Notes from the Patch

Tutorial Tuesday - #26 Zipper Flowers and a little movie trivia

Zippers.

Without them our flies would always be open, our hats would be humdrum 

 

and our flip flops would be plain and unadorned.

Boring.

(And drafty).

Flowers made from metal zippers...

Edgy and stylish.

Funky and fun.

Our zippers come in the most incredible colors and since you use just one side of the zipper for each flower you can easily make two from a yard.

If you want instructions to make them go here.

If you want to try our metal zippers go here.

And finally. Can you name this movie?

Alright zip it.

Zip it.

Zzip...

Ladies and gentleman of the jury. Exzipit "A".

Look. I'm Zippy Long Stockings.

When a problem comes along. You might zip it.

Zip it. Zip it good.

Encourage one another,

 

 

Tutorial Tuesday - #25 Hooded towels

I need to apologize for the photos in this post. I think I got too excited about playing with all of the color possibilities. I should have bought one color of towel and stuck with it. I hope you can follow this hodge podge of colored samples.

Hooded towels make terrific, practical gifts for newborns as well as older kids and can be used for the bath, beach or pool. Since they are inexpensive and super fast to make they are the perfect gift for children of all ages.

I have a personal fondness for these towels as it was my "job" to bathe my granddaughter whenever I visited her as a baby. Is there anything sweeter than the smell of a freshly bathed baby wrapped in a soft hooded  towel?

So recently when grandmother to be Linda asked us how to make them I felt it my grandmotherly duty to post these instructions so she too could share in the tradition and create some memories of her own.

Here's what you'll need:

For each hooded towel you will need one bath towel and a half of one hand towel. So if you're smart you will buy two bath towels and one matching hand towel. You know. Since you can't buy a half a hand towel. That way you'll end up with two whole finished hooded towels.

You'll also need 3/4 to 1 1/2 yards of ric rac

and 1/8 to 1/4 yard of coordinating fabric. 

Prewash everything before beginning.

Here are the two items that will make you look like a rock star. When your friends marvel at your perfectly straight stitches promise you will simply smile sweetly and say, "Thank you". Repeat after me: "I will not say it was just the thread and the foot". (Even though it is pretty much just the thread and the foot).

We've talked about this invisible thread before. For this project I use it in the bobbin as well as on top. It eliminates the need to change threads to match your towels and fabrics. You can sew lots of towels in many colors without ever changing threads. Such a time saver. 

The foot is an edge stitch foot and is available for most machines. On a Bernina it's #10. What's so cool about an edge stitch foot is that the metal blade there in the center of the foot (see arrow below) rides right along the edge of the fabric that you're sewing to the towel. No need to try and see where the needle is, just keep your eye on the blade and keep it going along the edge of the fabric. You will need to move your needle position two positions to the left of center when top stitching. With this foot your stitches will be straight as arrows. Think of it as training wheels for your sewing machine. A great foot for teaching kids to sew too.

 

I'll show you more about this foot in a minute.

First you need to cut your hand towel in half.

Then fold one of the pieces in half with right sides together so it looks like this.

 

Remember you will get two hoods from one hand towel.

Next sew or serge across the top of your folded towel through both thicknesses and down into the fold about two inches. This eliminates points on the hood and keeps your kids from looking like little KKK members. You will use a regular sewing foot for this part if you are using a sewing machine. If you don't have a serger, trim your seam then go back over your seam with a zig zag stitch.

(In this next photo I put the serged hood on top of the other half of the hand towel so you can see how I serged and cut it).

Are you all totally confused by now?

And now a word from our sponsor:

Can we talk about sergers here people? If all you ever made with a serger was these towels it would be so worth it. Sergers cut and overlock the seams in one fell swoop. So quick, easy and professional looking. If you own a serger and never use it, get it out and use it. You'll thank me. (If your serger needs threading and servicing see me. If you want to buy a serger see me).

Now, back to our regularly scheduled program:

Next cut the fabric for your trim 3" x 44"

You will need one strip to go across the front of the hood and a total of three strips if you want them to go down the front of each side of the towel like this.

