The nursery in the DIY Blogger House was inspired by this fabric

by Patty Young.  (She is DELIGHTFUL.  I took a class from her last year at The Creative Connection and it was for sure one of the highlights of my trip.)  It’s Moorish Tile in white from her Andalucia collection for Michael Miller.

I picked up a bunch of awesome fabrics from Fabric.com.  (I’m not affiliated with them in anyway, just letting you know where I got my stuff.)  They have an awesome feature on their site where you can add fabrics to an inspiration board to see them all together before you make your purchase.  I built on the colors in the Moorish Tile fabric and came up with this:

I didn’t end up using all of the fabrics on the board, but it was my online version of stacking a million bolts in my cart before I make a final decision at my local fabric store. 

I made pillows out of the Michael Miller Ta Dot Lagoon and the Premier Prints Zig Zag Chartreuse, but I wanted something unique for the other pillow.  I decided to enlarge part of the design in the Moorish Tile pattern and paint a pillow.

Because I’m not that coordinated, I cut a freezer paper stencil.

Because I’m lazy, I used my CAMEO.

I showed you last week how to trace a design using your Silhouette.  That’s where I started.  I traced the image of the fabric, but then I had to make a couple of modifications.  My trace of the design looked like this:

That’s absolutely fine, but I wanted it cleaner and with less stuff around the edges.  I wanted to focus on the center part.  So, I made the trace bigger (click and drag on the corner) and rotated it the direction I wanted it to be (the green dot at the top of the design allows you to rotate).  Then I right clicked and selected “Release Compound Path”.

This makes the image a bunch of separate cuts and lets you delete the floater pieces that you don’t want.  I deleted all the floaters and was left with this:

Getting closer!  I opened my Eraser menu after that (over on the left, under the add text button) and erased the parts of the design that I didn’t want.

At this point I would recommend selecting the entire design and right clicking and then selecting “Group”.  This way your whole image sticks together and stays the same size.

Now I just needed to fill in the missing pieces.  I used the “Draw Freehand” option to do that.  It’s right above the add text button.  You can see it highlighted in the image above, but it’s tiny.

Draw in one of the missing lines.  It doesn’t have to be great.  Mine started out like this:

If you double click on the line you just drew, it will bring up the point editing menu.

It will allow you to maneuver the end points of the line you drew over onto the lines in the design as well as modify the curves.  Just play with it a little!  And, if you screw up, use the undo function and try again.  Once you’ve got it how you like it, select the whole design and right click and select “Group” again.

Repeat for the other 3 sides.

Nice, right?  I had a 14” pillow form, so I wanted this design as close to 12 X 12 as possible.  I stretched it all the way to the edges of the cut area.

To cut freezer paper with your Silhouette, put the shiny side up and reverse your image (if necessary…it wasn’t really necessary on this).  Choose the normal paper settings and then slow it down just a little.

I ironed the design to some white cotton duck that I had on hand and then filled it in with craft paint mixed with a textile medium (so it doesn’t get crispy or crack).  The paint colors I used were Granny Smith from Martha Stewart Crafts and Ocean Breeze from Craft Smart.  They were picked strictly for how well they matched the Moorish Tile.

And the finishing touch?  Some pom pom trim from our friends over at Pick Your Plum.

I kind of love it.

I bought the 2 bottles of craft paint for this project and our designer Brian provided me with the pillow form ($1.99 from IKEA) but I had everything else on hand.  I think this is a great inexpensive way to add a custom one-of-a-kind pillow to your space.

I combined it with a 2 seam tutu to get this look:

It’s probably my favorite skirt I’ve ever created (and it sews up SUPER quickly), but it kind of got lost in the shuffle last year….something about giving away a Silhouette that week, I think. 

I decided to use that tutorial to make Macy’s Christmas skirt this year.

The result?

True love.

The little red ribbon tied around the waist was the perfect finishing touch.

The only change I made from the original tutorial was that I increased the length of the skirt pieces to 24”.  Someone’s grown 5” in the last year, and it’s mostly leg.

