Skirt Tutorials I Want To Try

Here are some sewing tutorials for skirts that I would like to try.  I'm saving them here for when I have time to whip one of these up.  Well, at least that's the plan  :D

http://nothingtoofancyblog.blogspot.com.au/2013/06/finally.html?fb_comment_id=fbc_218039131677206_814810_223901531090966#f2dc09c4d8

http://www.blogforbettersewing.com/2009/08/sew-full-gathered-skirt-part-one-make.html

http://www.eleganceandelephants.com/2012/06/summer-stripes-skirt-tutorial.html

http://www.cottonandcurls.com/2012/10/tulip-wrap-skirt-tutorial/

http://www.oneaviandaemon.com/how-to-make-my-chalk-lines-skirt/

http://lilybirdstudio.blogspot.ca/2011/12/mia-skirt.html

http://grandrevivaldesign.typepad.com/grand_revival_design/2011/10/pleated-wrap-skirt-tutorial.html

Wanna Add Pockets?

http://www.makeit-loveit.com/2013/03/adding-hidden-side-pockets-to-anything-skirt-pants-shorts-etc.html

I also came across some skirt tutorial books on Amazon.  Do you recommend any skirt tutorials or books?

Let me know if you end up trying any of these.  I would love to see pictures!

Happy Sewing!

Frilly Hedgehog Pincushion - Tutorial

Some corsage pins I ordered arrived, but they came in a flimsy ziplock bag.  For safety reasons, ahem, I had to make a new pincushion... with ruffles. 

I had previously sewed some swatches of fabric and backed them with cotton batting for another project, but it didn't work out so I had this quilted material just lying around in my scrap bin.  This little project was a good opportunity to use up this fabric.

If you want to make something similar, this is how I made this:

Materials

Fabric

Cotton batting

Polyfil Stuffing

Thread

Needle

Sewing machine + hand sewing

Lots of double sided ribbon (Each row is about three times around the pouf)

Peanut butter jar lid (or other similar lid)

Other lid about 2-3 times as big as the peanut butter jar lid

Instructions (Sorry!  No photo steps in this tutorial!)

(Note: this assumes that the fabric is already backed with batting.)

Preparation

1. Cut one circle about 1 inch bigger all around than the peanut butter jar lid

2. Cut strip of fabric long enough to wrap around the outside of the lid plus about 1 inch all around

3. Cut large circle about 2-3 times the size of the base (bigger circle makes bigger mushroom top)

4. Cut 3 strips of ribbon that are long enough to wrap at least three times around the outside of the dome.  These are for 3 layers of ruffles.

Dome Top

5. Create running stitch around the entire perimeter of the dome top circle.  Pull to create a draw string that closes the circle into a pouch.  Stuff pouch very full with stuffing.  Pull string tight and secure in place (knots).  You should have a puffy ball.

Base

6. With sewing machine, carefully sew the long strip of fabric around the base circle (wrong sides facing out, right sides facing each other.  When you turn it the right side out, you should have a cup that the peanut butter lid can fit into.

7. Sew running stitch around top perimeter of the cup and pull tight so that the edges pull in to the middle.  Stuff full with batting or fabric scraps.  Secure thread in place (knots).

Ruffles

8. Sew (hand-stitch) the end of one strip of ribbon to the side of the dome top.  

9. Create two stitches of a very loose running stitch.  

10. Push ribbon down the thread to create first ruffle.  

11. Sew ruffle down to side of dome. 

12.  Keep creating ruffles and sewing them down around the entire side of the dome until a full circle is created.  Adjust how tight you want your ruffles as you go and keep an eye on how much ribbon you have left to ensure that you have enough to go around the entire circle.

13. Create two more circles of ruffles.  You should have one ruffle about half way down the side of the dome, one at the bottom edge of the dome, and one ruffle layer in between those.

Put it All Together

14. Center the base in the middle of the bottom of the dome.

15. Use a ladder stitch to join the top and bottom (hand-stitched).  I sewed the bottom to the last ruffle layer as that was easiest.

16. You are done!  Enjoy your new ruffly pincushion! 

I had a lot of scrap fabric and fleece so I stuffed my pincushion with that instead.  The downside is that scrap fabric is very dense and harder to stick thicker needles (ex. corsage pins) easily into.  You may wish to use batting in the top and fabric scraps only in the base so that you can more easily push needles in.  Smaller pins and needles will have no problem pushing into fabric scrap.

Have a great week!

Roll Up Make Up Pouch Completed

I finished a new roll up make up pouch for myself!  

This is my old one.  It didn't have enough spots for my brushes and it was a pain digging around to find eyeliner colours in those typical make up cases.  Well, the problem is gone now!

