Thanksgiving Crafts for Kids: Craft Stick Turkey Friends

November 15, 2013 by AllFreeKidsCrafts 2 Comments

Create kids’ Thanksgiving crafts to decorate your home!

This post brought to you by Lady Lucas

These super cute decorations are the perfect touch for your Thanksgiving table spread, and kids will love making them!

Materials:

Large Popsicle sticks
Brown and red acrylic paint
Assorted feathers
Craft glue
Thin tipped Sharpie / black & pink
Small paint brushes

Instructions:

1. Paint the top of your Popsicle sticks with brown acrylic paint. About ⅓ of the entire Popsicle surface is the perfect amount. Let dry completely.

2. Add faces to your turkeys using a fine tipped black sharpie marker. Experiment with all different expressions! Add wings, legs and feet as well.

3. Use craft glue to apply feathers to the back of the turkeys and add a little red feather to the heads of each bird.

4. Add a little red paint under each turkey beak and some cheeks with a pink Sharpie marker. A little dot of red paint for the cheeks if you don’t happen to have colored Sharpies.

5. Decorate the home with your turkey friends by placing them in vases around the house, in flower bouquets on your dining table, or by sticking a few in your holiday centerpiece. Happy Thanksgiving!

Check out Lady Lucas’ Etsy shop here!

What’s your go-to Thanksgiving decoration?

Install Pillow Piping from The Sewing Loft: National Sewing Month 2013

September 29, 2013 by AllFreeSewing 38 Comments

It’s Day Twenty-Nine of National Sewing Month! Too see the daily blog posts, projects of the day, and more National Sewing Month details, click here.

Hello, Hello FaveCraft Readers! Heather here from The Sewing Loft and I’m so excited to join the party during National Sewing Month with you.

Today, I want to show just how easy it is to install custom piping on decorative pillows. This simple trim can really create that WOW factor on a limited budget.

Install Pillow Piping

This project is for all levels.

Skill Level- 1 Button

Supplies:

custom piping
pillow pattern

Tools:

sewing machine
zipper foot
basic sewing supplies

Basic Instructions:

Attach your zipper foot to your machine and check the needle position.
Determine the starting point of piping on your pillow. I suggest in the middle of the bottom of the pillow to hide.
Position piping; pin in place all around pillow matching seam allowance.
Straight stitch as close to the cording as possible, clipping corners as needed to turn the seam.
To join piping, unpick a few stitches on piping and fold back fabric to expose cording. Clip cording to match evenly; fold under the fabric edge and overlap to cover the seam; continue stitching piping in place.

Custom piping is an easy way to add that decorative touch on a shoestring budget. The key is to take your time and not to be caught short with the trim. With a few minutes of prep work and some simple calculations, you can transform even the simplest pillow insert into a decorator pillow.

Here is what I created with my piping.

PS- If this easy project inspires you to get your needle moving, be sure to visit me for more inspiration and sewing tips.

What project in your home would you use piping on?

Sew an Eiffel Tower Heat Bag from A Spoonful of Sugar: National Sewing Month 2013

September 28, 2013 by AllFreeSewing 41 Comments

It’s Day Twenty-Eight of National Sewing Month! Too see the daily blog posts, projects of the day, and more National Sewing Month details, click here.

Hi, we are Lisa and Sarah, a mother and daughter team who blog over at A Spoonful of Sugar where we share lots of free sewing tutorials, recipes, and crafty projects.

One of our most popular tutorials is our Winter Warmers Lavender Heat Bags. We love to add a French twist to our projects, so we designed an Eiffel Tower Heat Bag Cover. Featuring an appliqued Eiffel Tower, it is a pillowcase style cover with an internal flap that hides the heat pack from view. Simply heat the pack in the microwave and then carefully place it in the cover for use. The cover can be laundered which extends the life of the heat pack.

An Eiffel Tower Lavender Heat Bag would make a great gift.

