I wanted to point out some of the fun holiday projects from years past just in case you missed them.

Silly Christmas stickers:

These are silly (free) Christmas stickers my husband and I made.  You can download them here.

Quick and Easy Christmas Stocking Pattern:

This free download includes a template and instructions to make a very easy Christmas stocking.  The pattern is designed by Russell from the Sewing Arts Center (with instructions by me).

Handmade Gift Ideas:

Looking for some last minute gift ideas?  Here are a few free patterns I’ve made that would make for great holiday gifts.

Reversible Eco Bag:

Find the eco bag pattern and tutorial here.

Gratitude Journals:

Here is a Gratitude Journal worksheet to make a custom fabric cover for any notebook.

Place Mats:

This version (above) was for Halloween, but it would be so easy to make a holiday version.  Simply use a tree (or other holiday shape) and some Christmas fabric instead.  Halloween Placemat tutorial here.

Sewing Needle Case:

Easy enough for a beginner and always gets tons of compliments! Sewing Needle Case pattern and tutorial here.

Hope your holiday is off to a good start!

Happy Friday, everyone!  I came down with a bad cold this week (yucky), so I am feeling behind today as we head into the weekend.  However, I really wanted to share a few beginner tips on sewing with felt for anyone who wants to tackle the Ice Cream projects I shared this week.  (There’s a lot of information in the instructions already – they’re 10 pages long -  but this is some more general info for beginners.)

Felt can be a really fun and forgiving material to work with, but I think it helps to know a few tricks of the trade.  I used to just march into the craft store and grab a big stack of the $.25 stuff and proceed with out a plan or pattern.  Sometimes it worked, and sometimes it didn’t.  It can be fun to experiment, but to get those really crisp, detailed projects you see, here are a few things I’ve found really helpful:

1)  Perfectly Cut Shapes. Good sewing always begins with good cutting.  If you’ve ever tried to cut a circle out of felt and ended up with a wonky, wobbly lump instead, you know that cutting felt can be frustrating.  The trick is to use freezer paper.  Trace your template onto freezer paper and iron it shiny side down onto your felt.  Then cut through the template and the felt at the same time.  This will give you that elusive, crisp edge.  The freezer paper peels right off, and you’re left with shapes that look like this:

Many felt projects – especially when you’re dealing with tiny, felt food items – don’t have any seam allowances.  You are stitching the raw, cut edges of the felt to each other so tip #1 is really important.

2)  High Quality Felt. 100% Wool and wool blend felts can seem really expensive, and I totally get that there is a time and place for the cheap acrylic and eco-felt you find at the craft store.  So what’s the big deal about wool?

The 100% Wool I used for the ice cream projects is thick, smooth, and luxurious.  If you’ve ever cut a piece of acrylic felt and pulled on the edges a little bit, you can feel it start to tear and weaken in the middle.  100% Wool is sturdier, less fuzzy, and will hold it’s shape.  There is some heft and body to 100% Wool.

The other difference is that when you are sewing through acrylic and eco-felt, your needle and thread can create holes as the fibers tear away from each other.  There is a great, classic post and side by side comparison on acrylic vs. wool here.  When sewing with wool felt, you can remove stitches and they will not show.  If you’re doing detailed embroidery work, this can make a huge difference if you need to take out a mistake.

3) Cardboard Inserts + Glue. The first time I purchased a Japanese felt food kit (these adorable cookies, below), I was a little bit surprised to see that they were using cardboard inserts and glue to create perfectly round shapes, domes for the macaroons, crisp slices of pie, etc.  Wait, isn’t this cheating?! No, it’s not cheating.  It’s just smart.  I really recommend learning to make a few basic shapes: a dome, a cylinder, etc.  The kits are nice because they contain everything you need and all of the shapes are pre-cut for you, so it’s not too hard to decipher the directions.

4) Master the whip stitch. There is a lot of talk out there about the blanket stitch, and it can make for a nice decorative detail on felt applique projects.  (Although I have to be honest, it looks a little bit “country” to me.)  However, if you’re working on something small, I think the whip stitch is easier and more forgiving especially if you match your thread to your project.  When you are stitching around tiny curves, the blanket stitch can create awkward spacing issues where the thread is just not hugging the curve.  To master the whip stitch, focus on keeping your needle perpendicular to the felt and keep your spacing even.  Each time you move your needle to the side to create the next stitch, you are creating that nice diagonal line.

I hope this is helpful and not too boring!  If you have tips of your own, please chime in.  I’d love to hear them.  Have a great weekend!  I’m hoping to feel well enough to get back to organizing around here.  Wish me luck…

The newest free sewing pattern and tutorial for Superbuzzy is finally here!  About a month ago, I made the trek to the Superbuzzy warehouse, and Kelly and I had a great time picking out all of the supplies for this project.  This time, we worked up a trio of felt ice cream projects that serve double duty:  The ice cream cookie sandwich is a gift card holder.   The “Tasty Treat” ice cream carton is a gift box, and the waffle cone has a small loop so it can be tied to a gift as a present topper.

