DIY Fabric Covered Toms

Fabric Thumbtack

Finish off your kid's Halloween Costume

Glitter T-shirt

 

Here is a chart that lays out which fabrics e6000 works well on and not so well.

I go through a tube at least every 6 months because it gets put to good use on (and well-intending if not so successful) craft projects. I hope that you gain as much enjoyment as I do every time I pull out my e6000. I feel like I am taking a really good short cut. 

Once the skirt was assembled, I made an exterior facing for the hem by cutting pieces to match the bottom edges of the panels and sewing them together into a loop. I folded down 1/4 inch of the top edge of the facing and pressed it into place. Then I stitched the right side of the hem facing to the wrong side of the skirt.

Next, I flipped the facing to the outside of the skirt, pressed it, and stitched along the folded edge to finish the hem of the skirt and create a lower frame for the appliques.

Here is the finished skirt, ready for strolls in the park, summer cookouts, and perhaps even the occasional ride on a real carousel. I plan on pairing it with a simple T-shirt and flats or Converse All-Stars.



While my skirt is adult sized, this project could easily be scaled down for a child size, and there are a million motifs you could play with other than a merry-go-round. How cute would fairy silhouettes be on a pint-sized version? Or a parade of safari animals along a hem? If you want to go edgy, you could consider flames around the hem of a dark skirt. Whatever your mind can conjure can be adapted into a fun and unique garment, so get creative!

It is amazing how just a few different cuts and extra rows of stitching can take such a common object, like an oven mitt, and make it spectacular. I wanted to try making a chevron pieced design for this blog project but I felt daunted by the idea of it. I hate cutting and cutting on an angle- Please! That is just extra work. Instead I cut some straight strips and then cut some more and eventually I created the look I was after.

Make your own Organic Chevron Grilling Mitt. This mitt makes a great father's day present. Here's what you will need to make 2 mitts.

1 yd. of each yellow, cream and gray organic Pure Organic cotton fabric

1 yd. Therma-Flec Batting

Sew4home's Father's Day Oven Mitt Pattern

(All seams are ½'' unless otherwise stated)

First off, fold each piece of cotton in half matching the selvedges and then cut 3 strips 3'' wide across the length. This leaves you with 9 strips in each color. Cut one more from the cream for the cuff and binding.

Next, pin and stitch strips together in this order: Grey, Yellow, Cream. Continue until all strips are stitched together. Next, fold your newly sewn strips in half lengthwise and then again. Press and open it up and cut along the 3 press lines making 4 rectangles. Stack these rectangles up in this order: right-side up, wrong side up, right side up, wrong side up. Cut from corner to corner along the diagonal.

Now will reassemble the rectangles using the opposite triangles. This will create the chevron design and also only the yellow strips will match up creating an interesting and fun detail. Pin and sew. Press seam open.

Trace the oven mitt pattern and cut out. Pin the extra cream strip to the bottom and stitch in place. Trim to match up edges. Repeat for opposite side of the mitt. Trace the mitt onto the batting and cut it out with scissors. Pin the batting onto the cotton with the tan side facing out. Using stitch in the ditch, sew in between each strip, quilting the chevron pattern in place.

Now is the time to embellish the cream band. Print out your desired design or, like me, just write "hot "onto a sheet of paper. Trim it up and pin it in place. Sew over the design using a small stitch and a contrasting thread. The paper will be perforated and peel right off when you are done.

 Then place right sides together and stitch the 2 sides of the oven mitt together, leaving the bottom open. Clip curves and trim the seam to reduce bulk and turn right sides out. Finish off the mitt with the remaining cream strip as binding. Fold it in half widthwise and press and open it out and fold the outside edges toward center crease and press again. Pin raw edges together on the bottom of the mitt and stitch around the outside. Fold under ends as you come to them. Fold trim over raw edge and topstitch in place. Repeat for second mitt

You are done. You can a) use your new grilling mitt to cook up something tasty for dad or b) gift them to the best dad in the world instead!

When I started making these for my husband, I ended up creating a custom pattern to suit his taste by cobbling together pieces from several different patterns. We started with a muslin and then refined, and ended up with a pattern he loves so much that I can just pull it out at any time and whip out a new garment for him in just a few hours. Kwik Sew makes a great Hawaiian shirt pattern, as well as a novelty shirt pattern with multiple panels in the body, so you can really customize.

Do you have someone in your life that would love a custom shirt or two?

