Pallet for Home: Sewing tutorial

Showing posts with label Sewing tutorial. Show all posts

Polka Dots and a Sheer Maxi

I know. Another one. I seriously can't help myself. I still have 2 more pieces of fabric calling to me from my sewing room to make into maxis. Although one piece will probably be a midi dress. I have a few ideas I want to try. Plus the fabric is super cute.

But for today I had just enough sheer Polka Dot left from my scarf I made, it needed to be done.

This time I added a piece of black lining to the pattern.

It's a little tricky to get the waistband just right since you are

using two layers, but if you baste them together before doing the

elastic in the waist, it's easy.

Since I'm using sheer, I needed two layers.

I didn't really want to try to find a long slip to fit,

so the last time I went to SAS, I picked up a piece of black lining.

Cut two pieces according to the pattern above.

Seam the pieces into a tube.

Baste the two pieces at the waist together.

Measure the elastic to fit your waist.

Serge or zigzag the sheers to the elastic.

Hem or Roll Hem with a serger to the bottom edge.

Done.

It's a nice light flowy skirt.

Plus I love the Polka Dots!

Happy sewing!

I have some exciting things to share with my Urban Farm. Please come back soon!

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Filed Under: Sewing tutorial

Rectangles and Maxi Dresses

Yeah! More Maxis. I am seriously obsessed and since they are so easy to make, I just can't stop myself. Maybe I'll have to keep myself from going back to SAS again. I always find something fabulous when I go and it's so cheap, I just can't resist. I guess it's a good thing it's about 35 minutes away. This latest piece I found is so fun and funky. I love the pattern and colors. I really didn't have to do much to it to make it a super cute maxi dress.

Unfortunately there's this seam through the middle,

but fortunately it fell right where my waist would be anyway.

It made joining the top and the skirt easy peasy.

This is that pattern I used again for the skirt.

For the top I cut two rectangles.

I measured my waist and added about 4 inches, then divided that number in half.

This will be the width of the rectangle.

The length is up to you.

I added an inch at the top for the casing,

and an inch to the length so it would be a little poufy at the waist.

Fold the 2 pieces in half and cut an armhole like shown. I cut it a little deep

since I'll always be wearing a shirt underneath.

Just my modest style, but you can cut it wherever you're comforable.

I cut two more rectangles for the top ruffle.

I used one in the front and one in the back.

Then one long strip of the folded fabric to make the neck band/straps.

Sew the side seams for the top, then sew a rolled hem for the arm holes.

For the top create a casing of about 1 inch like shown.

For the ruffle I did a lettuce finish with my serger, pulling both sides of the fabric as it fed through the needle. Do this for the 3 sides of the ruffle pieces.

Pin the ruffle right sides together and sew in place at the casing stitch line.

Do this for the front and back of the top.

Flip the ruffle down and the top is done.

Next lets finish the skirt.

Sew the skirt into a tube.

Repeat the lettuce ruffle on the bottom edge or hem like normal.

I added 3 elastic thread stitches at the waist because I wanted it to be a little gathered,

rather than straight down from the top.

Elastic thread is kind of tricky to get wound around your bobbin and sometimes your machine might not like you for using it, but just play with the tension and it can be a dream for gathering up stuff.

Turn the skirt inside out and pin to the top making sure the seams are in the right place.

You don't want the back seam somewhere in the front.

Stitch the skirt to the top.

Now for the shoulder straps. I folded the long thin rectangle sides into themselves, kind of like an M and stitched down the out side.

Using a safety pin, thread the strap through the casing of the front and the back.

Now go try on the dress and figure out how long you need the straps to be.

Since I was alone, I just tied the straps together where I wanted them.

Sew both ends together and cut off the excess.

Slide the joined ends into the casing and you'll never see it again.

Done!

When I tried it on, it seriously needed a belt.

I have a skinny and a wide black belt but it just didn't work.

Then I remembered I had some left over T-shirt material from my scarf I made recently.

Luckily I didn't throw it away.

I cut up the sleeves, joined the ends just like the scarf, and made one long strip.

I wrapped it around my waist a few times and knotted it.

Love it!

Another Happy Maxi Day!
You betcha I'll be wearing this all the time when it actually goes back to normal Arizona weather.
It was rainy and in the 50's all day today.
Almost like I'm back in Seattle.
I just wish I could have the warm weather and the Pacific Northwest trees at the same time.
Ahhh... wishful thinking.

