Film in the Fridge » tutorial

a quick tutorial – the starburst block

admin — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 15:48:54 +0000

You asked for it!

[And now for a word of warning - this tutorial is more about the process I used when putting together these blocks. It may not be the best way to do it, and you might find something that works better for you, but these are the steps I took. Also, please note ahead of time that this particular method does create some waste, so keep that in mind if you plan on making these blocks with your favorite fabrics!

Oh, and one last thing, I'm sure some of this might be unclear, mainly since I wrote it in a hurry before work this morning -- feel free to ask questions!]

Let’s get started! You’ll need a variety of scraps – for 10″ blocks, you’ll need scraps that are at least 6″ in length and a variety of widths. To start, I pull out about 5 or 6 scraps which would make up half the square and I lay them out and kind of visualize the rectangular shape I’ll be making. I’ve been making 10″ blocks, so each trimmed half square block will measure 5.25″ x 10″.

I start from the left side and grab a piece that’s about 6″ long (since the points line up in the center, you’ll need pieces that extend at least 5.5 – 6″ from where the center point will be.The next piece will need to be slightly longer, since it’s on a diagonal – about 7″ or so, and so on. I lay mine out on my cutting mat so I can check to make sure that the pieces will cover the area I need for the rectangle. When you’re starting out, it might help to cut a piece of paper to the 5.25″ x 10″ size and lay your pieces over the paper so you can be sure they’re large enough to cover that area, keeping your seam allowances in mind (I find that bigger is always better, since you can just trim it down to size later!)

Start with the two pieces on the left, and with right sides together, angle the second piece on top of the first and sew, going from the longest part of the first piece and angling down so you have a wedge shape. I recommend that you sew an angle that doesn’t go directly to the point of the first piece of fabric. You’ll want your points to match up about 1/4″ – 1/2″ or so away from the edge of the fabric so that you’ll be able to trim it to the correct size later. (it may help to read through the rest of the tutorial first so you can see what I mean).

Trim the excess fabric and iron seams open.

Add the next piece of fabric. With right sides together, make sure that this next piece of fabric is about 1/4″ away from the point where the fabrics are coming together. This will ensure that your points meet when you add this next strip, sewing with a 1/4″ seam allowance. Trim excess fabric and press.

As you sew the pieces together, you can check to make sure that your sizes are correct. As you can see in the photo above, you should have about 6″ in length from where the fabrics meet at the point, and you should have about the same distance in height.

Keep in mind that you’ll want to make sure that the point where your fabrics meet isn’t on the very edge of the fabric, but rather about a 1/4″ in from the edge, as you can see above. When you trim it down to size, you’ll need this extra 1/4″ for the seam allowance so you can sew the two halves together. (this might not make sense right now, but it will later when you go to trim it).

Continue sewing the pieces until you’ve pieced enough fabric to cover the necessary area.

Trim the block to size. As you can see from the photo, you’ll position the point in the middle and then will trim 5″ away from the point on each edge. Trim the bottom edge 1/4″ below the point (I position the point where the fabrics meet on an intersecting line on my cutting mat and then using a clear ruler you can easily make sure that you’re trimming 1/4″ below that point). Trim the top edge 5 1/4″ from the bottom edge.

And here you can see two finished blocks – you can see that they’re both trimmed to 5.25″ x 10″, leaving 1/4″ below the point where the fabrics meet at the center).

Sew them together, matching the center points and iron the seam open. Since there’s so much fabric meeting right at the middle, it will be hard to iron and there will be a slight bump right there in the center. I used extra steam and pressed quite hard to make it as flat as possible. Your resulting block will be 10″ square.

Stand back and admire your crazy new starburst block! (and then go make a bunch more for an entire crazy starburst quilt!)

dinner date block tutorial

admin — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 14:16:08 +0000

So… remember this quilt? It’s still not finished, but I’ve had a number of requests for a tutorial, so I decided to put a quick one together for you today.

