by Sherri Sylvester | Jun 10, 2013
Don’t forget – today is the last day to enter to win a free pattern from Among Brenda’s Quilts. Visit this post and scroll to the bottom to enter. The giveaway ends at 10pm tonight!
Near the end of last year I was happy to find out that I had quite a few friends that were sewing on a regular basis, so we started a little Sewing Club (for lack of a better name!) that meets about once a month. We had a meeting a few weeks ago and one of my friends suggested that I try to sign up to test some patterns for Heidi&Finn. I checked them out and they have some really cute kids patterns. The latest is the Tennis Skort (coming soon) and I’m glad I could test this one.
Heidi&Finn – Tennis Skort Pattern
I am super pleased with the results – and so are my kids! Thank goodness I have enough knit left over to make a 5T version for my oldest as well. This pattern goes together quickly, despite my not having a serger (yet?!). The steps are well explained and it has lots of photographs. The style is so versatile – each layer of the skirt can use a different fabric – making it really fun to play around with! I love that it is a skort as well. The shorts underneath are perfect for a trip to the park! I think too many little girls are running around in skirts these days that don’t know how to sit properly in them. At least this way you can let them feel like a princess and still be sure they are modest at the same time. What do you do when your little girls want to wear skirts all the time?
Since I needed to make this in a week I got to buy some fabric (yay!) and headed out to my local Fabricland store. Amazingly, since they don’t usually stock it, they had some Michael Miller knits available! I ended up with this pink/yellow pattern by Patty Young, part of her Heaven and Helsinki line. The fabric is AMAZING to work with. It is a stretch cotton blend jersey knit fabric with a 4-way stretch. The fabric is super-soft too. I was worried that the 4-way stretch would make it harder to sew, but it was no different than the regular medium weight jerseys I’ve worked with before. The yellow stripe on the top skirt was very thin and needed a bit more care – but I really like the contrast with the pink – so I’m glad I took the extra time to use it. What do you do to help stop the fabric from stretching when sewing knits? I know lots of readers who are scared to sew with knit that could really benefit from your tips and tricks!
We had so much fun on this photo shoot! The weather finally co-operated yesterday, since it has decided to seem more like very-early-spring here instead of almost-summer. Grandma let us borrow her tennis racket and we headed off to a nicely hidden group of courts near our house. Thankfully there were not too many people there! We took over the end court and my youngest asked me “Mommy, how do you use this thing?” as she attempted to use the racket more like a hockey stick – though (thankfully) not hitting the ground with it!
My experience with this pattern was so good I will be back to Heidi&Finn soon to get some more patterns. I’ve got my eye on their Summer Maxi Dress pattern, or maybe the Colorblock dress? I can’t decide… what do you think? Is there another pattern from them that I should try? Maybe I should use some of the fabric I won from Whimsical Fabrics?
Here’s your chance to let your opinion count, Thread Riding Hood Commenter’s cheques are in the mail every third Friday of the month! (Hee, Hee!) Either way, I reply back to EVERYONE (generally through email, but sometimes on the post). We’d all like to hear what YOU have to say!
by Sherri Sylvester | Jun 7, 2013
I’m feeling sentimental today, and amazed at how many readers come back to Thread Riding Hood to check out what is happening.
As I go on this blogging journey I have so many hopes and dreams in tow!
My one year Blogiversary is a month away and I am in the process of coming up with a great giveaway for you guys to celebrate. I’ve been thinking a lot about where I was a year ago, and where I am headed.
Blogging is so much fun, but it is also hard work. It helps when you can see progress. I was so grateful to find out recently that my daily readers are now numbering more than everyone who visited in the entire month of February!
I love what I do (more than I ever thought I would!) But even when you are excited to “go to work” everyday you still need a break once in a while!
My family went on a trek “Up North” this past Monday to a favorite (and popular) restaurant that we love. I have a feeling it will become an annual trip for us. One day every spring that we take off during the week to slow down and think about family instead of getting caught up in “the rush”.
