The Sewing Rabbit

I have good news! I'm bubbling over with excitement about being a part of Jess's team over at the Sewing Rabbit! She is incredibly talented and does so much to promote the sewing community from her pattern directory SewSet to her Girl's Night Out Socials.   If you haven't visited her site yet; check it out!

And just in case you are new to MIH, I hope you stay and look around! I just wanted to highlight a few projects that you may have seen up on the Sewing Rabbit post today.

 clockwise from upper left:  
Perfecting Serger Tension ~  2 Minute Hairbows ~ Simple Ruffle Dress ~ The Cake Clutch ~ The Crinkle Quilt ~ A-Line Lemon Dress

If you are looking for sewing projects; knitting patterns; or serger help; you've come to the right place. I'll be sharing one new tutorial a month over on Jess's site, so you'll be seeing me over there as well!

And don't forget-- there are exactly 7 days until the first Handmade Confessions post goes up!

 Squeal! pssst... our very first confession will be from Rikka, from Ricochet and Away! Stop by her project page and give her some love this weekend-- it's hard to be first! And don't forget to subscribe so you don't miss anything!

The Easiest Ironing Board Cover Ever!

So... on Mother's day, I not only made these oven mitts for my mom-- but I also made a little something for myself...

An ironing board cover!

My iron seemed to have stomach bug and would randomly spit up gross brown water all over my ironing board cover. I was able to cure the iron, but my ironing board cover was hopelessly stained. So I whipped this one up while my kids were out getting breakfast on Mother's Day morning. (Yes, at the same time I did those oven mitts-- they are both crazy quick projects)

I looked at some tutorials online, but all of them required flipping the board over, tracing etc. And who wants to do that on her day off? So I came up with this super easy way of creating an ironing board cover that honestly takes only 10 minutes and a couple yards of fabric. This cover simply goes over your old cover as an additional layer.

Before we begin; a confession: You'll notice that there is no before picture. That's because my ironing board cover was too disgusting even for the internet. Just use your imagination.
Materials:
2.5 yards of 1/4 inch elastic
Fabric (2 yards of cotton or cotton-linen blend)
3 yards of 1 inch Bias tape or 2 inch bias strips (premade or store bought)

First, fold your fabric in half and drape over the ironing board as shown. The fold should be at the center of the ironing board; and the fabric should hang over the ironing board by at least 3 inches on either short end.

Then, without tracing, flipping or measuring, trim both layers of fabric roughly 3 inches from the edge of the table.  When you get to the narrow portion of the table, just follow the curve as best you can.

Now for the fun part! We are going to use the bias tape to make a quick casing for the elastic. Fold your bias tape in half, wrong sides together so the raw edges are touching. Line the raw edges with the *right* side of the cover fabric and sew or serge almost all the way around the cover. Leave a 2-3 inch gap to thread the elastic through.

Observant readers might notice that I did it wrong in the photo. Unobservant little old me, didn't notice until I was halfway done, so I just left it. This part will be underneath the ironing board, so it doesn't have to be perfect.

Thread the elastic through the gap in the casing, and put it over the ironing board. Once you give the elastic a good tug, the cover will look like you spent hours on it.

Smooth out any wrinkles, and tie off the elastic underneath the table.

The cover looks so cheery, and it even looks matches my dining room where I've been doing most of my sewing.

 And it makes pressing out my projects that much more fun! Hello there Sprocket Pillows!

If any of you have been putting off making a cover-- I hope you give this a try! As always, if you like these tutorials-- please consider subscribing (using RSS), signing up for emails, or following using blogger!

Leftover's Quilt.... Still In Progress....

Yesterday Carolina  asked me for a few details on the leftovers quilt...

The truth is, is that little quilt is still not done. Nearly a year ago... I'd decided to try my hand a free motion quilting, and was so disheartened by the results that I folded it up, half quilted and stuck it in a closet. You can see the crummy stitches really well on the back.

But with Carolina's prompting; I pulled it out to get some measurements, and realized that the quilting wasn't as bad as I thought from the front side.

Especially if you squint and sort of tilt your head. Definitely salvageable.

So I scraped up the motivation to start again, and show it to you today as a finished quilt! Unfortunately, the little sewing gremlins had a different idea. I was about 1-3 rows away from being done when  I heard a snap.

After a little search and rescue, I pulled these bits and pieces of my free motion foot and sewing needle out of my machine.