Materials:

• Fat Quarter of small floral print

• Fat Quarter of green hounds tooth check

• Small piece of blue gingham

• Small scrap of red print

• Applique film such as Steam a Seam

• Black thread

• White thread

• Small pieces of ribbon (optional)

• Fat quarter of white homespun

• Rice or wheat

• Dried lavender (optional)

Eiffel-Tower-Template

1. Cut fabrics:

Floral print – 11 ½ x 6 ½ inches (front cover)

Green hounds tooth print – 2 ½ x 6 ½ inch (cuff); 6 ½ x 15 ½ inch (back cover)

White homespun – cut 2 rectangles measuring 6 x 12 inches

2. Trace the Eiffel Tower and flag from the template onto paper backing of applique film. Cut out leaving a ½ inch clearance around the design. Iron the Eiffel Tower onto the back of the blue gingham, following manufacturer’s instructions. Cut out outline. Iron the flag shape onto the back of the red print and cut out outline. Position the Eiffel Tower and flag on the blue floral print. Fuse in place following manufacturer’s directions. Top stitch around the shapes three times using black thread. Try not to stitch along the same line to give a sketched appearance.

3. Fold the cuff in half lengthwise. Press. Position the raw edges of the cuff along the top edge of the floral front. Stitch in place using ¼ inch seam allowance. Overlock/serge raw edge. Press. Topstitch 1/8 inch from seam.

4. Optional: decorate the Eiffel tower with a piece of ribbon stitched in place. Cut a 2 ½ inch piece of ribbon/tape folded in half, and stitched to the right long edge to create a tag.

5. With the backing fabric, fold under ¼ inch along one short edge. Press. Fold under another ¼ inch. Press. Stitch folded edge in place. Position the backing fabric and the Eiffel Tower front with right sides facing and bottom edges aligned. Fold the top of the backing fabric over to front (as shown). Stitch along bottom and sides. Clip corners. Turn out the right way and press.

6. Position the white homespun rectangles together. Stitch around all four sides, leaving a 3 inch gap in one short side. Turn out the right way. Fill with rice or wheat, and lavender. Stitch opening closed.

Be sure to check out A Spoonful of Sugar right here for tons of lovely tutorials.

How do you stay warm in the winter?

National Sewing Month 2013: Watermelon Pencil Case Tutorial from Creating My Way To Success

September 27, 2013 by AllFreeSewing 19 Comments

It’s Day Twenty-Seven of National Sewing Month! Too see the daily blog posts, projects of the day, and more National Sewing Month details, click here.

Hi – I’m Jill from Creating my way to Success and I’m thrilled to be here for National Sewing Month.

Today I want to show you how to make this very cute watermelon pencil case. My girls love pencil cases and it seems you can never have too many!

So here goes. You’ll need scraps of red, white and green fabric, a zip, some black buttons and some paper and pencil.

To make your pattern – simply draw a slice of watermelon. Don’t worry about getting it perfect – fruits are not all exactly the same size and shape! Here’s mine on an A4 sheet of paper:

You cut out this whole slice you have drawn and use it as the pattern to cut your inside fabric – two pieces. Remember for each piece you cut – cut a little wider than your pattern to allow for the seams:

To cut the pieces for the outside of the pencil case, cut along the lines of your pattern for the red, white and green parts to be separate. Then use these 3 pattern pieces to cut your colored pieces of fabric for the outside of your pencil case – again remembering to cut wider than your pattern piece to allow for seams. Cut two of each color.

Now you need to pin then sew each colored piece together in turn. Remember to pin the right sides of the fabric together – and use plenty of pins to keep the curves in line!

To add the seeds to your watermelon slice – simply stitch on some black buttons in random spaces. Remember to do this for both sides of the pencil case!

The Zip

My zip was about 24cm (9″) long. You can use a longer or shorter one, and use scrap fabric to cover both ends to make it the same width as your watermelon slice. Here’s how:

Take rectangular scraps of whichever fabric you like – I chose my inner red fabric. Place 2 pieces right sides together on either side of the zip, pinning where you want the zip to end. Stitch these pieces in place, and trim the very end of the zip off.

Repeat this with the other end of the zip – then trim the edges of the fabric in line with the zip.

Putting it all together

Lay one side of your watermelon slice face up. Place your zip face down on top, then one of your inner fabric pieces right sides down on top of that. Pin them using your zipper foot stitch close to the zip teeth.

