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.

Valentine's Day

How I Love Valentine's Day!

Do you love it, too, or is it just another day? It is odd because I'm not really all that fond of heart motifs, for example: on a shirt or jewelry. But I still love Valentine's Day. No idea why....

Today's post is a roundup of old Valentine ideas.

Heart shaped cinnamon rolls - the complete post here. Yum-o!

Next is this fluffy easy to make Valentine Wreath, made with coffee filters! The complete tutorial is here. This is the third year I've displayed these, outside no less, and they still look great.

Just a quick book heart...so sweet! It only takes thirty pages to make this.  Link to the original post here. Or directly to the tutorial here.

Be sure to check out the Sweetheart Tatted Heart post with a FREE pattern to make it here.

More soon...
XOXO

Make Your Own Planting Pots

Yes, peat pots that you buy at the store are not expensive, but why buy them when you can make them so easily? Here is how...

You will need:

Kraft Paper (or brown paper bags if you have extra)

School Glue or paste

Ruler

Cutting mat (optional)

Scissors or rotary cutter

Bottle to shape pot - I use a slender vinegar bottle

Crayon or Felt Tip Marker

I cut the paper 10" long by 6.5" and can make three pots from one 6.5" length of Kraft paper.

Then fold the paper back about .5" along the length of one side of the 10" paper. This will be the top of the pot. 

Time to label if you know what you are planting already (easier to do than after the pot is made).

Now wrap the paper around the bottle and paste together. 

After the edge has dried a bit, paste the bottom of the pot as above around the bottle.

Then press the bottom on a hard surface.

The bottom should look similar to this when dry.

Make lots.... I soak my seeds and let them begin to sprout with a moist paper towel to cover them. Just like second grade! Then add soil to the pots, water if dry and let stand awhile before adding the sprouted seeds. 

Watch your plants grow! Plant pots and all, and watch them grow some more.

Here they are in the garden. And the pots disappear over the season. I usually start my Sweet Peas on Valentine's Day. Now I need to make more for my Sunflowers!

Easter! Eggs and Bunnies

Oh my, Easter is next Sunday! How did that happen? I feel like Alice's rabbit "I'm Late!". Find the tutorial on How to make natural looking Easter Eggs from last year. I love these, and just put them out on my mantel for 2018. Little white bunnies and a hand made (by me) faux bird nest with the natural looking eggs in it. 

I love bunnies, and have been collecting them for awhile. But I've lost some of my bunnies, I know that I put them in a very safe place...oh, where? Maybe I'll find them in time for Easter!

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!

Falling Leaves Pillow Cover Tutorial

Let's make a pillow and pillow cover, this one for Fall. Don't you just love those colorful silk leaves? I found some two years ago at the dollar store and bought two packages (50 leaves per package). I've used them to decorate - sticking them in wreaths and such. Time to try something different. Introducing the Falling Leaves Pillow.

First I decided on the size pillow I wanted - mine was finished size twenty by ten. Eleven inches by twenty-one inches, including half inch seam allowance, using my handy dandy pattern made from freezer paper.  I love this stuff. Make the pattern, put the plastic side down on your material, iron it with your iron set to the temperature appropriate for the fabric. No pins needed, you just cut around the pattern then pull it off. 

And you can use the pattern again and again! How neat is that? For the pillow form cut two front pieces from neutral fabric, I used an old sheet. Sew around the edges using a half inch seam except for a four inch opening. Stuff it with fiberfill or the inside of an old pillow and then sew it shut. No one but you will see this so don't worry about stains or finishing the edge.

Now cut the front and two backs (11 inches by 12 inches) out of the fabric you have chosen for the pillow cover. How did I decide how to place the silk leaves? I threw them on the floor! (smile)

Then used a section of that for placement on the front fabric piece. Using basting spray I placed the leaves how I wanted or you can just pin them in place before sewing. 

Using my sewing machine, I zig-zaged around each. You could also sew around each leaf using a straight stitch.

Hem one side of each of the two back pieces along the short edge of the fabric. Press the edge a scant quarter of an inch, fold it over again, press again and then stitch.

Finish the cover using french seams. Put wrong sides together and pin for the first seam. From the picture below you can see how the back pieces come together with the hem in the middle of the cover.

Stitch a small seam using your presser foot window (slot where the needle goes through the foot) as a guide. Stitch straight off the fabric with your stitches. At each corner you should have stitching that makes a little square. 

For crisp corners fold as below and turn entire cover to the wrong side. Press seams and then stitch all the way around again a little wider than the existing seam.

Turn using the crisp corner technique.

You are done! I added a little hand embroidery for the stems. By the way the pillow shown below has been washed in cold water twice, the first time by hand and the second in the machine on delicate cycle. I have a dog and the pillow cover is off white...need I say more?

More pillow covers and ideas to come!