What you’ll need to make one pouch:

Print the PDF pattern pieces from here. (Make sure that the 1″ box on the pattern actually prints at 1″ square.)

1 Fat Quarter (or 1/4 yard fabric) per pouch front

1 sheet coordinating felt

1/2 yard lightweight fusible interfacing (I used Pellon SF101, my favorite!)

1 – 12″ (or longer) coordinating polyester zipper

EDITED:

You can also use scrap fabric for the front and back, and fusible fleece instead of the Pellon SF101. Pictures are from one of the first ones I made, but everything is the same. If you use the fabric on back instead of fleece, just be sure you attach fusible fleece to the back of this piece also.

Cut out the following pieces:

Heart Top – 1 Main Fabric, 2 Interfacing

Heart Bottom – 1 Main Fabric, 2 Interfacing

Apply Interfacing:

Following the directions on your interfacing, iron the pieces to the back of your main fabric. By adding two layers we get a good thickness, without using the super firm interfacing that’s more difficult to sew with.

Attach the Zipper

Lay the zipper, right side down, with the pull on the right, along the top edge of your bottom heart piece.

Use your zipper foot on your machine and attach the zipper to this piece.

Fold the zipper up and press the seam flat.

Place the heart top face down, on the other edge of your zipper.

Attach this side of the zipper to your heart. Press this side up as well.

Top stitch on your machine (or do a running stitch by hand) along the top to hold this seam down.

Cut the Back

Zip the heart up and use this as a guide to cut the back felt piece.

Make the Arrow Pieces

Cut out the arrow tip pattern piece. Place small edge along the fold of your felt. Pin the pattern in place.

Stitch around the pattern.

After you’ve stitched it, go ahead and cut closely around your stitching line. (It’s easier to stitch this way!)

Repeat the process to make the arrow zipper pull.

EDITED:

After making this project with my after school group yesterday we found it easiest to attach the pattern to the felt,

sew directly on the lines,

remove the paper,

then cut out your shape. (If you use this method, don’t worry about placing the pattern piece on the fold, just sew along that line instead.)

Finish Up

Unzip your zipper half way. (Don’t forget this step, otherwise you’ll be stuck with a pouch that’s inside out!) Place your front, right side up, on your table.

Place your arrow tip piece lined up on the edge where your zipper is on the left side of your heart. Pin.

Place your felt back on top of this.

Pin.

Stitch 1/4″ all the way around the edge. Clip off the extra zipper ends. Finish your edges with pinking shears or a zig-zag stitch on your machine. (I forgot to do this on the one pictured.)

Clip the bottom excess fabric and snip around the curves. Turn right sides out through the zippered opening. Press flat.

Attach your arrow tip to the zipper pull. I used a little jump ring on the one above. Needle and thread works just fine too!

Happy Sewing,

Erin

You’ll need:

Dish towel (I get mine in a 4 pack from Home Goods. Less than $10.)

Scrap fabrics

Pencil, Scissors

Heat’n Bond Heavy – paper backed fabric adhesive

Ready to get going?

On the paper side of your heat’n bond, sketch or trace your image. (Remember that if your image has a direction, like a letter, make sure you trace it backwards so it will be the right way when we’re done. Some XOXO’s would be cute on the towel too!)

Roughly cut around your image.

Then iron it to the wrong side of your fabric scrap. (The plastic side of the Heat’n Bond should be placed down facing the wrong side of your fabric.)

Cut around the shape and remove the paper backing.

Place your fabric images where you’d like them on your dish towel and iron them on.

Let them cool and they are ready for use!

(If you’d REALLY like to add some stitching, use the Lite Heat’n Bond and then add hand or machine stitching around the shapes. If you used the Heavy Heat’n Bond it’s a permanent adhesive and there’s no need to sew. Light washing will be just fine for your finished towel.)

Happy Crafting,

Erin

This is a fun color wheel clock I made for my mom’s sewing room. It’s a great intro into hand embroidery too if you want to give it a try!