To prevent the fabric from catching in the zip, open out the fabrics and pull back from the zip. Top-stitch along the edge of the zip.

Now the other half of the watermelon slice. Place your other inner fabric piece face up. Then the part with the attached zip face up on top. Finally your other watermelon slice face down on the very top – face down. Pin and stitch with your zipper foot, and once again pull the fabric back from the zip and top-stitch the other side.

Now open out your pencil case with the zip in the middle. Make sure the zip is open. Then flip over fabrics so you have both inner fabrics on one side and both outer fabrics on the other side. Pin these pieces together around the curved edges. Leave a gap of a few inches on the inner fabric side. You’ll need this to turn the pencil case out.

Stitch all the way around the edges – just leaving the gap for turning out. Turn the pencil case right sides out, pin, and stitch the opening closed.

Done! Congratulations, you’ve made a cute watermelon pencil case!

I hope you liked this tutorial. There are heaps more on my blog so please do come and visit me at

Creating my way to Success.

Happy National Sewing month to all!

Do you still use a pencil case – even if you aren’t in school?

Flirty Fall Skirt with Scattered Thoughts of a Crafty Mom: National Sewing Month 2013

September 26, 2013 by AllFreeSewing 26 Comments

It’s Day Twenty-Six of National Sewing Month! Too see the daily blog posts, projects of the day, and more National Sewing Month details, click here.

Hello Favecrafts blog readers! I’m so happy to be guest posting here today!

My name is Jamie and I blog over at Scattered Thoughts of a Crafty Mom. If you’ve never visited my blog before, I share all sorts of fun crafts, recipes, sewing projects, tutorials and free patterns. These are just a few of my fave projects:

You’ll find all these projects and more over at Scattered Thoughts of a Crafty Mom, so be sure to stop by! (I have more than 60 tutorials on my just my Clothing and Accessories Tutorials page alone.)

I’ve always loved skirts. To me, they are a perfect spring/summer/fall transition clothing item. When temperatures are warm, you can pair a skirt with t-shirts and sandals. Then as the weather starts to cool down, you can add a sweater, boots and even tights.

The project I am sharing today is a super simple, single tiered skirt. What I love about this skirt is: 1. the construction is based on just a few measurements and the “pattern pieces” are straight cuts, so it really only takes a few minutes to cut them out. 2. The skirt has a comfy elastic waistband, but since the 1st tier is attached below the belly, there is hardly any extra bulk around the waist line. (And who needs extra bulk there?)

Materials needed to make the Flirty Fall Skirt:

1 to 1.25 yards of fabric (depending on the size you make and width of fabric.) I used a cotton jersey fabric so the skirt would drape closer to my body, but you could use almost any fabric.
3/4 inch elastic
tape measure, ruler, fabric marker
basic sewing supplies

*Seam allowances are 1/4 inch unless otherwise specified

Step 1: Get measurements.

Measure around hip. Add 2.5 inches to this measurement. Refer to this as measurement A.

Measure from belly button to lower hip (Where you would like the gathered tier to start.) Add 3/4 inch to this measurement. (This will be measurement B. I am 5’4” and my measurement B was 9 inches.)

Measure from lower hip area (where measurement B ended) to where you want the skirt length to end. Add 3/4 inch for seam allowance and hem. This is measurement C. (I went with 14 inches for a right at he knee length – though the true measurement might only have needed to be 13, it doesn’t hurt to add an extra inch to be safe. You can always trim it off later, but you can’t add it back…)

Step 2: Cut fabric.

For the waistband/upper skirt, cut the fabric: width = measurement A by height = measurement B. Make sure any stretch is running side to side.

For the lower tier cut two pieces of fabric: Height = measurement C by width = Measurement A *(times) 1.5. (If your fabric is wide enough, you might be able to make this cut with just one piece of fabric.

Step 3. Assemble skirt

Line up the sides of the skirt pieces, right sides together and sew along the side seam. (If you are working with a fabric that will fray, finish this seam with your preferred method; zig-zag on your sewing machine, pinking shears or serger.)