Ta da!  A custom-made make up pouch with elastic spots to fit each brush I own.  Also, pockets to slide in all the eyeliners.  The colour indicator faces up out of the pouch so I know exactly which colour I'm pulling out.  

The best part of all?  There is a real zipper pouch built in on the side that stores all the eyeshadows, blushes, pluckers, scissors, etc.  For ease of travel, the whole thing rolls up and is tied closed.  It's magic!

I took photos of all the steps as I was making it so maybe I will put together a tutorial one day.  Let me know if it's something you would be interested in.  For now, I am really enjoying this new pouch.  I'm so glad I learned how to sew.  It's really coming in handy.

Have a great day!

New Puzzle Ball Completed

It has been a while, but I finally finished a new puzzle ball.  This one is meant for my niece.  I planned to give it to her for her first birthday, but that came and went and all the wedges of the ball were just lying around on my desk at home. 

Today I cleared off my very messy desk to dig out my hidden sewing machine and discovered all these sad, neglected pieces of her puzzle ball.  I stuffed the remaining pieces, sewed up the remaining edge, and joined the pieces to form this lovely new puzzle ball.

I think it turned out rather cute  :)  There is one ring of racoons, one ring of foxes, and one of moose.  I probably wasted a lot of fabric centering the images onto these little critters, but it was well worth it.  I chose to use flannel fabric and to skip the cotton batting to create a softer, baby-friendly ball.

If you would like to make a puzzle ball of your own.  The pattern can be found here in my store or using the Paypal link on this post.  This is a 6-inch ball, but I also have a pattern available for a larger 9-inch ball.

Have a great day!

Christmas Sewing Projects - Christmas Trees

Christmas stuff is popping up everywhere now that Halloween is over.  Oh, Halloween, how I miss you already!  

But the good news is that soon my semester will be over and I can sew again.  In anticipation, I have been hoarding sewing patterns and ideas.  Check out some of the cool Christmas tree themed ones I found!

http://team-t-adventures.blogspot.ca/2010/12/festive-stuffed-christmas-trees.html

I saw a book in a quilt shop showing trees like this.  I wanted to get the book, but it seemed more practical to see if a free pattern was online  :D

http://www.thesewingdirectory.co.uk/fabric-christmas-tree-project/

I found not one, but two!  Yay!  Both of them look pretty good.  I might make my own design once I figure out what I want.  I think the top one is a tad too skinny and this one needs curlier boughs  :)

http://thesewingloftblog.com/2011/11/17/how-to-holiday-ornaments-quilted-trees/

This looks like a quick and easy ornament/gift to whip up!  I ordered a pair of pinking shears a while back so whenever those arrive... *evil maniacal laugh*

http://www.fleecefun.com/christmas-tree-pillow.html

I like how curly these branches are and how they are curved on the ends.  Maybe I could use this pattern to make the other trees?  Maybe I could make the branches a bit less skinny though...  Still, very cute!

http://relentlesstoil.typepad.com/relentlesstoil/2008/12/

Another easy ornament/gift idea!  I just need nice red fabric and cute ribbon.  I probably have lots in my fabric hoard  :D

http://thesewingloftblog.com/2011/11/24/how-to-holiday-ornaments-3d-shapes/

It has been a while since I used felt, but it used to be a regular with me.  I'm sure I still have lots in my collection.  You might too!

http://mypatchwork.wordpress.com/2011/11/18/patchwork-christmas-tree-softie/

Cute!  I like these little quilted cones!

http://moneysavingmom.com/2010/12/do-it-yourself-yoyo-christmas-tree.html

The link doesn't give you a pattern for this, but if you look up how to make fabric yo-yo's I think you'll see how this little tree might be made!

Alright, I better stop my Christmas gift-making dreaming.  Back to the homework!

If you have started your gift making, what are you planning to make this year?

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UPDATE 2016! - Here's a pattern that I ultimately drafted up after coming up with a Christmas tree design that I liked!  It looks pretty pro, eh?  You can buy the pattern and templates here.

How To Make a Hedgehog Carrying Pouch With a Flat Bottom

 If you would like your hedgehog carrying bag to have a flat bottom, then follow these instructions to add an additional flat base to your carrying pouch.

***Please note that these tutorials are for you to make things for your own personal use, not to sell.***

First, finish sewing up the flannel to the fleece fabric on the hedgehog carrying pouch tutorial.

Then measure out fleece fabric approximately 8.75 x 2.5 inches.  The goal is to have a piece of fleece 4 cm too short on each side.  Cut out 4 of these.

