Easiest baby quilt – part 2

In last week’s post, we made the quilt sandwich for this baby quilt and quilted it using free-motion quilting. Then we applied the backing afterward and basted it all together. In this week’s tutorial, we will create bias binding and apply it. Any quilt takes time, and this one is no exception, but if you aren’t familiar with cutting and piecing, it’s definitely nice and easy. And much faster! Part 1 can be found here.

Easiest baby quilt – part 1

If you’re not familiar with quilting techniques, you can still make a little baby quilt quite easily. These quilt panels require no special cutting or piecing. Just add batting, quilt in the manner of your choice and add a super-soft backing like minky. In this blog post, I’ll walk you through the “quilt sandwich,” the quilting and adding the backing. Next week, we’ll do the binding. (Click here for part 2 of this post)

Tufted floor pillow

Sitting on the floor seems to run in my husband’s family. I prefer a couch, myself. But for those who lounge on the floor, how about getting comfy on a big, soft, tufted floor pillow? This pillow is HUGE, and the sewing part is really quick and easy. The tufting and covered buttons take the bulk of your time, but you’ll be surprised what a great pillow you get for little effort.

Bordered place mats

Last week, I showed you how to make mitered-corner napkins. This week, we’ll make coordinating place mats to go with them. My first attempt to make place mats came right when I taught myself to sew. I gave them to my grandmother. Looking back, boy were they awful! Funny, I’ve never seen them around her house. I guess they must have been bad if your grandma won’t pretend to like them. These place mats are super-easy to make, and they will hold up well in the wash.

Mitered-corner napkins

I love cloth napkins. I use them all the time, for no special occasion. Yet guests are always terrified to use them. They are so easy to make, good for the environment and make an average meal or snack feel a little bit special. Here is a quick and easy way to make napkins with nice mitered corners. Next week, we’ll make place mats with coordinating prints to go with these napkins for a full-on, fancy-pants dining experience.

Pillow trims

Pillows are a great way to spruce up your home. They add a warm, inviting touch and a comforting place to rest. But, boy, can they be expensive to buy. As sewers, we  are lucky enough to make our own decor items, and we can make them just how we want them. Pillows can be incredibly basic, or they can use pieced fabric design and fancy trims. This tutorial discusses adding rope lip cord and piping as trims to your pillows.

Spacious yoga mat bag

I don’t know about you, but I’m often motivated by cute clothes or accessories. Maybe with a cute yoga mat bag like this, I’d have a reason to actually dust off my mat and head to class. Most yoga mat bags I’ve seen are tubular with a drawstring. That works just fine, but sometimes you need something a bit roomier to hold your other items, like a towel. I found this really cute tote-style yoga mat bag tutorial at Sew4Home, and I couldn’t resist applying pretty Warehouse Fabrics Inc. prints and coming up with this.

Lined gadget case tutorial

OK, so I’ve already shown you how to make a big, roomy bag. And, naturally, we put pockets in for phones and such. But sometimes you need a separate pouch for your phone or MP3 player. Here’s a lightly padded, velcro-closure gadget case with a cute little strap that you can open and close, in case you want to hook it around something, like a belt loop or purse strap.

Reversible scalloped apron

Reversible scalloped apron tutorial

Fancy, flirty aprons are all the rage, and they sell for good money at a lot of stores. But if you can sew, you can make your own, and I’ll show you how. Seem a little too frilly? Use it any old time, but especially when you have guests. People get a kick out of them! And don’t be afraid to use it; it’s just fabric, and you can wash it. This pattern is for a fully reversible, gathered, scalloped apron with pockets. Have fun with the fabrics and mix them up to make it more interesting. This apron uses…