So, give this one a second look, will ya?

Linking up to TT&J

You’ve seen the fabulous pillows made from feed sacks all over the internet, right?  Pottery Barn had some made from coffee bags, even.  I love them, but I don’t happen to have an abundance of feed sacks sitting around.  OK, I don’t have any feed sacks sitting around and I don’t know where to get them either.  So, I came up with this project to satisfy my love of the feed sack.  Desperation is the mother of invention, right?  And, this tutorial *might* even be better than the real deal because you can totally personalize a faux sack.  What are the odds that you’d find an actual feed bag with your last name (or Santa or whatever) on it?  (Hint: none.)

(I went the Santa route, since I originally developed this project for the A Swell Noel series over at Positively Splendid, but this technique would work for any image/lettering.)

SUPPLIES:

Canvas drop cloth, from the paint section.  You can get a 6’ X 9’ one for around $10.  That’d make A LOT of pillows.
Contact paper, vinyl, or freezer paper.  I used contact paper because it’s cheap and can easily be fed through my Silhouette.
Silkscreen ink.  I like Simply Screen by Plaid.
Sandpaper

HOW TO:

Cut your design or lettering out of your contact paper (or vinyl or freezer paper).  I used a Santa silhouette from the Silhouette download store and then cut it with my Silhouette (on vinyl settings but slowed down to a speed of 5 and a depth of 7).  You could easily do this with a craft knife as well.

Apply the contact paper to your drop cloth.  I cut an 18” X 18” square because my pillow form was 18”.

I used that green scraper thing to get a good tight seal around the edges.

I like to stick the vinyl backing under my fabric to keep the ink from bleeding through and getting on my table.

Apply silkscreen ink with a sponge brush.

I like to use a scrap of contact paper to squirt the ink out onto.

Once the ink is dry, you can peel off the contact paper.

Then, take some sandpaper to your design.

Keep sanding until it looks old and worn and like it’s been part of the canvas forever.

Assemble your pillow (I made a simple envelope back).

And you’re done.

Random story alert - Purple and yellow = pretty much my favorite color combination EVER.  It reminds me of pansies.  I owned a purple car and a purple couch at the same time.  The maid of honor at my wedding wore purple and there were yellow flowers in her bouquet.  Poorly scanned photographic evidence of that:

Where was I?

Oh yeah…the fabric!  When Mark got back to me and told me what the nice folks at Free Spirit were willing to giveaway, I may have squealed out loud.

Are you sitting down?

(If you’re not, that’s kinda weird…who reads blogs whilst standing?)

Free Spirit has agreed to give SIX YARDS of Morning Tides to FOUR separate (and SUPER lucky) Crap I’ve Made readers!

I KNOW!!!

TO ENTER:

(Do as many or as few as you want, leave a separate comment ON THIS POST for each.)

1 – Tell me what you’d make with SIX YARDS of Morning Tides.

2 – Click on over to Mark’s blog.  Leave him a comment.  Tell him hello, tell a joke, compliment his designs…whatever.  Just let him know you were there and you appreciate this fabulous giveaway.

3 – Like Mark’s design page on Facebook.

4 – Follow Mark on Twitter.

5 – Tell me what color your prom dress was.  (Mine was midnight blue.  And what does that have to do with anything?  Nothing.  Nothing at all.)

Giveaway closes Sunday night at 10pm MST.  The winners will receive an email from me.  I’ll post first names on the blog as well.

Ready?  GO!

Keller came home and announced that the biography he’d selected was for Steve Nash.  Um, OK?  The next sentence was “So you can just buy me a jersey or something…”  Sorry, no.  I love you but this is a book report.  I’m not spending that kind of $$$ for a book report costume.  I knew I had to get creative.

Supplies:

2 cheap-o t-shirts.  Mine came from Michael’s and were 2 for $5.  One was an adult size small and the other was an adult size XL.

Avery Personal Creations InkJet Iron-On Dark T-Shirt Transfers, White, Five Sheets per Pack (03279)
(I used 2 sheets out of the 5 sheet pack.)