To gather the bottom tier, set your sewing machine to the widest stitch length and sew a basting stitch around the top of the tier 1/4 inch from the edge. (Many people like to sew 2 basting stitches about 1/8 inch apart. I’ve tried it, and I agree that it helps keep the gathers even during the sewing process, though I tend to skip the 2nd row just for time-saving.)

Pull on the bobbin thread while sliding the fabric down the top thread. Take care to spread the gathers evenly and keep gathering the bottom tier of the skirt until it is the same width of the waistband/top of skirt.

Line up the gathered edge with the bottom edge of the waistband/upper skirt, right sides together and pin together.

Sew along the gathered edge. (If you are working with a fabric that will fray, finish this seam with your preferred method; zig-zag on your sewing machine, pinking shears or serger.)

Step 4. Adding the elastic.

Measure around waist at belly button (or where you started your measurement in step 1.) Cut a piece of elastic to the measurement minus 1.5 inches. The elastic will stretch out while sewing.

Joint the edges of elastic with a wide tight zig-zag stitch (Don’t overlap the edges, just join them- this will reduce bulkiness.)

Finish the top edge of the skirt with a zig-zag or serged edge.

Divide the elastic in to 8 even sections and mark on the elastic with your fabric marker.

Divide the top of the skirt the same way.

Pin the elastic and the skirt together at the marks. The elastic should be about 1/4 inch down from the edge.

Attach the elastic using a wide zig-zag set at the default stitch length.

Lower the needle into the elastic and sew one stitch, then stretch the elastic until the fabric is taut (but don’t stretch the fabric). Keep sewing from pin to pin, keeping the elastic evenly stretched.

Fold the elastic over and pin in place.

Stitch right along the edge of the elastic (but not on the elastic).

Try on the skirt for a final length check and hem. (The original measurement allowed 1/2 for bottom hem.)

You are done!

Thanks for having me today and I hope you will have full making a flirty fall skirt!

Remember to check out Jamie’s blog, Scattered Thoughts of a Craft Mom for more great ideas and tutorials!

What is the first quilting project you remember making?

Scrappy Fabric Baskets from Threading My Way: National Sewing Month 2013

September 21, 2013 by AllFreeSewing 82 Comments

It’s Day Twenty-One of National Sewing Month! Too see the daily blog posts, projects of the day, and more National Sewing Month details, click here.

Hi, Pam here from Threading My Way. I’m thrilled to be joining in with National Sewing Month.

Today I’m going to show you how to make your own Scrappy Fabric Basket, using small pieces of fabric from your stash. Measuring 6.5″ x 4.5″ x 4″ (16.5 cm x 11.5 cm x 10 cm), this handy sized basket is sturdy enough to stand up by itself. Let’s get started with the tutorial.

Materials:

20 pieces – 11 inches x 2 inches (28 cm x 5 cm) – fabric strips for the exterior of the basket.
2 pieces – 9 inches x 9 inches (23 cm x 23 cm) – contrast color for the lining
2 pieces – 9 inches x 9 inches (23 cm x 23 cm) – light weight iron-on interfacing
2 pieces – 9 inches x 9 inches (23 cm x 23 cm) – medium to heavy weight, woven, sew-in interfacing

The fabric strips can be any combination of prints. I used quilting cotton. You may not use all the strips.

I like the combination of the light weight iron-on interfacing and the medium to heavy weight, woven, sew-in interfacing. This produces a basket that will stand up by itself, without being bulky to sew. You could substitute this with different weight interfacing, fleece or batting. It all depends on the look you are after and what you are used to sewing with.

Instructions:

All seams are 3/8″ (1 cm), unless otherwise indicated.

Use a NON steam setting for pressing.

Back-stitch at the beginning and ending of seams. Arrange fabric strips:

Lay 10 fabric strips side by side for the front and the same for the back.
Play with the strips until you are happy with the arrangement.

Sew fabric strips together:

Sew the fabric strips together, at random angles, making sure the seams are straight as you sew. The long edges of the fabric will not be level.

