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Simple Apron Tutorial

posted by cindylouh on February 25th, 2010 | Gift for women, Gifts for the kitchen, gifts for friends, handmade gifts, sewing |

With very little work you can make this smashing tea towel apron. Leave off the ruffle and you only have two lines of stitching.

(Thanks Zack for being my fabulous model and rockin' out my apron! You are a great kid and a really good sport!)

Supplies

1 tea towel (mine measured 20" X 28")

1/4 yard of coordinating fabric 44"-45" wide

4 yards of ribbon (mine was 1/2" wide)

about 21" of twill tape (width of towel plus a touch extra to turn ends under)

Before starting pre-wash fabric and tea towel

The Ruffle

With right sides together sew across each end of fabric.

Turn right side out and press.

Gather the fabric. I zig zag stitched over dental floss close to the edge, then pulled the dental floss to make my ruffle.

Sew ruffle to bottom of tea towel(right sides together). Before turning lay a piece of twill tape across the raw edge and stitch using a long stitching length. Tuck ends of twill tape under before stitching

Turn (open ruffle flat) and lightly press. This is how it will look from the back.

Edge stitch across on the front.

The Apron

Fold in top two corners  of the tea towel and trim. I folded my towel in thirds to decide where to cut. If you want it wider at the top try folding them in only 1/4.

Trim off corners, turn raw edge under slightly and stitch close to the edge. Fold edge over wide enough for the ribbon to slip through,  allowing enough for seam. Press. Really though, you could just fold over the corners like the above picture and sew the casings!

Stitch, making a casing for the ribbon. Feed ribbon through each casing.

The ribbon goes through each casing, crosses in the back and ties in the front.

Finished!

You might be interested in the half apron made from a tea towel, or this cute apron for kids. Don't forget the chef's hat!

Thanks for taking the time to visit me today!

A Drawstring Bag Tutorial

posted by cindylouh on February 18th, 2010 | Gift Wrapping Ideas, Gifts for Kids, gifts for friends, handmade gifts, sewing |

I was needing a little gift bag to hold some note cards for a sweet friend who has been spending way too much time at the hospital and I thought a fabric drawstring pouch would be perfect.

I used a piece of fabric 6 1/2 inches by 21 inches, but it can be made any size!

Turn each end under  1/4 inch and stitch along the edge.

With right sides together stitch sides together using a 1/2 inch seam, stopping two inches from the top.

Pink  edges and press side seams open.  At the top where the side seam is open, stitch around  the opening on each side.

Fold top edge down 1 inch and stitch all the way around close to the bottom edge.

Cut two pieces of ribbon or cording about 22" long each. Feed one piece through casing and back out the other casing coming out on the same side of the bag.

Repeat with second cord on opposite side.

Tie the string ends on each side together. (You can hind the knots in the casing part if you work at it)

Fill the bag with some goodies and you have a nice little treat!

Oilcloth Receipt Wallet

posted by cindylouh on February 16th, 2010 | Gift for women, gifts for co-workers, gifts for friends, gifts for teachers, gifts for the office, handmade gifts, sewing |

I am really going to do a better job this year of keeping my blog and personal receipts separate. I think this handy little receipt wallet will do the the trick! -- personal receipts on one side, business receipts on the other. Really it could have many uses --- coupons, lists, checkbook cover, etc!

The oilcloth receipt wallet went together quickly and I was able to use up some scraps.

Supplies:

2 pieces cut 7 1/4" by 6 1/2"

2 pieces cut 2 1/2" by 6 1/2"

about 14 inches skinny double fold bias tape

miniature clothes pins

Fray Check

Elmer's Spray Adhesive (optional)

Teflon presser foot or masking tape to cover bottom of presser foot to keep oilcloth from sticking to presser foot (if necessary)

Instructions:

Slip bias tape around the 6 1/2 inch side of the 2" wide piece and stitch. It can hang off the edge, it will be trimmed when finished.