You’re going to make the shorts from the XL shirt.  Fold it in half and use the existing hem to save yourself some time.  I traced a pair of Keller’s shorts and then just cut a little bigger for seam allowances.  (Who am I kidding?  This is a costume that will be worn for under 2 hours.  I didn’t trace.  I just cut.)

Be sure to include an extra 2” or so at the top for the waistband casing.  Sew the inner seams on each leg and then sew the crotch seam.  Make the waistband casing, insert some elastic and you’re done.  Seriously…5 minutes.

For the “jersey”, I cut both sleeves off the size small shirt about where the (really wobbly) yellow line is in the picture below.

I pressed them under along the seam and stitched them in place so they wouldn’t flip back out. You could hem the t-shirt at this point if you want, but I just made my kid tuck it in (back to that whole “wearing it for less than 2 hours” thing).

For the Suns logo, I used the print and cut feature in my Silhouette Studio software.  You can ABSOLUTELY do it without, you’d just cut out the shape with scissors.  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again:  My Silhouette has made me lazy. 

Here’s a brief how to if you have a Silhouette and want to do it that way:

Find an image of your team’s logo.  Open it in Silhouette Studio.  Display your registration marks now so you don’t get all the way done and discover you made it like a millimeter too big.  Trust.  Once you’ve done that, you’re going to want to use the TRACE function (red arrow) and then select an area to be traced (green arrow).

Adjust your trace settings (bottom right hand side rectangle) until you get a good outline and then select the “TRACE OUTER EDGE” option (yellow arrow).

I’ve moved the logo out of the way so you can see what you just did a little more clearly.  You can leave it put if your eyes are better than mine.

That line will cut precisely along the edge of the logo.  I wanted a little white border, since my shirt was dark, so I used the “OFFSET” function.  It’s under the “OBJECT” menu in the upper left hand corner.  You can then change the thickness of the white border (blue arrow).

I still have the logo out of the way for the sake of tutorial clarity, but you’ll want to leave it put in real life.  The last step is to change the inner most line so that your Silhouette will not cut it.  You use the “CUT STYLE” menu (orange arrow) for this.

Change the inner line to “no cut” and leave the outer line as “cut”.  Here’s what your finished design will look like before you print it from Silhouette Studio.

Print it on the Avery transfer paper and then put it on a mat and run it through your Silhouette.  I used the medium cardstock settings.  Apply it to your shirt following the package directions.

Put your name and number on the back, if you want.

Not bad for around $8, right?

Let me introduce you to Canton Village Quilt Works, one of the newest Crap I’ve Made sponsors.  Canton Village Quilt Works is an online shop for ALL your quilting needs: fabric, notions, patterns, magazines…even long arm quilting and AccuQuilt die cutting.

Do you waste a lot of time standing in the aisle at the fabric store trying to decide which prints to put together?  (I totally do.)  Canton Village Quilt Works has an excellent selection of precuts to help with that.

They carry thread collections, too.

Delightful, right?  The packaging alone makes me pretty sure I need some!

Still not enough for you?  They carry the most INSANE selection of Kona Cottons that I’ve ever seen.

Canton Village Quilt Works also has a blog chock full of quilty goodness.

What’s in it for you?

Canton Village Quilt Works has provided a Kona Cotton bundle for one lucky reader.

TO ENTER:

Click on over to Canton Village Quilt Works.  Have a look around.  Come back and leave a comment ON THIS POST (on the blog, not on Facebook or in response to your email subscription) saying what your favorite item in the shop is.

Optional bonus entries:

Like Canton Village Quilt Works on Facebook.  Come back and leave a comment on this post saying that you did.

Subscribe to the the Canton Village Quilt Works Newsletter.  Come back and leave a comment on this post saying that you did.

Giveaway runs through 10:00 pm MST on Friday, September 23rd.

I was at the dollar store a few weeks ago and picked up some doilies.  (I’m obsessed, even have a work in progress Pinterest board.)  I had no specific plans for them, until Macy walked in after school and said “Hey!  Those look like spider webs!”

