Video Tutorial - Reversible Sun Hats

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It's that time of year again where Sun Hats will be worn everywhere.  This is a great tutorial where you can create your own that noone else will have.  There is a FREE downloadable pattern for all sizes from toddlers to adults.

Quilt Tutorial by Missouri Star Quilt Company - Disappearing 4 Patch Quilt Block

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I've been following the YouTube channel for Missouri Star Quilt Company for over a year now and love their channel.  Jenny Doan, the owner of the Missouri Star Quilt Company is so funny and is great at explaining the tutorials so they are easy to understand.

I think this is a cute and diverse block.  Easy enough for the beginner quilter.

Video Tutorial - Modern Wonky 9 Patch Quilt Block

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I came across this video on YouTube and wanted to share.  She used the AccuQuilt Go system but you don't even need it!

 For each block you will need:
9 squares 2 1/2" each (5 colored and 4 white)
Piece A- 1 rectangle 3" x 5"
Piece B- 1 rectangle 3" x 7 1/2"
Piece C- 1 rectangle 5 1/2" x 7 1/2"
Piece D- 1 rectangle 5 1/2" x 12 1/2"

Quilt Tutorial by Missouri Star Quilt Company - I Spy Jar Quilt Block

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I've been following the YouTube channel for Missouri Star Quilt Company for over a year now and love their channel.  Jenny Doan, the owner of the Missouri Star Quilt Company is so funny and is great at explaining the tutorials so they are easy to understand.

For those of you with children, I thought this tutorial would be cute to share with yall.

Tutorial - What to do with Serged Ends? How to tie them off easily!

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Okay, if you serge, then you know all about the loose serged tails/ends hanging off.  How in the heck do you get those pesky things tied off so that they don't unravel and still make it look great?!

There is probably a tutorial online already for this but I wanted to do my own since the idea came to me and it turned out great!  For this, you WILL NEED a large eye needle.  I think they are usually found in the embroidery floss section.

WHEN I TOOK MY FABRIC OFF THE SERGER I HAD ABOUT 2 INCHES HANGING.  YOU MAY DO MORE IF YOU LIKE.

"GENTLY" PULL THE THREADS UNTIL THEY ARE SORT OF STRAIGHT.

TAKE YOUR BIG EYE NEEDLE AND INSERT IT BETWEEN THE 2 LAYERS OF FABRIC.  THEN POKE IT OUT ABOUT 1 INCH AWAY.  I FOUND IT EASIER TO INSERT THE NEEDLE THEN THREAD THAN TO DO THE NORMAL THREADING THEN INSERTING.

TRIM YOUR THREAD WHERE YOU SEE 2 OF THE THREADS ENDING.

I FOUND IT EASIEST TO WET THE THREAD ENDS TO GET THEM ALL TO GO INTO THE EYE OF THE NEEDLE.  OR YOU COULD USE A NEEDLE THREADER - THEY GENERALLY LOOK LIKE A SILVER COIN WITH A DIAMOND SHAPED WIRE HANGING OFF THE COIN OF THEY ALSO COME IN OTHER  DESIGNS.  MINE HAPPENED TO BREAK FROM A PREVIOUS BEADING PROJECT SO I HAD TO IMPROVISE.

TJB DESIGNS HAS THESE REALLY COOL LOOKING HANDMADE BEADED NEEDLE THREADERS THAT I JUST FOUND ON ETSY.  SHE HAS THE SQUARE OR THE ROUND SHAPES TO CHOOSE FROM.

"GENTLY" PULL THE NEEDLE THRU

HALF WAY THERE.  KEEP GENTLY PULLING.

EASY SUCCESS!

CLIP YOUR LOOSE THREADS CLOSE TO THE FABRIC

SEE HOW GREAT YOUR FINISHED END LOOKS!

I HOPE THIS TUTORIAL HAS HELPED!

TUTORIAL: No Sew 6" Felt & Fabric Flowers - Great for Wall Decor & Other Embellishments

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Okay, here's another project I made for my twin's Valentine's Day Open House.  I first saw these 6" fabric & felt flowers on my nieces' bedroom door when I went overseas to visit back in the Spring of 2012.  My twin had gotten hers from an Etsy seller called Lemon Tree Studio.  Well, my twin wanted me to make some and I gave them my own twist.  I can see that Lemon Tree Studio sews the fabric to the felt for each layer but it looks like there is no Heat N Bond type of iron on adhesive used.  For time sake because I have almost 10 projects to get done in 3 weeks time, I didn't sew the layers together.  Instead I used Heat N Bond which I knew would also help with fraying.

Here's some flowers from Lemon Tree Studio:

HERE ARE MY 6" FLOWERS:

 IF I HAD MORE TIME AND HAD BOUGHT CENTER EMBELLISHMENTS, I WOULD HAVE DONE THAT INSTEAD OF THE SEED BEADS BUT I ALREADY HAD THE BEADS.

NOW ONTO MY TUTORIAL.  

These instructions are according to how I made mine.  Feel free to create your own style.

WHAT YOU WILL NEED:

Fabric & coordinating felt

Heat N Bond Lite iron on adhesive with paper back (or other brand)

Beading Needles

Matching thread (I used my sewing machine thread)

Seed Beads for Centers of flowers

1-2 sheets Template Plastic (found in the quilting notions section)

Fine Permanent Marker (for marking template shapes on plastic)

Mark B Gone (or other water erasable marker)

Craft Glue (I used Tacky Glue Quick Dry formula but you can use anything really)

Thread Nippers or Embroidery Scissors

Okay, let's get started.  Go here to download the PDF template pages I made.

