Fabric pumpkin

Photo taken from this site.

I am obsessed with pumpkins, can't help it. For those preferring to sew and not to carve or paint, here are some examples of fabric pumpkins and tuts how to make them.

How to make fabric pumpkin

On this site you can find detailed tut how to make this gorgeous pumpkins. Although, according to the tut, genuine stems are used, I think some wooden twig will do as well.

one very easy to make

These are really funny and original, remind me on Cinderella's carriage. If you like them, go to the thecottagemama.com .

This is one very easy to make pumpkin.

And if you prefer paper, this is project for you.

Read more "Fabric pumpkin"

Lavender bag

Lavender is certainly one of the best plants in my garden - so modest and durable, yet giving us so much joy. Except in the very begining, lavender don't require a lot of care. I enjoy the laveneder bushes all year long - in summer as well as in winter, not to mention the  beautiful fragrant flowers. I collected flowers month ago and found some time today to make a little lavender bag (some other ideas still in the pipeline).

How to make lavender bag

Material

Material: fabric scaps, rope, lavender, wooden bead

Cut a paper triangle (pattewrn for the bag), then cut two fabric pieces. Put them together (right sides together) and sew them, leaving opening at the base.

Turn on the right side, fill in with the lavender and  hand sew the opening.

Pull the rope through the bag and through the bead, make simple knots.

Hand sew little lace skirt and lavender bag is finished.

Read more "Lavender bag"

Pincushion in no time

For a long time I thought pincushions are just for decoration. I sew as a hobby, from time to time and found out that I am frequently loosing my needles, or can't find then when I need them - and pincushion is a great place to put them. 

Tutorial how to make pincushion

It is really easy, it took me more time to take photos and make this tut than to sew the pincushion.

First, cut four pieces 10 x 5 cm (or some other size) from the chosen fabric. 

Sew two and two pieces together.

Pin two sides together and sew the edges leaving one half of a side.

Reverse on the right side through the opening, stuff with filling and hand stitch the opening.

Sew the button (for decoration) and elastic band on the other side to put the cushion on the wrist, if you need.

Read more "Pincushion in no time"

Play with cushions

Back from holidays, spent two weeks on the Adriatic seaside. It was good to get away from high temperature to the coast and enjoy swimming in the warm sea water. I love to craft something even when I am out of the town. This year I was refurbishing some furniture in our summer house and making plans to decorate the apartment - cushions are so great to add sent of romance or create certain filling. I made this one and other two few month ago, put them on (refurbished) sofa and  enjoy them during this vacations. And this is tutorial how to make such cushions - very easy and very quick, no buttons or zip.

Tutorial how to sew cushion or pillow case 

Size of the cushion: 40 x 40 cm

Material:

- cotton fabric
- strip fabric leftovers

You can see the scheme of the cushion - cut off three parts (because of the diagonal ribbons; otherwise, you don't need to cut the parts).  Be aware that seam allowances are NOT included in the scheme. Mark diagonal on the one 40x40 cm part. Cut on diagonal.

Cut off two ribbons out of different fabric (3 cm wide, add seam allowances). Sew the first ribbon on the cut off parts and the second one above (on the right side).

Sew another  40x40 cm part on one side and 40x18 cm on the other side of the ribbon part.

Make borders and turn a shorter part inside as on the photo and sew 'left' and 'right' sides together.

Cuchion case is finished - just put the pillow insert inside. On the photo you can see the backside of the cushion.

Read more "Play with cushions"

New life of an old sofa

It is always dilemma: throw away things or try to renew them and give them new life. Is it worth of effort or is it easier to buy something new? I usually prefer to renew my furniture and make something original or personalized. This sofa is one of the pieces I am very proud of.

This is how it looked like. I bought new fabric and sew covers, added pillows and made completely new sofa for our summer house on the Adriatic sea coast - that's why I apply nautical touch.

Some additional photos I took:

Read more "New life of an old sofa"

From jeans skirt to the bag tutorial

Finally I found some time to finish the tutorial for this bag. I really love it, which is not always the case with my projects. 

Jeans skirt I came across during wardrobe clean-up was perfect for this  project. First, I made some decisions about basic bag design and size - decided to use the overall upper part of the skirt as it is - with pockets and zip,  determined the lenght of the bag, taking into account the bottom width and chose not to sew the lining. This was the easy part. 

Afterwards was the time to think about patches patterns and decorations. My cats helped - they are always around, together with the dog (when I am doing something) 'assisting' - steeling cloth or lying on the fabric. 

Two cats -   and the main theme was chosen. Found cat figure on the internet, print it, cut it and draw it on the fabric. 

Fantom (vanishing) pen I found very usefull in a number of my projects - on the photo above the smaller one. I used it on this project as well. The beauty of this pen is that you can use it as any other pen, but the ink vanishes after few hours or if you apply acrylic paint or water.

Sometime ago, spotted this colorfull fabric in the shop and bought it - it gives me various opportunities in my projects as  different parts/colors could be used. For this bag chose mostly green color, it is spring, isn't it.

To fix pattern on the bag I use two-sided fusible web  (meaning adhesive is on the both sides). First, copy the pattern on the paper side of the fusible web and cut it off.  As I ironed it first on the fabric chosen for the pattern, had to take care how to (in what direction) draw it on the fusible web.

Finally, ironed the pattern on the skirt to fix it to be easier to sew it with the zig-zag stich.

For the filled cat head, draw a pattern on the fabric - cca 1 cm bigger  than on the main pattern and cut two pieces  off as well as the eyes.

Fot the eyes used the same process - ironed it on the two-sided fusible web and then on the fabric.

Sewed the eyes with the zig-zag stich and whiskers using regular stich.

Sewed two parts leaving a small hole at the bottom - this helped me to turn over the fabric on the right side and to fill the head with the sinthetic filling. Drew the eyeballs with the pen for the fabric. Sewed the opening at the bottom and fixed the head on the skirt. 

Made as well another head. 

Similary made a filled paw.

Used metallic pen for fabric for the additional decorations - whiskers and dots.

Now it was time to sew the bottom fo the bag and to achieve the bag width, made this triangles.

For the bag handles I cut off strip 10 cm wide, used one-sided fusible web and sew it.

Add the belt found in the market for cca 5 $ and the bag was ready.

Read more "From jeans skirt to the bag tutorial"