I stitched from the center to each doily point and then continued on to the edges of my pillow front piece.

Once the doily was stitched in place, I took some spider rings (also from the dollar store) and cut off the ring part.  I tacked them onto the pillow by sewing around the 2 middle legs on each side, like this,

only with actual thread instead of yellow bars.  Those suckers are on there GOOD and I’m certain they’ll stay put.

Since I already had the orange fabric (IKEA clearance) and the pillow form, this project cost me about $1.25.

Not bad, right?

Do you have Halloween décor out yet?

Have you nailed down costume ideas?

Linking to: Today’s Creative Blog

I’d taken some ratty old thrift store doilies (I’ve recently spotted doilies at Dollar Tree and JoAnn’s, if thrift stores aren’t your thing) and dyed them with Dylon dye.

I told you I was going to make pillows.

Well, I finally did.  And it only took me 433 days.

Supplies:

Canvas drop cloth (or other fabric for the body of the pillow)
Doily (dyed or not…your choice)
Sewing machine and thread

Random blah blah blah about the body of the pillow:  I had an 18” pillow form, so I cut my front piece 18” X 18”.  I used the already hemmed drop cloth edges to cut two 12” X 18” (this was the hemmed edge) pieces for the envelope closure on the back.  If you don’t have a hemmed edge, you’ll want to cut yours bigger to allow for hemming.

I centered the doily on my square of fabric and pinned it in place.

I used a zig zag stitch to sew around the edges and to tack down part of the middle as well.  Since I used matching thread, you can hardly see it.

Here’s a shot of the back, to give you a better idea:

And, that’s it.  Put the pillow together and you’re finished!

Supplies:

Canvas drop cloth (or other fabric for the body of the pillow)
Felt (7.5” X 17.5”)
Sewing machine + thread
Hand sewing needle
Petal template

Random blah blah blah about cutting the petals:  The wool blend felt I bought was 17.5” wide.  I cut three 2.5” strips and then cut those strips into 2.5” squares.  This gave me 21 squares (18 for the big petals, 3 for the smaller center petals).  I stacked the squares 3 or 4 at a time to cut them out.

Random blah blah blah about the body of the pillow:  I had an 18” pillow form, so I cut my front piece 18” X 18”.  I used the already hemmed drop cloth edges to cut two 12” X 18” (this was the hemmed edge) pieces for the envelope closure on the back.  If you don’t have a hemmed edge, you’ll want to cut yours bigger to allow for hemming.

Now where were we?  Oh yeah.  The pillow.

Decide where you want to position your flower on the pillow.  Lay out 6 of the petals like this.  I’ve included my tape measure in the shot, so you can see about how far apart I spaced them.

Pin them if you need to, and then sew them down (in towards the center).

Position another 6 petals for the second layer.  Pin and stitch.

Position another 6 petals for the third layer.  Pin and stitch.

Your 3 center petals are going to be sewed in place like this:

(pinch ‘em like a piece of farfalle pasta)

You can tack them into that shape first, or you can do it as you sew them on.  You’ll want to sew them on with the points lined up with those in the 2nd row of petals.

Put the rest of the pillow together, and you’re done!

My neighbor Megan had snapped a picture of a bag she liked and asked me to help her recreate it.  We decided to make it reversible, just to spice things up a bit.

Supplies:

1 yard of exterior fabric
1 yard of interior fabric
Printed pattern pieces + one piece of 8.5 X 11 paper
Scissors, pins, sewing machine, thread

Print the 2 pattern pieces.  Lay them and the extra piece of paper out like this:

Tape the pieces together without overlapping.

If you fold your yard of fabric in half again lengthwise, matching the fold from the bolt to the selvages, you can cut out both pieces at once.  BE SURE TO PLACE THE LONG EDGE OF THE PATTERN PIECE ON THE FOLD!!!

You’ll cut 2 pieces from your exterior fabric and 2 pieces from your interior fabric, so you’ll end up with 4 pieces that look like this:

The assembly instructions are the same for the exterior and the interior pieces.  All seams are 1/2”, unless otherwise specified.

