As we begin 2011, I wanted to make sure I had a place to record all of the good things that happen each week. I am finding that the more thankful I am, the less little problems and setbacks seem to bother me. I know this is not revolutionary, but it definitely requires practice. And repetition. Kind of like embroidery.
Yesterday, I shared a little sneak peak at the embroidery I did for the cover of this journal. It occurred to me that some of you might want to make your own gratitude journal, so I decided to write up a tutorial. However, I realized that the beauty of this project might be in using materials and a notebook you already have on hand. So instead of sharing all of my measurements and instructions, I created a worksheet so you can make your own custom pattern for any notebook you’d like to cover.
Click on the image below to download the worksheet (PDF file).
[This pattern is designed to work with a notebook that has a little heft to it. If your notebook is very thin, you may want to adjust the "ease" measurement in the Calculate & Cut section of the worksheet.]
After you use the worksheet to measure your notebook and determine what size to cut your fabric, you can follow these simple instructions to sew up your fabric book cover.
1. For Option 2, stitch the three pieces of fabric together to create one long piece the same size as your lining.
2. Optional: If desired, embellish your cover with embroidery. To embroider the words “give thanks,” I wrote out the words in pencil directly onto the fabric and back-stitched the letters using 2 strands of red embroidery floss.
2. Pin your lining and front cover pieces together right sides together. Stitch around the top, side edge, and bottom of your fabric leaving one edge open.
3. Turn your work right side out and press. Fold in the raw edges by 1/4″ on the open edge and top-stitch.
4. Fold the flaps in around your notebook cover to determine where the folds will be. Top-stitch along the top and bottom of the book cover as close to the edge as possible (1/8″ or less). The top-stitching will hold your flaps in place and create a nice detail along the bottom and top of your covered book.
I hope you enjoy. If you have any questions at all — or if you catch an error, please let me know. Best wishes for a year of many thankful moments.
Filed under Fabric & Sewing, I Made This, Tutorials & Downloads.
Tagged with fabric book cover, fabric covered notebook, free download, free sewing pattern, gratitude journal, sewing tutorial, sewing worksheet.
By Kelly
January 12, 2011
I hope you know that I wouldn’t dare post a Christmas project 3 days before Christmas unless it was really, really quick and simple. However, I absolutely promise – this one is both. If you’re short a Christmas stocking — or even if you have a whole family of stockings you need to make, these go together so smoothly I think you will still have time to bake Santa some cookies.
My friend, Russel Scott Conte, who teaches several of the classes I’ve been taking has a genius method for sewing up Christmas stockings. The stocking requires only one seam (two if you decide to go crazy and top-stitch the cuff). Russell has a really nice video tutorial of this project up on his web-site. Even if you don’t want to make the stocking, you might want to go watch the video anyway. When you see how this stocking goes together, I know it will inspire you. Plus, how cool are his glasses?
As a little holiday present, we decided to team up to put together a cheat sheet and template for the stocking. Click here to download the Christmas Stocking tutorial (PDF).
This guy has so many tricks up his sleeve. I know we’ll be hearing more from him in 2011. Merry Christmas!
XOXO, Kelly
Filed under Fabric & Sewing, Holidays, I Made This, Tutorials & Downloads.
Tagged with Christmas stocking tutorial, DIY stocking, free PDF, last minute Christmas stocking, sewing.
By Kelly
December 23, 2010
[Don't miss the free download at the bottom of this post!]
I am so excited to share this project with you! I think of it as a little holiday gift from Superbuzzy Kelly and myself. This is a free pattern for a square-bottom nylon eco bag that folds up into a pouch + a lined cotton version, too. We’ve had this one in the works for awhile, but it was really important to us that we do this project right.
Ever since we saw that first teaser image of the Echino fabrics in nylon, we knew that the fabric was practically begging to be made into reusable grocery store bags. Now, I”ll be totally honest with you. The thought of sewing with nylon made me really nervous at first, but I’m happy to report that it’s not as scary as you might think. In fact, we included some tips and tricks in the pattern to get you started. A teflon walking foot and the right needle/thread combination (70/10 sharp + polyester) really do help. The fabric sews up so beautifully that I definitely think it’s worth the little bit of extra care.
I know some of you may still be paralyzed with fear over the nylon, so there are also instructions for a lined cotton bag that’s reversible. Kelly selected a really cute trio of prints in a mid-weight cotton that has a nice heft to it. Both bags include flat fell seams and reinforced handles so they will stand up to repeated use.
