Holiday Gift Blog Hop: Day 4

Christmas countdown: 20 days!

Are you ready?

This week, we'll be sharing tutorials for last-minute homemade gift ideas. Skip the stores (well, except your local quilt shop!) and spend time at your sewing 

machine instead. 

Today Kristen from KD Quilts is here, sharing a super-easy tutorial for making mitered corner cloth napkins. As in so easy, you'll never use paper napkins again (well, maybe that's not true--that would be a lot of washing!). Kristen used a couple prints from the ultra cool Boy Meets Girl collection from Kanvas. Mod flowers and a large-scale herringbone--perfect for any table setting! Check out Kristen's tutorial and and at the end you'll see how you can enter to win a 

fat quarter bundle of the Boy Meets Girl prints.

The holidays are here! And with the holidays comes parties (and hostess gifts), and little tokens of friendship to neighbors and friends. During this busy season, there's not a lot of time to create, but that doesn't mean you have to write off handmade gifts! Benartex fabrics put together a list of some great tutorials for those last minute handmade gift ideas. I love cloth napkins. With two small children, we go through a lot of paper towels and so it's nice to use cloth when possible....and they don't have to be saved for special meals! I'm sharing a super quick tutorial on self binding, mitered corner napkins today. In about 30 minutes, you can have a set of four cloth napkins that are great for everyday!

Self Binding Napkins

When you go purchase cloth dinner napkins, they are typically 16-18 inches. I like the large dinner napkins since they are easily folded into fun shapes, so I chose to make 18 inch napkins. This tutorial is easily adjusted for any size napkin. Obviously, the smaller the napkin, the more you can get from your fabric. Add 1/2 inch to your squares from the desired finished size. I also made my binding large on the front. For a more narrow binding, reduce the measurement on the larger square. (I made mine 2 inches larger)

You need:

Four 5/8 yard cuts yield four dinner size napkins

rotary cutting and basic sewing supplies

Cutting:

18.5 inch square for front/interior

20.5 inch square for back/binding

Let's Begin:

Fold both pieces in half, then half again and heavily press. These creases will identify center points.

 

 Right sides together, line up center points at one side. Pin in place and sew with a 1/4 inch seam, stopping 1/4 inch from the end.

   

 Slide the next side to the edge. Match up center points, pin, sew again. Repeat for all four sides, leaving a hole in one side for turning. Your corners won't look perfect. In fact, they look kinda flopy and weird. This is normal.

 

 

 Fold napkin so that stitches from two edges meet. This will make a point at one of your corners.

 

 Trim off excess from where stitches end. Sew down the trimmed edge.  

 Turn through the hole you left. Make sure all the corners are sharp. Chopsticks work great for this! Press the bottom down so the back/binding comes up. (This reminded me of a shallow bowl.)

Take the napkin to the ironing board and fold down the binding. The corners should all meet up nicely. Press. A lot. If you are a glue baster, this would be a great time to do so.

  

 Top stitch 1/8 inch around the edge. Press one last time for a super crisp, flat napkin.

 

 That's it! Easy peasy. Napkins can make a great gift paired with some kitchen/cooking/baking goodies or even used for wrapping a bottle of wine.

 

Thank you, Benartex Fabrics, for having me today as part of your blog hop! I have been loving all of the gift ideas!

Thanks Kristen!
Head over to Kristen's blog to find out how you can win a fat quarter bundle of the Boy Meets Girl fabric collection.

Check out our other quick and easy holiday gift tutorials!
Day 1: Baby blocks using Safari Playground

Day 2: Travel sewing kit using Made with Love

Day 3: Berry basket of coasters using Origins
Day 5: Bow banner using Zoey
Day 6: Handy golf bag using On the Green

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Holiday Gift Blog Hop: Day 2

Christmas countdown: 22 days!

Are you ready?

Over the next week, we'll be sharing tutorials for last-minute homemade gift ideas. Skip the stores (well, except your local quilt shop!) and spend time at your sewing machine instead. 

Today Amanda from Material Girl Quilts is here, sharing her tutorial for a little travel sewing kit. We predict you won't be making just one of these as a gift--you'll be making one for each of your friends and a couple for yourself as well! The fabrics she used? The Made with Love collection from Kanvas, of course! Check out Amanda's tutorial and at the end you'll see how you can enter to win a fat quarter bundle of these fun sewing prints.

Requirements:

2 – coordinating fat quarters

1 – 9″ x 17″ piece of batting

2 1/2″ length of sew on velcro

 

• From the fabric that will be on the back (and fold over to the front) – cut one piece 9″ x 17″ and one piece 9″ x 16″
• From the other fabric cut one piece 9″ x 17″ and one piece 9″ x 12″

•  Fold the two smaller pieces in half to create two “pockets” and press on the fold.  When folded they should measure 9″ x 8″ and 9″ x 6″.

• Fold the 9″ x 6″ pocket piece in half along the width and press to give you a center line.

• Separate your velcro pieces and place the “rough” side centered at the top on the small pocket (facing up!).  Stitch approximately 1/4″ from the fold making sure to catch the top of the velcro along the way.

• Once you have sewn along the top of the pocket, you will now need to stitch down the rest of the velcro.  Start at the top right (unstitched) corner and once you reach the other corner, leave your needle down and turn your pocket 90 degrees to stitch along the bottom of the velcro, repeating the same process at the next corner to get back to the top.  You will need to make sure you backstitch at the beginning and end of this process!

• Now that the velcro is sewn onto the small pocket it is time to layer and stitch both pocket pieces.  Place the small pocket piece on top of the large pocket piece and start stitching in the center/top of the small one (make sure to backstitch) and go all the way to the bottom of the pockets.

