Category Archives: sewing

wedding (not) wednesday: something blue

For all of my “somethings”, I wanted them to be very special and meaningful (obviously) so for my something blue I decided to hand embroider our wedding date underneath my dress. I had never hand embroidered anything so this was another just-wing-it kind of project.

I gathered a few items I had around the house like scissors, a needle, some embroidery thread (in blue!!), a pencil, and an embroidery hoop (not shown). Why yes that pencil DOES say Accident Fund of Michigan on it shout out to Uncle Merrick!

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My dress actually had a lot of layers underneath it (don’t they all?) but most of it was tulle and I didn’t want to embroider it on my actual dress fabric because then you’d see it on the front of my dress. So I chose to embroider it on the bottom most layer of fabric and placed my hoop toward the bottom of the dress.

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And then I penciled the date onto the fabric. I really didn’t feel like writing out all of “December” so I just stuck with the 12-12-12 that we all know and love, and placed hearts between the month, day, and year.

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Then I doubled up and threaded a long piece of my embroidery thread onto my needle and tied a knot at one end. Looking back now I kind of regret doubling up, but it’s okay it just made it bold ;)

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I started embroidering from the back so that my knot would be on the back side of the fabric, and pulled my needle and thread all the way through stopping at the knot.

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I used a backstitch the entire time, so on my second stitch I left a small space and pulled my needle and thread back through to the underside of the fabric.

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Then I made the same type of stitch but on the underside of the fabric leaving a small space and pulling my needle and thread through the top of the fabric (all while following my penciled template). This is where the backstitch begins..

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Now that there was a space between where my thread ended up and the first stitch, I then stitched back placing my needle down into the fabric where the first stitch ended. Hence the name backstitch!

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This was the movement I made for the rest of each number, it’s kind of a loop motion to go one step back and two steps forward. When I knew I needed to turn corners like on the first bend of the “1″ I made sure to have my needle come through the top side of the fabric so that I could be sure that blue thread would be highlighting those sharp turns. Here is the underside of this turn:

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Then I simply continued my backstitch all the way down the “1″.

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Now there are two ways to switch to the next character: 1. the sloppy method (that’s mine) and 2. the clean method (who has time for that?). So rather than cutting my thread and restarting for each number I just made sure to end a number on the underside of the fabric and simply crossed over the the next. I know.. all of the embroidery experts of the world are cringing.

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So as I started my “2″ my needle and thread were through the top side of the fabric so that I could begins my backstitch again. Honestly the 2′s were the easiest because there weren’t any angles, I just followed the pattern.

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I continued this method all the way across the date (even the hearts!) starting each character with my thread coming through to the top of the fabric and ending on the bottom side of the fabric.

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And now for the janky back.. Embroidery experts avert your eyes..

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I kind of love how slubby and chunky it ended up. And a little crooked I might add.. But I think that adds to the homemade-ness of this element to my dress. I was even telling my mom as I embroidered it that I hope one day years from now my great grand daughter will have cut this from my dress to use as a handkerchief as her something blue (and old!) telling her bridesmaids that her great grandmother embroidered this herself when she was getting married. Wouldn’t that just be beautiful? Everyone I showed this to on our wedding day just loved it, it was like a little secret :)

Last night Derek and hung out with one of our videographers and she showed us about 75% of our wedding video and let me tell you guys, it’s everything I hoped it would be and more! I laughed, I cried, and I was able to see so many moments I missed on that day (like Derek tying my dad’s bow tie) so sweet :) I can’t wait to share it with you guys!!

DIY makeup brush holder

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When it comes to makeup, I’m an extreme minimalist. I only tote around the actual makeup I use everyday (which is about 5 items) so that I’m not digging through piles of eyeshadows I’ll never wear just to find the go to favorite I know I’ll always settle on. Well my current makeup bag was a little too big for the small amount of fixer-uppers I actually carried around and it just seemed kind of unnecessary. But what I did love about it was that it had three makeup brush holders! Being a germaphobe (when it comes to anything touching my face) this is huge because I can keep the objects that actually touch my face safely corralled in their little holsters far far away from anything else. But the large bulky bag didn’t make this one perk worth it.

Derek knew how much I had been looking for a smaller more compact makeup bag (possible one with brush holders??) so for our third anniversary (of dating) Derek got me the cutest Tory Burch makeup bag adorned in little fox faces :)

It is so small and cute and perfect. Even though it doesn’t have slots to hold makeup brushes, it has tiny fox faces on it (!!!) so I don’t even care. I knew I could whip up a little DIY makeup brush holder in no time anyway, which would actually be better for me because it would hold exactly what I need, nothing more nothing less.