Place pieces right sides together and sew side seams (indicated by the red lines).

Press seams open.

Line seams up (pin, if you want) and press flat.  Sew bottom seam, as indicated by the red line.

Next we’re going to box the corners.  Fold/press/whatever your corners like this:

The measurement along the green line is about 1.5”.  The measurement along the yellow line is about 3”.  I drew a line with a disappearing ink pen to follow when I sewed.

Sew along the line and then clip off the excess fabric.

Turn the exterior bag right side out and slip it inside the interior bag.  Match up seams and ends and pin.

Decide which one of the ends of the strap is going to be the “big” one.  You’re going to turn the entire bag right side out through this end.  There will be a moment when you’re not sure how it’s going to work out, but trust me, it will…just like child birth.   Mark it somehow.  I used 3 pins.

The other end of the strap will be the “small” one.  When you sew this end, you’re going to want to taper it *just* slightly.  The blue lines indicate the normal stitch line.  The purple lines are how you’re going to sew this end.

I exaggerated the lines in this picture for illustration purposes. I’d start the taper about 1” from the end and taper in maybe 1/8” on each side.

Sew from the end of the strap, around the curve and up the other strap.  For some reason the picture or this step is missing, so I made you a super helpful illustration:

You’ll be sewing along the big U shape and leaving the green lines on the ends open.  Be sure to taper the “small” end.  Repeat on the other edge.

You can clip the curves a bit now if you want to.  I did on one bag and I did not on the other.  I found it didn’t make a whole lot of difference, so do whatever makes you happy.

Now you’re going to turn the whole thing right side out through the “big” end.

Go slowly and be sure things don’t get too bunched up.  You might need a buddy, but I promise this WILL work.

Press along the seams.

Take the “big” end and fold down approximately 1/2” to the inside.

Press.

Slip the “small” end inside the “big” end.

And stitch a cute little rectangle to hold everything in place.

And you’re done!

This chandelier is another DI score…$2 whole dollars! I added some cream spray paint and these amazing magnetic pink crystals I found on clearance at Hobby Lobby and, voila! A dainty little chandelier!

It is screaming for some little lamp shades. I have been visiting Hobby Lobby weekly and buying them out of lampshades similar to these self adhesive, cover–it-yourself lampshades. Apparently they only stock 2 at a time?

This lamp is another DI find:

The lamp post was cute, so I spray painted it cream but the shade that came with it was pretty beat up, so I bought a “cover-it-yourself” lamp shade from Hobby Lobby and came up with this.

And of course, the name art.

Char actually did most of the work on this. (Char interruption: That is not true. Jami was the mastermind, I was just the man power.) I LOVE the way it turned out. Here is a better picture, minus the frilly iron decor above it.

The room is small and there wasn’t really room for a traditional changing table.  My fabulous neighbor Decorator Wendy came up with this solution:

Handy to have a laundry basket underneath for all those newborn blowouts, right?

And then I hung the diapers and wipes bins on the wall above it.

Who wants to tell the cat her days of hanging out in here are numbered?

-Jami

Most of the curtains are done, I just need to finish the valance portion.  Look forward to that project next week!

-Char

Jami picked up a damaged Pottery Barn Kids bumper at our local Down East Home store for $10 (cheaper than buying new batting, right?) and I recovered it.  It was all one really, really long piece and stuffing it inside the new cover would have been a nightmare, so I cut it into 4 pieces (one for each side).  I measured each piece and added 1′’ for seam allowances.  I’m not giving you specific measurements for this because your bumper may be a different height and/or thickness.  The top and bottom ruffles are 3” strips pressed in half and then ruffled with my ruffler foot.

I put large ties (5” strips, sewed RST into a tube and angled on the end) on the corners and a small tie on the top and bottom centers of each long side.

The bumper fabrics and the yellow for the ties are all Amy Butler fabrics.

The green ruffles are Heather Bailey.

The houndstooth on the sheet is Free Spirit.  I used Dana’s tutorial for the crib sheet.