• To create more “pockets” you can stitch additional lines onto the smaller pocket piece.  I stitched one additional line to create two small and one medium sized pocket.

• Once all of your pocket lines are stitched it is time to layer all of the pieces to sew together.  Layer in this order (1) Start with the batting on bottom (2) interior 9″ x 17″ piece facing up (3) completed pocket pieces facing up and (4) exterior 9″ x 17″ piece facing down.

• Once all of your pieces are layered, pin in a few spots to keep them from slipping while you sew them together.
• Using 1/2″ seam allowance start at the top of the flap about 2-3 inches from one corner and stitch all the way around back to the top of the flap – leaving an opening big enough for you to insert your hand for pulling the fabric out.  Make sure to back stitch at the beginning and end!

• Before you turn it inside out you will need to clip the corners as shown below.  Be careful not to cut over any stitches.

• Now it is time to turn!  Reach your hand inside (between the front and back fabric pieces and pull it through.

• Once it is turned out, it will look like this with the top of the flap still open.  Use a stiletto or other pointy item like a pencil tip to help poke the fabric out in the corners.

• Now we need to close up the top and sew on the other half of your velcro.
• Begin by tucking in the fabric and batting to line up with your seam.
• Pin it closed with your velcro piece centered at the top of the flap.

• We’re almost there!  It’s time to stitch the edge of the flap.
• Start at the top of the pocket pieces and (using a backstich at the beginning) stitch going up the side of the flap about 1/8" to 1/4″ from the edge.  Once you reach the first corner follow the same process as above, leaving your needle down and turning 90 degrees, to continue stitching along the top of the flap and over the top of the velcro.

• You will do the same thing at the next corner and then stop stitching when you reach the top of the pockets on the other side…finishing with some backstitches!

•  One last thing to do is finish sewing down the velcro on the flap (using the same method as above).

Now you have a perfect sized travel sewing kit to hold all of the little essentials you need when going out to sew with friends.

Thanks Amanda! 
Head over to Amanda's blog to find out how you can win a fat quarter bundle of the Made with Love fabric collection.

Check out our other quick and easy holiday gift tutorials!
Day 1: Baby blocks using Safari Playground
Day 3: Berry basket of coasters using Origins
Day 4: Mitered napkin set using Boy Meets Girl 
Day 5: Bow banner using Zoey
Day 6: Handy golf bag using On the Green

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Uh-oh...it's December!

December.

Somehow it sneaks up on you every year...and with Thanksgiving's late date this year, it seems like the 12th month has popped up even sooner than usual. There's so much to do, and so little time before the holidays!

We're here to help, though--this week and next, we'll be sharing some quick and easy gift tutorials made by some of our sewing and blogging friends. Keep an eye on our blog for great last-minute project ideas for your gift list, plus a chance to win some of the fabrics featured! 

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1-hour Zip Pouch Tutorial

Have an hour? We've got a fun zip pouch for you. And with Valentine's Day fast approaching, you can use fun themed fabrics (like Greta Lynn's Smooches collection for Kanvas, shown in our pouch!) and stuff it full of chocolates or a gift card for a sweet present for someone special.

First, a peek at a few of the Smooches fabrics, full of glamour, style and all things girly! 

See the rest of the collection here.

Materials:

• 1 fat quarter each of 4 prints
• Fusible batting
• 7" zipper

Cutting:

Lipstick on white:

One 3" x 7-1/2" strip and one 2-1/2" x 7-1/2" strip

Lips on black:

One 3-1/2" x 7-1/2" strip

Red/black stripe:

One 7-1/2" x 8-1/2" piece (for backing)

White/black stripe:

One 6" x 7-1/2" piece, one 2-1/2" x 7-1/2" strip, and one 7-1/2" x 8-1/2" piece (for lining)

Fusible web:

One 5-1/2" x 7" piece, one 2" x 7" strip, and one 7" x 8" piece

Make the Pouch

1. Sew the 3" x 7-1/2" lipstick on white strip lengthwise to the 3-1/2" x 7-1/2" lips on black strip. Fuse the 5-1/2" x 7" fusible web piece to the back side, leaving 1/4" of fabric exposed on all sides. Fuse the 2" x 7" fusible web strip to the wrong side of the 2-1/2" x 7-1/2" lipstick on white strip.

2. Lay the zipper right side down on the lips/lipstick fused piece from step 1 and pin in place. Layer the 6" x 7-1/2" white/black stripe piece on top, right sides facing, and pin in place. Using a zipper foot, stitch along the edge of the zipper. 

3. In the same manner, pin the 2-1/2" x 7-1/2" lipstick on white strip and 2-1/2" x 7-1/2" white/black stripe strip to the opposite long side of the zipper. Check to make sure the fabrics will be oriented correctly after sewing, and then stitch to secure the zipper. It should look like this:

4. Using a walking foot, topstitch on both sides of the seam line and 1/4" on either side of the zipper seams.

5. Fuse the 7" x 8" fusible web to the wrong side of the 7-1/2" x 8-1/2" red/black stripe piece for the back side of the pouch. 

6. There are two options for finishing this bag: 

a) the super easy one--layer the pouch front right side up, pouch back right side down, and 7-1/2" x 8-1/2" white/black piece right side up. Make sure the zipper is open. Pin pieces together and stitch around all four sides. Clip corners and turn right side out. Easy, right? The drawback of this method is that the seams will show inside the pouch. 

b) this clever technique by Projects from Jane. Your pouch will be fully finished, no seams showing! Click here to see Jane's tutorial so you can finish your pouch in this manner.

Back of the pouch--love this fun fabric!

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