It reminds me of the times when my parents would let us get fries and a milkshake at McDonald’s – instead of a “proper” meal. And how I can get too caught up in parenting to remember to let my kids have “just fries and a milkshake” once in a while.
Looking back at the photos we took reminds me to stop and think about where we are headed. It makes me think more about how fast my kids are growing up and how I don’t want to miss any of it. It makes me remember that I should say “Thanks” to my husband more often. He works so hard to take care of our family.
Hopefully you enjoy hanging out with me as we journey along. Sewing is amazing, relaxing, driving and sometimes maddening! We all hate seam rippers. Cutting out patterns is the worst part of making anything. Scissors and rotary blades will slip. Bobbins run out (all too often) right before the end of a project. There will never be enough time in your day as a creative person. There will always be too many pinned projects (or works-in-progress!), and never enough that are actually done.
I have to remind myself to remember that, and slow down. It’s normal, and it’s okay! There are others out there like me (and you!), and they abandon the housework for a more interesting project all too often too!
Thanks for hanging out to the end. I appreciate you and I love to hear what you have to say – it really makes my day! Thanks for reading, see you again soon.
by Sherri Sylvester | Jun 3, 2013
I have been wanting to try iron-on vinyl for a while, and was finally able to pick some up while I was at the Creativ Festival this April. I stopped to check out a really nice diaper bag in one of the booths and ended up talking to Brenda from Among Brenda’s Quilts. She has lots of great patterns, including the diaper bag that originally caught my eye. (And Hooray!) Brenda is giving a pattern of your choice away to a Thread Riding Hood reader! (Check out the end of this post for details on how to enter!) ** Update: The giveaway is now closed. Thanks for entering! Find out who won here. **
Brenda was also selling HeatnBond iron-on vinyl, so I picked up a metre and stashed it away. A while later I was in Ikea with my daughter and spotted their Tidny fabric. I thought I could use it to make placemats with and so I also picked up some Lialotta plastic covered red dots for the backing. I’ve finally had time to make the project happen over the weekend and I am so happy with the results! I especially love that the kids’ art is part of the project. (They would make great Grandparent gifts, if they are into picnics!) I thought I could make up a little tutorial for you guys so you could make some too. Hopefully you can ignore the punny name!
Plays-Mats
Your Plays-Mat can be used for so many purposes! Take them to restaurants or on picnics so everyone has a clean surface to put their food on. (Make sure you don’t use them as a food surface though. Vinyl is not approved for use with food.) Take them to waiting rooms and appointments for a clean play surface – you could even bring a small can of Play-doh to use on the vinyl surface. And they have a great little Velcro strap so when you are finished you can roll them up and take them home again.
We are going on a little family road trip “Up North” today – just for something different to do. I’m bringing these – they’ll be perfect for our little picnic. Intrigued? These self binding mats are very simple to make and have very satisfying results! If you can’t pick up the Ikea Tidny you can easily use solid coloured quilting cotton for your drawing surface. Or, skip that step and make some with your favorite fabric.
You will need:
- Main fabric – quilting cotton or a bit heavier (I used Ikea’s Tidny)
- Backing fabric – ideally vinyl/plastic coated (I used Ikea’s Lialotta)
- Iron-On Vinyl – I used HeatnBond from Among Brenda’s Quilts, She sells Matte and Lustre (Shiny) finish
- Low Loft Quilt Batting (not in the photo)
- Freezer Paper
- a Place Mat (for tracing the size)
- Fabric Markers
- School Glue Stick
- Paper Clips or Bobby Pins
- Scissors, Water Soluble Marker and other sewing gear
Here we go:
Step 1: Cut your main fabric: I let the kids choose which section of the Tidny fabric they wanted to colour and traced the place mat to get the right size. Trace with the water soluble marker and cut. If you are not using Tidny – trace your solid or patterned fabric and cut it out.
Step 2: Cut/Iron your Freezer Paper: (If you are not colouring the fabric skip to step 5.) (1) Cut a piece of freezer paper aprox 2″-3″ larger than your placemat on all sides. (2) Iron your fabric. (3) Place your fabric right side down on your ironing board and centre the freezer paper over it. Make sure the freezer paper is shiny side DOWN! Otherwise the plastic coating will will stick to your iron. (4) Iron the freezer paper to your fabric. Make sure it adheres well. The fabric should not stretch or move, making colouring much easier!
