Tutorial: Simple Table Runners

Can you believe Christmas is two weeks from tomorrow? I don't say that to stress you out, but simply because I can't believe it is already THAT close. Today I am bringing you a quick and simple tutorial...

Here is a quick little tutorial for some Simple & Quick Table Runners. There are a couple of things I love about these runners:

• This is a total 'naptime' project or can be done in no time at all.
• Involves NO pinning! Yay! 
• Requires little fabric so you can use that last 1/2 of a yard that you just have laying around.  
• Brings to life the saying "a fast project is a fun project"
• Make a couple and it makes a great gift!

Sold? Great. Here we go.

Materials
1/2 yard each of two different cotton fabrics, prewashed and pressed
(The fabrics don't necessarily have to coordinate since you will only see one side at a time.)
 matching thread
Yep. Two materials sweet. Oh and a screaming hot iron is a must for this project.

Notes
WOF = Width of Fabric
RST = Right Sides Together

1. Cut your fabrics to your desired width x WOF.  I cut mine to 15" wide. You can make it any width you want.

2. Place your fabrics RST matching the selvedges and edges. (The selvedges may only line up on one end. The other end may be short depending on the widths of your fabrics.) Press the two fabrics with a hot iron. By doing this the fabrics temporarily 'stick' together and therefore no pinning!

3. With fabrics still RST, head back over to your cutting mat and cut off the fabrics to the desired length. I have little hands at my house so I didn't want my runner dangling over the edge for little hands to pull off. I cut my length to 37".  (Since your fabrics are RST together, now your fabrics will be perfectly lined up.)

4. Now sew both fabrics together using a 1/2" seam allowance. I stared on one of the long sides, continued all the way around and left an opening. Your opening doesn't have to be huge, just enough to fit your little hand.

5. Head back over to the iron. Press along all seams, this helps make the seams nice and crisp. Clip the corners.

6.  Lets talk about that opening right quick. Press the opening back as shown in the second picture. Flip the runner over and do the same to the other side as shown in the third picture.

 7. Turn the runner right side out and poke the corners. A poking device such as a bone folder is great.

8. The opening should already be nicely pressed inside! When you topstitch the opening will be invisible. Now press around the rest of the runner at the seams. Press so that you can't see any fabric from the other side. Flip over the runner and make sure you can't see the other fabric from that side either.

9. Now start sewing close to one of the ends using about a 1/4" seam allowance. Sew all the way around the runner. Give it a final good press and be amazed!

10.  Tie it up with a ribbon and a gift tag. Done and done.

Fabrics shown:

left: both fabrics from Joann's

right: holly from Joann's & Red Snowflake from Candyland Christmas by Moda (My absolutely favorite Christmas print ever. I bought a bolt of this fabric and it is almost gone.) 

Happy Sewing!

LeAnne

Boo Blocks

We all have seen our share of 'Boo' blocks or the like around blogland lately, right? Well I whipped up my version over the weekend and I have to say I love them.

'the middle 'o' looks purpish, it is really black and creamish'

To make my blocks I used digital papers from Summer Drigg's FREE digikits Dreamsicle and Vintage Oreos. With the power of Photoshop I added some text and a nice gray outer glow. Then it was simply a process of printing the images off as 4x6's @ .13 cents a pop, a little trimming and Modge Poding those babies to some scrap wood blocks I painted black. Talk about instant craftification....wow...did I just pen a new catch phrase? ;) Plus I had all the materials on hand which meant this project cost me a grand total of .39 cents....the dollar store can't beat that.

Anyways. It was a fun festive craft that I am sure to repeat for other holidays.

Happy Tuesday!

LeAnne

Tutorial: Baby Hair Clips

Thanks for voting everyone! 


These cute little clips are the perfect size for newborns and/or babies with very fine hair. I made a bunch and after explaining this to a lot of people, I've decided just to put the directions here. So here are the two type of bows I make.

Yes, if you haven't figured it out already, I have a thing for polka dots.

First you will need:

snap clips, 

I used 1 1/4" (30mm) baby snap clips, but you can use whatever you like.

Edit: You can find this size on Etsy from various sellers. I purchased mine from Trimweaver. There are two types of snap clips: rectangular, the type I prefer, and triangular. Trimweaver sells these type of snap clips in sets of 24, 48, and 96.

ribbon

rosette flowers, if you wish

glue, I use hot glue

lighter or Fray Check, to seal the ribbons

First you need to line your clip.

To line this size of clip, cut a 2 1/2" piece of ribbon and seal the edges how you like. Then unsnap the clip and put a dab of glue on one end of the ribbon. Slide this end of the ribbon under the clip as shown. Put another dab of glue at the end of the clip to secure the rest of the ribbon.

Flip the clip over and place another dab of glue in the three places shown in the picture below. You will have a bit of ribbon left over. Wrap that bit over to the back of the clip and secure with glue.

To make the pictured 'Hair Clips with Flowers':

Now you can add a rosette flower if you like. To get the rosette flower to stick, put a dab of glue in the desired place and place the flower on top. You have to 'squish' the flower down to get it to hold well.

To make the pictured 'Colorful Hair Clips':

You will need to add a 'ribbon loop bow'. To make a ribbon bow cut a 3" piece of ribbon and 1 1/4" piece of ribbon. Seal the ends.

To make the loop part, put a dab of glue in the middle of the 3" piece of ribbon. Fold both ends of the ribbon to the middle where the glue is.

Your loop should look like this:

Flip the loop so the wrong side is facing you. (The side where the two ends meet in the middle.) Place a dab of glue where the two ends meet. Put the 1 1/4" piece of ribbon on the glue and wrap around the middle of the loop. Secure on the back again with a dab of glue.

wrong side of ribbon loop

right side of ribbon loop

Secure loop to your lined hair clip with glue.

Now go make a a bunch!

Thanks for reading!

LeAnne :)

Tutorial: Appliqued Onesies

This weekend I whipped up a batch of appliqued onesies. (Among other things.) This is a great quick project that makes a great gift or a cute new top for your little one. Yes I know it is July and that I made a pumpkin one...a girl has to be prepared don't ya know.

There are tutorials all over the blogosphere that can tell you what you need and how-to. I am not in a 'recreate the wheel' mood plus, I didn't come up with the concept of appliqued onesies. Genius that person. Anywho...check out homemade by jill's recent entry if you need a general how-to. I heart her blog.

Three Tips:

• If you are like me and don't yet wash onesies on a regular basis...prewash your oneies...they shrink big time.
• I always try and use a pressing cloth (i.e. - a bigger scrap of leftover fabric) to put between my iron and fusible webbing. You don't want that gluely junk on your nice iron.
• I just zig-zag around the edges of my appliques...I like that look. You can do a satin stitch, but you have to think about it more.

Oh and if you want patterns of what I did let me know...I may post the pattern pieces if y'all are interested. Just kidding...here you go.

And a taste of things to come:

• some more tutorials...in the works as we speak
• some new quiet books and a new pattern
  

Make Your Table {Spookalicious} This Halloween

Make your kitchen table truly 'spookalicious' this Halloween with a great runner.

There is a great tutorial on the Purl on how to make quick napkins, table runner, or table cloth using the same technique. It is super quick and on requires little prep. I've made two runners using this technique and you honestly can't mess it up. So go grab some fabric, a cutting board, and an iron and get sewing! (This would also be a great holiday gift.) If you don't read the Purl's blog...you are missing out.