You might recall that I originally made my Flying Farfalle quilt using this technique, which was inspired by an image in Gwen Marston’s Liberated Quiltmaking II book. For my second quilt, I decided to change it up just a little bit, adding in a thin little strip of white to offset the bright colored points from the coal background.

I’m calling it Dinner Date because the coal background reminds me of a men’s suit with the pops of color as a fun tie.

So, to start, collect your materials…

For this quilt, I’m using Kona Coal as the background. I’ve decided to go with 6.5″ squares for this one, but you should feel free to switch it up as you’d like – rectangles, larger squares… whatever works for you! Along with your background fabric, you’ll need fabric for the points – I’m using up some of my colored solid scraps. The size doesn’t really matter, though I think it works best if you use a longer strip that’s at least 2″ wide. If you decide to include the thin white strip, you’ll also need some white fabric. My white fabric is 1″ wide.

Sew the 1″ wide white strip to the long side of your solid strip (1/4″ seams) and press. (I press my seams open, but feel free to do whatever works best for you).

I wanted my white strip to finish at 3/8″, so after sewing the white strip to the colored solid, I trimmed it back to 5/8″.

In order to sew the colored points to your solid background square, flip the colored strip over and position it along one of the corners, as shown in the photo above. (You will end up flipping the colored section back over that gray triangle after sewing your seam, so just make sure that the colored portion will adequately cover the background triangle.) I like my triangle points to be wonky, so I vary the angles when sewing the colored portion to the background fabric.

Sew along the edge of the white strip.

Repeat for the opposite corner, using another of your colored strips. Iron the points and you’ll have something that looks a little like the photo above.

And the back will look a little like this.

Using your background square as a guide, trim off the excess fabric along all sides of the square.

Since your colored fabric has now become the points of the square, you can trim off the excess background fabric that’s under the colored point. Just trim along the edge of the white fabric.

And voila! A finished block! Make several more and you can start to see the fun pattern when you put them together!

As always, let me know if there are any questions, and if you make a quilt like this one, be sure to add it to the FITF Flickr group!

poppy pillowcases

admin — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 11:30:54 +0000

So here’s what I decided to do with my lovely stack of Poppy fabrics (designed by Laura Gunn). I bought the prints with the large poppies, and after looking at them for a while, I just couldn’t see cutting them up. Since it’s about time to put away the flannel pillowcases, I decided to use these beautiful prints for new spring pillowcases…

Of course, then I couldn’t decide which print I wanted to use, so I decided to use them all. At the time it seemed like a good idea, though now that I have 4 sets of pillowcases, I’m wondering if perhaps that was overkill. Variety is nice, right?

I used my pillowcase tutorial, and was amazed once again how quickly they come together! I’d say I see more of them in my future, but seeing as how I now have 8 new ones, I guess we’re good for a while… now I may have to be on the hunt for some new sheets to match.

an updated blocks and stripes quilt… plus a quick tutorial

admin — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 15:00:44 +0000

I tend to buy fabrics with smaller prints for use in quilts, yet I’m often still drawn to busier prints, or those with larger designs. Then I buy them and they sit in my stash because I can’t seem to work them into a quilt top. I decided to come up with a quilt design which would allow me to use one of those great fabrics as the backing along with coordinating prints for the quilt top. The measurements are such so that you can use a single piece of regular width fabric for the backing.

If you want to make a similar quilt, here are the measurements and other info -

___

Materials required for a baby quilt, which measures about 38″ x 41″ (after washing):

1.5 yards backing fabric (you’ll need your backing to be about 48″ by the width of fabric, so there will be a bit left over if you buy 1.5 yards)

20 corresponding 8.5″ squares of printed fabrics (a layer cake would work really well here, or 1/4 yard cuts or fat quarters). You’ll need 20 different fabrics if you want each to be unique. Or you can duplicate some of the prints, as I did in this quilt, to reduce the number of printed fabrics you need.

