by Sherri Sylvester | Jul 4, 2013
I was super surprised to get a package from Double Decker Fabric in the mail today! Dorienne sent me some Retro Lunch Box fabric to coordinate with the Retro into the Forest from Michael Miller and Pepper from Riley Blake Designs that she sent in March. Did you get a look at that card too?! Love the envelope design – sew appropriate!
I’m trying to make a tutorial for a LeapPad case with the fabrics she has sent me and my daughter has been patiently waiting for this one since April. I’ve started it twice now and had to quit each time because of a design flaw! I’ll get it one day soon I hope.
Are any of you trying to finish a project that just won’t work right now?! How do you get the creativity going again after pulling (yet another) seam apart?
by Sherri Sylvester | Jul 1, 2013
Happy Canada Day to all the Canadians out there! We are relaxing by the pool today and having friends over. Hooray for holidays!
I’ve never been happy with how small the zipper pull tab is on the regular zippers that you can buy at your local fabric store. Kids have a hard time pulling on them when I’ve used zippers on backpacks and pencil cases and the results don’t look as polished on clutches and bags.
The idea started when I was finishing a few things from last week’s list. I was working on the Gathered Clutch (Noodlehead tutorial here) that I was making for a teacher gift. I love how the strap on my own clutch attaches to the zipper – so I began thinking about how I could duplicate it. At first I thought I could add a jump ring to the original zipper pull… but wouldn’t it be better if the pull wasn’t there at all?!
Thanks to Google (gotta love it!) I found a tutorial on You SEW Girl that explains how to change the zipper pull on any zipper. She uses the wire cutting blades on a pair of pliers to remove the pull – why didn’t I think of that?! A trip to Michaels for some circular findings and a stashed swivel clip later I was good to go.
Now that I had changed one zipper pull I had to change another! The second teacher gift was an Open Wide Zippered Pouch with an iron-on vinyl covered lining. I clipped the pull right off of the zipper and sewed myself a new one. Hooray, so much better! I have to say I’m a bit addicted to this now and might be adding zippers to everything, just so I can change the pull. I love how it turns out!
Want to try it? Here is a quick tutorial on how to change a zipper pull. I will be posting how to add a wrist strap to the Gathered Clutch later this week.
Changing a Zipper Pull
You will need:
- two scraps of fabric for the pull – I used 2″ x 3″
- a zipper
- jump rings (chain findings) in two sizes – from the jewellery section of your local craft store (mine were 1/4″ and 1/2″)
- needle-nose pliers
- school glue stick
- fabric pen
Here we go:
(1) Cut the original pull tab from your zipper using the pliers (see this tutorial from You SEW Girl). (2) Pull away the small piece that is left. (3) Open a small jump ring using pliers and fit it onto the slider. (4) Attach a large jump ring to the smaller one. (5) Close the small jump ring using pliers. (6) You should have the pieces pictured.
(7) Place your fabric right sides together and fold in half so the short ends are touching. (8) Measure 1/2″ in on each side of the folded edge, Draw two diagonal lines to the raw edge corners. (9) Fold over all 4 short ends by 1/4″ and glue them down. (10) Cut along the diagonal lines. (11) Stitch along the diagonal lines with a 1/4″ seam allowance, pivot at the fold. (12) Grade the seam and clip the corners close to the stitching.
(13) Turn the Zipper Pull inside out, press, top-stitch the ends closed with a small seam allowance. (14) Wrap the Zipper Pull around the large jump ring on your zipper. (15) Unzip the zipper and stitch it on close to the jump ring. It is easiest to use a zipper foot. (16) All done!
Look at how great your new zipper pull is! And I”m sure you can think of so many more possibilities!
Come on back later this week for a tutorial on adding a strap and swivel clip to a Gathered Clutch.
by Sherri Sylvester | Jun 30, 2013
So, as you might know – today is the last day of Google Reader. As of tomorrow, it will be no more. A while ago I decided to switch my feeds to Bloglovin’, and I’m really glad I did.
My top ten list about Bloglovin’:
10. Bloglovin’ is an unforgettable name (even if I don’t like it!)
9. Following a new blog is super easy! Search for it and click “Follow!”
8. If you have a blog you can see how many followers you have on Bloglovin’ and thank them for following!
7. They have a clean layout with a large photo and a small excerpt from each unread post. This makes it really easy to see what you have not read about.
6. Within Bloglovin’ there is a “Popular Post” and “Top Blog” feature that makes it fun to find new blogs to follow.
5. You can “like” and “share” your unread posts, and organize blogs within your own folders.
4. When you read a post in Bloglovin’ you read it on the blogger’s actual page – so it lets them collect page views (very important for us!) and lets you see the blog as it was meant to be seen.
3. They send you a super helpful email with a small excerpt and a photo from each new post that has been posted each day.
2. Reading new posts is a breeze – you can click to see “Newer”, “Older” or “Oldest” unread posts using a nifty web browser bar at the top of your web browser.