*Sigh*... this quilt will have to wait for another day. Does anyone have a darning foot I can borrow?

Quick 'Handmade' Oven Mitts

Today's project is a quicky! This Mother's day I gave my mom something on the practical side-- oven mitts. (I know, I know...I'll do better next year). I did want to at least jazz them up a bit; so I decided to switch out the binding with a print that matched her kitchen.

I started with really thick, wonderfully cushy oven mitts (affiliate link). I bought these off of amazon and was really impressed. You'll also need some single fold bias binding- store bought or handmade! This was a bit of binding that I had left from the Crinkle Quilt. You'll need roughly 4 times the width of one of the mitts, with about 4-5 inches extra for wiggle room.

I wanted to keep those handy hanging loops, so I started and stopped my binding right at the seam side seam of the mitt. Making sure to fold the short raw edge under, place the binding right sides together with the cuff of the mitt and sew.

Then it's just a matter of flipping the binding under and sewing it to the inside of the mitt. I hand sewed this portion using the magic stitch. Just a tip-- the mitt was too thick to turn inside out, so I just turned up the cuff to make it easier to sew.

And then you are done! The fun part about using a print for the binding is that it does make the whole mitt look unique and less store bought. My mom actually asked me if I made it! (I told her the truth-- don't worry!)

I have  the best mom in the world, so I'm ashamed to say that this little project was finished in 10 minutes on mother's day morning. (Mommy, next year, you'll be getting a gift certificate to the spa!) But since it's so quick and easy, it would make a wonderful gift for a house warming present --especially paired with a baked treat. Or you can just dress up your own worn out mitts! 

A New Series!

Hi everyone! I'm excited to introduce a new series on MIH-- Handmade Confessions!

As DIY-ers, we often sweep our imperfections under the rug. We hide a crooked seam or only take pictures from one angle, so our stripes seem to match. Or we take short cuts-- who doesn't with kids underfoot and a never ending to do list!?!

For the next 2 months a group of amazing bloggers have bravely offered to share some of their deepest, darkest sewing secrets. Confessions will be going up each Friday through June and July.

We all know how good it feels to get something off your chest, so if you have a confession  you'd like to share (it could be a funny story, a tip or shortcut, or something more serious), just email me at palak.makeithandmade@gmail.com. And don't worry... Fridays will be judgement free zone here at MIH. We'll support you no matter what; even if you sew over pins!

I'm excited for this series- I hope you all enjoy it!

Keeping it real....

I hate to be a debbie downer.. but it's been a tough week. I hurt my back earlier doing some home improvement (can't wait to share!) and have been function only due to the power of ibuprofen and my husbands ability to run the house entirely on his own.

 I'm feeling better now, and hope to be back sewing by next week. But to get my mood up in the meantime, I decided to share a few things that made me smile this week.

1. This is a shameless mom brag-- please forgive me. My little girl rolled out her very first roti this week. (They are kind of like tortillas but made with whole wheat flour). I just about died with pride.

2.  I've been seeing smocking all over the place it seems. I loved the smocked romper and bonnet that Delia came up with for her little girl. It made me smile from ear to ear.

3. I'm sure you all have been to Little Big Girl Studio's blog. She has such a fabulous sense of style! I was lucky enough to win a  pair of bags from her and they came in the mail this week. They are absolutely perfect. She also has a new pattern coming out-- look how cheerful this hobo bag is!

4. My grandpa celebrated his 80th birthday this week. We are so happy and blessed to be able to celebrate with him.

5. I've been hating my kitchen cabinets lately. I spend the better part of the week stuck on the couch researching cabinet resurfacing/staining/gel staining and painting options, and was so surprised when this popped up in my reader.

How clever! Newsprint cabinets by the inimitable Aunt Peaches. Although they aren't exactly my style- they would be an improvement over my existing setup.

I feel better just writing this post! I hope you all had a wonderful week and are looking forward to a weekend full of smiles.

The Crinkle Quilt

Today I'm sharing a tutorial that originally appeared on the Moda Bakeshop site a few months ago. It's a favorite around our house now and still looks just gorgeous after many, many washings. Don't forget to check out my ruffle series for help with ruffling-- or take a look at the mini version made almost entirely with a serger.

This quilt is full of color and crinkles that babies will love. At the same time, it's a forgiving pattern that comes together in a few hours and doesn't require any precision piecing.  