The next step is to fold back and press 1/4" along each side of your strips.

With your two secret weapons, your edge stitch foot and clear thread top and bottom attach the ric rac along the edge of the right side of the hood. Let the ric rac stick out over the edge of the towel a bit.

Now add the strip of fabric right on top of the seam where you sewed the ric rac.

Sew the other side. Ric rac is optional here.

Don't worry about the ends, we'll cut those off in a minute.

This is where the sizing comes in. In the photo below you can see that I cut off some of the green hood to make it smaller. How big you make your hood is completely up to you. Don't make them too small though because kids use these for years and years.

I always cut the bulky binding off the bottom of the hood and serge or zig zag the cut edge. (See that binding in the above photo? Get rid of that because it's hard to sew through).

Find the center of the hood and your towel and mark with a pin.

Pin the two together, matching the pins and overlapping the towel over the hood.

 

With the edge stitch foot sew with needle position to the left and let blade of foot follow the edge of the towel.

 

 

Flip the towel over and sew along the hand towels overcast edge.

 

 

Be sure to reinforce the ends where the two towels are joined as these are stress points that will take a lot of wear and tear.

You can add a name or monogram if you'd like

 

and a cute bath toy.

 

Part of the cuteness factor here is the way they are folded so here ya go:

 

 

Tie with a pretty ribbon and add a bath toy.

Encourage one another,

Tutorial Tuesday - #24 Pillowcases

 Download Pillowcase easy to print  PDF instructions here

I've been making pillowcases f o r e v e  r. Gosh, we even had a Pillowcase of the Month Club a few years back.

But it wasn't until I recently taught my two grandson's how to sew that I tried this new method of making pillowcases. What's different is that the seams are all totally finished. There are no raw edges anywhere so they look neat and tidy inside and out.

It occurred to me that some of you might enjoy this technique and with summer winding down it's a great simple project to help keep bored kids busy. Great too as gifts for college kids going off to school, a thoughtful gift for a sick friend, for birthday gifts and fun for the upcoming holidays.

Here's what you'll need:

Main fabric 27" x 41"    You will purchase 3/4 yard

Cuff fabric: 11" x 41"    You will purchase 1/3 yard

Accent band: 3" x 41"   You will purchase 1/8 yard

With a rotary cutter cut each of the three coordinating fabrics to the appropriate sizes listed above.

Fold the accent band in half lengthwise and press with right side out.

Layer the three fabrics starting by placing the cuff fabric right side up, the main fabric next, right side up, and then the folded accent band.

Line up all the raw edges and pin in three or four places to hold in place.

Then starting at the bottom of the main fabric start rolling toward the top where the pins are.

Keep rolling...

until you see the bottom of the cuff. Then bring that cuff up to the pinned edge up over the rolled main fabric.

Line up the cuff fabric with the others and re pin the whole thing really well.

 

Now take that little fabric sausage to the sewing machine and sew along the pinned edge 1/4" from the edge.

 

Reach your hand in there and put the whole thing right side out.

Press.

 

Trim the two sides if needed.

 

You are going to finish the pillowcase with French seams which means there will be no raw edges on the inside of your pillowcase.

Start by folding the pillowcase in half with WRONG sides together.

Pin matching seams where the cuff meets the accent band and sew using a 1/4" seam along the long side and across the end of the main  fabric.

 

Turn pillowcase wrong side out. Press. Sew 3/8" seam along the side and end over previously stitched seam..

Turn right side out and press. That's it! Look how neat it looks on the inside.

Every seam is finished. My grandsons did a great job and theirs looked terrific. I'll never make pillowcases any other way!

 

Here's a cute winter combination

and one for Halloween. (Much better than giving candy).

 

I have just one question. Who thinks of this stuff? This is brilliant!

Here's a great video on making these pillowcases.

Encourage one another,

Tutorial Tuesday - #23 (It's baack) - Repurposed kit ribbon

If you've ever bought one of these from our store

you probably have a pile of tulle laying around (providing you've unwrapped and actually used your kit).

What's that?

You've never purchased a Strawberry Patches kit?

Well then.

You could use this...