Step 3: Colouring! Get out your fabric markers and let your kids colour! The extra freezer paper backing and edges protects your table. If it works, get Grandpa and Grandma on Skype to talk to during the process. The kids are happy and mostly staying in one place so they can actually be seen for longer than 2 minutes at a time!
Step 4: Heat Set the Fabric: Take your finished masterpieces and heat set them. Follow the directions on your fabric markers. I use a pressing cloth (read: random solid white fabric piece) and move around heating each part of the fabric until everything has gotten a good press. This locks in the colour so if it ever gets wet the ink will (hopefully) not run.
Step 5: Cut the Batting/Vinyl: (1) Cut a piece of your quilt batting to the same size as the main fabric. (2) Cut a piece of Iron-On Vinyl to the same size as your main fabric.
Step 6: Adhere the vinyl: Follow the manufacturers directions to iron the vinyl to the right side of your main fabric
Step 7: Making a Sandwich & Cutting the Backing: (1) Place your uncut backing fabric down on your cutting surface right side down. Place the quilt batting on the backing fabric with (roughly) 1″ of backing showing all the way around. Centre the main fabric on the quilt batting. You now have a sandwich of TOP: Main fabric, CENTRE: Quilt Batting, BOTTOM: Backing – Right Side DOWN (2) Cut the backing fabric so it is 1″ larger than the main and batting all the way around.
Step 8 – Fold the self binding: Grab your glue stick! My backing fabric is pretty thin and easy to glue down, but I did end up also using some large paperclips to hold the thicker folds at the corners. I have also seen someone use bobby pins for this. You DO NOT want to use sewing pins because they will put permanent holes in your vinyl. Follow these steps and glue/paperclip as you go. (1) Starting halfway down one long side, fold your backing/binding to meet up with the edge of the main fabric. (2) Fold the folded edge up over the main fabric. (3) When you get to the corner, fold the corner up to create a triangle (follow the photo) (4) Fold the next backing/binding edge up to meet the edge of the main fabric. (5) Fold the backing/binding up over the main. (6) Finish folding all the way around. (7) Top-stitch close to the edge of the binding all around the place mat.
Step 9 – Make the Velcro strap: (1) Cut a piece of backing fabric that is 9″ x 3″. Cut the Velcro 1.5″ long. Note: If you made a very long place mat you may need to make the strap longer as well. (2) Fold up all the edges around the strap by 1/4″. I glued them down to hold them. (3) Fold the strap in half lengthwise and glue. Top-stitch close to the edge all around the strap. (4) Glue a Velcro piece on one end of the strap. (5) Glue the other Velcro piece to the other end and opposite side of the strap. (6) Stitch around the Velcro.
Step 10 – Finishing the strap: (1) Paper clip the strap to the back of the place mat. Centre it on one short side as pictured. (2) Stitch over the strap, follow the binding top-stitching line. (3) Turn the place mat over and fold both straps to the outside. (4) Stitch a box with an “X” in it. Stitch inside the binding, beside the strap, to reinforce it and hold it on. This way of stitching the strap allows it to be folded behind the place mat so it stays clean.
Hooray! You are done! Check out photos after the giveaway info for how to roll it up.
** Update: The giveaway is now closed. Thanks for entering! Find out who won here.**
And now for the giveaway! (Thanks so much Brenda!) The winner will receive a pattern of their choice from Brenda’s large collection. Lucky you! Giveaway ends June 10, 2013 at 10pm and is open to everyone. The Random Number Generator will pick a winner and I will post the results here on Tuesday am.
- 1st Entry: Head over to the Among Brenda’s Quilts shop, pick your favorite pattern. Comment on this post to let us know what it is.
- 2nd Optional Entry: Like Among Brenda’s Quilts on Facebook OR Follow her on Twitter. Comment on this post to let us know you did and include your Facebook or Twitter name.
