Deck Refresh

Finished deck refresh!

This is what I started with:

and...

Here is the final look after the pillow covers were finished!

A few months later I found these matching umbrellas at Walmart.

Now all I have to do is RELAX!

Christmas in July - Christmas Tree Napkin Tutorial

Would you like to learn how to make these beautiful cloth Christmas Tree napkins? I've been working on a new tutorial on how to make them including the pattern!

Here is a closeup of the green stripped one:

And a closeup of the newest one with different fabric front and back (and folded the opposite direction - just make sure the set you make is all folded the same way) Also this one is folded a little looser with the edges not completely matching.

Unfolded.

Let's make the pattern!

You will need:
16" Pizza pan or a 16" Plate
Ruler
Scissors
Pen or Sharpie Marker
Freezer Paper 

Here is a list of the dimensions:

16" or a little less, across

10" deep

Tree Trunk -

2 1/4" at the top 

2" at the bottom 

1 1/4" long

Use the pizza pan to make the round portion of the pattern on the freezer paper. Love freezer paper patterns! If I had made the pattern 8" high, it would be exactly 16" wide, but since I wanted a larger napkin at 10" wide (finished 9 1/2"), it was slightly less. Three inches from the straight edge on one side, make the tree trunk (mine is 2 1/4" at the top, 2" at the bottom, and 1 1/4" long - you can make the trunk a custom size if you like). Then cut the pattern from the paper and mark the portion to leave open when you turn the napkin. I made mine 2 1/2" from edge at the same side as the tree trunk, about 2 1/2" long.  I made several copies of the pattern to iron on the fabric, to make sure that the layout would be correct before cutting. No pins are required when you use the freezer paper and iron to the fabric. And the good news is you can use the pattern over and over!

You will need one yard of 45" fabric to make four napkins with the same fabric on both sides, more is needed for stripped fabric or fabric with an obvious one way pattern. I recommend using 100% cotton fabric. If making napkins with different fabric on each side, then one yard of each will make eight napkins. Save time by arranging fabric right sides together before pressing the patterns to the fabric. 

Press the patterns to the fabric then cut them out.

Now sew around each using a quarter inch seam allowance leaving an opening to turn.

Notice how the seams are sewn at the corners - completely across to the edge. Clip at the top of the tree trunks as shown above.

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Press seams to the darkest fabric pressing the corners as shown below. 

For crisp corners fold as above and turn. Press again right side out.

Adaptive Nightgowns for Mom

Sometimes it happens, someone you know is no longer able to dress themselves. And finding adaptive clothing is not that easy. Here is a tutorial on how to re-fashion an already made nightgown into a hospital type gown that opens in the back. Hopefully making it easier for the person or their caregiver to dress. I have been searching the internet for patterns or ready-made hospital gowns, but to put it nicely, they are either very expensive and/or not so attractive. And I did not find ONE with long sleeves!  

I headed off to Macy's and found two very cute night gowns for less than $15 each. Can't even buy the fabric for that price!  

This polar fleece purple one.

And a red and white flannel one, both were full length gowns. I'll show you what I did. First I cut off 7 inches on the Purple one and 8 inches red one. The purple one was a bit shorter and since it was polar fleece I knew that I would not have to hem the edge. I used this material to create the modesty panel in back. Just cut along one seam making a long strip of fabric.

Next, using my rotary cutter and ruler, I cut  the entire length of the gown on one side in back -just were the curve on the neck of the garment flattens out. Put a small hem on the side that lapped over the modesty panel to finish it. For the modesty panel on both gowns I hemmed the modesty panel for the neck - curving it slightly. For the red gown I put wrong sides together with a 1/4 inch seam. Folded back with right sides together, pressed then sewed another 1/4 inch plus a little more to seam (making a French seam), or you could just zigzag to keep from fraying. Shortened and hemmed the modesty panel to match the length of the gown. Added ribbons to the top neckline on both the gown and panel and added two at the waist to tie the gown shut.