The finished quilt is is about 40 inches square-- my favorite size baby quilt as both a mother and quilter. The size is perfect for covering a newborn or as a play mat for an infant, and doesn't take much room in the wash. For a toddler it's a great size for strollers and car seats, and is still large enough to be a lap quilt for a child or adult. As a quilter, I love that I don't have to piece the backing and it's easy to fit in the small throat of my home sewing machine.


Materials:
Quilt Top:
1  Simply Color Layer Cake
1 Yard Focus Print (I chose White Aquatic Blue)
Backing:
1.5 Yard  (I chose White Sweet Tangerine Chevron)
Binding:
1/2 Yard (I chose White Lime Aqua)

Directions:

The Crinkle Quilt alternates 5 inch strips of smooth fabric with pieced  ruched strips.  The texture makes errors in piecing unnoticeable  making this an easy, quick quilt that's done without much fuss. 

The colored strips in the diagram below are pieced ruffled; while the white ones are plain. The twist is the ruffling! With the tips you'll learn in this tutorial, the ruffles will be a snap too. 

Cut List (for quilt top only): 

• Cut your focus fabric into 5 5.5" by WOF and set aside
• Next, pick 24 squares out of the layer cake and cut them in half to make 48 5" by 10" rectangles. 

Piecing The Strips

Divide the 48 rectangles into 4 groups of 12. Sew each group together end to end making 4 long strips as shown below. (Chain piecing makes this step go fast).

Next, place a pin in one end of each long strip. I know this seems like a small thing, but I promise it will help with the ruffling later. From this point onward, whenever we sew, we will always start with the pinned edge going into the machine first. This will keep the ruffles looking even and keep the seam allowances from flipping up. 

Move to the ironing board and press all the seam allowances to one side away from end with the pin. Once you've done all four strips, you'll be ready to ruffle!

Ruffling

We are going to use the tension method to ruffle. This method is ideal for ruffling long strips that might need slight adjustments at the end. If you are having trouble with this method, try using another ruffling method.

Change your sewing machine to have a long stitch length and high tension.

We'll still need to add even more tension to get the fabric to ruffle enough to be the same size as the focus fabric strips. To do that, I hold the thread down with one finger while sewing.

Here's a close up of what I'm doing. You can also lightly pinch the thread through your fingers if that's easier. Just be sure to do this between the thread spool and tension disks as shown in the picture below.

While ruffling, make sure to pull out a long tail of both bobbin and top thread at either end of each strip. I normally use 10-12 inches to be on the safe side.

Starting with the pinned end of the strip, sew along one edge using a 1/4 inch seam allowance.You'll see your strip ruffle up along one edge.

Then, starting with the pinned edge again, sew along the opposite edge. This will mean you'll have to flip the strip over to the wrong side.

Do this until you have 4 strips ruffled down each side. Don't forget to change your sewing machine settings to normal.

Now, compare each strip with the focus fabric strips that we set aside. Pull on the top sewing thread to adjust the strip to be the same length as the focus fabric strips. I also like make sure the pieced sections look like squares instead of trapezoids .

Now for the most important step: Press the ruffled strips well and top stitch down each side of the ruffled using a quarter inch seam allowance and normal stitch length. This will stabilize your ruffled strip and keep it from shifting while you sew.  Now you can remove those pins at the ends of your strips!

Using a 1/2 inch seam allowance, sew the strips together as normal, alternating a ruffled strip with a plain strip.

Your top is complete and ready to be quilted!

Finishing up 

Quilt your Crinkle Quilt with any pattern you like. I recommend not quilting the ruffled strips--  they poof up beautifully in the wash, and are so much fun for little fingers to play in. Trim, square and bind the quilt just as you would any other quilt.

You'll end up with a 40'' by 44'' quilt. Covers one sleepy child.



This was my first Bakeshop tutorial, and I was thrilled with the response. I've since been back to share the Cake Clutches, and I'm crossing my fingers that they will invite me back again someday! :)

Paradise Bay Tankini

I'm so excited to write this post! I've been wanting to make my daughter a swimsuit for well over a year.

In fact, this fabric has been sitting in my craft closet for at least that long. I feel like she's saying-- 'what took you so long mom!?!?' In this picture:

The pattern is Peekaboo's Pattern's Paradise Bay Tankini. The pattern was really well thought out and well written. I was a bit nervous about sewing the spandex (I had never tried before?) but the tutorial walked me through it step by step. Plus-- Amy is one of the nicest bloggers I know. I first talked to her when I was transferring some posts from my family blog to this one- and she kindly emailed me some hints, tips and encouragement. It was such a comfort to know that if my sewing machine ate up all that spandex, or if I ran into any other trouble, I could just email her for support.

