths with contrast fabric, if it helps save anyone else some time:

I added 19-3/4" to each leg piece. This is your main fabric.
The contrast fabric pieces were the width of the leg pattern pieces and 8" long. I used a half-inch seam allowance to attach the two pieces, using the serger, then I did the rest of the pants.

This pattern is really easy to complete after you get the pattern finished up and the fabric cut. But until it cools off here, or the humidity lessens up and lets my swamp cooler work better, I won't be doing much lounging in these.