1. Switching is super easy! Just go to Bloglovin’ and it will import all of your Google Reader feeds – so you don’t lose them!
If that sounds amazing, please click on the button below to follow me on Bloglovin’. I’d love for you to give it a try, you won’t be disappointed!
Just curious, I am thinking about adding an email subscription or a weekly newsletter option for Thread Riding Hood. Anyone interested?
by Sherri Sylvester | Jun 29, 2013
Thanks for letting me skip Monday’s post this week! A lot has changed in our home, good changes that will hopefully allow me more time to spend here, and less late nights trying to catch up!
Last Saturday I got to go fabric shopping with two friends in Hamilton, Ontario. Ottawa Street is a fabric destination for sewers and home decorators in Southern Ontario, Canada. This trip was originally going to be a bit larger Sewing Club trip – but it ended up that only 3 out of our 8 or so members could come out. Next time we will have to plan ahead earlier – and maybe not so close to the summer break!
I have been to Ottawa Street a few times now, but this trip was the best by far. Aside from going with like-minded friends, it was nice for all of us (with little kids) to have an all day break from our regular routine. I was able to get quite a bit of really great fabric, and most of it at amazing prices! Besides, a street that uses thimbles and buttons in their park’s decor can’t be bad!
European Textiles is a favorite stop – they have two stores – a home decorating centre and also an apparel and quilting fabric store. They both have an amazing (mostly) modern print selection. Their second store has a wide selection of well laid out modern quilting cotton prints – Joel Dewberry, Tula Pink, Michael Miller, Amy Butler, Robert Kaufman, Riley Blake (and the list goes on…) and Kona cotton solids. They also have imported Italian wool and other suiting fabrics, voile, fleece, stretch and dance costume fabrics and Pellon products like interfacing and fusible fleece. Their pricing is great, and about $2 per metre less than my local quilting stores.
Two doors down is Discount Fabrics. We almost walked past this one, but were happily surprised when we went inside. They had a wide variety of Michael Miller (and some others) quilting cotton at half the price of European Textiles! Most of the rest of the day conversation kept turning back to wondering how they were able to afford to do this! While the selection was not as great, we stashed up on some of our favorites that, previous to now, we had only seen online in US based fabric shops. I also got some broadcloth solids that I like to use for lining little shirts and dresses. Seems I never have enough solids!
Nova Sewing Centre is full of machines, ribbons, trims, elastic, thread and notions of all kinds. I love the vintage-looking ribbons I was able to pick up – including the football one “for my husband”! Any ideas of what I should make with it for him?!
Across the street in Ottawa Textiles we loved the amazing selection of home decor fabrics. I should have taken a photo of the tree/bird fabric I would have loved to make curtains from for my daughters’ playroom! I did pick up a few half-yards to make some couch cushions – though I’m not certain if it isn’t outdoor fabric. Does any one know how to tell the difference? The weave is courser than most indoor home decor fabric and one of them says it is water resistant on the selvage. Either way – I love these prints!
At the end of our trip we stopped in the two-story Fabricland (for those of you who don’t live in Canada, it’s similar JoAnn’s). The second story has $4.00 a metre finds and I was able to get some knits I’ll use for kid’s nightgowns, jeggings and another Dolman tee for me!
The ladies I went with were nice enough to come with me across town to Ann’s Fabric Shop. I’m working on a bathing suit for my oldest – and hopefully one for my youngest after that. I found a tutorial for a bathing suit based on Figgy’s Scirocco Dress and wanted to try it out. Kate on Facebook was nice enough to tell me about Ann’s Fabric Shop. Their website says they are one of Canada’s best kept secrets and they aren’t kidding! They have a HUGE selection of dance, skating and swim wear fabric. I asked where the swimwear was located and was led to two aisles packed on both sides with bolt after bolt of options. Just guessing there must have been over 500 different prints, and every solid colour under the sun to match to them! I’m hoping to finish the suit soon because my oldest desperately needs a new one – she seems to be going through a growth spurt right now.
Only problem with my trip is that now I have no excuse to go to the fabric store! Not even a little one… though I might need some solids to mix with the prints I got… (!)
Where is your fabric shopping “best find”? Please share! A reader near you might not know about a fabulous shop you love.
by Sherri Sylvester | Jun 23, 2013
Made by Me Monday is taking a vacation day (and because of that so am I!). It’s busier than normal this week and I have a lot of projects in my to-do pile. I thought I would share a little round-up of some of the things I am planning to sew. When I finish them I’ll let you know how they turned out.
Hope you have a great start to your week. See you soon!
1) Aneela Hoey – Oval Box Bag, 2) Zaaberry – Kids’ Messenger Bag
3) Noodlehead – Open Wide Zippered Pouch, 4) Noodlehead – Gathered Clutch
5) A second set of MADE – Beach Robes, 6) Another Dolman Sleeve Tee