I did end up opting to make little shorts instead of the bikini bottoms it came with. I think they are a bit more flattering on my daughter, and will cover the swim diaper a bit better. The best part?-- It's totally Amaani - approved. Look at that smile!

My kids often don't like what I make, and they turn their nose up at modeling for pictures. But this time, she followed me around for hours while I was making her 'simmy suit!'. I can't wait until the weather is good enough to go for a swim!

*Post contains affiliate links. 

DIY Rainbow Knitting Needles

A tutorial! Just in time for Mother's Day!  This is another craft to either do with your kids or on your own. (Believe me, the kids make more mess, but they are also more fun).

 I love these colored wooden knitting needles from Knit Picks, but couldn't justify the price-- especially since I'm not a huge fan of wooden needles for anything but double pointed needles. I've come across a ton of tutorials for making knitting needles from wooden dowels... so I thought, why not make a few colored ones with the kids?

Supplies:

The supplies for this project are pretty simple (and inexpensive, thank goodness!) I picked up 1 quarter inch wooden dowel at my local home improvement store. 

I also had the following on hand:

• Kitchen Shears/Pruning Shears
• Sandpaper (steel wool or even a green scrubby from your dish rack will work)
• Pencil Sharpener
• Kids Watercolors or food coloring
• Beeswax or Olive Oil

Let's Get Started! 

First, using either kitchen shears or pruning shears snap your dowel into 7 inch pieces. I was able to get 6 equal length pieces  and used the leftovers to make a cable needle.  

Now, for the fun part! Grab your watercolors and kids and let them go to town. As you can see, my supply of water colors was very low, so I supplemented from my stash of food coloring. 

 If you want a little more control over the colors, try giving your kids just 1 or 2 colors to play with. But really-- you can't go wrong with project like this.

 Finally, hopefully, you'll have a few dowel peices that look like this. Let them dry while you clean up the kids.

 Using your pencil sharpener, sharpen each end of the dowels.

 Once they are sharpened, sand any rough edges down with the steel wool, and wax or oil the needles. I used this non-toxic wood wax recipe from Amber Dusick. It was easy to make, and I just buffed it in with a paper towel. I continued buffing until absolutely no color came off onto my towel. If your kids are a bit older, they can help with this part, as the wax is all natural.

For the ultimate test-- I was a worried that colors might bleed onto white yarn. I knitted what felt like a mile of stark white icord and no bleeding!

Now all that's left to do is to curl up on the couch with some yummy knitting. I cannot say enough how warm and fuzzy these knitting needles make me feel! Just knitting with them reminds of the fun we had making them. The needles are smooth enough that I find myself reaching for them just as much as my bamboo clover DPNs, but still grippy enough that I can also use them for straight knitting without worry of anything falling off.

And that tiny cable needle is my absolute new favorite-- it's small enough that I can hold it in my free fingers so it's always there when I need to cable.

Please do let me know if you all try this-- I'm absolutely thrilled with the result. And if you have a mom that knits-- how fun would it be to get these needles with some kid-dyed yarn? You could even wrap it up in an fun crushed tomato can!

Don't miss the next fun tutorial-- subscribe to MIH today!

Odds and Ends...

How was everyone's weekend? We had beautiful weather here, which means the kids got to play outside, and I got to play inside!

Yup, Sprocket Pillows in the making! This is the first of a bunch of home dec projects that I have floating around in my head. These will hopefully live in my little girls room one day. I used 6 layer cake squares from this Bunny Hill collection, and I was able to get two 16" pillow tops with almost no waste. Love that!

I also ended up saying good by to all the yellow on my blog. Oh how I loved this header! This pale yellow/cream reminded me of my dad's saffron-mango ice cream and all sorts of yumminess. I love, love, loved... until I saw it on a few other monitors.

It turns out that that yellow looks a bit icky to some readers. So we have an updated header and blog! I love making changes, but I'm sorry for any of you folks who had to deal with a changing blog over the weekend.

I'm also moving my google reader list over to bloglovin'. I'm terribly, terribly upset, and I"m waiting until the absolute last minute, but so far Google hasn't changed it's mind. If you want to follow using Blog lovin' you can use the little "b" with a heart in the header to follow!

And that's about it for today! What did ya'll accomplish over the weekend?