While you are visiting Brenda, pick up some iron-on vinyl from her shop and check out her bag making supplies too! Have fun and let me know how it goes, I’d love to see your final product!
by Sherri Sylvester | May 30, 2013
Father’s Day is coming up soon, so I though I would share a little project that my kids made for Daddy. (Oh, and I helped!)
I have been making pajama pants and shorts for my husband since we got married. I have a great Simplicity pattern that I have edited over the years to create the perfect shorts. So, I figured he would appreciate a pair that the kids helped make. I love finding things my kids can make and give as gifts. I think the process of being involved in creating something that they can give away is so valuable. Taking the time out of your day to create is an amazing thing.
I’m always interested in the fabric choices of my children and love to let them go in the fabric store to see what they like for their own projects. (Even when they end up with character fabrics! Ack!) My oldest picked this blue (though she calls it purple – Daddy’s favorite colour) cotton fabric. Then we aimed for the thread – matching purple of course!
Once at home, I admit, I did most of the work. I find that the kids tend to lose interest when things get tedious – or past 10 or so minutes of actual machine time. The youngest lasts a bit longer because she sits on my lap and pulls pins and presses the back-stitch button when I need her to. The oldest does like to run the camera though, and spent a lot of time setting up this shot of her toys with a “mountain” in the background.
Now, when their Daddy wears these pj’s my kids are proud that they helped to make them, it’s so fun to see! If you have time over the next 2 1/2 weeks, get your kids together and make something for their Daddy. Don’t make it fancy – just make it! Have fun!
by Sherri Sylvester | May 27, 2013
I made an amazing diaper bag when I had my youngest. I used Abby’s tutorial, from Sew Much Ado to make it. As usual (since I can’t seem to follow someone else’s directions without making changes!), I did a few things of my own. Little did I know when I posted it here, that so many people would like it and it began to get some interest on Pinterest (hee, hee!). Lots of people liked the fabrics – so I posted this to help them out. But, there was also interest in a tutorial on the changes – so – here it is! And, I have to say that Abby has been super kind in allowing me to use her tutorial to post this! Thanks Abby!
The nice thing about Abby’s bag is that it can double as an amazing tote bag, which is great for me since I don’t need a diaper bag anymore (Hurray!). The extra exterior pockets are great for keys and your phone. The inside works perfectly for holding water bottles, sunscreen, hats, toys and snacks. Great for a trip to the park or an impromptu picnic. A picnic blanket will even fit in the bottom of the bag!
Sew Much Ado Diaper Bag à la Thread Riding Hood
You will need:
- Exterior (Top) Fabric * – 1 Metre/Yard – 44″ wide
- Exterior (Bottom/Pocket) Fabric * – 3/4 Metre/Yard, 44″ wide
- Lining Fabric * – 1 Metre/Yard (1 1/4 to be safe), 44″ wide
- Medium/Lightweight woven fusible interfacing – 1.5 Metres/Yards
- 1/4″ elastic – 1 Metre/Yard – You will need 2 pieces 14″ long
- 1/2″ double-fold bias tape – 1 1/2 Metres/Yards – You will need 2 pieces 26″ long.
- Velcro – 2 pieces, 1″ long (both hook and loop sides)
* Yardage is for pre-washed fabric. Abby uses home decor weight fabric, I used quilting cotton because I like the larger selection of fabric choices. Abby’s is likely a bit stiffer/more bag-like as a result. You could use quilting cotton with a heavy weight interfacing and/or interface all pieces instead of just the ones indicated in the tutorial to make quilting cotton stiffer.
Before you begin:
- Cut out all pieces from their corresponding fabrics following the cutting diagrams below. The outer line surrounding the measured pieces indicates the 44″ wide yardage selvage to selvage.
- For photo reference: Exterior Top is Comma Asterisk in Chalk (Creme/Orange), Exterior Bottom is Comma Intersecting Circles in Slate (Gray/Creme), Lining is Kona Cotton Carrot (Orange) – I ordered my Comma fabric from Fabric Spot.