I scrounged up some scrap fabric I had lying around and settled on this dalmatian print (from this project) with an accent of orange (because foxes are orange.. obviously).

I knew that I wanted the dalmatian print to be the outside with a pop of orange on the inside so I laid out my brushes to see how long my holder would need to be, then measured my fabric and cut it out.

Confession: I sort of winged (wung? wang? wingeth?) this project as I went along.

I ended up having my outside and inside dalmatian fabric 10″wide x 9″tall, my inside orange flap 10″ (folded in half) x 10″, with one 15″ x 1″ long strip for my ties. Or like this if you’re more of a visual person:

Then I pinned the folded over “pouch” (orange fabric) to the front of the “inside liner” (dalmatian fabric). Here is the back:

And the front:

Then I stitched around the edges in a U shape leaving one giant pocket in the middle. Then I started positioning my brushes and pinning each one’s pouch. I ended up leaving a gap in between each one because I didn’t want the brushes touching. I’m telling you. Germ-a-phobe! :)

Then this is where I got a little experimental. First of all I was lazy and didn’t feel like rethreading my machine so I just used the white thread that was on there already, but I still like it. Then I sort of stitched in a back and forth pattern going up, right, down, right, up, right, down, right, etc. This way I had my openings for my pouches, yet could seal off where the spacers would be to keep my brushes separated.

Then I put my brushes in their pouches to make sure they fit. I know it looks a little ghetto on the bottom of the pouch but I knew I would be sewing over that so it wouldn’t matter!

After removing my brushes I pinned my “outer fabric” face down on top of the freshly sewn inside liner and pouch, like I was making a pillow and pinned everything in place.

I stitched around all four sides leaving a small 3″ gap (to turn it right side out) on one side, and then trimmed off the excess fabric.

I made sure to cut my corners off at an angle so they wouldn’t get all bunched up when I turned it right side out. I learned that from my table runner project.

Then I turned everything right side out!

I went ahead and made my ties cutting one long piece of 15″ x 1″ orange fabric. Then sewed it and turned it inside out (using a safety pin). Which is a HUGE pain in the bum by the way..

I folded it in half and placed it in my 3″ opening to sew over.

Then it was ready to go!

This project took me a lot longer than I had planned with all my whole winging-it-as-I-go method, but I’m really pleased with how it turned out. It it so cute and compact and fits perfectly in my little foxy bag :)

sewing 101: welting makes all pillows look legit

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***EDIT***

Okay, so I know this project was complete before the most recent Pinterest Challenge, but I’m in the process of moving this week so all of my crafting supplies/tools are all packed up, but this project was inspired by this pin. Enjoy!

Yesterday I explained how to sew a basic pillow with an invisible zipper. So today we’re going to kick it up a notch and add a little welting, because welting basically makes your pillow look like a million bucks!

You will need:

1 yard of fabric

welting cord

scissors

straight pins

invisible zipper

sewing machine

I found a remnant of this Schumacher fabric and decided that it would be perfect for a lumbar pillow.

I recently found these two lumbar pillows at Texas Thrift for $2/ea and they’re filled with down inserts. What a find!

I had originally planned on making my own custom welting, when I came across this white maxi piping at Hobby Lobby for $2. Score!

First you’ll pin your welting cord along the face of your fabric.

You’ll want to cut slits in the tape around the corners for easier bending.

When you get to the end [aka the bottom of the pillow] you’ll want to overlap each end at an angle so that you can sew over both of them to prevent fraying.

Using your zipper foot sew along the welting cord, carefully removing your pins as you go. Tip: to get really close to the welting cord change your needle position by adjusting your stitch width.

Your welting should look something like this when you flip over the tape.

Now that you have your welting in place you’ll continue on to insert your invisible zipper, following the steps from the basic pillow. You’re going to sew the zipper onto the pillow before sewing any of the sides of the pillow. Turn your fabric faces toward each other [wrong side up] and sew 2″ toward the center of the pillow on both the right and left of one of the pillow sides. This is where your zipper will go. Leave the space in between open.

Lay your fabric flat face down with the new opening’s edges folded down. Pin one side of your CLOSED zipper to one of your folded flaps. You’re going to sew one side of the zipper at a time using your zipper foot.

Once one side of your zipper is in place, OPEN it and pin and sew the other side to your other open flap. For more details see our invisible zipper post.

Now that your zipper is in place, open it and sew the remaining three sides of your pillow as close to the welting as you can. Since your fabric is still inside out, you won’t be able to see the welting, but your zipper foot should easily glide along where the welting is, allowing the stitches to be nice and close.

When turning the corners be sure to leave your needle in the fabric and raise and lower your foot to easily navigate your turns without interrupting your stitches.