Cheri's Tutorial page also includes a nice selection of No Sew projects for those days where you really don't wanna as well as boy/girl/momma projects and home décor/organization ideas. It is a great selection. You can also find her blog schedule which shares what posts she will be featuring and when. Mondays are fun kids' projects that Cheri completes with her 2 boys. Tuesdays are craft days. Wednesdays are "What I Love Wednesdays". These rest you will have to check out for yourselves.

Cheri also has a special navigation tab highlighting some really great charities that you can explore and choose to help as you will. It is great that she chooses to set aside a little blog space to spread the word for these charities.

Lastly, you can find some important FAQ's that have been asked over the years concerning many of her most popular posts. Don't forget to visit this page since you will want to make many projects from "I am Momma Hear Me Roar" and you will find this info pertinent to success.

I hope you enjoy Cheri's gorgeous, amazing and fun blog as much as I do and don't forget to spread the word.

 

The Tailor's Daughter by Janice Graham is a novel that takes place in Victorian England in which a young girl deals with disability, death, her place as a woman in 19th century society and her calling as a tailor following in the footsteps of her father. Janice Graham goes into great detail in the backroom goings-on of a tailo,r throwing out jargon like she, herself, grew up a tailor's daughter. 

Superfine wool: (see red coat above) This is a type or degree of Merino wool. The term Superfine is used to describe diameter of each wool strand and not the quality of the wool itself. Superfine is a thin, soft wool fabric typically used in evening or special occasion gowns which is why Veda decided to use it for Mrs. Truelock's mourning gown.

Crape: (also known as Crepe) is a thin, opaque fabric that resembles gauze but is most often made from wool and silk and lately polyester and blends. In the Victorian period crape was most often made into dresses or formal wear for mourning or feast days. Crape has a great deal of body and had some stretch but also wrinkled very easily which was why it was reserved for special days and the wealthy.

Moire: Although typically linked with silk, Moire is a treatment and not a type of silk like Dupioni. Moire gives a water like effect on the surface of a fabric. It can be applied to cotton, linen, silk, taffeta. There are two methods of achieving a moire. The first, changeable, is not a proper moire but gives a good enough imitation to be called moire. It is the process of weaving the warp one color and the weft another color so that the color changes in the light and the watermark effect is more noticeable in the sheen. The second is called Calendaring and is an actual treatment, not a weaving, in which the fabric is folded in a specific pattern and pressed with ribbed rollers to produce the water streaked effect. Moire silk is highly prized because of this expensive treatment. 

In total, it took more than 24 hours for all my glue to set -- much longer than I had anticipated! (Even though I had read in other people's project descriptions that it took a long time to dry, I think I somehow thought my house was a magical place where dry time would be reduced.)

Once the glue was absolutely, completely dry, I layered an empty trash bag inside of it and set it on top of another trash bag in my tub to prep for color. I am lucky enough to have a tub set aside for dye projects -- you could also do this outside on a table, or in any space that's well-protected. I put the plastic bag inside the shirt so that the dye that I apply to the back side of the shit wouldn't prematurely dissolve my glue design.



Then came the messy (read: FUN) part! The iDye products are unique in that you don't have to pour out pigment powder into water -- you throw the whole packet in, and it dissolves. I put the packet directly into a squirt bottle with warm water and shook it vigorously for a bit. This worked like a charm, but it was the last project that water bottle will ever see. I tossed it after this.

Then, I squirted away! I like a little bit of splatter and uneven finish, so I didn't make any effort to smooth out my color. I flipped the shirt over after an hour or so of dry time and did the back. My tub looked like carnage city after this, but it cleaned up nicely.

I gave the shirt about six hours to dry. After that, I hand rinsed it in the tub to get the first batch of pigment out, and once the water was running a pale pink instead of fuschia, I tossed it in the washer for a regular cycle and then (after checking that all the glue had been washed away), it went right into the dryer.


The end result makes me want to do more projects with this technique! It's super fun (great for working with kids) and really opens up some creative possibilities. You could create watercolor blends by using multiple colors of different dye concentrations, or add in additional embellishments like rhinestones or embroidery.

Since my stencil wasn't super detailed, Snow White isn't a delicate, finely-lined design. I'm not sure that I could get a whole lot more detailed with this technique, but that speaks more to my sloppy drawing hand than the possibilities. And I can't WAIT to try this on fabrics to incorporate into other projects. Remember, iDye comes in a formula for natural fibers (I used that one for my 100% cotton T-shirt) and a formula for synthetics, so you can try this on almost anything.

