Check out the new Clover macarons. #sponsored @CloverUSA
Thanks to Clover for sending these macarons. I love keeping one on my craft table with a few needles and pins on top. Check out how they work in the video above. They can be purchased at Clover.
Learn how simple it is to sew a bowl cozy with help from a Cricut Maker.
I have seen bowl cozies offered at craft fairs, they intrigued me but I always passed them by. Recently watching a YouTube video making them, I became interested in making my own. Watching someone use a bowl cozy, now it made sense to me. We tend to use a pot holder, which works, but it doesn’t wrap around the sides of the bowl to protect your hands. So, I decided to make my own with the help of my Cricut Maker.
Some items used in this post were provided by Cricut.
Cut your fabric and felt to 9″ squares, two of each. I used my Cricut Maker to cut the cotton fabric, it was so easy, and made the squares the exact same size.
Place the batting or felt to the wrong side of the fabric. Sew diagonally across the pieces making an X shape.
Do this to both pieces. The color of the felt or batting doesn’t matter because it will be inside the cozy.
Fold one side of the fabric in half with the right side together. Measure and mark a point along the fold 2″ and up the short side 1″. Draw a diagonal line connecting these points together. Do this to both side.
From here it is easier to explain the steps in a video.
The finished bowl cozy with a bowl in place. This is going to be so handy. I think I am going to need to make a few more!
The sewing machine I am using is a Brother SE-350 Sewing & Embroidery Machine, it is discontinued but there are similar machines available.
 Cricut Fabric Grip Mat Shop at: AZ | C |
 Cricut Maker® Machine Shop at: AZ | O | C |
 Cricut Rotary Blade Shop at: C |
Sew a reversible sleep mask.
I am joining a group of bloggers who are creating sewing projects that can be used as little gifts or stocking stuffers. You can read more about this year long project at the bottom of my post. My contribution to this project is a reversible sleep mask. It is made using two coordinating fat quarters. This is a quick and easy sewing project.
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I want to personally thank Cricut for providing materials for this post.
I am a design team member with Cricut.
The following links may contain affiliate links. They help support this site and cost you nothing to use them.
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** fleece can be replaced with a recycled terry cloth towel, flannel, or fleece batting.
See the PDF pattern for marking description on the pattern.
Cut the fabric using the pattern linked above. In the picture above I am cutting the cotton fabric with the back side of the fabric up to show how you would cut your fabric if it were a lighter color. Doing so would allow you to use the Cricut Fabric Marker to add the lines included in the SVG file. Since my fabric is dark, the marks would not show.
The image above shows the cut fabrics. Two cotton pieces (dark) and the scrap fleece (red). I used the SVG to cut the cotton fabric on a Cricut Maker and I cut the fleece using scissors. I did so to show that either form of cutting would work equally well for this project. As a general guide, I cut the elastic band to 15″ – choose a length that works for you.
It is important to layer the fabric sandwich correctly. Start with the fleece, then layer a piece of the cotton correct side up. Place the elastic band and pin in place, fold in the middle as necessary. Top this off with the other piece of cotton face down. Pin all the layers of the sleep mask together to prepare for sewing.
This is the entire project layered together ready to sew. The top layer of the sandwich has the top cotton piece with the backside facing up. You can see the pins around the sleep mask shape. The top two pins are used as guides to show where to start and stop sewing, leaving a slit at the top to turn the mask right side out. This is easier to see on the PDF pattern.
Because this piece is one large curve, sew around your eye mask at a slow pace making the stitching about 1/4″ from the cut edge of the fabric. I need to give a shout out to my favorite sewing machine. It is a Brother SE4500 (sewing and embroidery machine) and I bought it at Walmart.
Remove any remaining pins from the sleep mask. Cut the V shapes into the curve areas of the mask. In the nose area of the eye mask, cut slits into the fabric making the curve easier to turn inside out. DO NOT cut into the stitching.
The sleep mask right side out, notice the open slot at the top – where you can see some red peeking out.
Finger fold the open seam and pin closed. You can choose to hand stitch this seam closed and be finished. I chose to add a finishing machine stitch around the sleep mask which accomplishes similar results.
This is a close-up of the finishing stitch. If you choose to machine stitch, do so very slowly. Keep your stitching close to the outer edge, about 1/8″.
I used my EasyPress to iron the finished masks. An EasyPress isn’t necessary, mine is handily on my work table and easy to use. A regular iron works just as well for this project.
I created two sleep masks to show the reverse sides. They will be gifted to my daughters. I have enough leftover fabric to make more. I am thinking about making another one for myself and possibly having a few on hand for easy and quick gift-giving.
Every other Tuesday from January 1 through December 3, 2019, we’ll share a free sewing project for a little gift! These gifts are small enough to be “stocking stuffers” if you’d like to get a head start on holiday crafting, or you can gift them for birthdays and other events throughout the year. Each little gift will be made from 1-4 fat quarters of cotton fabric (or a yard or less of fabric, if you don’t have precut fabric on hand).
And, because sew alongs are more fun with prizes, we’ve reached out to some of our favorite companies to get some amazing end-of-SAL prizes. You can find out more about the prizes and enter for your chance to win here on Underground Crafter!
How To Join the Little Gifts SAL
Visit Underground Crafter to learn more about the prizes, enter the end-of-SAL giveaway, and to get links to each Little Gifts Sew Along project as it is released.
A special thanks to Marie from Underground Crafter for organizing the Little Gifts Sew Along, what a great idea and I had fun working on this project.
