I broke my ruler...

I'm so bummed. I broke my 6"x24" ruler yesterday. Just one corner but that is enough to make it hard to use. I guess that is what I get carrying it back and forth from work. Anyone have any suggestions for a good replacement? My old ruler was made by Dritz. I've been looking around and can not find a ruler with the same markings. Ok, now, I'm feeling really old. I've had this ruler for 20+ years and you would think that there would be some improvement since then. Help me out. I'm looking for a 6" x 24" ruler that is clear with 1/8" markings and has 45 degree bias. Anyone?

Preparing for the next project.

The next project on my list is a curtain for my deck. I have an outdoor fabric that is dark green with a white strip and I purchased an outdoor thread. Everything has been measured and I've calculated length and width of each panel. I've purchased a felting foot for my machine. What is slowing me down? I've never worked with the outdoor fabrics before. What if I mess it up? I do have a book - "Sewing for Outdoor Spaces" by Carol Zentgraf. I suppose I should sit down and read about anything that may be special about this fabric before I cut it. However, there is no information about making an outdoor curtain. I'm planning on using curtain grommets with roller shower clips. Hopefully, it will work out. I'm unsure of the spacing for the grommets. Any ideas on how often they should be spaced? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Happy Sewing!

Another project finished...

I must be on a roll. This is the 3rd project complete in the past month.

I decided to take an chair from the house to my office/shop but it needed to be changed a little bit. This chair had been sitting on my deck for the last couple years. So the finish on it wasn't in good condition. Here's a pic after it was sanded:

DH stepped in and painted the chair for me. Although the chair looks very white, it's not. It is an ivory color.

I made a pattern by measuring across the seat, dividing by 2 and adding 3/4". Then drew a big circle. This took 1/2 yard of 44" quilting cotton.

Here's the leftovers after cutting out the cushion cover. At this point, I'm hoping that square is big enough to create the ties and bias binding for the piping.

All squared up.

Selecting the spot to cut the 45 degree angle for the bias strips.


Moved the piece from the right to the left so that the straight edges can be sewn together. Notice that both outside edges are now at a 45 degree angle.

Stitched the 1/4" seam.

Pressed seam to the side.

Not shown is how I figured the width of the bias binding which is going to be 1 3/4" wide. How I calculate is by taking the piping and a tape measure. Wrap the tape measure around the piping making sure that you seam allowance (1/2") is visible under the piping. Turn the tape measure over and see where the end of the tape measure end is sitting. That is the width of the bias binding.

Here I took a colored pencil and drew my lines.

Here is where I pinned the seam together. This is where you have to be accurate. Make sure the lines meet on the seam line (1/4").

Here's the seam sewn and you can see that my lines match from one side of the seam to the other.

The cut out bias strips.

Piping sewn to top. Here's I'm getting ready to attach the two ends to make the continuous loop of piping.

Piping is finished, zipper installed, and everything is sewn together. Not to bad for a quick cushion cover. Can you see what I forgot? It's in the picture below.

Cushion cover has the pillow form in it. Yes, it's a pillow form and not a cushion. I went to JoAnn's to get a round cushion but they only had a pillow form which makes it a little puffier than what I wanted. Cushion needs to be played with a little bit to get it to fill out the cover a little better.

Following are examples of how it looks:



This is far from perfect but I'm happy with it. It is the very first time that I have made a round pillow cover. The very first time that I have put a zipper in the round. The zipper didn't turn out so great but it is definitely a learning experience. I love the fabric and actually think that it would have made a great skirt or even a shirt.

The pillow form was suppose to be the same size as the chair - 16". It's not really true. Maybe if you measured from seam to seam on the pillow but it definitely doesn't sit as 16". When making a cover for a pillow or a cushion, make it the same size as what is being covered as in don't add seam allowances unless you need a little for the height of the cushion/pillow form. That way it will fill out the cover.

Oh, I forgot to tell you that I had just enough bias strips for the piping and the ties. The ties are a tad short but will tie.

