Burlap Fall Inspiration

My brain isn’t ready to jump into the reds and evergreens of Christmas decorating just yet.  I’m still trying to embrace the coziness and warm colors of fall over here.  I have burlap sitting on my sewing table screaming to be made into something fall-ish, but what do I want to make? 

Here are a few inspirational burlap ideas from my favorite crafty bloggers that might help in my decision making:

I absolutely love this square burlap wreath from Craft E Magee.  The colors of the fall leaves pop against the red burlap beautifully and the square design is so unique.

These hand painted linen pillows from The Em Dash can easily be made using burlap.  You can now find printed burlap in most fabric stores and you wouldn’t need to paint your own designs if painting isn’t your thing.

This no-sew burlap table runner from Mandy at This Girl’s Life is perfect for those who want to create festive fall décor for their Thanksgiving tables.  No sewing skills needed – just burlap and hot glue.

After you’ve finished making these great projects, you can easily use any leftover scraps to make fabric acorns.  Fun, easy, and great for kids to help with.

What fall projects did you  make this season?  Did any of them use burlap?

Happy fall crafting!

~julee~

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SwatchBox Review

SwatchBox ~ Facebook ~ Pinterest

A surprise selection of three beautiful and coordinating fat quarters plus a matching spool of thread delivered to my mailbox each month?  Yes, please!

SwatchBox is a monthly subscription service that delivers just that plus an additional sewing bonus item each month.  The selected fabrics are high quality quilters cotton by designer fabric brands, and the coordinating all purpose thread ensures that you can begin working on a new sewing project as soon as your SwatchBox is delivered. 

The fabrics in the March SwatchBox included beautiful orange and grey patterns by Windham Fabrics and dark orange thread.  The box also included all purpose sewing needles and a 2x2 square.  Beautiful fabric prints is one my weaknesses, and SwatchBox did not disappoint.

SwatchBox delivers designer fabric samples to your door.  The boxes are $15 each month (shipping included) and can be purchased month-to-month or in 6 and 12-month blocks.  Subscriptions can be purchased through the SwatchBox etsy shop where you’ll also find more information about the service.  Also, follow the SwatchBox Pinterest boards to see lots of great sewing projects that you can make with fat quarters and fabric scraps (and quilt projects, too) – you will never run out of sewing projects to make with your SwatchBox fabrics. 

Do you know someone who would love a subscription service like this?  I know a lot of folks who would love this, myself included!  Now, what should my first project with these beautiful fabrics be?

~julee~

 

A sample product was gifted from SwatchBox. Opinions expressed here are my own.

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Make It: Felt Valentine Card Holder

This Valentine tote is perfect for carrying little love notes and sweet treats on Valentine’s Day.  You can make one too with just a few simple supplies.

 

Felt Valentine Card Holder Tutorial

1) You’ll need one sheet of 8.5x11 felt, plus an optional small piece of felt for embellishment.  Ribbon (~40-inches), scissors, ruler, and hole puncher.  Cut two identical heart shapes from your felt plus two strips for the handles.  From one sheet of felt I was able to cut 2 hearts approximately 5.5 inches across, and 2 strips sized 1.5x11.  2)  Mark the center point of your heart, and then mark 1-inch up both sides, stopping near the top.  3) So that your holes will line up evenly, flip your hearts so that right sides are facing, and use a hole punch to cut circles at each 1-inch mark.  Do the same for the strips, making sure the number of holes are even.  4)  This is what your pieces should look like cut with holes, ready to assemble.

5)  Starting at the bottom center, line your side strip up with your heart.  Use your ribbon to stitch the pieces together with a whip stitch (a basic over-and-over stitch).    Leave a tail of ribbon so you can tie off when you’re finished.  6)  When you reach the top, cross the ribbon over and whip stitch back down the other side.  Using the same piece of ribbon, attach the second side strip the same way.  You will start at the same bottom center hole as the first strip.  7)  Once both sides are completed, tie off your end at the bottom with either a bow or knot.  8)  Stitch or use a fabric glue to attach your handle at the top.  Add your embellishment.

I have a tendency to overstate and complicate when writing directions, so if anything doesn’t seem clear, leave a comment or drop me an email.  Also, ignore the fact that my heart looks like it was cut out by a second grader.  Imperfections add interest, right?

Happy Valentine crafting, DIY’ers!

