12 Free Sewing Projects, 1 for Every Month

January

Happy Scrappy Scarves

February

Love Notes Valentine

March

Bunnies and Carrots Garland

April

Flower Pin Cushion and Bowl

May

Little Hanging Baskets

June

Patchwork Zipper Wristlet

July

House Hot Pads

August

Back to School Pencil Pouch

September

Snowflake Applique Pillows

October

Sewing Machine Decorations

November

Thanksgiving Turkey Potholder

December

Lollipop Ornaments

You can pin this to keep track of them!

Enjoy!

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Printable Planner

A while back I made a customized notebook, I really liked using it because I could print the amount of pages I wanted for list making and planning. I had it spiral bound at a print shop and it lasted me about four months. It was awesome.

First Notebook

Well this year I wanted to elaborate on the idea. First of all I wanted something that I could put in a binder, that way I could pull out pages I didn't need and keep the really important lists for down the road.

These prepunched boards were found in the scrapbooking aisle at Michaels. They were a bit smaller than 8 1/2" x 11" but they had the rings and they were punched so I went for it and printed the pages at 90% their size cut down the top and bottom a bit.

I made some dividers with some colored card stock I had lying around. And then made the thicker dividers with the board and the printed images. See the little flag at the bottom, that is blank and I filled it in with the section name of the notebook.

I used double sided tape to stick the printed images onto the boards but then I used washi tape around the edges for fun and to keep them down. Really, I was just looking for an excuse to use washi tape, I love that stuff.

I arranged the pages according to the sections and put the notebook rings through them. Now these pages fit perfectly in a three ring binder and there are so many cute ones out there these days that punching three holes and adding them to a binder would be cute enough.

I've been using my notebook for a few weeks now and it perfect. Oh and that little green flag poking out is a post it style note, I bought them here at Tiny Bees on Etsy (soooo cute!) My washi tape came from Pretty Tape on Etsy as well. And my notebook pages and dividers can be found on Etsy too. I created a PDF file that has ALL of the pages for you to print and make your own notebook.

Have a great day,

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Okey Dokey Owl and Friends Quilt for Extra Special People

There was a bit of a sneak peek on my Instagram and Facebook page yesterday of my latest owl quilt.    ESP, which stands for Extra Special People is a local non profit group helping kids and people with special needs. My son has done some volunteering through his school and worked with ESP and they are a really great group of folks. he director contacted me a few months ago to see if I would have a donation for their Big Hearts Pageant in February. Oh course, I sad yes, wanting to help out but I just didn't have anything made that was a good fit.

Appliques Ironed

I decided to sew up an Okey Dokey Owl and Friends Quilt in the A Walk in The Woods fabrics. I choose to stick with the dots, plaids, vines, etc so it could be a quilt that could be used year round. I shot some photos of the process.

After securing all of the appliqués with Heat n Bond Lite I went around them with an Applique/Buttonhole stitch in coordinating thread. Here they are after stitching.

All twelve blocks are sewn together so the branches meet up. Here is the top on my design board.

I quilted the top by just sewing a meandering pattern in he background. I left all of the owls and branches alone so they "pop" from the quilt.

Last step was sewing the binding on. If you are curious, the Big Hearts Pageant is February 8th at the Classic Center in Downtown Athens. Here's the Extra Special People Facebook page, if you want to like them.

Have a great day,

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Sewn Gift Tags

For the past few years I have made printable gift tags for you to print out for tagging your gifts. I had some fun with them and made them into stitched gift tags. They are great for using up lots of little trim scraps as well as buttons and fabric.

Here's what you'll need.

Gift Tags Printable
Printable fabric
Fabric and Trim Scraps
8" Ribbon for hanging
Fusible Webbing
Fusible Fleece


First of all, this is kind of a free for all project, anything goes so there aren't real specific instructions. But here's basically how to make the tags.

Print the tag document out onto the printable fabric sheet.

The tags measure approximately 3" x 3.5" so I cut the fabric for the backing to be 4" x 4.5". You'll need to pieces per tag as well as a piece of fusible fleece the same size.