I wanted to explore a how ruffle knit fabric could be used in a different way and also in a smaller project. I have seen it in dresses, skirts and oodles of girly clothing. I am a wristlet girl so why not. And, just for kicks, let's turn it 90 degrees and add a bit more swing to the ruffles. Throw on a bow and call it a day.

Tara's Feminine Swing Wristlet

Halfway through I nixed the chevron and opted for some yellow floral

Materials:

½ yd. ruffle knit fabric

½ yd. polka dot fabric

One 9'' zipper

Remnant of cotton jersey knit (for flat piping)

18''x 2'' long piece of lightweight cotton for bow

Instructions (all seams are ½'' unless otherwise noted):

Cut 2 from ruffle knit and 4 from lining fabric: 8.5''x 5.5'' (just fold a regular piece of paper in half)

Cut 4 from lining: 8.5'' x 4'' (top piece)

Cut 2 from jersey knit: 2''by 9''

Cut 1 from lining 18'' by 4'' for strap

Pin ruffle knit to one same size lining piece with wrong side of ruffle knit facing right side of lining piece (the ruffle is transparent so you will be able to see polka dots through the ruffles) and baste. Repeat for second piece. Folding jersey piping in half and line up raw edge with top edge of ruffle knit and stitch in place. Place one top piece, right sides facing, onto of piped ruffle knit and stitch in place. Press seam towards top piece and top stitch. This completes one main panel. Repeat for second main panel.

For lining: lay one top piece on top of lining piece and stitch in place. Press seam open. This create one complete lining piece. Repeat for second.

Add the bow: Fold your wrist strap in half lengthwise and press. Open it up and fold long edges towards the center and press. Fold lengthwise again tucking the raw edges to the center and press. Topstitch the strap. Pin raw short edges together to determine the preferred length of your strap and mark right where the strap hits your top wrist. This is where you will stitch your bow. Fold and press your bow piece in the same manner as the strap. Trim a length to 6'' and mark the center. Tri fold your piece so both raw ends meet at the center mark and hand stitch in place. Cut another short length to wrap around the center and overlap slightly in the back. Hand stitch this piece in place and then hand stich to your wrist strap.

Use these instructions for completing your wristlet 

I often find ironing deflating not because I dislike it (few people find more joy in banishing wrinkles and opening seams like I do) but because my iron is so large and unwieldy. Let's face it when it comes to the working area of most projects using my iron to get the job done is like using an elephant to paint your toes. I would find myself configured into odd yoga stances trying to get a collar just so or to get into this corner...right...here. It was almost like one of those ridiculous "As Seen on TV" commercials where the person is dramatically messing up a simple task in order to demonstrate the need of the product. I said Almost. 

All that being said, the Clover Mini Iron is a real gem. It gets into tight spaces and can slide into tiny corners. It is particularly great when adding bindings on arm holes and necklines. It is also immensely helpful for piecing small or intricate appliqués. Where a regular iron would cover everything and not allow you to see how it is all coming together the mini iron allows you to see as you work.

I have a short cut I love to use when applying Heat n Bond or iron-on interfacing: I lay my fabric pieces onto the fusible, iron it on and then cut it out. I find when I cut both out and then iron them I don't get a perfect fit. My short cut makes for a messy iron if I forget to use my Fons and Porter Pressing Sheet or I end up messing up a 1'' border of the fusible around my fabric piece. It is a small price to pay but this is all because my iron is so big and sometimes doesn't fit on my fabric pieces. I avoid all the drama with my mini iron. . If the piece is too big I can easily slide the mini iron around the edges, enough to secure the fusible before I cut it out.  And then finish the job with my regular iron.

I have seen others use it for making bias binding, tailor pressing and for scrapbooking. I can't wait to see what other sneaky shortcuts I can find to use mine for. 

After all the pieces are prepped, you just put your shirt back together. It goes really quickly at this point, because your hems and the neck edge are already done. You just have to match up your finished edges carefully.

Here's the finished shirt -- the chevron lace has some body to it, so it's almost like a spring sweater.

Here you can see a little of the white of the T-shirt peeking through the weave of the lace.

I made a second version using plum Giselle Stretch Lace and a black tee. The Giselle lace was a little trickier to work with than the chevron lace, but nothing terribly difficult. It's just a little more prone to slip around, so you have to be vigilant.



Just think of the color combo possibilities with this project! You could layer almost any color over a green for a garden feel, or go with solid black for a sleek look. I like that these garments have the casual comfort of a T-shirt, but feel a little more dressed up. You could pair with a blazer for work, wear one with a full skirt for girly style, or combine with jeans for weekend style. I'm already digging through my closet to create new outfits based around these.