- All measurements in the drawings are Width x Length.
- Take care to ensure you are cutting any one-way-up fabrics the right way up. (Reference the drawings – Top of the drawing = Top of the fabric)
- Cut out and iron on interfacing for Light Gray pieces ONLY in the diagrams. I used medium interfacing for the Exterior Bottom pieces and lightweight interfacing on everything else.
- Cut 4″x4″ squares (indicated by the dotted line on the drawings) out of the bottom corners on your 2 Exterior Bottom pieces and your 2 Main Lining pieces
- Angle the bottom corners on your Tab pieces if desired – (indicated by the dotted line on the drawings)
As an aside – Something fun I ran into (hang on, the tutorial is coming!) – One of my friends has come up with an idea that I think would be fun to give along with this diaper bag as a baby gift. Or, if you are pregnant and making this bag for yourself I think you’ll find them useful too! They are called Mood Magnets and you can check out this fun video they have on YouTube to see how they work. I asked for a write-up on their “Pregnancy Mood” magnet, so here it is.
Expressing yourself has never been so much fun! Well, maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration but Mood Magnets from Fun Fridge Magnets (www.funfridgemagnets.com) is a great way to tell your household just how you feel in a simple and fun way.
Featuring the ‘Pregnancy Moods’, ‘New Mom Moods’ and the ‘New Dad Moods’ magnets, these fun products are placed on your fridge and allow the user to move the indicator to a wide range of feelings or moods that best describe how they’re feeling at that moment.
Pregnancy and Parenthood can be a constant roller coaster of emotions, which can be difficult to express, but with ‘Mood Magnets’ it becomes much easier. Meant to be light and playful, the Mood Magnets also have a therapeutic element to them and for under $10, it’s well worth the money.
So while your sitting on your couch with your belly bigger than a beach ball or you’re knee deep in dirty diapers remember one thing – a quick trip to the fridge can be just what you need to survive.
They are great, eh?! Now, on to the tutorial.
Here we go:
The first part of the tutorial focuses on the portion of the outer part of the bag – this is the part that I changed. The inside of the bag is exactly the same as Abby created it, aside from the pocket lining I added. We will be using both tutorials for this one – I will let you know when you need to link to her tutorial from mine.
Note: All seam allowances are 1/2″ length unless otherwise noted.
Make sure you have all of the following pieces of fabric:
Step 1: Creating Outer Pockets with Faux Piping: (1) Stitch your Exterior Pocket to your Exterior Pocket Lining along the top edge with a 1/4″ seam. (the Lining will be 1/4″ longer than the Exterior piece) (2) Press the seam allowance toward the Exterior side. (3) Fold the new piece that you have in half, right sides together, and press. The Lining will extend about 1/8″ over the Exterior pocket fabric creating the Faux Piping. (4) Stitch down the sides (not across the bottom) of the pocket pieces with a 1/4″ seam. (5) Clip the top corners to reduce bulk and turn right side out. Press. (6) Top-stitch the top edge of your pocket aprox. 1/8″ away from the top edge of the Exterior fabric. ~ Now stitch the other Exterior Pocket the same way.
Step 2: Adding the Velcro and Pocket Pleats: (1) Back Pocket Velcro: Use a glue stick to attach the soft side of a 1″ piece of Velcro to the top-centre of your Back Pocket Lining, right under the top-stitching. Use a small zig-zag to attach the Velcro (this stitching will show on the outside of the pocket). (2) Front Pocket Velcro: Use your glue stick to attach the soft side of a 2nd 1″ piece of Velcro to the top-centre of your Front Pocket Exterior, 1″ down from the top of the pocket. Stitch as in (1). (3) Fold the Pocket in half so the side seams are touching and iron lightly to mark the centre. (4) Mark a line, 1″ over from the centre seam, that is 1 1/2″ long. Stitch on the line. Pin the pleat (from the Exterior side) so it is centred evenly. (5) Top-stitch around the pleat. Baste the bottom of the pocket to hold the pleat in place. (6) Add a label/tag to the top edge of the pocket or cut out a patch (like the first diaper bag I made) and stitch it to the Front Exterior Pocket.