Lay the 2nd strip on the 1st strip, right sides together and at an angle, beginning in the left corner. Line up your presser foot with the top fabric and sew.
Step 1: place top fabric at an angle
Trim excess fabric, before sewing the next seam.
Step 2: trim excess fabric from seam
Lay the 3rd strip on the 2nd strip, right sides together and at an angle, beginning in the right corner.
Step 3: place next fabric at a different angle
Continue sewing the strips, alternating the direction of the angles and varying the degree, until all the strips are sewn. You may find you only need 9 strips per side. It all depends on how you have placed the fabrics.

Press seams open:

When all strips are sewn for both front and back, press the seams open.
Trim the sewn strips into a square, 9 inches x 9 inches (23 cm x 23 cm)
Step 2: trim into a square
Sew down each side of both squares, 1/8 inch (3 mm) from the edge of the fabric. This will secure the seams you have just cut.

Step 3: secure seams by sewing along the sides

Top-stitch:

Set stitch length to slightly longer than normal. I set mine to 2.8.
Top-stitch on either side of each seam, sewing 1/8 inch (3 mm) from the seam.

Attach interfacing:

Follow manufacturer’s directions to fuse the iron-on interfacing to the wrong side of each square. I always cut iron-on interfacing a fraction smaller than the fabric and I place a cloth under the iron. This prevents any glue getting on the iron.
Step 1: iron-on interfacing
Attach the woven, sew-in interfacing, to the wrong side of each square, by sewing around all 4 edges, 1/8 inch (3 mm) from the edges. Sew with the interfacing uppermost.

Step 2: sew-in interfacing

Exterior of basket – sew front to back:

With right sides together, sew down one side, stopping with the needle in the down position 3/8″ (1 cm) from the bottom edge.
Lift the presser foot and turn the fabric 90º.
Lower the presser foot and sew across the bottom, stopping with the needle in the down position 3/8″ (1 cm) from the side edge.
Lift the presser foot and turn the fabric 90º.
Lower the presser foot and sew the 2nd side.
Neaten the edges by zig-zagging. Do NOT zig-zag the seams together. Sew them separately.
Press seams open.

Making the box corner:

Measure 2 inches (5 cm) from the bottom corner seam in both directions. (Measure from the seam. Don’t measure from the edge of the fabric.)
Put a mark to show where 2 inches (5 cm) is. You will have four marks, all 2 inches (5 cm) from the bottom corners.
Steps 1 & 2: measure 2″ from corner
Pull out the sides of your basket.
Place one seam on top of the other seam.
Put a pin through the top mark. If the pin comes out through the mark on the other side, your boxed corner will line up.
Step 5: check that the marks are lined up
If the pin is not coming out through the mark on the other side, reposition the fabric until it does.
Make sure the seams are open.
Holding the fabric in place, take the pin out and re-pin away from the marks.
With a ruler, draw a line across the fabric, at right angles to the seam and through the mark you made.
Steps 8 & 9: rule a line to sew along
Remove the pin. If you would like, hand sew to hold in place.
Steps 10 & 11: remove pin and sew
Sew across the line. I sew a couple of times for reinforcement.
Cut the fabric and neaten.
Step 12: cut fabric and neaten
Repeat for the other side.
Turn the exterior right side out and press.

Sewing the lining:

The two lining pieces are joined in the same way as the exterior fabric, except that a 3 inch (8 cm) gap is left in the bottom seam, to allow turning later on.

With right sides together, sew down one side, stopping with the needle in the down position 3/8″ (1cm) from the bottom edge.
Lift the presser foot and turn the fabric 90º.
Lower the presser foot and sew 2.5 inches (7 cm) across the bottom. Stop and back-stitch.
Leave a gap and begin sewing 2.5 inches (7 cm) from the 2nd corner. Back-stitch as you start sewing. Stop with the needle in the down position 3/8 inch (1 cm) from the side edge.
Lift the presser foot and turn the fabric 90º.
Lower the presser foot and sew the 2nd side.
Neaten the edges by zig-zagging. Do NOT zig-zag the seams together. Sew them separately.
Press seams open.
Make boxed corners as per the exterior of the basket.
Leave the lining wrong side out.