For the purple gown I just zigzagged the modesty panel to the back and used buttons and buttonholes to close the neckline of the gown. I added ribbon at the waistline, too. Now mom has two nice gowns that are easy for her help to get on. So far the gowns are both holding up well!

A Hand Made Winter Quilt - My First Pieced Quilt

The idea for this quilt started several years ago while I was on a Christmas tour of houses in our local area. The thing is...I told someone from my garden club about what I wanted to make. And if you tell someone, then you need to do it!  I described a red and white quilt with red embroidered cardinals. Ta da,  that is what happened!  Not that I didn't consider other embroidery motifs before I made it. There is the cutest little reindeer embroidery pattern from Ann the Gran called "Rudolph Reindeer" and so many snowflake patterns, too. But in the end the "Winter Cardinal" won out. This way it is a winter quilt rather than just a Christmas quilt. 

I found the directions for this easy quilt in a Gooseberry Patch Christmas book I checked out from our very tiny local library. The next challenge was to choose the fabric. I needed to pick six fabrics (half a yard each) the ones making the final cut where: two plain fabrics, red and white; two dotted fabrics, white with white dots and red with white dots; red and white stripes;  and a small gingham check in red and white...plus the white polar fleece for the back (about 2 and a half yards). Finding reds that did not clash and whites that didn't look pink next to the red took awhile. There were several fabrics that just did not work as well as I had hoped, for instance the zigzag fabric shown above and a large gingham check not shown.  I was exhausted and hadn't even started to sew! Made several 7" square templates from my favorite freezer paper and cut out a total of eighty squares. I ended up using only 54 squares (six per row - 9 rows total) which made a perfect cuddle on the couch size.

The cardinals took awhile to embroider, some are complete in the picture above. And as you can see I had a lot of help for the layout. 

So much help that I ended up laying it out on the dining room table. Time to sew the blocks into rows, then the rows together using a 1/4 inch seam allowance. Finished squares are 6 inches. Sewing the squares together went much more smoothly than I originally anticipated! The block corners met where they were supposed to. Imagine!

I researched several quilting websites before this step. Time to make the quilt "sandwich" with the top, batting and the polar fleece backing. I used sew-able basting spray "Spray n Bond" between layers which I've used many times to hoop fabric for embroidery and had on hand. Then large safety pins to hold the layers in place.

Taking my time and using my walking foot for first time since I started sewing many years ago, I carefully stitched 5/8 inch stitch line from the seam on all sides of the blocks. I loosened the tension on the sewing machine and used a large stitch. Love the way it looks! Trimmed the batting to an inch and a half all the way around. Then pulled and pinned the polar fleece evenly around the quilt, mitering the corners and stitched in place. Fini.

Tilly loves it, too!

Make your pillow shams look more expensive...

Have you ever purchased one of those mini duvet cover sets and been disappointed in the pillow shams? Especially the micro-fiber ones. They have a tendency to droop and look old even when new. If you can sew a straight (or almost straight line) here is a tutorial for an easy fix.

Before...

Now after...

And a side by side comparison. Right sham transformed! 

All that you need to do is add some batting to the inside.

Items needed for this easy fix:
Pillow sham in need of a make-over
Thread to match the pillow sham
Sewing machine
Batting
Scissors
Iron
Ironing board

Here is how:

Start by ripping out the stitching that creates the flange of the sham. Usually about two inches from the edge of the sham.

Rip it out - all the way around the sham. 

Then turn the sham inside out and press. 

Proceed by measureing the size of the sham. Mine was 30 inches by 25 inches. You will need to cut batting to fit whatever size your measurement is.  


Choose your favorite batting...a crib size should be more than enough for two shams. 

Place your cut batting on the inside front of the sham (on top of the front side when it is turned inside out).

Sew around the sham completely, just shy of the stitch line that holds the sham together. I recommend using a larger stitch (basting type). Turn the sham right side out and press just the edge.

Now sew the flange line (the stitch line that you ripped out in the beginning). You should be able to see where the stitches were and sew over the original line. Use a smaller stitch similar to the one you removed. Pop your pillow in and you are done.

Here is the finished project again...