Place the two large pieces wrong sides together. I sprayed just a touch of Elmer's Spray Adhesive in the center to keep the pieces from slipping. Try to keep adhesive away from area that will be sewn. Place pocket pieces on each edge. Use miniature clothes pins to keep in place. Sew close to the edge all the way around the wallet, reinforcing when sewing over bias tape. Trim bias tape and place a few drops of fray check on ends. (I was going to just wrap the end of the bias tape to the inside before stitching, however it made it bulky.)

Ta Dah!

Note: I get my oilcloth from Oilcloth Addict! Be sure to check out her personal blog, ModernJune, for some fabulous oilcloth tutorials and great tips for sewing with oilcloth.

Happy Kansas Day!

posted by cindylouh on January 29th, 2010 | Gift for women, Kansas Day, handmade gifts, sewing |

Some special ladies and my sweet sister in law will be wearing these fabric sunflowers today to celebrate Kansas Day.

It took some cutting!  We used Wisecraft's tutorial, but changed the shape of the template. (I will put up the templates later)

Stack the two large flower shapes on top of each other.

Next fold one of the smaller flower shapes in half and place it on top of the larger flower shapes.

Take another small flower shape and fold it placing on top at a 90 degree angle.

Place another small flower shape on top at a 90 degree angle.

Place the last small flower shape on top at a 90 degree angle.

Sew a button on top, making sure you catch all of the folded layers. Next, sew a pin back on the back of the flower.

You can sew clusters of buttons, single buttons or stacked buttons.

Happy Kansas Day!

If you want more ways to celebrate Kansas Day you might be interested in:

Candy Sunflower Cupcake Picks

Sunflower Cupcakes

Sunflower cake made from Twinkies

How to make a child’s chef hat

posted by cindylouh on December 24th, 2009 | Gifts for Kids, handmade gifts, sewing |

These chef hats were  gifts for a couple of sweet girls. I packaged them with cookie decorating supplies (and hopefully will make them matching aprons in the future).

Chef Hat Instructions

Supplies:

1 -  18" circle

1 -  8" X 24" rectangle

1 - 8" X  24" lightweight to medium weight iron on interfacing

dental floss

1/2 inch Velcro (about 12")

3" piece of double fold bias tape

Instructions:

Iron interfacing to 8" X 24" piece following manufacture's instructions. Press  fabric in half lengthwise and press each edge under 1/2".

Fold piece right sides together, starting 1/2" down from open side, stitch across each end. Turn right side out.

Stitch a 3" piece of bias tape around an edge of the circle.

Zig zag stitch over a piece of dental floss starting and stopping on each side of bias tape.

Gather.

Pin band piece around the gathered edge. Find center of band and center of top piece and begin pinning there.  Adjust gathers until the band fits the gathered edge, starting at stopping about a 1/4" over the bias tape on each side (notice how the 1/2" that wasn't sewn on each end neatly slips around the bias tape). Pin heavily to keep in place.  This takes some adjusting but it is so nice to have all the unfinished edges covered.

Sewing very close to the edge, sew band to top of hat, removing pins as sewing to keep band flat. It might be necessary to slightly pull the band to keep it smooth.

In the back fold left side over as far as the bias tape opening will allow on top of right side. Place Velcro in this overlapping area and sew all four pieces to hat band.

Sew along each edge of each end if desired, to close area placed over bias tape.

Finished!

I decided to give one of my sponsors Above All Fabric a try. I couldn't have been more pleased. The customer service exceeded all of my expectations --- she even visited with me on the phone helping me make my selections.  I was also thrilled with her prices, on every fabric she is below retail and has loads of sale fabric. The fabric selection is also tops, carrying all of the popular designers.  She also has a point reward system where you earn a point for every dollar spent and turn that into cash towards future purchases.  While she is a sponsor, I did not receive any compensation for writing this nor did I receive free product.  I wanted to pass along a great find!

Check out craft tutorials from all over the web every Monday at Made By You Mondays right here at Skip to my Lou!

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