A selection of solid fabrics, totaling just under 1/2 yard. See *notes below for possible variations for the solid sections.

Batting – a piece measuring approximately 44″ x 48″

1/2 yard fabric for binding

Note: 1/4 seam allowances used

___

First you’ll need to pick a backing fabric. For this one, I used a piece of Alexander Henry My Secret Garden that I had in my stash for a long time. I really love it in its entirety, so I thought it would be perfect to use as a backing. From there I pulled out smaller prints in corresponding colors. I used a total of 17 prints, and used three of them twice.

Cut a total of 20 8.5″ squares from these printed fabrics.

You’ll make 4 rows of 5 blocks. I arranged mine on the floor, changing them around until I found a layout I liked.

Sew the 5 blocks together for each row and iron all seams. Each row should measure 8.5″ x 40.5″.

Now that all the blocks are done, you’ll work on the stripes. Each striped section is 4.5″ x 40.5″. For my quilt, I decided to use up some of my solid scraps, so I selected several which coordinated with the printed fabrics. I went for a scrappy, patchwork look, as you can see in the photo below -

For the first and third striped sections, you’ll need a selection of scraps that are 2″ by a variety of widths, and a selection that are 3″ by a variety of widths. The middle striped section is made up of two stripes of 2.5″ wide fabrics by a variety of widths. (You can change this up however you’d like – just make sure your finished width for each striped section equals 4.5″.)

For the first striped section, sew together the 2″ wide pieces, until you have a strip that’s at least 40.5″ long. Repeat with the 3″ wide pieces, again sewing them together until it measures at least 40.5″ long. (I staggered my pieces so that the seams in each strip would be offset from the seams in the second strip). Iron all seams, then sew the strips together, sewing along the long side. The 2″ section is on top. Iron that seam.

Repeat this process for each striped section. Each section should now measure 4.5″ x 40.5″.

(The second striped section is made up of 2 strips of 2.5″ wide fabrics sewn together, and the last section is a 3″ wide strip and a 2″ wide strip sewn together, with the 3″ wide strip at the top.)

*Notes: There are a variety of options for the solid striped sections. If you don’t like the scrappy look, you could opt to use one solid color for each striped section. Or it might be nice to use a few different shades of one color, etc…

Trim each strip to 40.5″ long. Now you’ll sew the first row of blocks to the first striped section. Continue sewing the blocks to the stripes until you have a completed quilt top measuring about 40.5″ x 44.5″. Finish the quilt by sandwiching, quilting and binding using your favorite methods.

I quilted this one with a grid pattern, varying the distance between the quilting lines. I was going for a bit of a ‘not so perfectly straight’ look, so I didn’t mark out any of the lines ahead of time. Inspiration for this quilt came from one of the first quilts I made, the original Blocks and Stripes quilt.

Also, I’d love to see it if you make a quilt from this tutorial! Please be sure to add photos to the Filminthefridge Quilts! Flickr group.

pretty quick pillowcase tutorial (& bonus french seam instructions)

admin — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 02:41:47 +0000

I guess you can read that anyway you’d like – this tutorial creates a pretty pillowcase, and it’s also pretty quick! And a bit addicting too. If you’re anything like me, you’ll want to just keep on making them.

As I said in the previous post, I based my measurements for Whitney’s pillowcase on a pillowcase that we have here. I don’t really know what a standard pillowcase size is, but these measurements result in a pillowcase that measures about 20″ x 29″. If you have a larger pillow, you may need to adjust your measurements accordingly. What’s nice about pillowcases is that the measurements don’t have to be so exact – there’s a pretty good chance that even if you’re shy an inch or so of fabric, you’ll still be able to stuff your pillow in its new case!

Materials:

1 yard of fabric per pillow (Note: if you want the cuff of the pillow to be a different fabric, you can reduce the main fabric to 3/4 of a yard, and add in 1/4 yard of a coordinating fabric for the cuff)

1.5″ x width of fabric for the trim (or, alternatively, you could use other trim here – I used rick rack for these pillowcases).