~julee~

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D.I.Y. Louisville 2nd Annual Ornament Sew-Along

 What do you get when you cross a group of crafty ladies with a stack of felt?

 

A whole family of snowpeople. 

 

And just who are the lovely ladies behind this adorableness?

 

Emily – Em Dash Designs

Karen, Katie, Amanda  – Independent Crafty Ladies

Molly – MoMo’s Creations

Robin – A Sterling Reputation

Patty – All’s Fair in cookies and crafts

Liz – Craft E Magee

Lynn – Good Garbage

Carrie – My Ordinary Fairytale

 

Click on the links to check out what these amazing ladies are doing when they’re not spending the evening with me at the D.I.Y. Louisville meet-ups.  I am so fortunate to be a part of this wonderful group!
 

Have a great weekend DIY’ers!

 

~julee~

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Make It: Fabric Acorn

I’m having a little love affair with these darling fabric acorns at the moment.  I’ve seen lots of cute decorating ideas with real acorns, which can be found in great abundance in my yard right now.  However, I tried to be cute with them once upon a time, and let me just say…uh, maggots.  And that pretty much assured that this neurotic girl will never again try to cuten up her home with real acorns.  But acorn tops are surely bug free and safe for crafting, right?  Right?

I used fabric scraps and burlap to make these acorns, but I have seen them on pinterest made with felted wool, and I recently purchased some from Papers N Fiber that were made from felted sweaters.  Whatever fabric or textile you have on had, these whip up nice and quick.  Here is a little tutorial of sorts with the steps using fabric:

You need:  acorn top, small fabric circle sized according to how large or small your acorn top is, needle, thread, stuffing, hot glue gun

Sew a running stitch around your circle, stuff with stuffing, pull thread to cinch closed and knot, use hot glue around the entire acorn top, attach.  For the burlap, I didn’t sew the top at all.  I simply filled the circle with stuffing, pinched everything tight, and glued the acorn top in place. 

Simple and cute – my favorite kind of craft.

Are you making any fall crafts?  I’d love to come check out your projects if you leave a link to your blog in the comments.

Happy fall crafting, DIY’ers!

~julee~

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There Are Robots Amongst Us

Robots are always a popular subject in this house.  We robot dance, we talk in robot voices, stories are written about them and from time to time we even make them.  Over the years I have made three of these guys, all different and all living away from me now.  They were made and gifted.  This little guy went to a special 4 year old for his birthday.  I used a gray velvet that I had on hand, doll eyes, a button and felt embellishments.  The satisfaction that you get from giving a kid a handmade present is really the best. 


Oh, and sometimes we even dress like them.



Kim

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Monday Magazine Challenge: Vintage Tea Towel Bread Bag

My sewing machine has had a long winter break, and I’ve been itching to get her out, dust her off, and start some new sewing projects.  While browsing the latest Martha Stewart Living, I saw a little mention of a company that sells lovely vintage tea towel bread bags and I knew making my own would be a quick and easy project.

I love vintage linens, but I never know what to do with them.  I can’t use them in my kitchen because my husband thinks any towel within grabbing distance is fair game as a mop, grease cleaner, car washer, and a whole slew of other blasphemous uses.  So my little stash sits, lonely, just waiting to be given new life.

This is a fairly straight forward sewing project, but I took a few pictures of the process to make a little a tutorial to help any new sewers that would like to try this.  Using the existing seams of the towel makes this super easy.

You need:

Sewing machine, linen tea towel, ribbon or similar.   (The ribbon length you need is 2-times the width of the top of your towel, plus at least 6-inches, or more.)

1) Fold the short ends of your towel 1-inch.  Press.  Pin if needed.

2) Sew this down using a straight stitch.  Using the existing seam as your guide, sew your stitch right above that line.  Do both ends.  This is your ribbon casing.

3)  Fold your towel right sides together and use a straight stitch to sew up the sides.  Start at the stitch you just sewed for your short ends.  Do not sew all the way from the top as this will close your ribbon casing.  Turn your bag right side out.

4) Use a pin to push your ribbon through your casing on both sides.  Using a pin will allow you to scrunch and pull, scrunch and pull the ribbon through the casing.  Once your ribbon is through both sides, knot the ends of your ribbon together.

5)  Stuff your new bread bag with a handmade loaf of delicious bread, and cinch the bag closed to keep it fresh!