You’ll need:

7″ Embroidery Hoop

1 Clock Kit

1/4 yard linen (or other fabric) I used linen because I liked the texture, but a plain cotton would work fine too.

1/4 yard extra firm fusible interfacing

Embroidery needle

Various colors embroidery floss

Fabric transfer pen or pencil (My favorite is the FriXion Gel Pen. Draw on your fabric, then erase it with the heat of the iron. As with any fabric marking tool, test in an inconspicuous area first!)

Clock Number Pattern (Download the PDF here for free.)

Ready? Let’s begin:

Start off by printing the number pattern. Make sure that it’s printed at 100% and is not scaling so that it’s too large or too small. The little red box in the center should measure exactly 1″.

Place the pattern underneath your linen and use your fabric transfer pen/pencil to trace the numbers onto your fabric. Also mark the center. The center is where the cross hairs are in the red box. We’ll use this marking later to determine where our clock hands will be. (I had to tape mine to the window to make my own light box so tracing was easier.)

After tracing you’re ready to stitch away. Layout your floss colors to make sure you like how it looks before you start. Use your embroidery hoop and fill in the numbers with the floss however you’d like. I used a variety of stitches (including the backstitch and satin stitch.) Try this website if you need a refresher on your stitches. On the left column is a directory to a large variety of embroidery stitches.

When you’re finished punch a small hole in the center where the cross hairs are. Remove it from the hoop and press your clock front to get out any wrinkles left from the embroidery hoop.

Cut out a 7″ circle from the interfacing, center this over the back of your embroidery and iron in place. Poke a hole in the center of the interfacing circle.

Place your clock front into your embroidery hoop and tighten. Trim your extra fabric off . (Leave about 1″ all the way around.)

Tuck the extra onto the back and glue into place.

Insert your clock kit.

I hope you enjoy this!

Happy Sewing,

Erin

First up for January is a vinyl covered zippered pouch. This project came about because I wanted to laminate some cute fabrics that aren’t available in oilcloth or laminated cotton. (There is an iron on vinyl product but I tried it and really didn’t like how it turned out!) So this is my fix! Hope you like it!

Gather the Following:

1/4″ Wonder Tape

(1) 14″ or longer coordinating zipper

Small binder clips (We’ll use these instead of pins.)

Cut the following for the Large Bag (Finished size is: 10″H x 9″W):

(2) 11″ x 4 3/4″ rectangles for top part of bag

(2) 11″ x 6 3/4″ rectangles for bottom of bag

(2) 11″ squares Pellon SF101 Woven Interfacing

(2) 11″ squares 12 gauge clear vinyl

Cut the following for the Medium Bag (Finished size is: 7″H x 9″W):

(2) 11″ x 4 3/4″ rectangles for top part of bag

(2) 11″ x 4 3/4″ rectangles for bottom of bag

(2) 11″ x 9″ rectangles of Pellon SF101 Woven Interfacing

(2) 11″ x 9″ rectangles of 12 gauge clear vinyl

Notes:

Follow these instructions for either sized bag. (The pictures in the tutorial are for the Large Bag but the Medium bag will look the same and be sewn up the exact same way!)

Sewing Machine Settings: For sewing with this thicker vinyl I used a size 16 needle and set my stitch length to a 3. Your machine shouldn’t have a problem sewing through everything with the right needle and stitch length.

Step 1: Making the front and back

Attach rectangles. Use a 1/4″ seam and attach one smaller rectangle to one long end of the larger rectangle. After sewing, press seams towards the bottom piece.

Using a hot iron, press your 11″ square piece of woven interfacing to the back of the front piece. Repeat for the back piece.

Step 2: Attach Vinyl

Using your Wonder Tape, attach the vinyl to the front of your fabric piece. Tape as close to the edge as possible. This will be our way of basting the vinyl to the fabric as we sew it up. (We can’t pin the vinyl because any holes from the pins will be stuck in there permanently.)

Once you have your tape on, peel off the tape backing and attach your vinyl to the front, making sure it’s adhered around all the edges.