Note: For these pillowcases I used Anna Maria Horner flannels, which are a standard 42/44″ width. All fabrics have been prewashed.

2nd note: This works best with a non-directional print, due to the way it’s sewn together.

Let’s make a pillowcase!

Cut your fabric pieces. For each pillowcase you’ll need to cut one piece that’s 9″ by the width of fabric (this is for the cuff), and one piece that’s 26″ by the width of fabric (main body of the pillowcase). Leave the selvedges on the fabric. This will give you an extra bit of width, and they’ll be hidden when we finish the pillowcase with french seams later on. Cut the fabric you’re using for trim to 1.5″ by width of fabric.

Prepare your trim by folding it in half lengthwise, wrong sides together, and press.

Next we’ll sew the trim and cuff to the main body. To do this, stack these three fabrics together in this order — on the bottom, open up the 9″ cuff piece and place it face up. Next, align the long edge of the 26″ main body piece on top of the cuff piece, also face up, matching the selvedges. On top of this, align the raw edge of the trim and pin all three layers together. You might be able to see this better in the photo below:

Sew the entire length, sewing all three layers together using a 1/4″ seam allowance.

Now if you lift up the fabric for the cuff you’ll have a little something that looks like this -

Press the seam up, towards the cuff fabric. Then iron the top edge of the cuff under 1/4″.

Next, we’ll make the actual cuff by folding down the ironed edge to meet the trim. Leave about 1/4″ of the trim showing. Pin in place and iron the cuff edge.

Top stitch along this edge using a scant 1/4″ seam allowance, covering the stitch line you made when sewing on the trim.

It should be looking a bit more like a pillowcase now, and we’ll finish it up by sewing together the body of the pillowcase. As I mentioned in the beginning, I use french seams so there aren’t any exposed raw edges.

In order to do this, you’ll fold the pillowcase in half, wrong sides together, aligning the edges. Pin along both edges, making sure that the cuff edges match.

Sew along the two edges, using a 1/4″ seam allowance. Trim your corners, then flip inside out. Press both seams so you have a nice straight edge.

Sew these two edges again, this time using a 3/8″ seam allowance. This will enclose the raw edges inside the new seam.

Flip right side out and admire your pretty new pillowcase!

patchwork napkins!

admin — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 16:13:56 +0000

Well that was a quick break, right?

Actually, this is just a quick post to let you know that I have a new tutorial for patchwork napkins available. It’s posted today on Sew Mama Sew, so if you haven’t already been over there, head on over and take a look! Be sure to check out all the other wonderful scrap projects as well!

And now, back to my break!

(a huge thank you to everyone who commented on yesterday’s post – I really appreciate the support!)

quartered squares – a modified bento box block tutorial

ashley — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 13:00:59 +0000

As promised!

(Please keep in mind that this is just a quick little tutorial to show you how I constructed the blocks for my modified bento box quilt. There are tutorials you can purchase for the standard bento box quilt – I’ve never seen the pattern, and I really have no idea how the blocks are constructed in the pattern. I’m led to believe that this is not the same method, so I feel ok posting it here…)

The measurements provided are what I used for my quilt, but the technique would be the same if you decided to change the size of your strips, or the final size of your blocks. Using this method you’ll construct large blocks which you’ll then cut into quarters. These measurements produce a block that is 16″ square (or 15.5″ square, if you’re like me and aren’t as precise!) which is then cut into four blocks that are 8″ square (or 7.75″ in my case!) Please note that 1/4″ seam allowances are used.

All that being said, let’s get started! First off, select a bunch of fabrics you’d like to use. I probably used around 10-15 prints and about 5 solids for my version, but this is totally up to you!