The nylon bag folds up into an elasticized pocket on the front when not in use.
I love giving gifts like these – pretty, practical things that you can give to anyone – neighbors, teachers, and friends. As an added bonus, you can use the bag as gift wrap too so you can participate in the Green Grocery Bag Challenge.
Happy Holidays! XOXO, Kelly
(P.S. – I’d like to give a very special thank you to my friends at the Sewing Arts Center who shared some great tips and suggestions with me to make this bag possible.)
Filed under Fabric & Sewing, Holidays, I Made This, Tutorials & Downloads.
Tagged with DIY, Echnio nylon, free download, green grocery bag challenge, grocery bag tutorial, nylon eco bag, nylon sewing tips, reversible cotton bag, square bottom bag, superbuzzy, tutorial.
By Kelly
December 8, 2010
[Don't miss the free PDF instructions at the bottom of this post!]
Today, I’m really excited to share with you the latest project from the superbuzzy + everkelly collaboration. This time, we came up with a cute applique placemat — just in time for Halloween crafting. Kelly has a new Accu-Quilt die cutter in the shop, so she pre-punched the cats out of yummy wool felt, and I satin stitched them onto the placemats. (If you want to try this project at home, Kelly will punch out a cat for you, too.)
The instructions (below) include a cat template in case you’d like to use felt already in your stash. There are also detailed instructions for creating and attaching your own bias tape.
I had been daydreaming about these cute Halloween Matryoshka fabrics, so I was really happy to be sewing with them. Mixing and matching the fabrics is half the fun of projects like this, so I would love to stitch up a few more in different fabric/color combinations.
This was a great project to get in the October mood. I only wish I could have invited you all over to share in the Halloween candy and cupcakes. ;-)
Click here to download the Halloween Placemat Tutorial (PDF)!
Hope you have a very safe and happy Halloween!
Filed under Fabric & Sewing, Holidays, I Made This, Tutorials & Downloads.
Tagged with cat, felt applique, free sewing pattern, halloween placemat, Japanese fabric, superbuzzy, tutorial.
By Kelly
October 11, 2010
Happy Friday, everyone! Well this week was my first attempt at MWF posting as I sprint towards Fall Quilt Market, and I missed being here every day. However, I’m getting a lot done so I hope you’ll hang in there with me. Just 5 weeks to go.
Today I wanted to share a simple, but pretty how to project. In the class I’m taking, we’re creating lots of mood boards and color stories so I wanted to have a nice place to display my inspirations. I thought this turned out so well, that you might want to make one too. I love how the opalescent paint is subtle enough that it won’t compete with what I pin to the board, but still provides something pretty to look at when it’s blank.
First things first — The Materials:
Let’s get started…
1) Staple your fabric and batting to the board. Lay your fabric face down on the floor and then layer your batting on top followed by the homasote board. Pull the fabric as taut as you can as you staple working from the center of each edge towards the corners. If you’ve ever watched anything on HGTV, you already know how to do this step, but here’s a post where I used the same technique if you need a little more help. Here’s the board upholstered and ready to go:
2) Mark off your birch trees with blue painter’s tape. Have fun with this step. Your trees shouldn’t be perfectly straight since they certainly wouldn’t be in the woods. I made some of the trees a little wider towards the bottom.
3) Cut small triangle shapes to create lines on the birch trees. I found that slightly irregular shapes looked a little bit better, and I tried to cut the triangles smaller for the skinnier trees. Other than that, there are no rules on this step. Just keep adding triangles and lines until you like the arrangement.
4) Paint. Before you paint each tree, take a moment to run your finger over each piece of tape to make sure it is adhered tightly to the board. Grab a sponge brush and paint each of the tree sections smoothing out your brush strokes as you go.
5) Remove tape and marvel at your lovely inspiration board. (Picture at the top). If you’re wondering how long I waited before removing the tape, I gave it a minute or so. The screen printing ink is very thick so it won’t run anywhere.
How will you hang it? There is a flush-mount hanger-fastener at the bottom of this post that would work perfectly. We found the fasteners at a boutique hardware store. (For some reason, I can never find them at big box stores like Home Depot.)
Let me know if you’re going to try this one! Hope you have a wonderful weekend. I think I’m going to be playing around with my new inspiration board and hopefully spending some time outside with the camera. Take care, Kelly
Filed under House & Home, I Made This, Inspiration, Tutorials & Downloads.
Tagged with birch tree, DIY bulletin board, homasote bulletin board tutorial, inspiration board.
By Kelly
September 24, 2010