Once all three sides are sewn, turn your pillow cover right side out and your welting should look like a pro!

I seriously can’t believe I did this! My pillow looks super expensive now, and it only cost me $4 to make. This route takes a little longer than the basic pillow, but I think the detail is totally worth it. Plus if you still haven’t mastered the invisible zipper, your welting will hide it anyway!

sewing 101: the invisible zipper

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As an Interior Designer, I fall under the stereotype of “decorator”. People tend to think that all I do is sew pillows all day, when in actuality, this is the first pillow I’ve ever machine sewn. Can you believe it? But this isn’t just your ordinary pillow, this pillow has an invisible zipper! This means A. I can remove the pillow cover on a whim and B. I didn’t have to hand sew a stitch! Winner winner chicken dinner. Oh and had I known that making my own pillows was this easy, I could have been saving a whole lot of money on throw pillows at HomeGoods. And now you can too!

You will need:

1 yard of your favorite fabric

scissors

straight pins

pencil

yardstick

~~welting cord~~ [that's for our next project]

sewing machine

thread

First decide the size of your pillow. You should always make your pillow cover 1″ smaller than your pillow insert, for optimum fullness. I had an 18″ pillow insert, so I made my cover 17″ with 1/2″ seam allowance on each side, which takes us back to 18″. Does that make sense? [17" + 1/2" + 1/2" = 18"] Next draw your pillow template onto your fabric and cut it out. Line up both pieces and lay them down facing each other. Try to line up your pattern as much as possible, for a nice professional look.

You’re going to sew the zipper onto the pillow before sewing any of the sides of the pillow. So with your fabric pieces still facing each other [wrong side up] sew 2″ toward the center of the pillow on both the right and left of one of the pillow sides. This is where your zipper will go. Leave the space in between open.

Flip your fabric right side out and crease the new opening you made for the zipper.

All sewing machines are different so refer to your manual on how to attach your zipper foot, and which side to align it. For mine, I had to clip onto the left side because my zipper was on the right, and then I switched it over the the right when I sewed on the other side of the zipper.

Your zipper should fit snugly underneath your zipper foot and it should easily glide along in a straight line, using your zipper as a guide. Carefully remove your pins as you go. When you come to the end, be sure to backstitch so that your zipper doesn’t come loose over time.

Now that one side is complete, switch your zipper foot to the opposite side and sew on the other half of your zipper. This time leave the zipper OPEN. You don’t want to accidentally sew over the zipper causing it not to open. [Or at least that's something I would do]

Your zipper should look something like this. Be sure to leave your zipper open for the next part.

Now it’s time to sew the rest of your pillow. Pin the remaining three sides of your pillow template leaving a 1/2″ seam.

On the side with the zipper lay your folded edges flat and pin in place.

Carefully sew along your pencil line, removing pins as you go.

When you reach the zipper side, continue sewing over the end of the zipper to secure it in place and to keep it from unraveling. Remember to always backstitch before cutting off your thread.

Cut off each corner of your pillow template so that when you turn your pillow right side out, the corners will be nice and pointy.

Stuff your pillow cover with your insert and pat yourself on the back because you are now ready for our next pillow challenge: sewing a pillow with welting. I’m ~~scared~~ excited! PS: this fabric was only $5/yard and Hancock. What? I know. I was pretty jazzed.

ready, set, sew!

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Over the weekend Derek and I hit up Half Price Books for some much needed retail therapy. While going through every title in the Architecture & Design section, I came across this book:

In this book Matthew Haly, a master upholsterer takes you through a zillion tutorials on sewing and upholstering starting with a simple pillow and ending with reupholstering an entire sofa. So needless to say I bought it and was instantly inspired to go through the entire book from start to finish, even though I’ve already tackled some of the projects it wouldn’t hurt to brush up on them. And then I thought, “why don’t we all go through it together?” So I’ve decided to Julie & Julia it up and take you through this whole book walking you through each step for every project that I’ll be tackling . I’ll share my mistakes, my discoveries, my shortcuts, and any tips or tricks I develop along the way.

Enter my new BFF:

Our first project will be a simple pillow with a hidden zipper, which sounds easy but so far I want to throw my zipper foot out the window. Not really, but my first little tip is to not sew past midnight. Your tired brain will make you do stupid things, and you’ll end up poking yourself with a straight pin too many times to count. I wanted to have this project ready for you guys today, but alas it will be up tomorrow! In the meantime, if there are any sewing questions or projects you want me to tackle, send them my way! I think it’ll be fun to conquer our sewing machines together! Let’s find out what all of those crazy feet we never touch do, shall we?