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Filed Under: Sewing tutorial

Ruffles and Maxies

I'm kind of obsessed with Maxi Skirts right now. Well Maxi Dresses too. So for the next few posts I will share the different one's I have made. Since it's almost Valentines, we will start with a pink one with ruffles. These are super easy to make. All you need is about 2 yards of knit fabric and some elastic. I found this super cute fabric at my last trip to SAS. It was a total score at $2.99 a yard. I used my serger to put the whole thing together and make the lettuce ruffle edge.

Here's the pattern I used to make the skirt.

Put right sides together and sew the back seam.

Add elastic to the waist.

I used some 2 inch wide elastic I got from SAS for $0.25/yard.

Another huge score!

I cut another 4 strips for the ruffle at the bottom,

2 strips per ruffle that were the total width of the fabric.

For each strip I used the rolled hem stitch on my serger

pulling both sides of the fabric as it went through the needle.

This gives it the lettuce edge.

Gather the strips using either elastic thread in the bobbin or gathering foot or basting stitch.
Pin in place along the bottom edge of the skirt.
Sew ruffles in place and you're done!

I love the texture of the fabric.

Happy Maxi Day to you!

More Maxies to come!

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Filed Under: Sewing, Sewing tutorial

Pillow Bed Tutorial

My friend asked me to make 5 of these Pillow Beds for her for Christmas gifts.

We scoured the internet for a good tutorial and came up empty.

I came up with this pattern and it's super easy.

All you need to know is how to measure, cut, and sew a straight line.

Easy Peasy!

First you need to get a twin sheet. You can do it with fabric but it will cost you a ton more and the sheet is the perfect size. My friend bought 5 different sheets so the photos are of a few different ones, but the process is exactly the same.

I just assembly lined them.

I would suggest washing and drying your sheets before cutting.

I didn't and had to iron all of them before final assembly.

Lay out your fabric. You need a piece that measures 65 inches by 76 inches. The great thing about the sheet is that it's already hemmed at 65 inches. That will totally save time hemming the sides.

She bought standard pillows to fill the bed, so you can see the dimentions. Since I want them to be tight and full, I'm going to make the finished size smaller than the printed pillow size.
Trust me. This will turn out awesome.

This is how I got the 65 inches. You want the fabric to overlap in the back to keep the pillow snug, but still allow you to take out the pillow in case the bed needs to be washed.

You can see the hemmed finished sheet is exactly the width we need.

I cut off the top cuff from the sheet. Then measure the total length from here.

To get the length, I measured 19 inches for the pillow height and times that by 4 since there are 4 pillows in each bed. for a total of 76 inches. Trim the length of the sheet to 76 inches.

I marked the sheet in several places at 76 inches then cut along the line to make sure the length stayed straight.

Now the bottom edge is cut off, I have some scrap left. I want to add a stripe to the bed so I cut about 4 inches of the width of the fabric. I usually cut about 6-10 inches, then fold up the strip and use that as my cutting guide, moving the strip up the fabric as I cut. It's an easy way to keep things mostly straight and I don't have to get out my quilting grid.

At this point you can add any embellishment you want to the large sheet piece. I'm just adding one stripe. Polka dots would be fun too or a monogram. Do any embellishment now because it will be next to impossible once you have the bed assembled.

Next I ironed the heck out of all of it.
The strips I folded over the edges like shown. This will make adding them easy.

Pin the stripes in place and stitch down either side. I placed them about 6 inches from the top of the main piece.

Now lay out the sheet right side up. I layed my pillow in the center to decide how wide the opening needs to be. I measured 25 inches width for the pillow. Pin the fabric at 0 and at 25. I eyeballed where center was and measured the 25 inches there.

This is a better picture of where to place the tape measure. Late afternoon sun shining on my work.

Fold over one side of the fabric at the pin at 0 all the way down, keeping everything flat. Do the same with the other side, folding at the 25 inch pin. This creates your envelope closure. Pin in place.

Serge or Zig-zag the ends closed. Then turn right side out.

Lay out the bed making sure everything is nice and flat, no wrinkles or puckers.
Now mark the fabric at 18.5 inches, 37.5 inches, and 56.5 inches like shown.
I put several pins along each stitch line to hold everything in place and make sewing a straight line easy.
Sew the lines, back stitching at the folded over piece to keep it secure.

Stuff your pillows inside and you're done!
Here are the other color combinations of beds I made for my friend.
All sheets are thanks to Walmart at $4.50 a piece.
Not to bad!
Plus the color combinations are super cute!