Fabric Covered Cuff Links Tutorial

I am a terrible gift-giver. Especially when it comes to brothers, fathers and husbands--well, just the one husband. I think men are really hard to buy gifts for. I think it's because there just aren't that many mid-price gift options for them. The things they really would like--sports gear, technology--are too expensive for birthdays. My brother's birthday is this week, he's a snazzy dresser, so I thought I'd give hand-made cuff links a try!

I knew I wanted a pair of plain, flat cuff links. I checked Michaels, but they only had square shaped links in the bead craft area. They were also kind of bulky. I  suddenly had a brainstorm and called Stein Mart (they have everything) and bingo! Plain, flat cuff links for $9.99. Yes, it would have been nice to find them for $3.00, but I didn't have to buy anything else for this project.

Here's what you'll need:
a pair of plain, round cuff links
a few inches of fabric (scraps are usually fine)
needle
thread (regular sewing thread and embroidery floss)
water or air soluble fabric marker
No Fray
clear Elmers glue

I raided my scrap bag and chose a few different patterns, I decided to go with the madras. The red seersucker looked a little like pink from a distance and the blue was reading: "Baby." Trace your links on the fabric then cut circles about a half inch larger than the actual size. Cut circles of iron on interfacing the same size as your links and iron them to the fabric rounds.

What you're actually making is a tiny fabric yo-yo that will cover the link. Fold the edges in a tiny bit (about 1/8 of an inch or less), just enough so that you can stitch without unraveling your edges. Knot your thread and make a running stitch all the way around the edges of the circle. Now, when you begin to gather the yo-yo, the edges will magically turn to the inside, leaving you with a nice clean edge.

Begin to gather the yo-yo.

Put the fabric around one of the cufflinks and finish gather. If you are stopping here (not embroidering initials) then you can skip on down to the "tying off" steps. Otherwise, leave the thread long and don't knot it off yet. You'll need the extra length later.

If you want to embroider initials, now is the time to draw them onto the fabric with a fabric marker (water or air soluble).

Take the fabric yo-yo's back off the links and get ready to embroider. I used a back stitch here. Knot your embroidery floss (I used 2 strands so it would look crisp), make a stitch on the right side of your fabric. When you bring the thread back up from the wrong side, stitch slightly ahead of the finished stitch. Now make your second stitch on the right side, back through the end of the first stitch.

Finish up the initials. Dab a tiny bit of clear Elmer's glue on top of the link. This will keep it from slipping around too much and after it dries will keep the initial centered. Now, gather the yo-yo around your cuff link. I usually sew through a couple of "ridges" just to help secure the thread (hiding it as I go). I used a French Knot to make a large knot on the inside of the yo-yo. Wrap the thread around your needle several times (the more times, the larger the knot), pull the thread so that the "wraps" are as close to the fabric as possble then push the needle through fabric from the inside to the outside of the yo-yo. (Be sure to keep the wraps around the needle through this proces) Pull tight then snip off the thread close to fabric on the outside-the end will disappear into the yo-yo.

Look for any raveling edges and tuck them under, I dabbed on a little No Fray and a little glue to keep things in place.

Ta-daaa!

Stitchin'

I finally got around to trying a couple of the ideas from Doodle Stitching by Aimee Ray that I posted about HERE. It's such an adorable book! I decided to start out with some simple tea or guest towels. I found a heavy weight 100% cotton that was perfect for my project at Hancocks, on sale at 40% off! It's absorbent and the weave is nice for embroidery, you could count threads if you were a perfectionist like that. Unfortunately this does not describe me, but...

I'm really excited with how the first two attempts turned out! I used designs from Aimee's book that I drew out freehand, changing some of the colors based on the embroidery floss that I already had in stock.

The towels measure 15" by about 25". I turned the edges under twice and mitered the corners before hemming. See my blanket tutorial for instructions on how to miter corners.

Can't wait to embellish on the fresh pack of white baby onesies that I picked up yesterday!

Scrap Busting Picnic Blanket and Tutorial

I have a problem.

I overbuy fabric.

I see some I like, I have an idea, I buy more than I end up using. I am addicted to patterns and bright colors...

These are leftover pieces that are too small for most apparel sewing projects. They're still decently sized though and in patterns that I love! So, to bust my stash of scraps and gain a picnic blanket in the process, I started squaring (or rectangling) up all my chosen scraps. I chose a color scheme of teal and red polka dots with a little yellow and orange thrown in.