And someone remind me to head over to Jami’s to photograph her nursery in the afternoon next time because no pregnant woman should ever have to do this to help you get a good picture:

Or maybe I should just finish the window treatments next…

I wanted to try Silhouette’s sewable interfacing, too, so I could give you my thoughts on it.

I decided on a quick shirt for Campbell, since I’m positive he’ll continue his streak of demanding mom-made holiday wear.

The chick shapes came from the Silhouette online store.  The font is Aharoni.

The sewable interfacing definitely doesn’t cut as cleanly as the clean cut, BUT there still were not a whole lot of places where I had to trim strings…maybe 2 or 3?  And, honestly, even if I’d had to re-cut every single line with scissors it still would be faster than tracing and cutting manually.  Especially when I forget to mirror image stuff on the back when I’m doing it the old fashioned way and have to cut it more than once.

It was a good thickness for sewing and held stuff in place nicely.

So yeah.  I liked it.

I sewed the letters all messy (on purpose, with my free motion foot).  I’m not sure how I feel about them.

The March Silhouette promotion runs through Sunday.  Use code “CRAP” to get a machine, both kinds of interfacing, and a roll of white flocked heat transfer for $229.  Code “CRAP” will also get you 25% off the interfacing.

You’ve heard me talk about my insane neighbor Jami before, right? Hint: The Smelly Barn Adventure™. After 3 boys, Jami’s expecting her first girl, and I’m lucky enough to be sewing the bedding and helping her execute the awesome ideas she comes up with. (We joke that we’re going to buy land with a barn in the country and have sleep over craft retreats. She’ll come up with the ideas because she’s WAY more creative than me and I’ll figure out how to make them happen.)

Do you see that freaking amazing wall treatment? We’ll talk about that in a few days. After I posted the preview of this project on Facebook, I received several emails asking about how she painted the furniture. We’ll talk about that, too. Be patient. Today’s just the name art.

Jami picked up a framed picture at the DI (thrift store) for a couple of dollars. She picked it based on the fact that the shape was good for spelling out a name. We pried the print out of the frame using butter knives and then flipped it over so that you couldn’t see the print through our white on white backing fabric. If your frame doesn’t have a print in it, you could cut some foam core or cardboard and accomplish the same thing. We applied the fabric to the print using spray adhesive.

We figured out what size we wanted our letters and cut a test run with the Silhouette on notebook paper. You could ABSOLUTELY do this project without a Silhouette, you’d just have to cut the letters by hand. And unless you named your kids something long (like Charlotte…thanks mom), it won’t take long.

Because I know people will ask, the fonts are:

L – Big Top
U – Mixed Up, it’s the capital U
C – Oliver
Y – BoyzRGross

Once we were happy with the size, we got out Silhouette’s new fabric interfacing. We used the clean cut (stronger adhesive, not machine sew-able) because this project isn’t going to need to be washed or handled and we wanted the stronger adhesive.

We applied it following the package directions and got cutting.

We had the Silhouette double cut the letters, just to be safe. Look how nicely it cut!

After we had all the letters cut, we positioned them on the backing fabric

and ironed them in place.

Then we folded the edges of the backing fabric around to the back and secured them in place (more spray adhesive).

Jami hot glued some jumbo ric rac along the groove in the frame.

And…

Then she called me back to say she’d hung it, so I went back for a couple more pictures.

(Thanks to our other fabulous neighbor, Decorator Wendy, this is where it’ll stay.)

MARCH SILHOUETTE PROMOTION:

Silhouette SD, one of each fabric interfacing (clean cut & sewable) and a roll of white flocked heat transfer material for $229.

If you already have a Silhouette and want to try out the interfacing, you can get 25% off.

The March promotion will run from the 21st through the 27th.

Code “CRAP” will let you take advantage of either of the deals.

You know the cheap “fabric” bins you can get to fit square bookshelves? Like these?

Image from ClosetMaid

You have some, right? Us too. We have a bunch in the playroom and some in kid closets and I think there are even a few in my sewing room.