Iron the fleece to the back of one of the squares.

 Using the paper backed fusible webbing adhere the sheet of printed tags. Trim the tags to size. Iron  on to the front of one of the squares.

Place the front of the tag onto the fleece. Cut a piece of ribbon for the hanging part of the tag, fold it in half and slide it in-between two layers of the tag. Pin this in place.

Using your machine sew around the edges of the tag and the printed tag to secure. Here's a great chance to use some of this decorative stitches on your machine.

Sew any trims or ribbons on as well. Hand stitch any buttons or embellishments on and you are finished!

Happy Holidays!

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Fabric Postcards

Here's a fun project for you today. Did you know that you can mail fabric? I received a fabric postcard a few years back and I thought it was the finest thing to get in the mail. How about surprising some of your sewing friends with one?

I chose to make mine as a package with a bit of a modern look. You could always sew on appliqués, more trims, etc. The secret to not delaying your postcard is keeping it flat. That way it can make it through the post offices machines easily. Keeping the postcard around an 1/8" thick is best. If you got over 4" x 6" then it will be considered oversized and you'll need to add extra postage.

Here are the basics to making a fabric postcard.

Supplies:

Front and back fabric
Binding Fabric
Heavyweight Fusible Interfacing
Ribbon
Thick paper

Instructions:
1. First decide on what size you want to make your postcard. I chose to cut mine 6" x 8". Cut the front, back, and interfacing this size.

2. Iron the interfacing to the backside of the backing fabric and set aside.

3. Sew trims, appliques or whatever you would like on the front of the fabric.

4. Place the from and back side of the fabric together so the right sides are both facing outward. Sew a 2.5" binding around the outer edge of the postcard. Fold over the binding and press in place. Instead of hand sticthing the binding on, I used my machine.

Note: If you wanted to be quicker, leave off the binding and just stitch around the outside, leaving the raw edge showing.

5. Now cut a piece of paper to fit inside the binding of your postcard. Write your message and the address on the paper. You could always write directly on the fabric, but I thought it would be easier to read on paper so that's why I went this way. Topstitch the paper onto the backside of the postcard.

You're ready for a stamp!

Enjoy!

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Oversized Coasters Pattern

Here's a great gift for just about anyone. Make them to match their decor or in a fun print of something they like. These coasters are six inches wide, that way they can hold the biggest of mugs and still show off a little fabric while being used.

Supplies for 6" coasters:
4 fabrics each 8" x 16"
1/4 yard for binding
1/4 yard batting
coordinating thread

Instructions:
1. Begin by finding a circle the size you would like your coasters to be to use as a pattern. I used a spool of ribbon to trace that was six inches in diameter. The measurements are based on this size circle for a finished coaster but they can be easily adjusted to fit your needs.

2. Cut 16 4" x 4" squares to use for the coaster fronts.

3. Sew two together, do this 7 more times so you have 8 sets.

4. Now sew the sets of two together, lining up the seams in the center to make the four coaster fronts. Press flat.

5. Using a fabric marker, transfer pen, or pencil trace you circle onto the patchwork piece. The marking will be hidden by the binding so don't worry too much about them showing.

6. Make a quilt sandwich with the patchwork on top, then batting, and then the backing. Start in the center and quilt in a spiral out to the circle. (I found it helpful to have the circle drawn on for this part to use as a stitching guide.)

7. Trim around the drawn circle.

8. Using 2.5" binding, sew it on around the outer edge of the coaster. Clip around the outer edge of the circle and the raw edge of the binding, this will help your coasters lie flat. Finish by hand stitching the binding.

Helpful tips with circle and binding: Binding a round abject can be a bit trickier than a straight edged piece. If it really scares you, you could always make square coasters. If you're up for the challenge(I promise it's not that hard), then here's what I found to be helpful.... First don't pull the binding to tight when sewing it on. If you aren't using stripes like mine that you want to go a certain way, then cut your binding on the bias, it will stretch better. Clipping the quilt sandwich around the edges helps a lot. When I pressed the coasters before hand stitching the binding on, I gave them a good spray of starch. This helped tremendously.

Have fun!

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