Select a fabric for the center of your block and cut this to 6″ square. Then select the fabric for the second ring of the square. This fabric will be cut to 1 1/2″ wide. You need 2 pieces 1.5″ x 6″ and 2 pieces 1.5″ x 8″.

Sew the shorter strips to the opposite sides of the square. Press. (I press mine to one side, but you could certainly press your seams open if you’d rather). Repeat this process for the second set of opposing strips. Press again.

The next ring is 2″ wide, and for this ring you’ll need 2 strips that are 2″ x 8″ and 2 strips that are 2″ x 11″. Repeat the process to sew the shorter strips to opposing sides, and press. Repeat with the next set of opposing strips.

The third ring is 1.25″ wide, and for this ring you’ll need 2 strips that are 1.25″ x 11″ and 2 that are 1.25″ x 12.5″. Repeat steps from above.

The last ring is 2.25″ wide. For this one you’ll need 2 strips 2.25″ x 12.5″ and 2 that are 2.25 x 16″.

In theory, this should result in a block that is 16″ square. (this assumes that you have perfect 1/4″ seams and that your ironing skills are spot on!). In reality, my blocks always ended up just shy of 16″ square, so instead of worrying about it, I opted to trim them down to 15.5″ square. I just eyeballed it and trimmed a bit from each side, but in order to make sure everything lines up correctly, you’ll should mark the center of the block and measure out 7.75″ from the center on each side and use this as a trim line.

Once your block is square, you can simply cut it into four equal pieces. In my example, with a 15.5″ block, I measured in 7.75″ and cut the block in half and then repeated for the other side.

You’ll now have four equal blocks that are 7.75″ square. (or 8″ square if your sewing and ironing skills are better than mine!)

Repeat the process for constructing these blocks, changing up your fabrics and the placements of those fabrics and then rearrange the quarter squares into full blocks.

Sew your blocks back together, and then sew all the large blocks together into a quilt top! For the quilt I made, I made a total of 12 full blocks, which resulted in a smallish quilt, measuring about 40″ x 54″ after washing.

Enjoy! And as always, feel free to comment with any questions or if you spot any errors!

Oh, and an aside – I made this block for the tutorial, but don’t have any plans for it… if anyone’s interested in these 4 quarter blocks, leave a comment. If more than one person is interested, I’ll let random.org pick someone tomorrow!

Edited to add: The winner has been selected – Congrats to Jessica Brown!

a string quilt block tutorial – paper pieced method

admin — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 14:14:20 +0000

I’m so blown away by all the wonderful comments on my string quilt, now aptly named ‘Kaleidoscope’ (many thanks to Kerri who was the first to suggest it, followed by 9 others of you who had the same thought!) I think it’s just perfect.

And now, a quick tutorial – I had a few requests for a tutorial on making this type of quilt, so I figured I’d oblige (it’s the least I can do, right?). This shows the paper piecing method, which is my preferred method.

To start, you’ll want to decide on the size of your blocks. For the Kaleidoscope quilt, my blocks were 11″ square. In this tutorial, I’m using 7″ square blocks. I use cheap copy paper, but you could use anything you have on hand – I’ve heard pages from phone books work! – just as long as it’s not a heavyweight paper.

Cut squares of your desired size from the copy paper and set aside.

Decide on your fabrics and cut strips of a variety of widths. I cut strips of 1″ – 2.5″. I like the way it looks with a variety of widths, but you could also cut strips all the same width if you’d prefer. Set these aside.

I wanted to have a small strip of white separate the squares in my quilt, so I cut 1″ strips of a solid white fabric. You could opt for any other solid color – I used green in this baby quilt, or you could use one patterned fabric to tie everything together, or you could skip it completely.

Next we’ll temporarily attach the white strips to the paper squares. With the fabric right side up, lay the strip diagonally on the block. I use a little glue from a glue stick to dab on the back of the fabric strip so it will stick to the paper. You want to make sure that each strip is centered on the diagonal so that your strips will line up with you sew the blocks together. I eyeball mine (’cause I’m lazy!) but you may want to use a ruler and draw a pencil line through the diagonal to help with placement.