 

Six inch tulle available at craft stores by the spool.

Think of this little project as a petty coat for your flower corsages or hair clips.

You simply take one of these

and add a little nest of netting to create this

Wanna see that again?

This

becomes this.

Photographing delicate tulle is, well. delicate. I think these are so much better in person but my thought with this project was to create a poof of tulle for the flower to rest on so as to help it blend into the background (or something like that).

To be honest, I'm not exactly sure what I was thinking.

I was just thinking it looks better that way. Okay?

So if you agree and want to try it, here's how.

Take about 27 inches of six inch wide tulle and with needle and thread run a gathering stitch up the middle.

Pull on the thread to gather up the center and tie it off creating a poof of netting.

Cut a circle out of matching felt (pretend this felt is a nice soft matching pink)

and glue the netting to the felt circle. (Be careful it's hot and oozy).

Glue the flower to the tulle and felt.

 

Now it's time to torch something. Oh, yeah baby.

Using a lighter, carefully melt the edges of the tulle. (You can melt any polyester fabric or ribbon to create an interesting edge). Take it slow and let the heat from the flame, not the flame, curl the netting.

And this

turns into this...

 

I've added some additional smaller tuffs

 

here and there by gluing them between the petals for a softer look. And yes, I torched those too.

Finish your flower with a pin back, headband or a hair clip and voila...

Tre chic!

A three dollar flower suddenly looks like a million bucks.

Dontchathink?

Encourage one another,

Tutorial Tuesday #22

Todays tutorial is on how to pronounce Eyjafjallajokull, the erupting volcano in Iceland that is playing havoc with world travel and keeping me in Paris and away from my sewing machine.

However you pronounce it, Eyjafjallajokull spells trouble for travelers around the world.

Today we made friends with other stranded travelers in a laundromat.

We were scheduled to return to the USA on Monday the 19th of April and now it looks like we could be stuck here in France for up to ten more days. (We keep reminding ourselves that things could be worse).

I guess you could call our extended vacation a volcation.

Encourage one another,

Tutorial Tuesday #21 - Undercover Creates

Dear Suzanne:

I would like to see a tutorial on those fabric box liners you have. I think the box is a plastic file box from Office Depot. I love the idea of making cute storage items.

Thanks,

Heather L.

Dear Heather:

Our fabric covered creates are not only adorable, but functional too. Whether you use them to store toys, fabric or books they are sure to brighten up any closet or room.

And yes, you're right. The creates do come from the office supply store. Here's what they look like before they're covered

                        
and here's where you can  download The Undercover Crate instructions.

Thanks to Laura Gunn from Paint in My Hair for her excellent tutorial.

Encourage one another,

 

Tutorial Tuesday #20 - Shirred Sundress

Dear Suzanne: 

I was in Target the other day looking at The Liberty of London sundresses. Can you share with us how to do the elastic shirring at the top of a dress like this?       

  

Thanks,

Emily 

Dear Emily:

The trick to these dresses is sewing with elastic thread in the bobbin. You simply hand wind (without stretching) the elastic thread in your bobbin and sew. I discovered this terrific video by Heather Ross as shown on the Martha Stewart Show. You can view it by clicking here.

If you have questions and are a local customer, stop by Strawberry Patches and we'll show you some samples and get you started with the supplies you'll need.

Thanks for the great question!

Encourage one another,

Tutorial Tuesday #19 - Repurposing denim

Repurposing and upcycling.

They're the hot new buzzwords.

What used to be recycled is now repurposed.

Recycling is so 1990's!

I developed this pattern back in the 90's when for me, recycling was more of a necessity than a political statement. Here in Bakersfield it seems everyone  practically lives in denim. So if you don't have a stack of out grown or worn out jeans in your closet they certainly are easily found in the nearest thrift shop.

With a fat quarter of fabric and a pair of old jeans

you can create an adorable bib for your little buckaroo faster than a cowpoke can saddle up his horse.

Since each bib will be slightly different depending on the jeans you use these instructions are pretty general. You will need to get creative in order to get the most from your jeans.

When selecting jeans for this project pay close attention to the seams and the number of usable pockets.