Step 3: Attaching the Exterior Front Pocket: (1) Iron your Exterior Top piece lightly to mark the vertical centre. (2) Line up the bottom of the Front Pocket with the bottom of the Exterior Top. Use the centre line to line it up. (3) Baste the bottom of the pocket to the bottom of the Exterior Top. (4) Pin the pocket sides. They should be parallel to the sides of the Exterior Top piece. (5) Top-stitch the side seams to the Exterior Top, make a triangle at the top of the pocket for extra stability.
Step 4: Attaching the Exterior Back Pocket: (1) Iron your 2nd Exterior Top piece lightly to mark the vertical centre. (2) Mark the Back Velcro placement: Use the ironed centre line to line up the Back Pocket with the bottom centre of the 2nd Exterior Top piece. Mark the top of your Pocket Velcro on the Exterior Top fabric. (3) Use a glue stick to adhere the Velcro (aligned to your mark) to the Exterior Top fabric. Stitch with a small zig-zag. (4) Follow Steps 3(2) through (3)5 to stitch the Back Pocket to the 2nd Exterior Top piece.
Step 5: Attaching the Exterior Top to the Exterior Bottom: (1) Pin the top of the Exterior Bottom to the bottom of the Exterior Top – right sides together. Stitch with a 1/2″ seam. (2) Press the seam allowance toward the Exterior Bottom. (3) Top-stitch along the top edge of the Exterior Bottom.
Step 6: Finish the Bag Exterior: Follow the Sew Much Ado Diaper Bag Tutorial Steps 2 & 3. You do not need to follow the directions for the magnetic snap as we are using Velcro.
Step 7: Make the Tab and Straps: Follow the Sew Much Ado Diaper Bag Tutorial Steps 4 & 5. Again, you can omit the magnetic snap directions. Instead attach a 1″ piece of Velcro (hooked side) to the bottom centre of the tab before continuing with Abby’s other directions.
Step 8: Making the Inner Pockets: (1) Stitch each Inner Pocket piece to a Inner Pocket Lining piece. Stitch along one long edge of each with a 1/4″ seam. (If you have one-way-up fabric, stitch along the BOTTOM edge.) Open, “fold” along the seam line and press. Line up and baste the raw edges together. (2) Note: The basted raw edges are the TOP edges of your pockets and the seamed edges are now the BOTTOM edges of your inner pockets. (3) Follow the Sew Much Ado Diaper Bag Tutorial Steps 6 through 10 to complete the pockets and attach them to the Main Lining.
Step 9: Making the Bag Lining: Follow the Sew Much Ado Diaper Bag Tutorial Step 11 to finish the lining.
Step 10: Stitch the Exterior to the Lining: (1) Pin/Baste the Tab to the Exterior on the top centre edge of the side opposite the Front Pocket. Make sure the Velcro is facing out and the outer side of the tab is right sides together with the Exterior when you line it up. (See the photo) (2) Follow the Sew Much Ado Diaper Bag Tutorial Step 12 to line everything up. You can omit the instructions about attaching the tab. (3) Follow the Sew Much Ado Diaper Bag Tutorial Step 13 to stitch the Exterior to the Lining – IMPORTANT: Omit Abby’s directions regarding the top-stitching.
Step 11: Add Faux Piping and Top-Stitch the Exterior: (1) Pull the lining of the bag up slightly higher (roughly 1/8″ – to match the Faux Piping on your pockets) than the Exterior Fabric and pin all around the top of your bag. (2) Top-stitch the top edge of your bag roughly 1/8″ away from the top edge of the Exterior fabric.
Done! And… you have enough scraps of fabric to make a matchy pacifier pocket, pacifier clip and/or a diaper pouch to go with your Mood Magnets! The perfect gift!
Just in case you are wondering, I did not receive compensation from Fun Fridge Magnets and all opinions are (as always) my own. Also, you can use this tutorial for personal items and charity sales, but (as usual) please do not sell items made from this tutorial. Thanks! Sherri
