Tutorials from the interweb

There have been some great few tutorials floating round the interweb lately. So many that I decided it was time to collect them all up in one place for you.

First up is this gorgeous Spinning Stars quilt pattern by Anna Maria Horner using many fabrics from her Loulouthi collection (this is imminent at M is for make - I promise!)

A tutorial for an oval bathmat by Cloud 9 fabrics, which is a great way to personalise your bathroom.

A simple baby quilt design by Monoluna - wouldn't this look amazing with a bit of foxy?

Another lovely quilt pattern by Oliver & S.

And finally, such a simple, but brilliant idea for sewing buttons from Oliver & S - I'll definitely be trying this.

Tote tutorial

A long time ago, I made this tote using birdsong fabric, and you asked for a tutorial. Well almost a year later, here it is! Not my usual efficient self.

The bag is lined and has a base, making it pretty sturdy and roomy. All the raw seams are hidden away so no need to finish them. My bag is still looking as new (well apart from being a bit grubby) after a year of being used nearly every day.

The attachment of the base to the bag is a little complicated, so here is a picture to show you how it works, the bag is upside down in this diagram.

I have made my bag close to the dimensions of the birdsong tote as I know it's a good size for me, but have had to tweak the dimensions a bit to work with the pattern on the fabric I am using. So, I will show you how to work out your dimensions if you want to alter the size of your bag.

I am making a bag that is 35cm wide, 35cm high and10cm deep (as the seams meet half way down the side).

This is how I worked out how much fabric I would need, based on a 1cm seam allowance. The outside bag folds over 3cm and then another 1cm on the top so that has to be added on too.

So I need to cut:

2 x bag panel from the main outside material

2 x bag panel from the lining material (the lining is not as high as the main bag as it doesn't fold over)
1 x base panel from the main outside material
1 x base panel from the lining material
2 x straps from the main outside material

I had to cut my main outside panels quite carefully as I wanted to centre the print and have the stripes in the right place. Take your time cutting out your panels if you are using a print to avoid making any mistakes. Here are my main pieces cut out, in order to save fabric, I didn't bother making the print on the strap symmetrical.

So here is how you make it:

1. Using the lining panels, right sides together, sew the side seams and then press open the seam allowance.

2. On the base panels, on each corner on the wrong side, mark in 1cm from the side, this will be your pivot point when sewing it onto the bag.

3. Mark the middle of the panel with a pin and also on the base, line up and pin right sides together on one side.

4. Starting half way along a long side, sew towards the corner, as you get closer to the corner sew very carefully and make sure you are not sewing through fabric from the other side too. When you get to the pivot point you marked on, stop. Lift the presser foot and pivot round the corner, rearrange the fabric so that you are now sewing together the 2 sides on the short edge (and not including the seam or any fabric from the long edge). This may take a bit of maneuvering.

Carry on, again stopping 1cm from the end of the corner and repeat the process. It is quite possible you will have a bit of spare fabric somewhere along the line, if only a few mm. If this is the case, on the last turn, move this spare fabric up to the corner and incorporate it into a small tuck as it will be less noticeable here than half way down the side.

 a small tuck to take in any excess fabric

5. Next make the straps. Iron them in half, length ways, wrong sides together.  Then fold in the edge of the fabric to the middle on both sides, and iron these folds. Pin in place and sew close to the edge of the fold all the way from one short edge down the long edge to the other end. Take care to sew through both sides.

fold in half, fold sides in to the middle and then iron these folds

6. Next put together the main bag. With right sides together, sew the side seams and then press the seam allowance open.

7. Along the top of the bag, iron over 1cm onto the wrong side, then iron over a further 3cm.

8. Sew the bottom panel on as per step 4.

inside and outside the bag

9. Place the lining inside the outside bag, wrong sides together. Make sure it goes all the way to the bottom, push out all the corners properly and pin the lining to the outside mid way along each seam to ensure it is in place properly.

10. Line up the side seams on the lining and main bag and pin the side seam together. Turn over the 1cm fold on the main bag and then the 3cm to cover the raw edge of the lining. Pin in place all the way round and sew all the way round a few mm from the fold on the inside of the bag. Remember to remove the pins that are holding the lining to the bag.

11. Next, fix the straps to the bag. Fold over about 5mm of the raw edge on the short edge and then pin it to the bag about 9cm from the side seam. Sew the strap in place by sewing a square around the edge and then a cross in the middle for strength. You may need to hand feed your machine when sewing through the thickest parts.