Step 3: Attach our Zipper

Don’t sweat! It’s easy, I promise!! See how my zipper is longer than the top? It’ll make it easier to sew because our zipper pull won’t get in the way. We’ll trim it off when we’re done.

Clip it to the top with the right side of the zipper facing the right side of the fabric.

Stitch down the side using your zipper foot.

It should look like the picture above when you’ve sewn on one side of the zipper. (Sorry about the glare…the vinyl can be a bit shiny!)

Unfold the zipper, finger press the vinyl down and topstitch along the edge.

Now take the piece with the zipper attached to it. Turn it right side down, facing the other piece of your bag. Line up the top of the zipper with the top of this piece. Clip in place and sew the same way we did the first piece.

Unfold and finger press the other side open.

Topstitch along this edge. (Congratulations on your zipper!!)

Step 4: Sew it Up

Unzip the zipper half way. Unzip the zipper half way. Before you clip the sides and bottom, please make sure that the zipper is half way undone. Yep, I know that I included that instruction a few times. It’s because I don’t want you to curse me later when you realize that you’ve sewn your bag shut because you didn’t leave the zipper half way open to turn it right side out when it’s time!

Clip and sew around the sides and the bottom. Use a 3/8″ seam. This way the Wonder Tape will be all the way in your seam and won’t show from the outside when we’re done.

Remember your long zipper? You can trim it off the extra pieces handing off the side now!

Step 5: Gusset the bottom

To make the bottom we’ll need to make a gusset on each corner of the bag. With the bag unzipped all the way and turned inside out, squish the corners down so that the side seam and bottom seam are lined up. You may have to look inside the bag at the corner to make sure the seams are lined up.

Clip each side once you have it in place. (A & B) From the corner, use a ruler and measure 2″ up both sides and mark it with a fine tipped pin or fabric marking tool. (You can see my little black marks inside the red circles.)

(C & D) After you have each mark, use your ruler or another straight edge to connect the two lines. Repeat this process on the other corner.

(E) This line will be your stitching line. Stitch directly on the line. Don’t forget to backstitch at either end! Once you’re done stitching, trim off all your extra threads. (F) Then clip off the corners. Turn right sides out and have a look at your finished bag!

I use these all over my house. They make great storage containers, reusable gift wrapping for birthday gifts, and storage for cosmetics in the bathroom! If you make one, be sure to let me know in the comments! I’d love to see it!

Happy Crafting,

Erin

Want to make one (or a few)? Download the illustrated directions here! All it takes is a 1/2 yard of ultra firm double sided interfacing and two fat quarters!

Happy Sewing,

Erin

This project all started with a problem:

I had a whole bunch of these all over the place.  Most of the packages were half broken and not holding the needles very well anymore.  I was finding needles all over the place and was getting a little tired of it.  My solution was a cute needle notebook.

For this project you’ll need:

2 different coordinating fabrics (We don’t need big pieces so if you have some scraps lying around that should work just fine.)

18″ of coordinating Ric-Rac

1 color coordinating felt (I used some nice soft bamboo felt from CityCraft.  If you’ve never felt bamboo felt you’re in for a treat!)

1 sheet of white felt (these will be cut into our “pages”)

3″ leather lace or ribbon and one coordinating button

Step 1: Cut out all your pieces.

Cut 2: 8 1/2″ x 2″ strips of fabric (These will be your outer band fabric.)

Cut 1: 8 1/2″ x 2 1/2″ strip of fabric (This will be your center band fabric.)

Cut 2: 9″ pieces of ric-rac

Cut 1: 5″ x 8 1/2″ piece of coordinating felt (This will be for the inside of your book.)

Cut 2: 4″ x 7″ pieces of white felt (These will be our pages to store the needles on.)

Cut 1: 3″ piece of leather lace or coordinating ribbon (This is for your button loop.)

**Use 1/4″ seams for this project unless otherwise noted.

Step 2: Attach Ric Rac

Line up one ric rac piece on the edge of one outer band fabric piece.  Using a scant 1/4″ basting stitch, baste in place.  Repeat for other ric rac piece and outer band fabric.