Attach the lining to the outside of the basket:

Place the exterior inside the lining. IE: the right side of the exterior is next to the right side of the lining.
Step 1: place exterior inside lining and line up top edges
Line up the top edges of the lining and the exterior.
Match the seams on either side, making sure the seams are open.
Baste (hand sew) the top edges of the lining and the exterior to hold in place.
Sew a 3/8 inch (1cm) seam to join the top edges of the lining and the exterior.
Neaten the seam.

Steps 5 & 6: sew seam and neaten

Turn the exterior right side out:

Put your fingers through the hole in the bottom of the lining.
Gently pull the exterior out through the lining.
Close the gap in the lining by sewing a row of stitching near to the edge.

Finishing off:

Push the lining back into the basket.
Press the top edge of the basket.
Top-stitch 1/8inch (3 mm) from the edge, around the top of the basket.

You have finished your fabric basket. These little baskets don’t take long to whip up. You could easily make one in an evening. The most time consuming part is top-stitching the strips.

I made four baskets, each with a particular person in mind, although I’m tempted to keep just one. I think my favorite is the red… love the combination of checks and polka dots, teamed with Alexander Henry’s Willow Berries.

Then again, the yellow/blue combo of stripes and geometric shapes, Oh Boy! by David Walker, is rather striking.

Although the lining on the floral, blue basket appears to be pieced, it’s actually not. However, I deliberately chose it because it looked like patchwork. In fact, the lining could be two coordinating prints as I’ve done in the pink/maroon basket, although, it’s a little hard to see. I just didn’t have enough of any one fabric, which doesn’t matter, as it works well.

Now all you have to do is decide what to put into your basket.

Enjoy the rest of National Sewing Month. See you over at Threading My Way.

… Pam

What would you put in this Scrappy Fabric Basket?

Be a Crafter XD on Single-Fold Bias Binding: National Sewing Month 2013

September 19, 2013 by AllFreeSewing 34 Comments

It’s Day Nineteen of National Sewing Month! Too see the daily blog posts, projects of the day, and more National Sewing Month details, click here.

Today’s National Sewing Month blog post is brought to you by Maz from Be a Crafter XD. Maz is the genius behind some of your favorite projects on AllFreeSewing. See her full project list right here.

Single-Fold Bias Binding and Lace for Neckline

Bias binding is a very common technique in sewing. While double-fold bias tape is often used for edges of quilts, placemats, bags, etc., single-fold bias tape would be used for a soft strap in a neckline and armhole when you make clothes.

How to Cut Bias Tapes:

Fold the fabric so that the edges meet to form a triangle. Decide the length and width.

How to Join Bias Tapes:

Place your lace to the edge of the neckline.

Then place your bias on the lace. The right side of your bias will be placed against the right side of your fabric.

Sew along with a straight stitch. When you sew bias binding on curves, just stretch it out and sew as you go on a straight line.

You may need to “trim” the redundant part to get a perfect edge. Turn over and fold the bias like you see in this image.

Fold the folded bias against the wrong side of your fabric.

Iron if needed. Use a pin to secure it (I personally prefer hand sewed large stitches to pins for this part; just use a different color thread and remove it later).

Sew a straight line on the right side, very close to the seam line but try not to sew over it.

When you are done, this is the back of your neckline.

A little tip for a V-neckline,

Deal with the V corner at the back. Here’s the front when you finish.

It’s an easy way to create a vintage look!

Remember to check out Maz’s amazing blog, Be a Crafter XD for more inspiring projects!

What do you recommend using single-bias on?

The Little Belt Bag from Domestic Diva: National Sewing Month 2013

September 18, 2013 by AllFreeSewing 34 Comments

It’s Day Eighteen of National Sewing Month! Too see the daily blog posts, projects of the day, and more National Sewing Month details, click here.