Happy Stitching!

I did it!

Yes, I did it. I finished all of the projects that needed to be completed on Tuesday. Here's what I did:

First, I had to figure out the envelope for the situpons. So, I used a scrap piece of fabric and pins to create a small envelope. Here's my sample:

After playing, I figured out that the foldover part of the envelope needed to be on the inside. (In the background is my new Salem cutting mat and I love it. It is so big.)

Here's my testing of the turning.

Here's the finished sample. Perfect for what I need to do.

Now on to the real situpon. The cushions for the situpons are suppose to be 15" x 17" x 1". So, I measured around the measured around the length of the cushion and came up with 35". Next, I measured width along one side and one top and come up with 16". Here's the formula that I used to cut out the situpons:

Length - 35" + 1" (ease) + 6" (envelope) = 42"

Width - 16" +2" (seam allowances + ease) = 18"

Here's pics of the process and finished product:

Here's folding the envelope top with the right sides together. Because I was using a flannel backed vinyl tablecloth for this project, I used the finished edge for the edge of the envelope. Note the pin. I used 2 pins and pinned within the seam allowance which was 1/2". Next, I brought the opposite end up to meet the top of the fold (sorry, missed taking a picture). Then, I stitched 1/2" seams at a 5mm stitch length.

Here's the first turn after stitching the side seams.

Here's the second fold after the cushion was slide into the opening. This is where I was a little afraid that it might perforate but it didn't.

The finished product. Perfect for the boys and three days of classes in the mountains. Hope they are having fun. By the way, this is the same process for making a envelope style pillow case. Although, you might want the envelope part to be on the inside.

Now it was on to make a bag for the sleeping bag.

The sleeping bag that is missing is carrying bag. Pretty much a mess. There are not any ties on this bag so it really does need the bag to contain it.

Fortunately, the matching sleeping bag has it's drawstring bag so I do have a pattern. The process that I used was to measure across the bottom circle. Then, I draw a similar circle adding 1/2" seams. I also measured around the bag and cut out a rectangle with the length + seam allowances and the width + seam allowance + top seam for drawstring.

Here's the finished bag and amazingly the sleeping bag fit. Everything for this project came out of the stash. I also found the drawstring and cord stops in the stash.

Both of these projects were super fast sewing. I was not looking for perfection in either of the projects. I just needed to get them done. I was very pleased with the outcome of both projects. I think that both projects took less than 2 hours to complete from making samples, cutting out, and sewing.

I think my next project will be the curtain for the deck. This is to block the afternoon sun so that we can enjoy the deck just a little bit more in the early evenings. My outdoor thread arrived today. So, I just need to remeasure the area where the curtain is to hang and figure out the various lengths of fabric. Hopefully, this project will turn out well. I purchased a felling foot for this project. Hope it works out well.

Happy Stitching!

Time Flies...

Whew! I didn't realize that it had been so long since I had posted. What have I been to? Lots - spent spring break in Arkansas visiting family, recovery period after vacation running, daily running for work, and the most exciting part - my business has moved from my home. Well, actually, it's still in the process of moving but I'm almost done. I'm hoping once the business is out of the house, that I will find more time to sew.

It seems the last post that I was working on the shamrock place mats and table runner. I did not get these finished. However, I have a wonderful start for next year. I new plan for this to be completed by the end of the year. That way they will definitely be finished for next March.

I do have a couple of things pressing that need to be finished in the next couple of days. My husband and son need situpons for a school campout in the mountains. So, I purchased a inexpensive tablecloth at Walmart (no fabric department any more) and will be using existing pads. Here's the pre-shot:

The plan is to make a big envelope. I have never sewn on the flannel backed vinyl before so hopefully this will work for the few days that they will be needing the situpons. I also need to come up with a cover for a sleeping bag as my son lost one of the bags. Wish me luck, as I rarely get things finished on time.

Happy Sewing!