ZASSHIKO - Merging Design and Fashion together Different Shades of Green: Eye Pillow Tutorial Remember when I said I had a 'not so last minute, aka I'm a giant procrastinator, DIY Homemade Christmas Gift'? Well, here it is, even later than I expected! ;) I wanted to make eye pillows for my yoga students, that they could use in the final resting pose, or that they could keep at home and freeze for headaches, puffy eyes, allergy relief, etc. What I didn't realize was how many regular students I have accumulated! What you need: Fabric, preferably cotton for ease of sewing, but a soft cotton to feel good on the eyes. What you do, assembly line style: Cut your fabrics. For the inner pillow, align wrong sides together, and serge both long edges and one short edge. Fill the pillows with 3/4 cup of flax seed, then finish the last edge. Once all your inner pillows are stuffed and stitched closed, it's time to prep your pillow cases. Flip the rectangle over to be right side up. Using a regular joining stitch, stitch around the edges with a 1/4" seam. Mele Kalikimaka!
Tutorial: Basic needle-felting overview - FIBER ARTS Lets start needling --- Make a needle felt ball - to store your needles or to use as a bead. Step 3 ------ Organize your tools and fibers Step 4 ------ Start needling A good first project for both getting the feel of the needle, the fiber and developing your needle style is making a ball. One with a final size of a ping pong or golf ball, or at least a big shooter marble. I know, I know it isn’t flat - but still it is the place to begin, you will spring on to flat and to 3D easily after making a ball. Needle felting a Ball Pinch a bit of fiber into a wad, needle it some, add more fiber - I like to roll a pencil size strand around the core then wrap it with wool yarn* (- needle all around until fairly smooth ball - roll the ball between your palms to get a feel of firmness and to help round out the ball - keep alternating fiber addition and needling until the ball is the size you desire. Effective needle pokes go in and out at the same angle, no J hooks or twisty movement.
Star-Burst Pintuck Pillow Cover - Tutorial I think the most intimidating thing about pintucks is that they are all usually uniform. Whether on a pillow or shirt or wherever, you see them in nice, neat, even little rows....but they don't have to be neat or even or intimidating. Here's a fun little project for you to get started with pintucks. We're going to be creating a fun pillow cover that looks clean and neat and we are not going to measure our pintucks at all...HOW CRAZY IS THAT?...it's not crazy..it's fun and creative and full of whimsy. Star-Burst Pintuck Pillow Cover Tutorial Supplies Fabric for frontFabric for back Ruler Rotary Cutter & Mat or Scissors Sewing Machine Coordinating Thread Cut fabric for the front of your pillow cover to size ( size of pillow + seam allowance + 3") My pillow is 14". Cut the fabric for the back of your pillow cover to size (size of pillow + seam allowance) My pillow back is 15" square AFTER I added a zipper....tutorial on zippered back here. Set your needle placement to the far right. Your Done!
Tutorial » Handmade Felt Toys I really, really, really wanted very small felt beads for a couple of my felted projects and I finally had the time to practice my wet felting skills. About 30 or 40 attempts later and I’ve got a working method. As a result, today’s tutorial is wet felted beads! The washing machine works great for larger wet felted balls but tiny beads under 1/2 in. don’t really work well using that method. Needle felting doesn’t work well either, unless you want bandaids all over your fingers! So, wet soapy, possibly dishpan hands are necessary to complete this task! Let’s Go . . . Lightly needle felting the loose ball can help with the wet felting process; but it is completely optional. The small light green ball was needle felted first and the teal ball was not. Once the loose balls are formed, prepare the necessary materials. . . a bowl of cold water with ice, a small dish of soap, and boiling water. Drop the wool ball into the boiling water, then submerse it with a spoon.
Maureen Cracknell Handmade Roundup: Seam Finishing Techniques Seam finishing is a very important part of sewing. The inside of your garment should be as lovely as the outside. Why? Because finished seams not only look professional, they keep the edges of your fabric from fraying. If the technique is new to you, try it out on some scrap fabric first. Bias Bound Seams Bias Bound Seams, version 2 Mock Flat Fell Seams Flat Fell Seam with Felling Foot Flat Fell Seam without Felling Foot French Seam Seam Finishes Today, I’ll be covering some basic seam finishes. Tomorrow, gear up for self-finished seams. Friday, I’ll be back with some decorative seams which are going to be really fun and I think you’ll have a ball dreaming up where to put those in your next garment. Let’s jump right in – shall we? Machine Zigzag or Straight Stitch Let’s start with one that most people know and do – Machine Zigzag. Use for: lightweight to heavy & bulky fabrics. Pinked For this next seam finish, you’ll need a pair of pinking shears. Use for: firmly woven fabrics. Hand Overcast This next seam finish is done in part with your machine and part by hand. Use for: lightweight to heavyweight fabrics Application: apply this seam finish after you’ve stitched a seam allowance and/or before you insert a zipper Turned Under Seam Finish A turned under seam allowance is also a great option and looks really nice on the inside. Serged Seam Finish Bound Edge & Hong Kong Finish Press the bias strip over towards the seam allowance edge.
EGL is a Delicacy - Basic Full Elastic Waistband Loli Skirt First and foremost, there is quite a bit of math that goes into this tutorial. I am sorry if it gets complicated for you, but you need to be able to do some geometry and basic arithmetic to make sure your skirt fits you. I will try and make an excel document with formulas in it so you can just input your measurements soon! To begin, you need to take your measurements so you can calculate how much fabric you will need for your project. You will need:- a tailor's tape measure- a piece of 1/4" wide elastic long enough to tie around your waist- some paper and pencil- and a friend (NO YOU CANNOT MEASURE YOURSELF! SEE VIDEO FOR FULL EXPLANATION). Take measurements in undergarments if at all possible, otherwise only knit clothing is an alternative (think leggings, t-shirts, leotards, swimsuit, etc.). To take your waist measurement- tie the elastic around your waist, not tightly, but definitely flush to your waist. Also take down a full hip measurement. Now for the length of your skirt. Ok!
sew_loli: Half-Elastic Waistband Tutorial I’ve wanted to try out this method of sewing half-elastic waistbands with one continuous piece ever since theosakakoneko shared her amazing results here. And boy, I’m never going back. It’s so much easier and cleaner than trying to do the flat section and the elastic section in two pieces, then trying to join them together smoothly. First, make your skirt. As you'll see, because I only had one yard of this fabric and stubbornly wanted to do pintucks anyway, I not only needed to use a white underskirt, the waistband ended up narrower than what I usually make also. Install your zipper. Now you need to do some math. First, determine how much elastic you want in the waist band. (A) Calculate half of your total waist. 27/2 = 13.5” (This is your front flat waistband.) Your total length of your waistband is 13.5+10*2+1.75*2+1.5 =38.5” The 1.5” is for the tab that your hook eye thing will be sewn on. The width of your waistband depends on the width of your elastic. Insert the elastic.
Miss Carol Belle