Place one fleece rectangle on the bottom of the flannel section good side down (wrong side up).  Center it carefully and pin in place.

Sew the bottom edge.  Make sure to backstitch both ends.

Tip:  Use a ruler to measure both sides.

Do the same for the fleece side of the fabric.  Then do the same for the other fleece and flannel piece.

Place the two finished pieces together.  Line up all the sides carefully and pin in place.

Note:  The joint that you particularly want to line up is the one in the middle between the fleece and flannel.  It will be the most noticeable if it is not perfectly lined up.

Sew the four main sides.  Ignore the indented corners for now.  Make sure to back stitch.

Now you want to create the flat base.  Make your base look like the above picture.  This will line up the fleece bottom with the flannel side (on the fleece and flannel side).

Sew the new fleece and flannel edge.  Make sure to backstitch.

Do the same thing for the other corners, but leave one of the fleece + fleece (inside of pouch) corners.

For the last fleece + fleece corner, only sew the outermost edges.  Don't sew the middle.  Leave a 2 inch gap.  Make sure to backstitch.

Turn the pouch inside out through this gap.

Your base should look like this.

For the remaining gap, tuck in the edges of the fabric and pull the fabric edge together taut.  Pin in place.   Close the gap with a hidden (ladder) stitch.  Make sure to overlap some of the existing stitching to create a secure joining.

Tuck the fleece side into the pouch.  Match up all the corners neatly.

Your flat bottomed pouch is done!

Optional resealable opening/firm base:

Idea #1

Don't sew the last gap shut.  Instead, sew thin strips of velcro to both sides of the remaining gap so that it can be opened and closed anytime.  This creates an opening where you can insert a sheet of plastic to make the base firm.  The plastic needs to be slightly smaller than the base so that it will fit inside well.

Remember to remove the plastic before washing the bag!

Idea #2

Cut a piece of plastic to fit slightly smaller than the base.  Sew a thin pillow case/envelope for it out of flannel.  Place on bottom of pouch to create a firm base.

Potential problem:  There is risk for little toes to get caught on the side of the bag and the hard base. 

Idea #3

Measure the base of the bag and use it as a template to create a removable base with 4 sides (an inner bag).  Sandwich your hard base between the base of your carrying bag and the removable bag.  Make sure to finish your edges so there are no loose threads for toes to get caught on.

Idea #4
Create an envelope for a plastic insert on the outside of the base.  Close the enclosure with velcro.

Let me know if you think of anything else!

Ideas For Plastic Types to Insert
Plastic canvas, thin plastic cutting boards (the kind that's just a sheet of plastic), plastic sheets for rolling dough on, chloroplast, dollar store placemats, report covers

You can also use cardboard, just discard it when it's soiled. Remember to remove it before washing!!! (or you'll be very sad...and your pouch will be shreddy-coated)

Optional Bigger Pouch:

The finished base in this tutorial is approximately 3 inches wide and 7.75 inches long (7.5 cm x19.5 cm).

Wider Front to Back

If you would like a wider base front to back, add an inch to the width of your fabric on both sides.  Also add an inch to the width (shorter side, not length) of the fleece fabric strips for the base.  This will make your base about 1 inch wider (so 4 inches wide) if you have 1/2 inch seams.

Wider Side to Side

If you would like a wider pouch horizontally, add an inch to the width of your fabric on both sides.  Also add an inch to the length of the fleece fabric strips for the base.  This will make your pouch wider by about 1 inch (so 8.75 inches) wide on the bottom.

Move on to the carrying straps tutorial to make the straps for your carrying pouch!

Don't forget to post your finished pictures in the Flickr group here. I'd love to see what you make!

Don't want to make your own? Email me at bluepandemonium (at) hotmail.com and maybe I can make one for you! I also have some fleece pouches listed in my Etsy shop.
Happy Sewing!

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Read other hedgehog tutorials

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Have the tutorials and information on this blog helped you? Then please consider supporting this blog with a generous donation!

More Hedgie Dolls

I sold two sets of hedgie dolls, and that almost wiped out the remaining of my brown polar fleece fabric.  I had just enough to make one last one.

 So I made her extra pretty  :)  She has a lovely cluster of three pink flowers in her quills, with two tiny green leaves.  Each flower has three little pale yellow french knots in the middle.

 I gave her a touch of blush on the cheeks too.

Then I came across some grey flannel fabric in my stash with yellow dots.  So made a little hedgie with black eyes, a pink nose, and teensy ears.

 I made him a girl hedgie friend too!  She has an orange flower above her ear.

 They look very sweet together  :)

They are available as a set in my shop!

Have a happy day!