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Now it's your turn!

Share your magazine projects with us, old or new! We would love to check out what you’ve been DIY’ing. Our favorite submissions will also be featured on our Facebook & Twitter feeds.
Monday Magazine Challenge is a new feature we are starting. You can read more about why we’re doing it HERE. A Magazine Challenge is any recipe, craft, DIY, tip, etc. from a magazine that has inspired you. If you would like to link to your own magazine challenge, please use the linky tool below. It would be mighty kind if you’d help us spread the word by linking back to us.

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Cookie The Fox: Free Doll Pattern

I finally found a few minutes to sit down and get this pattern drawn up for you guys.  This was my first foray into actual pattern making so hopefully it will be easy to follow   Also a little warning this post is super heavy in pictures, but I think it’s pretty necessary in order to properly show you how to put this together.  I’ve included a link to download the PDF pattern pieces, so you can print it out and make it as much as you want.  Please do not sell the dolls you make from this free pattern or sell the pattern.  Make all you like for family and friends and share the pattern, just make sure to link back and give us credit, ok? 

1.First cut out your pattern pieces and then cut them out from fabric.  I used an orange for the main body pieces and white for the lower face part, ear tips, tail tip, and bottom leg part. 
2. Place the lower face part onto the face piece and using a zig zag stitch stitch all the way around.  Do the same with the ear tip pieces.

3. Mark the facial features on your face.  I used a fine line sharpie, but you could also use a washable quilting pen.  If using doll eyes, carefully cut a tiny hole using the very tip of your scissors.  It should really only be the size of a pin hole.  Take a doll eye and carefully push the point through the hole, wiggling as you go to make the hole big enough. 

4. On the back place the washer on the doll eye and evenly force it down to the base.  Your eyes will now be secure.  Be sure you have them where you want them, because it is near impossible to remove the washer.

5.  Embroider the nose and mouth.  I use a back stitch for the mouth and satin stitch for the nose.

6.  Lay the face piece right sides together on top of the body piece, matching the neck areas.  stitch across.  Do this with both face pieces and body pieces. It will look like this:



7. Lay one top tail piece on top of one bottom tail piece, right sides together and stitch.  Do the same with the other two pieces. It will look like this:


8. Place both stitched tail pieces right sides together and stitch around the sides leaving the bottom open. Flip right side out.

9.  This is a little trick I do for finicky pieces like arms.  I trace the pattern piece to the fabric and stitch around that before cutting it out.  After I stitch it I cut it out close to the seams.  This keeps me from missing any spots on small pieces.  Do this for both arms.  Flip the pieces right side out.
10.  I don’t have a picture but sew the bottom part of the leg to the top part of the leg and then stitch the the front of the leg to the back right sides together and flip right side out.  It’s the same way you did the tail.

11.  Stuff all of your finished pieces.  I like to stuff mine pretty firmly.  You should have two legs, two arms and a tail.

12.  Take the head and body that you stitched earlier and lay the raw edge of your arm pieces along the raw edge of your body right where the head and body meet.  Pin and stitch.

13.  On the back body/head piece cut a small slit about 1.5 inches up from the bottom, big enough to insert the tail.

14.  Insert the tail through the slit and folding the body in half stitch over the tail. Like this:


15.  Place the front of the fox body on top of the back pinning carefully and making sure that the arms and tail are inside.  Stitch around the sides and top leaving the bottom open.  I like to double stitch to make it safer and sturdier. Flip the whole thing right side out.

16.  On the bottom insert the raw edges of the legs into the opening, turning the raw edge of the opening in as you do.  Pin and stitch across.

17. Stitch the two pieces of the skirt pattern together along the short side, right sides together.

18. Hem one of the long sides, by folding a 1/4 inch up and stitching.  Then fold up another 1/4 inch and stitch that.  At this point you can either make a casing along the top for elastic or use lingerie elastic as I did and hem the edge first and then stitch your elastic to the top edge stretching it as you go to make it fit. Like so



19. Stitch the two short raw edges together leaving a 1 inch section in the center unstitched for the tail if you desire.  Flip it right side out.

Now put your skirt on your finished fox doll and give it to a cute little friend to love.  Please link back to us if you make this.  We would love to see lots of cute Cookies floating around out there!
Download the PDF here
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