I HAD TO CHANGE IT TO PUBLIC SHARING, FOR SOME REASON IT WAS LOCKED BEFORE.

1. Print the template pages from above

2. Trace them onto the template plastic using a fine permanent marker, then label each template as I have done below so you don't get pieces confused:

3. I personally worked on 1 set at a time so not to confuse my coordinated sets with other sets.  If you are going to be making a set of 3, then you will trace each size shape onto each fabric.  But first determine how much fabric will hold all 3 flowers.  Cut that piece out and iron onto the Heat N Bond, per directions.

4. Next, trace each flower size onto the paper side of the Heat N Bond with a pen.  If you are going to be using a fabric center, trace that circle as well.  Cut out the pieces then set aside.

5.  Grab your coordinating felt & your Mark B Gone marker.  You are going to need the 4", 5" & 6" felt shape templates for each flower.  Start tracing, cut out and set aside.

 MY CUT OUT PIECES ALL STACKED UP ACCORDING TO SETS & READY TO BE ASSEMBLED

6. Now play around with your pieces by layering the felt and fabric for each flower to get the look you want.  When you have figured that out, unlayer the pieces but keep them grouped together so you don't confuse them with other cut out pieces.  In whichever order you like, peel the paper off the back of the fabric and lay the fabric on the matching sized felt layer with the pretty fabric side facing up.  Then Iron per directions of the Heat N Bond.  Continue with the other 2 layers.

7.  Now time to start gluing!

8.  I found it best to dot around each petal instead of dragging the glue tip because of the fibers of the felt being "stringy".  Then I dotted all on the center as well.

9.  Place the 5" flower onto the 6" flower by slightly turning the flower so that the petals don't line up as shown below.  I then pressed the middle 5" layer onto the 6" layer.  Press really well with your hands all over including the petals.

10.  When you have all 3 layers glued, time to move on beading the centers.  I used like 24" of thread at a time since I had so many Valentine's colored fabrics.  That way I could get like 2-3 flowers done without re-threading.  Double the thread, tie a knot and insert the needle into the felt center starting anywhere you like.  You don't even need to cut off the excess thread because it's going to be hidden when glued down.

 

11.  I started with 2 beads per stitch then got fancier with my color combinations as I made more flowers.  When you have the needle all the way through the felt circle, start adding beads.

 IF YOU LIKE THE LOOK OF JUST 1 BEAD PER STITCH, GO FOR IT!

FOR THIS FLOWER, I DID 2 BEADS PER STITCH.

 THIS IS HOW I LIKE TO SET UP MY BEADS, USING THE LIDS FROM DELI CONTAINERS.  THEY ARE SHALLOW................................

.......................AND STACK QUITE WELL!

12.  When you have however many beads you want for that stitch, hold the beads down with your thumb or hold them back with your fingernail.  Insert the needle back into the felt right where the bead ends, as shown below.

13.  Now continue beading by inserting the needle anywhere you want or by just poking, as shown below.  DON'T PULL THREAD TIGHT!

14.  When you have enough beads to your liking, take a couple of stitches on the back in the same spot and knot them.  Clip the thread, 

THE BACK WILL LOOK LIKE A RAT'S NEST BUT WHO CARES!

15.  Dab glue onto the back of the circle and add to your assembled flower.  Now let dry.

THESE FLOWERS WOULD BE REALLY CUTE IN A MUCH LARGER SIZE & PUT ON THE WALL!

MY FINISHED FLOWERS, BY SETS.  SOME SPOTS ARE WET BECAUSE I HAD JUST DABBED WATER TO REMOVE THE MARK B GONE.  THE FLOWERS LOOK SO MUCH BETTER IN PERSON!

 FABRIC FOR THE SWIRLY FLOWERS IS FROM ME & MY SISTER DESIGNS FAVORITES COLLECTION.

 MY TWIN MAY DECIDE TO MIX & MATCH THE SETS, AS I DID ABOVE JUST TO SEE WHAT THEY WOULD LOOK LIKE.

THIS ONE I'M CALLING "CHOCOLATE SHERBERT" BECAUSE IT HAS CHOCOLATE BROWN AND SHERBERT COLORS.

I HOPE YOU ENJOYED THIS TUTORIAL.  IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, PLEASE LEAVE ME A COMMENT BELOW.

Tutorial: Using 2 or 3 Directional Fabrics for In Color Order's Lined Drawstring Bags

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This is another project I made for my twin.  She wanted 5 drawstring bags to put gifts in for her friends.  I used the 7"x10" Drawstring Bag Tutorial from Jen's blog In Color Order.  Now, Jen does show you how to use a directional fabric for the main piece of the exterior body.  My twin chose 3 directional fabrics out of 5 fabrics so I knew I had to do some thinking to make sure they faced the right way when the bags were finished.

THE DIAGRAM BELOW SHOWS YOU HOW TO USE DIRECTIONAL FABRICS FOR EACH SECTION OF JEN'S DRAWSTRING BAGS.  THIS CAN BE USED FOR ANY OF THE SIZES IN HER SOLD PATTERN.

These bags turned out TOTALLY FREAKING CUTE!  I WANT TO MAKE MORE!  I'm even thinking of making 1 as a purse for myself and adding 6 pockets on the inside using this tutorial by SEW-FANTASTIC BLOG.  Her tutorial is for adding 6 pockets to the outside but can be adjusted to adding them inside instead.

NOW ONTO THE BAGS!

I made the drawstrings to match the inside lining fabric.

#1

 #2

#3

 #4

 #5

 SOMEHOW I FORGOT TO TAKE A PICTURE OF THE INSIDE FABRIC BUT IT'S THE SNOOPY FABRIC ON THE OUTSIDE OF BAG #2.