Shabby chic fabric pumpkins!!!

 

I wanted to share with you some pumpkins I've done with fabric. At first, I wanted to make pumpkins with shabby chic style, but then I ended up doing some more traditional fabric pumpkins. I add here some pictures of  my pumpkins and I invite you to visit my blog, there you will find the link to the tutorial that I used to create my pumpkins. I have also a tutorial showing how to make a fabric flower from an old t-shirt, a recycling project that takes less than an hour. Hopefully you will visit me.
Happy Halloween!!!!

 

 

 

 

This is the link to the fabric pumpkins

and my next project:

 

 

 

I made this fabric flowers recycling one t-shirt I had in my pile of clothes to recycle , and you can do it also. I did a tutorial on my blog showing you how to do it, here is the link  :)

 

I hope you will enjoy my posts!

Marisa:)



Reprint from APP's

 Tote Handles

Carol asked how I make my Easy Peasy tote handles....

It's hard to explain without a photo.... I hope my Photo example helps.

First I decide what color I want my Main fabric. I cut this strip to 2 1/2" wide and desired length. (I cut these strips from centerfold to selvage on the material. I use my ruler and rotary cutter). Fold this strip in half and press wrong sides together with edges even to one side, and the ironed crease on the other side. Open the Main strip and fold and press the raw edges to the center as indicated in the photo.

This is the same way you would make a bias strip.

Cut a piece of batting 1" in width and the desired length. This batting strip is placed inside and down the center of the main fabric fold. Press all of this flat. Cut a 1 1/2" wide accent strip with desired length.

This accent strip is also made like a bias strip.

To construct.. Place the main fabric and batting with raw edges up. Next Pin the raw edges of the small bias to the cover the raw edges of the main fabric opening. As shown in the photo. Stitch down either side of the small bias to secure it and cover any openings.

I have found I love adding the accent trim to the handle.. but you can make them the old fashion way.

4 inch strips.. fold in half then fold in half and stitch down either side of strip to secure. If I do a handle this way I also add a bit of iron on interfacing to make them a bit stronger and not so wimpy.

I hope your not to confused with my instructions. Once you make one.. you will understand my concept.

My Shopping Bags and a Triple Zip Pouch

I want to share with you my latest creations

 

 

 

I uploaded a tutorial on my blog where I show how to make this  shopping

bags and a mini tutorial showing how to make the  tag.

 

 

 

 

 If you are interested in seeing my tutorial, this is the link

 

 

 

I was also busy trying to finish this triple zip pouch

 

 

 

 

 

 

I decided to participate in a triple zip along and finished my triple 

pouch just in time. In my post you will find links to all the tutorials to

sew this pouch, and a link to the online course in craftsy, it  was a

course I took and that has inspired me to create the main fabric for this

pouch.

 

from this

 

to this

 

 

To view this post, here is the link

 

 

I am happy to share with you my creations, I hope you enjoy them as well as I enjoyed to complete them.

Have a nice day.

 

Marisa :)

 

 

Crib Sheets



I know, it's been a long time and I'm sorry.  I really haven't been crafting much.  Yes, blasphemy.  Haha...  Life has really been taking some interesting twist and turns over the last three months.  We decided to become foster parents, but happened to get a bad agency where the director was really off his rocker. =(  I'll spare you the drama.  I spoke with a new agency a couple weeks ago and they seem sooooo much better.  Moving on...  Our area has a high demand for newborn foster homes so bring back that crib!

Instead of going with the boring or pricey crib sheets out there I decided to make one of my own.  My daughter had an animal/Noah's Ark themed nursery so this one will run right along that line.  I came across a tutorial on Dana Made It first and have since seen a couple other patterns.  I basically followed her pattern with only a few tweaks.  I used two yards of prewashed fabric and began with 80" of 1/4" elastic.  I folded my fabric into 4ths and cut it at 33.5" across the top raw edge.  The salvage side didn't meet the 22.5" requirement so I didn't cut it; it was actually 21".  Although I was slightly short on the width it wasn't a problem in the end and the bonus was me not having to hem the edge.  With my fabric still folded in 4ths I cut an 8"x8" square out of the non folded corner.  If you see Dana's tutorial you will see just what I mean.

After sewing up the corners just as she instructed I zigzag stitched my short ends to keep them from fraying.  Remember they are the only cut portion besides the four corners which I also zigzag stitched after sewing those seams together.  If you've never done this here's all I do...  I make my stitches closer together then the average zigzag stitch.  On my sewing machine it's 2.5.  When the needle goes to the left it hits fabric and to the right I let if "fall off" the fabric.  It causes it to slightly roll the fabric and keep it from fraying.


Alright now for my questions from all the tutorial's I saw.  How much fabric is left to fold under the mattress?  First off let me say, I bought this mattress in January 2009 from Walmart.  It is a standard American crib mattress.  After sewing the corners together and finishing the raw edges with the zigzag stitch I put the sheet on to see if it will actually fit. 


The sides had 2.5" to wrap under.

The ends had 3" to wrap under.  I find the difference only being .5" interesting seeing how the sides are each 1.25" (counting hem) short of the pattern.

 

What does the bottom of the mattress look like with the sheet on?  Am I the only one who thought that?

Do I really need 80" of elastic?

I didn't want there to be a mishap on my sheet's watch so I measured my elastic, but didn't cut it.  I marked it at 72" and 80".  After running the elastic through which let me say was a task, I put it on the mattress and tightened it until I felt it held well.  I ended up taking off 14".  So 60" is what I used.  Also, I overlapped my ends 1" when sewing them together.  Which brings me to another question...

 

How much do I turn the fabric under for the elastic casing?

I turned my under 5/8" and sewed it at 1/4".  Normally I would have only turned it under 1/2" and sewed it at 1/8", but I wanted more room for error.

 

 

In the end, I love the results.  Now I need to go make a flower sheet for my mom's foster daughter.

 

Dana, thanks for the fun tutorial!

 





Some new tutorials for you !!!

The first tutorial of this year is ready on my blog and I start with the topic of

recycling, reusing and repurposing. If there are between you who are interested in

this subject, in my tutorial I show how I made to transform a pair of jeans in a

handy needlecase.

This is the front of my needle case

 

 and the back

 

 

Here is the link where you can find the tutorial.

 

I've also done other tutorials, such as how to make this  this scarf using water

soluble stabilizer, yarns and threads and the tutorial where I show how to make

this scarf is here.

 

 

Another project I've done is this wine gift bag.

 

These are are bags to carry bottles of wine, my idea is to use them when we go to

dinner or lunch at the house of friends, and want to offer as a gift something more

than just wine.
I did a tutorial and here is the link.

 



Hopefully you will enjoy these projects, since January just begun, I wish you all a

happy year 2013 full of creativity.

Marisa.