Hi! I’m Gloria from Domestic-Divaonline.com and I’m so happy to have been invited to celebrate National Sewing Month with you on this blog. Thank you FaveCrafts! In honor of this event I’m sharing a fun new project which I call, The Little Belt Bag. The strap is actually one of my belts. I like this design of this bag because it’s convertible. I can wear the bag hanging from my shoulder or remove the belt and carry the bag like a clutch. And when the bag isn’t hanging from my shoulder, I have another belt to wear! There are other great features like the fact that it opens flat for packing and it has outer pockets to hold items you want to access quickly. It’s the perfect size bag for when you don’t want to carry all those things you haul around daily. I’m taking mine on vacation this month. Look for a belt in your closet and give this project a try!

What You’ll Need

A thin belt
Faux Leather Vinyl
Faux Suede
Lining Fabric
Fleece
Fusible Interfacing
1” Flat Webbing
Two Magnetic Clasps
.25” Flat Brass Wire (optional)

Cut the fabric in the following sizes:

Faux Suede and interfacing – top bag trim 18” x 3.25”, pocket lining 8” x 6.25”
Faux Leather – pocket 8” x 6”, belt casing 6.50” x 1.25”, outer bag 8” x 13” (two pieces)
Lining and interfacing – 8” x 12” (two pieces)
Fleece – 8” x 5.5”
Webbing – 6” x 1”

NOTE: The seams on this project are .25” to eliminate bulk and the need for trimming.

Finished bag measures approximately 6.50” x 6” with the flap closed.

1) Sew the short ends of the webbing to the belt casing. The webbing will give the casing support and allow the belt to glide between it easily.

2) On the right side of the vinyl, place a horizontal piece of painter’s tape four inches from the top of the vinyl. Align the long edge of the casing with the tape, centering it with equal spacing on the left and right.

3) Sew the casing to the vinyl. My belt is .75” wide. If yours is wider, increase the size of the casing to match. Be sure all the metal on your belt will fit through the casing.

4) If my pocket looks like it’s pieced together, that’s because it is. I made this bag with scraps from another project and didn’t have one piece big enough to cut out the pocket. I turned this potential problem into a design opportunity and top-stitched the pieced seams open. I like way it added to the finished look of the bag.

Sew the right side of the suede pocket to the right side of the vinyl pocket. Turn the suede to the wrong side of the vinyl. The seam becomes the horizontal trim and the rest of the suede becomes the pocket lining. Pin the two pieces together and top-stitch close to the seam.

5) Determine the pocket widths you want and sew the pocket to the vinyl piece with vertical top-stitching. I created a space for my iPhone, for my business cards, and for a pen. You can personalize your bag to suit your needs.

6) To create one side seam for the bag, place the second vinyl piece on top of the first with right sides together. Sew a .25” seam through all of the layers. Lay the work flat.

7) Sew the top suede trim across the entire width of the vinyl, both front and back pieces. This will be folded over to create the top trim later.

8) Stitch one side seam of the interfaced lining. Sew the lining to the suede piece.

9) Sew one side seam on the fleece pieces. Lay it across the lining with the bottoms matching and sew the fleece to the lining.

10) Fold the work in half, pin together, and sew the second side seam.

11) Temporarily turn the lining into the vinyl to check placement for the clasps. The top fold of the bag will create a one-inch suede trim. Place the matching clasp hardware inside the two trims pictured (red arrows). This will hold the large opening closed. The prongs for this clasp should only pierce through the suede layer inside the bag. An additional clasp holds the bag flap down. Half of that clasp is attached to the outside trim (green arrow) with the other half attached to the outside of the pocket. All of the clasp pieces are centered vertically on the bag and each should have a .75” square of thick cardboard between the clasp and the fabric when attached. This will give support and make the clasp easier to fasten.

12) Once all clasps are attached, stitch around the top of the bag .25” from the trim.

13) Pull the lining out of the bag. Stitch it together to close the bottom lining, as well as the fleece by turning the raw edges in .25”. Stuff the closed lining back into the bag.

14) Chances are you don’t have the same belt I do so you won’t be adding the metal piece on the flap that I did, but it was created simply by cutting the wire to 2” long then folding the ends into 90 degree angles. I cut little slits in the suede, inserted the wire ends, then folded them with pliers to squeeze the fabric and hold them in place. I liked that the wire just happened to match the metal pieces on my belt.

Remember to see all of Gloria’s beautiful sewing projects on her blog, Domestic-Divaonline.com!