Step 3: Piece together Outside

Using a 3/8″ seam, stitch center band to outer band piece where ric rac is attached.

Sew other outer band piece to remaining side of center piece.

Lay flat with right sides up and press.

Step 4: Complete Outside of Book

Lay the coordinating felt piece down and place your outer piece, right side down on top of your felt piece.  Pin around the edges, making sure to double pin a space to remind you to leave an opening.  Mine is about 3″ along the bottom edge.  (Don’t forget to add your looped leather lace piece to one side at this step like I forgot to do!)

Stitch around the edge 1/4″ being sure to leave your opening.  Trim your corners when you’re done stitching.

Turn right sides out, poke out corners, and topstitch around the edge 1/8″ to keep it flat and close the hole you left open.

Sew on the button about 1″ from the edge of the front of your book.  (If you forgot like me to add in the loop when you stitched around the piece for the first time you can add the leather lace now to the back inside of your book.)

Step 5: Sew your pages in.

With a disappearing ink pen mark lines down the center of the inside of your book,

and the center of your white felt pages.

Place the pages in the book, lining up the lines so they are centered.  Pin in place.  (Notice how my top page is slightly higher than my other page?  Be sure you pin it like this as the felt will shift slightly when sewing down the center.   If you shift if up and starting 1/8″ up, it will line up when you sew it.)

See how it  lines up nicely now?

Now add your needles and you’re ready to go!

Happy Crafting!

Erin

If you make one I’d love to see it!  You can drop it in the Flickr Group or Post it on the Facebook Page!

To make your own necklace you’ll need:

7- 3/4″ wooden balls

2- 3″ x 14″ fabric strips

7- 3″ x 3 1/2″ fabric rectangles (These will be the fabrics that your wooden beads will be in.  You can do them the same if you want, or switch up the fabrics so it looks similar to the one I made.)

(If you want to make a bracelet instead, cut 5 of the rectangles and use only 5 beads, and make the strips 7″ instead of 14″.)

First I arranged the fabric pieces in the order I wanted them to be when I sewed them.  I paid attention to the colors and the balance of the fabrics making sure not all the light or dark ones were together.  Remember that only about 1 square inch of your fabric will show so you’ll end up seeing more color than specific patterns.

Next, overlap the pieces 1/4″ and stitch using a 1/8″ seam.  By overlapping them instead of stitching right sides together you’re making the seam less thick, which will be better for knotting it later on.  Yes the seams will be raw edges..but you won’t even notice it later!  After you’ve pieced the center together, stitch the two strips to either side of your pieced necklace center, overlapping the pieces instead of stitching right sides together.

After you’ve got it pieced together, fold it in half, lengthwise, with the right sides together.  Stitch 1/4″ seam along the long edge.  You should have a really long fabric tube at this point.  Turn this tube right side out.

The final step is to insert the wooden beads and knot the necklace.  The easiest way to do this is to put in one wooden bead at a time and knot either side, making sure that your seams are in the knot.  Keep adding and knotting beads until you’ve got the center of your necklace finished.  Knot the ends of the necklace and you’re done!!  (If you want to make a bracelet, the fabric pieces you’ll need are listed under the material list above.  Follow the same set of instructions to complete your bracelet!)

Happy Crafting,

Erin

Picture from CityCraft.  (Where I teach!  They’ve got a great selection of modern fabrics, and they are available to purchase online.)

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Erin

The best part about this project is that it’s an easy project to start out with knits on.  I don’t have a serger either, but in the pattern I’ll show you a few different stitches on your regular sewing machine that will work on knits!  Have fun with it!  You can download the full pattern and illustrated instructions here for free.

Happy Sewing,

Erin

If you visit Burda Style this week you’ll see my reversible Halloween and Thanksgiving table runner and placemat project there available for download!  (Yep, I said reversible, and it’s free too!)  It includes the basic instructions, fabric requirements, and piecing diagrams as well as the hand embroidered pattern (full sized!)

Happy Crafting,

Erin