Did you know that most men's jeans have a tiny, perfectly formed pocket inside the right front pocket?

Here. Take a look.

It's right down there. Let me pull it out so you can see.

This is what I look for when I'm shopping for used jeans. That perfect little pocket tucked unto the front pocket. Pure bliss. I just wish there was one on each side!

Things like rivets and tags are also fun things to incorporate.

The first thing you will need to do is print a pattern using legal sized paper. (This is really exciting for me as this is my first post using a printable PDF file. Can you imagine the possibilities here people?)

Download Bib side 1 & 2

Using a seam ripper open up the outside seam of each leg. You will want the double, top stitched seam (normally the inseam) left in tact so you can center it on your bib front.

Using pattern piece A, cut one piece from your cotton print by laying the long edge on the fold.

Then open that piece up and use it as a pattern to cut out your denim by laying it right side up to the wrong side of the denim (wrong sides together).

Pay special attention to utilize the double seam of the jeans by carefully centering it down the front of the bib.

Cut your denim the same shape as the bib back A.

 

Now snip and tear two sides of your fabric for piece B (the front bib overlay) so you are left with two nice ravely edges .

Using pattern piece B, cut one bib front overlay. This piece should be cut on the bias since the edges are left unfinished to ravel.

Place the the bib front (jeans) to the bib back (print) matching the neckline circle - wrong sides together. Lay the bib front overlay on top of the denim front and pin, matching up sides and neck opening. (Don't stress out over a few spots where one layer might be a bit bigger than the other layers, you will snip and fray your seams allowances later and these won't show).

Cut the tiny pocket from the inside of the pants pocket

 

Trim the pocket close being careful not to disrupt the stitches.

 

Pin pocket in position.

Sew around the edge of the bib and around the neck opening about 1/2" from the edges.(Pretend there is a pinned pocket in the photo below).

Helpful Hint: I like to use Jeans Thread for this as it mimics the look of the original thread used in the jeans. When using Jeans Stitch thread you will use it on the top of your machine only. Use regular sewing thread in the bobbin. A denim needle is also helpful.

 

 

Top stitch the pocket on using clear, invisible thread and sewing right on top of the original top stitching. You will need to use a zipper foot and sew very carefully around the rivets.

Cut two pieces of velcro 1 1/2" long.

Next you will position the velcro on each side of the placement line (refer to pattern). Simply position the soft side of the velcro strip 1/4" to the right of the placement line on the top of the bib and sew with clear thread top and bottom.

Turn the bib over and using the placement guide, sew the second prickly side to the right of the placement line.

The front of your bib will now look like this (except you haven't cut the notches yet). (Sorry I continue to struggle with getting the correct photos).

Here's a shot of the back side of the bib with the prickly side of the velcro.

 

I've "drawn" a line so you can see where to cut.

 

With scissors or rotary cutter cut between the two strips of velcro stitches.

Clip the raw edges of the bib, both at the neckline and around the outside edge, about 1/4" apart. Be careful not to snip your stitches. These edges will bloom as they are washed and worn or you can speed up the process by spraying with a little water and brushing the edges with a stiff bristled brush.

Here's one that's been brushed.

 

Here's one using the leather patch instead of a pocket

and one with a cute little PS I Love You tag

 

And after it's brushed

After it's brushed

When you run out of pockets and labels, make your own pockets using the hem as the top of the pocket.

And here's what you get when you brush them (wonder if there is a repurposing project for the mess).

That's it. So quick and totally simple.

Cute too dontchathink?

Oh. Wondering what to do with all the leftover big pockets and scraps of denim?

Repurpose them of course.

Encourage one another,

Tutorial Tuesday #18 Scalloped Borders

What do you do for Tutorial Tuesday when you've been playing with your grand kids all week and haven't even thought of getting out the sewing machine?

You go to your right hand girl, Annette and use her fabulous Bernina Club idea and samples!

************************************************************

Scalloped borders add such a nice finishing touch to these preprinted towels and this basic technique can be used for everything from tablecloths to aprons to kids clothes to pillowcases.