Now you can start sewing on your fabric strips! The first strip should be long enough to cover the section of paper right next to the piece glued on the diagonal. You’ll lay your first strip right side down on top of the strip glued to the block.

(please ignore my wrinkly fabric! I’m not much for ironing!)

Align the edges and sew with a 1/4″ seam allowance. Very important: be sure to reduce your stitch length! This will allow you to easily remove the paper from the back later. My machine is typically set at 2.5 – I’ve found that reducing it to 1.5 works well.

Sew along this edge (right through the paper), then iron open with a dry iron. (some may want to skip the ironing, and just finger press – that’s up to you).

Repeat this process, aligning another strip to the strip you just attached, again, right sides together.

Iron open and repeat until you’ve covered the entire paper square. It will look something like this.

Now you can flip the square over so you can see the paper square on the back. Using your clear ruler and rotary cutter, trim the excess fabric, using the paper square as a guide.

And now you’ve completed your first block! I leave the paper on my blocks until I have them all completed.

Repeat for all your paper squares. Then you can arrange them as you like -

When you have your blocks completed, you’ll want to remove the paper from the back. If you’ve reduced the stitch length, the paper should appear almost perferated. I fold the paper along the stitch line and then tear away.

Sew your blocks together and admire your lovely quilt top!

Getting ready for summer… a beach bag tutorial

admin — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 17:03:04 +0000

Thank you all for your nice comments about my Orla Kiely beach bag, and also for all the congratulations on the upcoming wedding! And now, a little something for you, in the form of a tutorial. (I wish it was a giveaway instead, but that might have to wait until after the wedding!)

This bag is constructed in much the same way as my market bag (market bag tutorial here), though the measurements have been adjusted to create a larger bag, complete with a large pocket and removable solid bottom (that makes it different enough, right?!)

I realize that summer beach days are still a ways off for most of us in the country… but maybe this bag could be used for something else while you wait for summer? I think I’ll use mine to bring home all the stuff I’ve bought while in Florida (9 yards of extra wide Kona cotton… oh yes, I definitely needed it!)

As you already saw, I used Orla Kiely dishtowels for these bags. They’re made of a nice heavy cotton and seem to work well for this project. Plus, they should still be available at your local Target store. The measurements are based on the measurements of these towels (20″ x 30″), but if you didn’t want to use these, other dishtowels would work, or any fabric you have on hand (I imagine it would be quite nice in a home dec weight cotton).

For this project you’ll need four dishtowels. These particular dishtowels are sold in packs of two, one printed and one solid. The two printed towels will make up the outside of the bag and the two solid towels will become the inside.

Note: 1/4″ seam allowance used

I tried to maximize the size of my bag, so I used a seam ripper to open up the hem on one printed and one solid towel. The front and back panels of the outside and inside are cut from one towel each. After opening the hem, cut the towel in half across the width of the towel. Due to the way the towel is hemmed, you’ll need to cut off the top edges where it’s cut on a diagonal. You will have four panels, each measuring 22″ across by 14″ high.

The remaining pieces will be cut from the two remaining towels. My diagram below shows how I cut out these pieces out of each towel. You’ll cut two straps, each 2″ in width, the length of the towel. The bottom of the bag is 15″ by 6.5″, and a pocket, which is 14″ by 10.5″. The remaining section can be used to cover the removable bottom. Cut the same pieces from the second towel.

Make the straps:

Match one printed strap and one solid strap, right sides together and sew along both long edges. Turn right side out and top stitch along each of the long edges.

Attach the inside pocket:

Hem the perimeter of the pocket piece and pin to the right side of one of your liner pieces. I like to center the pocket across the width, and attach it about 3/4″ from the bottom of the right side of the liner piece.