12. Repeat to fix both straps on at each end, I always fix mine on the same side (as shown below) rather than opposite sides. Make sure they are not twisted.

There you are, done!

If you need any more details of have any questions, please leave a comment and I will add to the post.

tote bag made from Echino buses fabric

And don't let me kid you that my bag contains just a pretty book on Japanese patterns, more likely some stones from the beach, children's hair clips, a pen without a lid (but no lid) and lip balm. And that's on a good day.

Starbright pot holder/mug rug tutorial from verykerryberry

A big thank you to Kate for inviting me to write a guest post on her blog.  Many of the fabrics I used for this project came from her lovely M is for Make shop. 

This post is also part of a December Christmas making special at Handmade by Mia and on my own blog Verykerryberry and involves contributions from other bloggers along the way so think of it as a collaborative effort!

It is a quick and easy tutorial for a Starbright pot holder/mug rug- it could be either - and a quick gift for Christmas.  For the puzzled amongst you, a mug rug is just an oversized coaster, big enough for a cup of your favouite hot drink with room for a snack on the side.

If you haven't made a wonky star before, it is much easier than you would think.  I went for Christmas colours rather than Christmas themed fabrics so it can be used all year round whilst giving a bit of festive cheer now.  You can easily make several of these out of the generous fabric quantities below.

To make your Star Pot holder/mug rug you will need:

1/4 yard fabric for background
1/4 yard contrasting fabric for triangles- or scraps
Contrasting scrap for centre square
1/4 Fabric for backing
1/4 yard of insulbrite thermal padding (Optional)
1/4 yard cotton batting (or less if using insulbrite as well)
1/4 yard fabric for binding or  44" ready made bias tape
Ribbon or tape for a hanging loop, about 4" will be ample
(Finished holder/rug will be approx. 8" square)

Cut background fabric into 8 squares, each 3 1/2" square
Cut centre fabric into 1 square, 3 1/2" square

Cut triangle fabrics into 4 squares, 4 1/2 inches" and then stack the squares and cut along the diagonal to make 8 right angled triangles.

To make the star follow Victoria's wonderful tutorial  or reference Gwen Marston's Liberated Quilting 2.

Place your completed star over your backing fabric as a guide and cut out a back piece slightly bigger that the top.  Repeat for the batting.  I used a layer of insulbrite and a layer of cotton batting. You could use 2 or 3 layers of cotton batting instead of a layer of insulbrite.  Make your quilt sandwich- backing fabric right side down, cotton batting, insulbrite shiny side up, star square right side up.

As this is quite small I didn't spray baste, tack or pin but if you want to go ahead.
I used a Hera tool to make a crease corner to corner and then quilted from that point.  I used a stitch length of 3 and the walking foot as a line guide.

I went for quite a dense textured pattern but do whatever you fancy.

Trim the edges making everything nice and square.  Before I add binding I always zig zag around the edges of any quilted project, mini size or full size.

Now is the time to add a hanging loop. Stitch in the 1/4" seam allowance and secure with straight  stitch and zig zag. Make sure the loop is pointing inwards out of the way of where the binding will go.

You could add a label or decorative tape as well- festive message maybe?

I use a single binding on small projects like this to.  Cut your binding strips 1 1/4 " wide.  Straight grain is fine, there are no curved edges so it doesn't need to be bias cut.   Trim the start of the binding at a 45 degree angle- it will make life easier later.

Make sure your hanging loop is pinned down and tucked out of the way.  A good finish to your binding  will lift the whole project,  so before you attach it, trim off all stray threads, cut the tips off the corners of the quilted square- just the tiniest amount, it will reduce the bulk on the binding corners.

I found a very helpful single binding tutorial here by Rachel at Contented.  She has gone a bit wider with the binding at 1 1/2".  I like mine tighter so I opted for 1 1/4".   Take your time, use your iron on the corners, keep your seam to 1/4" and look at my tutorial for mitred corners if you find these tricky.  Rachel is adding this to her binding tutorial as well.

You can stitch your hanging loop on to the finished binding or leave it as it is. 

A useful little  present or something to hang up and keep for yourself!