They’re practical and they’re cheap. They’re also a *little* bit boring. And, my kids never remember what goes back in which bin. I bet your kids are smarter than mine though, right?

I saw this post over on Crafterhours yesterday and I felt my wheels turning! Keller’s new Utah Jazz inspired room doesn’t have a dresser…we’re using lockers instead. And in those lockers? “Fabric” bins.

I used some downloads from the Silhouette store for my clothing shapes…except for the underpants. I drew those on my own using the Silhouette Studio software.

I cut the shapes out of freezer paper and then stenciled using Tulip Soft Fabric Paint in Metallic Platinum. Check out my freezer paper primer for the basics on freezer paper stenciling.

Things you should do differently to stencil on this type of bins:
You’ll need to crank the heat on your iron way down to a wool setting at the very highest. I’d probably start even lower and then bump the temperature up a bit if the paper isn’t sticking. You’ll also want to place a press cloth or a scrap piece of fabric over the paper and the bin before ironing.

February Silhouette Promotion:

Valid February 23rd-28th

Silhouette SD
1 roll black premium vinyl
1 roll frosted vinyl
1 roll transfer paper
Home Décor CD

all for $225

Use code “CRAP” to take advantage of the deal.

Already have a machine?

Take 25% of Silhouette’s new Premium Vinyl using the same code (“CRAP”, in case you forgot. )

So, to thank you for hanging around and being patient wit me, I’ve got something for you. And it’s not even contagious!

I recently had the opportunity to test sew Carla’s (aka The Scientific Seamstress) latest pattern, Reversible Rompers.

You can make it any length (short, capri, pant) and you can ruffle it up for girls. Plus, reversible = 2 outfits for the work of one!

I chose a madras plaid and a navy solid for mine. I’m not kidding when I tell you that my actual sewing time was about an hour. SO fast and SO easy.

And SO cute!

I think he looks like he’s up to no good.

He may also be sick of pictures.

Want to try this or any other YouCanMakeThis.com pattern yourself?

How about 15% off through the end of the month?

Use code “YouCanMakeThis” at check out to take advantage of the deal through 2/28/11!

So, you’ve taken advantage of one of the Silhouette deals and you’re LOVING your machine so much you can’t bear to put her in a drawer…what’s a girl to do?

Whip up a quick and easy dust cover, that’s what. And did I mention that you can make this out of a single fat quarter? ‘Cause you can!

Supplies:
Fat quarter
Silhouette Dust Cover pattern piece PDF (the bottom measurement will be 6 3/8″ when printed correctly)
Sewing machine with thread
About 15 minutes

Turn your fat quarter so that one of the 18” ends is at the bottom. Cut off 14″ so you have a piece that is 18” wide and 14” high (the bottom piece in this picture).

Fold the top piece in half and cut out the pattern piece. You’ll have 2 opposite end pieces

Place the end pieces even with the bottom edge of your fabric so that the short end (of the end pieces) points out and start pinning.

Pin all the way around the end pieces and then sew with a 1/2” seam.

Then you’ll want to hem the bottom of the dust cover 1/2” all the way around. I folded and pressed a scant 1/4” and then another 1/4”. Stitch hem in place.

Put it on your Silhouette and feel much better about leaving her out to admire.

I’ve gotten a TON of emails asking if the Silhouette can cut fabric.

Guess what?

It can now!

I haven’t tried it yet, but you KNOW I’m gonna.

When you’re a Mormon, that’s kind of a big one. He’ll be getting baptized next weekend. He requested a sports jacket for the occasion (which made me pee my pants a little). He also got a new set of scriptures.

I made him this to haul them around in and hit his brother with:

I didn’t tutorialize for a couple of reasons:

1) I wasn’t sure if there were enough of you that would care to make it worth my while (since I know that many/most of you are not Mormons).

and

2) I had no idea what I was doing.

So, now that it turned out quite nicely, I need to know if there’s enough interest to warrant a tutorial. Leave a comment if you want one and I’ll see what I can do.