If you’ve been wanting to make some cute felt food, but were intimidated by directions in Japanese, this may be the perfect gateway project.  An added bonus?  This is the first of the everkelly-superbuzzy tutorials that doesn’t require a sewing machine (although a few of the steps can be sped up by machine if you’re in a hurry).  As for me, I enjoyed relaxing with a hand sewing project and a good movie in between trips to the freezer for some real ice cream.

Click here to download the Free Sewing Pattern + Tutorial (PDF) for the Felt Ice Cream Projects!

We’d love to see your photos if you make some felt ice cream of your own!  As always, feel free to contact me with any questions.  I really hope you enjoy this one!  Looking for our other free projects?  So far, we’ve made eco bags, place mats, and a zakka lunch kit.

Also, I just want to give one more shout out to the opportunities to contribute to the relief efforts in Japan.  Yesterday, I mentioned that Superbuzzy and Knitting Fever Inc. are matching donations (so your $5 donation can turn into $20 for the American Red Cross Japan relief fund).  Kelly covered some more donation opportunities in her latest newsletter, and I wanted to share them here as well.  There is an opportunity to purchase sleeping bags for $6 from Exxel Outdoors which will be shipped to the tsunami and earthquake victims through Missions Unlimited.  Missions Unlimited is preparing several cargo planes full of supplies, and they are accepting donations (see here for a list of needed items).

Missions Unlimited requests that, rather than donating one of several different types of items, that donations be quantities of 1 item (i.e., 10 jars of baby food, instead of 1 jar of baby food and 1 roll of toilet paper). If you are in the Ventura, CA area, Kelly can accept your donations at the warehouse. If you are not in Ventura, please send donations to:

Yesterday, I used up the last of my Swedish Tracing Paper on a project, and I had a little moment of panic.  This stuff is my go-to material for drafting up new patterns and generally improving my quality of life when it comes to sewing.  Since I enjoy it so much, I wanted to mention it here.  I know some of you are new to sewing or still waiting to make the leap.  Maybe some of our expert friends will chime in with their own favorite tools and pattern cutting techniques.

Swedish Tracing Paper is a fabric-like paper that you can use for tracing patterns. The benefit over tissue paper is that 1) it’s sturdier and 2) you can sew it together which comes in handy when trying to check the fit of a pattern. For garments, it’s best to do a test run on fabric that is similar to the fabric you will be using for the project, but the Swedish Tracing Paper is great for checking the length of a sleeve, shoulder seams, etc.

When do I use Swedish Tracing Paper?

1) Creating New Patterns and Designs: I draw my new pattern idea directly onto the Swedish Tracing Paper with a pencil.  I can stitch up a sample directly from the paper and play with the shapes before ever moving to fabric.

2) Tracing Sewing Patterns I’ve purchased: When I want to sew a specific size but want the option of using the other sizes later, I’ll trace it.  Although this takes extra time, it’s great when you want to save your pattern OR for cutting challenging fabrics.  First, I trace the pattern onto the Swedish Tracing Paper.  When I cut out the pattern, I leave a 1/2″ margin around the pattern.  That way, when I go to pin the pattern to my fabric and cut it out, I can cut through both the paper and the fabric at the same time.  I consider this a total luxury, because it makes cutting so much easier. As many of you know, good sewing begins with good cutting.  There is nothing more frustrating than trying to stitch neat seams when the edge of your fabric is a hot mess.

So what do you think about Swedish Tracing Paper – waste of time or total necessity? Anyone else have tips and favorite materials to share?

I have been brainstorming some new Valentine’s Day projects over here, and it made me nostalgic for some of the Valentine’s Day “Classics.” I wanted to round up all of my favorite tutorials and DIY projects in one quick post.  Who knows?  Maybe you’ll spot something you missed back in 2006.  (Ok, not all of them are that old.)

I struggle a bit with Valentine’s Day project-making.  In our house, deciding NOT to make the heart-shaped glitter banner is probably the better gift.  You know what I mean?  Making glitter-covered, ruffled paper, doily-shaped projects is really all about me. So I make the chocolate mousse and a nice dinner for him and have stopped pretending that anything assembled with thread, felt, and/or a glue stick is anything more than my entertainment for the afternoon.  (But what great entertainment it is!)

The Classics:

1) Printable Valentine teabag from Creature Comforts

2) Valentine’s Day Banner from angry chicken

3) Fabric Postcards from Sew Mama Sew

4) Fabric Fortune Cookies via let’s go fly a kite (a fabulous twist on the Martha Stewart felt version)

5) DIY Valentine Fruit Stickers from Twig & Thistle

Bonus: Free Valentine’s Day madlibs (my free download project from last year, maybe not a “classic” – but special to me nonetheless)

Any  favorites you would add?