: Nylon Net Christmas Tree
: Materials:
: 3 1/2 yards Nylon Net–72″ wide
: 1 dowel stick 18″ long–1/4 diameter
: 1 5×5 wood block
: 1 cardboard circle 8″ in diameter
: small ornaments, angel or ornament for top
: glitter
: cut one strip 15″ long x 72″ wide
: 14″ long x 72″ wide
: 13″ long x 72″ wide
: 12″ long x 72″ wide
: 11″ long x 72″ wide
: 10″ long x 72″ wide
: 9″ long x 60″ wide
: 8″ long x 60″ wide
: 7″ long x 60″ wide
: 6″ long x 45″ wide
: 5″ long x 45″ wide
: 4″ long x 45″ wide
: 3″ long x 45″ wide
: Fold strips in half starting with 15×72″, making it 7 1/2 x 72″. Run heavy basting thread close to fold 1/4″. Tie both ends of thread together as tightly as possible, tying several knots. Open material and ruffle. Slip disc over dowel stick which has been mounted in wood base. Round cardboard goes on first to support ruffle. Repeat for each strip. After all net discs have been placed on dowel stick, ruffle completely. Add small ornaments. Put glue on edges and add glitter for extra decorations.
Photo found at : http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=332694.0
How to sew reversible baby shoes, includes a free PDF and SVG pattern.
One of the talented ladies I partner with at Creative Craft Blog Group (#CCBG) is having a baby. Since we can’t be with her to celebrate, we are holding a virtual baby shower. Each participant is making a special gift for Erica at Five Little Monsters, blogging about it, and sending her their creation as a baby gift. I chose to make baby shoes. The pattern I am using is reversible. Aren’t baby shoes just adorable?
The fabric I chose to work with is blue and green since Erica is expecting a baby boy. I used cotton fabric since the baby is due in the summer but I have made baby shoes before out of fleece and they worked just as well.
The following links are affiliates, using them help support this site. I appreciate you considering using them.
Materials:
If you would like to cut the fabric out on your personal cutting machine, this post now contains the SVG file for you to download. It is saved as the small shoe size, just enlarge it as needed for different sizes. [SVG shoe pattern]
Instructions:
To begin, download and print the free pattern.
Download the free PDF pattern, do not print directly from the image above, the scale will be off.
Cut two of each shape from two contrasting colors. (four pieces of each pattern piece when finished)
Iron fabric to make sure there are no wrinkles.
Sew the contrasting heel pieces together. Then fold so the correct side is facing out. Iron if needed.
Create a channel for the elastic to slide through. This should be approx. 3/4″ from the top edge.
I used a contrasting thread so you could see the placement.
Cut two pieces of elastic a bit longer than the heel. Using a safety pin, slide the elastic through each heel piece.
This next step is a little difficult so I hope the graphic helps explain it better.
Place the toe piece pattern B face up,
on top of that lay the heel piece with pattern B down and pattern A face-up.
Then layer the toe piece pattern A face down. Pin in place.
Place the sandwiched pieces, into the sewing machine and begin to sew along the top edge. Stop sewing about halfway across and leave it in the machine. I have flipped up the top piece of fabric so you can see what is going on. Pull the elastic band slightly, take the exposed edge of the heel and align it with the other edge of the toe piece, pin it in place and continue to sew across the top edge of the toe.
This image shows the above step right after sewing. Cut off the extra elastic piece.
The shoes are starting to take shape and it is time to finish up by adding the soles.
The first shoe is already sewn and the second one is pinned ready to sew. To do this place the sole piece pattern A face-up on the table. Now place the sewn toe and heel piece on top of the sole with pattern A facing Pattern A. Now place the sole piece Pattern B face down. You are creating a sandwich with the shoe inside the two sole pieces. Sew around the shoe leaving about an inch open to turn it right side out.
This image shows the shoe sewn around leaving an inch open to turn the shoe right side out.
Both shoes are turned right side out with the inch opening still needing to be sewn closed by hand.
You will need to do this twice for each side of the shoe since they are reversible. Once done, they are ready to wear.
Additional Suggestions:
Are you interested in other baby shoes? Check out my free pattern for Crochet Baby Shoes.
Bloggers participating in the Virtual Baby Shower are:
Try it – Like it :: Reversible Baby Shoes
Home Crafts by Ali :: Decoupage Wood Photo Frame
2 Dishing Divas :: Baby Bib
Life Beyond the Kitchen :: Paci Leash
I am participating in a round-up of Christmas in July posts. I am sharing a post for an animal gift, specifically for our new kittens. This fish is sewn, stuffed, and filled with catnip. The fabric is also painted using Marabu fabric sprays. Of course, I had to give it to them now in order to share this post, they took a minute to warm up to it but they love it.
Links below are Amazon affiliate links, thank you for using them.
Materials:
Directions:
If you want the pattern, it is a free download here. [fish]
print out and pin to fabric
cut two
Video Tutorial:
painting the fabric
pin wrong sides of fabrics together
sew most of the way around, leaving an open space
remove pins and turn inside out
fill the fish with stuffing
put a desired amount of catnip into the fish
with needle and thread sew the opening closed
the cats checking it out!
Every day in July, a participating blogger will release new free crochet, knitting, sewing pattern, or craft tutorial. Each week will have a theme.
I am posting towards the end of the round-up so you will be able to see a lot of the projects at the following link.
Today I have a post on the ScraPerfect blog sharing how to make faux foam tape. The card above uses it to lift the sentiment up from the card. The card also includes a mini embroidery piece.
Here is the rough sketch for the embroidery work. You can download a PDF pattern with stitches indicated by clicking on the image above.
The french knots and flower petals use 6 strand embroidery thread, all other stitches use 2 strands.
