This Corner of the World

It's been crazy busy in this corner of the world for the past months. Not complaining one bit. No siree. Also, we can't count on both hands the number of attempted blog posts: the kind you start to write and don't publish. Fun fact for the day: sometimes blog posts don't make the cut if the pictures and/or content aren't up to par.

We apologize for being gone so long...sometimes it is just nice to take a little-bitty break from blogging to catch up on some of our projects (and to catch our breathes for that matter!). We've been taking advantage and doing a little quilting. Our waning stack of UN-finished projects thanks us!

In an attempt to make this the longest blog post in the history of the world (Quackadoodle Quilt typed sarcastically), we will add a few pictures.

A sneak peak of a finished quilt and some fabric we have been playing with:

A look into our empty Etsy shop...gasp!...

Don't panic, we'll get right on that. Today, in fact!

What else is happening in this corner of the world? Hmm. A few million things. A few custom orders. A few quilts. A few trips to the fabric store. A few trips to the thrift store.

On second thought, change all those "A few"s to "A lot of"s. Thanks :)

We will keep you posted on all of our sewing adventures. So stay tuned!

Catch you later...there is a custom order quilt that we HAVE to finish within the week. This is a tough (more sarcasm) life we lead ;) ;) ;) Or simply a life involving a little procrastination. Look at it either way :)

Splash

A splash of summer hit us today. At 5:11 p.m. exactly. Loving these summer fabrics and our Olfa Splash rotary cutter. Aqua definitely makes everything better :)

Button Pillow Tutorial

(FYI: Coral fabric from JoAnn, buttons from Hancock, long pillow from Home Goods)

Button pillows are everywhere these days. Everywhere except at home :( So we decided to make our own and save us the $17 they cost. Ouch! Here is a tutorial for how to make a button pillow.

Materials Needed for one Button Pillow measuring 20" x 20":

• 3/4 yd. fabric (at least 44" wide)
• 1 button
• Thread to match the pillow
• Thread to match the button (not pictured)
• Down Pillow form 20" x 20"

1. From your fabric cut one square measuring 21". This will be your back, so set it aside for now.

 

2. Cut another piece measuring 21" x 22". This will become the front of your pillow.

3. From your piece measuring 21" x 22" measure and cut 7.5" down the longer side. This creates two pieces, we will call them piece "A" and "B".

 

4. From the remaining original fabric cut a 1.5" strip. The length doesn't really matter, but make it at least six inches long.

 

5. Iron your 1.5" strip in half lengthwise creating a crease. Open up the strip so it still measures 1.5" but now has a crease in the center.
 

6. Iron both sides into the center crease.

 7. Fold and iron in half. You should now have a nicely finished 1/4" cord.

8. Sew your cord as close as you can along the unfinished edge. 

9. Your cord should be completely finished now.

 10. Cut your cord into 2- 1.5" strips.

11. Find the middle of Piece B. Place your cord strips on either side of the middle mark. Maybe about an 1/8" apart.

 12. Pin Piece A to Piece B, Right sides together. Make sure to pin your cords down to keep them in place.

13. Using a 1/2" seam allowance, reattach Piece A to Piece B.

 14. Iron up your seam.

15. Top stitch using a scant 1/2'' seam allowance.

16. Tack down your cords, sewing along the bottom edge.

17. Sew your button on, hiding your cords and creating a foe loophole.

18. Now find your backing piece (measuring 21" square). Pin the front of the pillow to the back piece, right sides together. Sew 1/2" around 3 sides of the pillow. The side you don't sew should be the bottom of your pillow!

 19. Turn your pillow right sides out and stuff in your pillow form. Pin the bottom.

20. Sew as close to the edge as you dare!

Ta da! You are finished. Shoot us an email with any questions, trust us this tutorial sounds harder than it really is! Enjoy!

Catching Up

Since we have a break to catch you up on a few things, we thought we'd fill you in:

*We planted 350(!) flowers this weekend.

*And we found the best coral spray paint ever. Seriously.

*So...we spray painted our boring brown lamps and gave them a refreshing new coat.

*And last, but DEFINITELY not least...we made an emergency run to the fabric store to buy fabric. Ok. Maybe it really was an emergency ;)

Tutorial: Ribbon Valence

It's been a while since we've had a "real" blog post around here, so here's an easy tutorial that we whipped together. Shoot us an email with any questions. Now let's begin!

First, measure your curtain rod/window to get an idea of how much fabric to buy. Add an extra two inches (1 inch per side) to the length of your curtain rod and you'll be good to go for the width of the valence. For the length of your valence we just used the WOF (44"), but your length depends on how big your window is and how far you want the valence to hang down.

Next, it's time to hem your raw edges. On all four sides, iron 1/2" and then another 1/2" to give your edge a nice finish.

Sew around all four sides, as close to the edge as possible. Remember to backstitch.

Now all four sides of your valence should have nice finished hems.

Then, sew the rod pocket. Measure the circumference of your curtain rod to figure out how big to make the pocket. Iron down the desired length...make sure you are ironing on the correct side (the width, not the length).

Sew as close to the edge as possible to finish off your rod pocket.

Now you are all finished with the hemming and rod pockets!

The next step is super simple. Hang up your valence and decide how long you want the main part of it to hang and where you want the ribbons to be placed. Basically just eyeball  an imaginary line and use your fingers to hold your spot.

Cut along the imaginary line you just barely created the whole way across your valence, making two separate pieces.

The next step is to add ribbons. You need to measure your valence and split it evenly into thirds (the above picture is pre-measuring!). Between each third, place one long ribbon (Make sure your ribbons are approximately 20" longer than your valence.) Fold each ribbon in half and leave one half hanging down the front of the valence, and the other half hanging down the back.

Here's a better close-up of how to place the ribbons. Then, match the top half of your valence right-sides-together with the bottom half of your valence, pinning the ribbons in place. You are now creating a seam which will make your valence into one piece.

Sew a 1/2" seam allowance.

If you did it right, your valence should look like the above picture. ^

Now just tie the ribbons into bows and you made a ribbon valence!

Napkin Pillow Tutorial

This is an easy pillow tutorial that takes 10 minutes to make and costs under $5...the best kind of project. Ready. Set. Go!

Materials Needed:
2 napkins, any size (our napkins measured 19" x 19")
Thread to match the napkins
Pins
Down Pillow Form, about the size of your napkins (ours measured 22" x 22")

First of all...Have you ever looked for kitchen napkins? If you haven't, you're missing out. This has got be one of the best kept secrets in the sewing world. Napkins come in a variety of cute patterns at reasonable costs. Usually they cost about $5- $10 for a pack of four, but we scored and found a set of four napkins on sale for $2.99! (Thank you Target!)

Napkins already have a hem around the edge and this makes sewing with them SUPER easy. Okay let's start...

Find your pins and start pinning! Match your 2 napkins WRONG sides together. Pin around three sides:

Sew the three pinned sides of your napkin as close to the edge as you can, but be careful when you sew so you don't get holes :)

This is an up-close shot of what the edge of your pillow will look like after sewing.

Shove your down pillow-form into the open end of the sewn napkins. Make sure you shove it down hard so you still have room to sew:

Pin the fourth side of your napkins and sew as close to the edge of the fabric as you can.

Pat your self on the back for making this quick little pillow!