Fabrics: Green dots (binding) and aqua dots- Kei Honeycomb
Centre Square- Ellie in Amber- Michael Miller- all available from M is for Make.
Red gingham print- Farmers Market Sandi Henderson, Red/white dots- local fabric store and Kitchen print  Elsie's Pantry Windham Fabrics - from my stash

Who doesn't appreciate a little handmade, homemade love?

If you would rather have a quicker gift you can buy this one in my etsy shop! I can't guarantee overseas delivery by Christmas but I'll do my best.

Keep checking Mia's blog for more December makes x And Kate's blog for fabric loveliness x

M is for make a sewing machine cover

Following my tutorial on how to make a bedside tidy, next up is how to make a sewing machine cover. My sewing machine always seems to be kicking around somewhere in the house as it's not the prettiest thing to look at, the time has come to make it a coat and dress it up a bit. Here is how to do it...

1. Measure your sewing machine, the height, depth and width, taking into account all the bits that stick out from the sides. Using these measurements, make a pattern out of newspaper; 4 sides and a top.

2. If you have a handle on the top and want to make a hole so that you can pick it up with the cover on, follow these steps, if not, skip these bits. Mark on the top panel the size of the hole you will need and cut it out.

3. Put it back on the top and see if it is the right size, if not use masking tape (as I did) or stick on extra paper to adjust the size.

4. Once you are happy the hole is the right size, tape the sides to the top panel and place it over your machine, it's easier to leave the sides unstuck so that you can adjust the size if you need to. Make it a bit smaller/bigger shorter/longer as required.

 

5. Choose your fabric; do you want an all over print, a plain fabric with a pretty border, or plain all over with some applique to personalise it. I chose from these gorgeous Kokka prints. In the end I went for the smaller apple print on the left as it is a slightly heavier weight linen/cotton blend so felt better suited to a cover. The Echino or Kiyohara fabrics would also be ideal.

6. Cut out your pattern pieces in the fabric, adding a 1cm seam allowance to all the edges and a 2cm seam allowance (or larger if you like) for the 'hem' at the bottom of the cover. Be careful to cut your pieces accurately so that the width of the top panel matches the side panels perfectly otherwise it will be difficult to sew together.

7. Mark out the hole in your top panel onto the reverse side of the fabric using a washable marker. At this stage I strongly recommend placing the piece onto your sewing maching to make sure you have the hole in the right place as this is the last chance to change it.

8. Draw on a 2cm allowance all the way round outside of the hole, mark out the bit you need to cut out in the middle and then cut it out. You may wish to add some iron on interfacing to make the top panel a little stiffer. If so, use the pattern piece and make the hole 2cm bigger all the way round so that you don't have to sew through the interfacing too when finishing the edges of the hole.

 

9. Cut a diagonal line from the corner of the hole to the corner of the seam. Fold the seam over to the wrong side 1cm and iron, then repeat again. Pin in place.

10. Next sew as close to the fold as possible all the way around the outside, when you get to the corners, make sure you capture the diagonal of the fold (below). Also sew around the inside of the seam, again as close the the fold as possible, this will make it stronger. When finished, give it a good iron.

11. Matching the wrong sides together, sew together all the side panels so that you make a tube. Stop 1cm from the top at each seam. Make sure you include all 4 pieces and not do what I did, which was sew 3 together and wonder what the remaining piece was left on the table. Press open the seam allowances.

12. Cut out a 1cm x 1cm square out of the seam allowance (which is drawn on below) at each corner on the top panel, like this...

13. Pin the 'tube' to the top panel wrong sides together. Take care to pin it accurately, matching the corners together. Then sew each side separately, making sure that you go backwards and forwards at each corner to finish them off properly. It should look like this;

14. Press open the seams as far as possible, turn inside out and poke out the corners. Place your cover over your machine and reassess how high the hem should be. My cover ended up a lot more generous than I expected, so I had more hem to turn up, also I wanted it to be clear of the bottom of the machine so had about a 1cm gap between my table and the bottom of the cover. 

15. Whatever your resulting hem is, half the distance, fold the fabric onto the wrong side, iron it, fold it over the same distance again and iron again. Sew on the wrong side so that you catch the hem, and sew as close to the fold as you can. This fabric doesn't fray too badly, but I used my pinking shears on all the seam allowances as a precaution.

16. Give it one final iron and you are all done!

I think this is a great chance to be a bit more creative, adding some details to a plain cover like embroidery or appliqué, if you could measure a friend's sewing maching in secret, it could also make a lovely gift.