Attach the pocket to the liner piece, sewing along three sides, leaving the top open. At this point, you can decide if you want to sew in any dividers. I did an offset divided pocket on the first, and stitched a line right down the center on this one, creating two equal pockets.

Sew the lining:

Put the two lining pieces right sides together and stitch along both short edges.

Now attach the lining bottom piece. With right sides together, center the long edge of the bottom piece along the bottom edge of one lining piece, as pictured here -

Stitch along this edge, starting and stopping 1/4″ from each edge.

Repeat to attach the second side to the second lining piece. You now have the shape of a bag, with an opening at either end of the bottom piece.

Take the short edge of the bottom and align it with the bottom edge of the lining pieces that have not yet been sewn, as pictured – (repeat for second short edge)

Now you should have a completed bag, as such

Repeat the same steps (Sew the lining) to create the outside of the bag.

Now you’re ready to put the bags together! There are two methods – probably a right and a wrong… who knows!

Method 1:

Place the outside bag inside the liner, right sides together. Slip the handles in between these two layers, right sides together (the straps should be positioned straight, not on an angle as pictured below!). Pin and sew along the top edge, leaving an opening large enough to pull the bag pieces through. Fold in the raw edges of the opening and top stitch around the top edge.

Method 2: (my preferred method, though maybe just because it’s the way I’ve always done it…)

Place the liner inside the outer bag, wrong sides together, lining up the side seams. Fold the top edges inwards and iron flat. Slip the handles in between the layers, positioning them as you’d like. I placed mine about 4″ from each seam.

Topstitch along the top edge. To make sure the handles are secured, I also add an additional stitch line, about 1/4″ below the topstitched line.

Making the removable bag bottom:

I used cardboard pieces to create a solid bottom for this bag. My cardboard was a bit thin, so I used two layers. Use your remaining fabric to create a sleeve for the cardboard. On my first bag, I had enough of the printed towel, but on this one I did not, so I used the remaining liner fabric.

Cut the cardboard 6″ x 14 1/2″. Take your remaining fabric piece and cut a piece large enough to fit around the cardboard, leaving enough extra for the seam allowance. My two pieces of cardboard put together measured 1/4″ thick, so I cut the fabric 13″ wide. It measured 15″ in length already, and the piece I had leftover already was hemmed on one end, which I left as the opening.

With right sides together, sew along the long edge, then flatten the tube so that the seam is in the center of one side. Sew the un-hemmed edge shut.

Flip right side out and slide the cardboard inside. If you leave the hemmed edge open, you can replace the cardboard if needed, or remove it for washing.

Trim all threads and admire your new large tote bag!

As always, feel free to email me with any questions!

Last minute sewing (and a quick tutorial)

admin — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 15:29:38 +0000

because this wine bottle really needed a bow… and a cute little tag.

Since I didn’t have time to sew a wine bag, I opted to make this quick little ribbon to give it a bit of a holiday look.

I finished it off with this cute little gift tag, available at inchmark journal. I didn’t have the necessary circle punch, and my rotary-cut circle left a bit to be desired, so I used a zig zag stitch to secure the fabric. Now you don’t notice quite how messy the cutting is…

If you want to make your own quick fabric ribbon, you’ll need a piece of fabric that’s at least 30″ long. I cut my fabric about 35″ long by 3″ for this project, but of course you could make it longer.

Fold this in half lengthwise, right sides together. At each end, cut the fabric on a diagonal. Starting at one end, sew along the edge, using a 1/2″ seam allowance. When you reach the middle, stop and backstitch. Leave an opening of about 3″ (to allow you to flip the fabric right side out) and then start sewing again until you reach the other end. Turn right side out (this is probably the longest part of this whole project!). A turning tool or a chopstick is probably helpful. Iron flat and then topstitch along that same edge. This will give it a nice finished look and will close that opening at the same time.

Ta da! This ribbon could be used as I’ve shown, topping a wine bottle, or it could be a nice touch on a present.

Happy holidays!