You will need:

1.5 yards of backing fabric,  I used a sturdy, unbleached muslin (this size is optional, it would need to be bigger for a larger family)

the equivalent of about 1.5 yards of scraps

Matching or contrast thread

I spread the muslin out on the floor to use as my template then began laying my squares and rectangles out on it like puzzle pieces (leaving about a 2 inch border of muslin around the edges so I could use that for binding later). As you're doing this step, overlap all your edges about 1/4 or 1/2 an inch to allow for seams. BTW, nap time is the best time for this step, babies crawling over your carefully laid out puzzle pieces does not improve the process. 

Here is the top of my blanket all laid out, but not sewn together yet. It's a good idea to sew last because you can rearrange pieces and add more of one color or another so that it looks varied enough. The red dot was the only fabric I used that wasn't a scrap, that was nice because I had plenty and in any size that I wanted so I could fill in gaps.

A couple of suggestions for this part:

This section was a snap to put together. The strips are lined up really evenly so it was super easy to stitch them together. The blocks went together from left to right first then I sewed the rows to each other.

The way these blocks are lined up made it harder to sew together. It takes a little "finagling," but it's possible and it can look really interesting when it's all done.

Some sewists press all their seams open, I don't do this because I don't like to backstitch as I piece. I press all the seams to one side or the other. Be sure as you're going that you stitch your seams in the same direction (see above). This will make more sense once you get sewing.

Otherwise you will have...

This leaves bumpy places on the front of your blanket after its quilted. Pressing helps a lot, but it's ideal if you don't let it happen.

After piecing, press your blanket top flat and even up the edges. Center it on the muslin and leave about an inch and a half sticking out on all edges.

Now start pinning, the more pins, the easier the quilting step. I rolled the blanket up as I went and kept it rolled as I stitched.

The quilting pattern is up to you. I simply stitched across the width of the blanket about every 1 1/2 inches. A walking foot and a stitching guide will make this step easier. Be sure to backstitch at the beginning and end of every row, the ends will be exposed on the back of your blanket.  

Press the edges of the muslin under 1/4  inch then fold the corners over and press.

Next, fold the edges of the muslin over the blanket top, press and pin. Match up folds at the corners, press and pin those as well

Now stitch all the way around the blanket, close to the inside edge. That's it! Easy, probably a four hour project. I love the way it turned out!

I really like the heavy, textured muslin on the back, I think it will stand up to the ground and to a little moisture really well. It looks a lot like linen to me, but is so much easier to take care of and it's only $2.50 a yard, which makes me want to use it for lots of projects.

Freezer Paper Stenciled Beach Chairs

We went to the beach last weekend and realized as we were packing up that we didn't have any chairs or a sun umbrella (to shade our baby's sensitive little skin). So as we were driving (in the drenching rain), we passed a Wal Mart and decided to wait out the storm and find some chairs. We found some great ones with backpack straps and a big storage pocket built in. They'll be perfect for our family trip to the beach in September. We ride bikes a couple of blocks to the beach and it's a hassle to carry chair, cooler and beach bag while riding. This will make it so much easier. They were only $20!

Imagine a beautiful beach and ocean where you see wall and ironing board...

You'll need freezer paper, some kind of drawing (you can print one out or free hand it-this is the Iskoola Pota font in Microsoft Word, size 440), an exacto knife, a cutting board or self-healing mat, fabric paint (I like tulip), foam brush and a small paint brush.

Tape your chosen design to the freezer paper (shiny side should be down), then tape the freezer paper to your cutting surface. You'll need to stabilize all the layers as you cut (taping or using your hands).

Measure your chosen area to help center your design. I used a couple of pins to keep my place as I transferred the whole chair to the ironing board...

I ended up having to fold the ironing board flat and kneel on the floor to deal deal with the awkward chair while I tried to iron. Always use a cover cloth when ironing on something synthetic like nylon. I had to give up on the border piece because it lost its "stickiness." Instead I used strips of scotch tape to create the border.

Try to make sure there aren't gaps between the stencil and the fabric, it was particularly difficult on this slick fabric.

Here's the stencil with tape border after painting.

The tape came off really cleanly, but you can see there are some blobs where my freezer paper stencil pulled away a bit.

Yuck, blobs... so I whipped out a little more fabric paint and a small, detail brush.

Much better, remember that when free-hand painting, less is usually more. Don't get carried away or you might end up with more painted area than you originally wanted.

I like it! It was a pretty easy upgrade. Here's my second attempt. It came out with no blobs and I

decided not to do the border.           

My Etsy Shop

I have one item posted on Etsy! More to come, but I'm just getting started. Two sellers added my item to their "favorites" list yesterday and I was very excited!

It's a boy romper made out of sweet, cotton seersucker. I made a row of pintucks along the neckline, it's nice to have little details like that on boy clothes. There is an optional single initial monogram on the fabric covered buttons, I think that would be really cute!

 I was really excited last week when my labels arrived! I'm really happy with the way they look! I'll post info on where I purchased them and the estimate process soon!