What does your go-to purse look like?

Princess Gloves from Blooms and Bugs: National Sewing Month 2013

September 17, 2013 by AllFreeSewing 56 Comments

It’s Day Seventeen of National Sewing Month! Too see the daily blog posts, projects of the day, and more National Sewing Month details, click here.

Hello friends, this is Anshu from Blooms and Bugs. I’m sharing a sewing tutorial for princess gloves or fingerless gauntlets, because, well, what princess worth her tiara doesn’t have these posh gloves. These gloves make a great accessory with all those princess costumes and are also a great addition to her dress-up box after Halloween.

Best of all, this pattern is free and takes less than half an hour to make. So lets get started..shall we?

Princess Gloves in size ( 2T – 6T)

Supplies:

Stretch Velvet fabric – 10 inches

Elastic thread

Time: 30 mins

Level: Beginner

Seam Allowance: 3/8 inches ( unless otherwise specified)

Pattern: Self drafted (only rectangles of two sizes are used in these gloves)

Cut out the following pattern pieces:

2 rectangles 11 inches x 7 inches (7 inches part should be on stretchable side).
2 rectangles 1.75 inches x 1 inch (1 inch part should be on the stretchable side).

Fill the bobbin with elastic thread and sew two 6 inch seams along the center of the width (7 inches part).

Sew two more seams along one side.

On the other end, line up the raw edges and sew two inches from one end (right sides together).

Line up the one inch side of the smaller piece so that the center of the 1 inch side falls on the seam line. Sew along the raw edges (right sides together).

Fold the main piece in half lengthwise (right sides together). Sew a seam starting with the smaller piece all the way to the bottom of the glove.

Stretch velvet is a knit fabric which means we don’t need to finish the edges. All we need to do now is snip all the stray thread and try them on over our little fashionista.

That was all about making fingerless gloves or gauntlets for your princess costumes. Visit me at Blooms and Bugs for more costume sewing tutorials or my etsy store for buying a custom-made costume for your little girl.

What is the first Halloween costume you remember wearing?

National Sewing Month 2013: Pleated Knees from Sew a Straight Line

September 16, 2013 by AllFreeSewing 99 Comments

It’s Day Sixteen of National Sewing Month! Too see the daily blog posts, projects of the day, and more National Sewing Month details, click here.

We are so excited to welcome Sabra from Sew a Straight Line for today’s National Sewing Month post!

Hi, I’m Sabra from Sew a Straight Line. As a mom of three boys, all of whom I sew regularly for, I’m always on the lookout for cool techniques I can add to my sons’ clothing. In my experience, the best way to spice up a boy pattern is to add a funky, yet functional element. Pleated knees not only look cool, they enforce an area of the garment that normally wears the fastest, giving longevity to your homemade wardrobe. It only takes a couple of extra steps to add this detail to clothing, but pleated knees totally change up the look of jeans, making them modern and fun.

This pleated knee trick can be applied to any pant pattern: boys, girls, adults. Whatever you got, you can pleat those knees!
For my tutorial, I’m using Blank Slate Pattern’s W Pants. But like I said, any pant pattern will do.

Begin by cutting your front piece of the pattern at the knee. Most patterns will be marked at this area as a “lengthen here” point. Lay your top pant piece about 4-5 inches above the lower pant piece. You can use a ruler or other straight edge to make sure you keep the sides of the pant pieces in line.

When you cut that front piece, you’re going to go out at the extra knee area about 1/2 inch at the sides. See picture below.

After cutting, start making your pleats across the knee, pinning in place.

Continue pleating and pinning the entire length of that extra knee area. Press.

Top stitch about 1/8 inch from the fold of each pleat.

Now just sew up the pants following the regular instructions from your pattern.

And you’ve got some rad pants that are unique, hip and extra durable where your kids need it most.

I’d love to share more of my sewing ideas, tricks and tips with you. Come check out my blog at www.sewastraightline.com and be sure to check out the Project:Boy area for tons of masculine-sewing inspiration!

Happy Sewing Month!

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This post brought to you by Lady Lucas

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Instructions:

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