If you're using our preprinted towels you will start by cutting out each panel and hemming it along the two long sides and across the top. You will leave the bottom unhemmed.

If you are adding a scalloped edge to an finished towel go to the next step.

Decide how deep you want your finished scalloped border and cut a piece of fabric twice that depth plus 1/2". (Ours measures 7 1/2" wide by 14" deep).

Using a 1/4" seam allowance, center the right side of the band on the wrong side of the towel and sew.

You will have 1/4" of fabric extending beyond each side of the towel.

 

Press seam allowance toward the band.

Fold and press the other long edge under 1/4".

Fold band right sides together, matching the folded edge with the sewn seam. Pin.

 

Now it's time to mark the scallops.

You can use one of these way cool tools

 

or make your own scallops by folding paper.

 

Here's what I did.

First I decided how many scallops I wanted across my towel. Then I cut a piece of heavy paper the width of my towel plus the two 1/4" seam allowances at each end.

Then I folded the paper in half and then in quarters making sure each section was equal. You will need a folded section for each scallop.

Next I marked a line down the center of each section and drew a line where I wanted the bottom of the scallops to be.

 

Then, using a glass, lid, or plate I marked an arc at each section, intersecting them at the section folds.

I cut out the paper scallop pattern and traced the scallops onto the wrong side of the fabric.

Stitched the side seam allowances, and along drawn line.

Trimmed seam allowances and clipped inside points.

 

Using my point turner, I turned the border right side out and pressed the seams.

Then I matched the top folded edge to the seam line and pinned.

Annette inserted this adorable Swiss trim into the seam.

Top stitch seam through all layers.

Threaten to kill anyone who wipes their grubby hands on your cute little towels!

Encourage one another,

Tutorial Tuesday #17 You probably think I'm nuts

At the risk of turning Tutorial Tuesday into a paper sewing blog I just had to show you one more idea using gathered crepe paper.

I promise that after today there will be no more sewing on paper (at least for a while).

You might think I'm nuts, but as I was making these

and gathering all that crepe paper...

 

with this fabulous, magical foot

I started thinking about these

                  

and with this coming

             

        

I just wanted to share this vintage inspired idea.

 

 

 

 

I thought they would make darling place cards on an Easter table or for birthday parties, showers, Valentines Day...

What do you think?

So cute and so cheep, cheep cheep...

      

      

...about twenty five cents each to make! (I see a money making opportunity for some of you here)

Here's what you'll need:

2" nut cups - (24 for $1.79)

1 3/4" wide crepe paper roll (89 cents for 81 feet)

card stock

Shredded colored paper

Assorted ribbon and trim optional

candy

Here's how I made them:

For the handle gather a piece of crepe paper 1/2" from the edge.

 

You will need about 6 1/2"" of gathered paper for each handle, but I make lots then just cut off pieces as I need it.

Next you'll trim the ruffle so that it measures 1" wide. The problem is that when you lay it on your mat to cut it, it looks like this...

So I tape it to the mat, laying it nice and straight.

 

Then using my ruler measure 1/2" from the stitching line (C) and cut (B)

Your finished ruffle will be 1" wide by about 6 1/2" long.

Next cut a piece of card stock 1/2" x 9". Measure and mark 1 1/4" in from each end

 

and glue the 1" wide ruffle down the center of the card stock, between the marks.

Set the handle aside while you cover the nut cup with gathered crepe paper.

There are two rows of gathered crepe paper around each cup. Go here for instructions for gathering crepe paper. Start by gluing the first row 1/4" in from the bottom of the cup and glue all the way around. You will be gluing it down under the row of stitches only.

 

Apply the second row of crepe paper. You might notice that my first row is ecru and my second row is a pale color. I did this to make the cups look muted and vintage. You can use all bright colors if you'd like, depending on the look you are after.

 

Glue the handle to the inside of the cup. (Sorry for the confusing color changes here - I need to work on consistency).

Add trim (do this after you glue in the handle or it will look weird - AMHIK*)

                             *Ask me how I know

and embellishments if you'd like

Fill and enjoy.

Happy Easter sweet peeps!

Encourage one another,