Tutorial: Headband Holder

I was officially tired of trying to stuff all of my little girl's headbands into a bathroom drawer, when I thought of making one out of an oatmeal container. And yes, there are other ways to make headband holders, but I didn't want to spend any money! My directions are a bit vague but this is pretty much self-explanatory with the pictures. If you have additional questions just comment below. 

So here's how I did it:

Supplies: Oatmeal container, hot glue gun, fabric scissors, piece of cardboard, ribbon, and half yard of fabric 

 1. Lay out your fabric and leave some extra on the ends, then cut. 

2. Put some hot glue on the fabric end and stick it to the oatmeal container.  

3. Wrap the fabric around and glue it to the container again. I folded the end so there wouldn't be a raw edge that could potentially fray. 

4. While you have your hot glue out, wrap fabric around your cardboard square. This is to keep your container from rolling around. I also thought of putting something heavy inside your container before you wrap it so if you want that option scratch this idea :) 

5. Hot glue the cardboard piece to the bottom of the container. I put it right on the seam.  

6. Now tie the ends with ribbon like a piece of candy. I did little bows. 

There you have it, a headband display! 

Link-Up: Christmas Table Runner

This is a fun table runner to make, and it comes together pretty quickly. I wanted to share the link to where I got the pattern from: 

Quilt Bus Table Runner

And actually you can use this pattern with any fabric to make it whatever type you like, but it makes for some good little Christmas presents to friends! 

**I do have to give credit to my sister for making this table runner pictured above; I made a whole bunch and gave them away so I guess I'm lucky she made one for me! (What are sisters for, right?)

Quick-Tip: How Much Fabric For Binding A Quilt?

I always use 2 1/2" wide strips for binding my quilts. 

Here's a formula to figure out how much fabric to purchase to bind your, well, any project that requires binding really! 

(width of quilt in inches + length of quilt in inches) times 2 + 24" = amount of inches for total binding. 

Divide the total by 40 and round up, that = the total amount of strips. Times that total by 2.5 and that = the amount of inches of fabric needed.

Make sense? Here's another way to look at it:

(width of quilt in inches + length of quilt in inches) x 2, + 24" = amount of inches for total binding.

Amount of inches for total binding divided by 40 = the total amount of strips to cut (round this # up if a decimal). 

(Amount of strips to cut) x 2.5" = amount of inches of fabric needed

Quick-Tip: Chain Sewing

This could have a different title, but I call it "chain sewing." It's a really fast way to put together multiple quilt blocks that are the same. Plus it saves you a ton of thread. 

Take a look!

Here is what I would like to sew together (the beginnings of a star block).

Start with one side, place right sides together, and start sewing. Place your needle in the "down" position if you can on your sewing machine. 

Sew down until you have about 1/4" left and get your second piece ready. Place that piece a couple of centimeters away from the first one and sew right onto it. It's okay if you sew a stitch or two and there's no fabric under the sewing needle. 

When you've sewn all of your pieces, you'll have a chain like this one:

Don't snip your pieces apart just yet! Do the other side (if this applies).

NOW go through and snip your threads that are between the sewn pieces. 

That's it! This process will save you tons of time if you've got a big project to do! 

Quick-Tip: Rounding Corners

I wanted a rounded corner for a project. But how do you get rounded corners that all match? Use a paper plate! I folded all of my corners into the same spot, placed the paper plate down, and took a rotary cutter from one side to the other. You can also just mark this curve and then cut with scissors. That's it! 

Quick-Tip: Preparing Fabric for Cutting

If you are interested in cutting your fabric straight (especially for strips), use this tip to help you do so:

First, fold your fabric in half with the salvage edges together, as well as the already cut edges from the fabric store. Line up the edges that have already been cut and don't worry about the salvage edges. 

 Now fold the fabric again and lay it over the top of your seams so you don't get distracted by it. 

Put your ruler over the fabric and line it up to make sure it is straight on either side. For example, in this picture I lined up the ruler at one inch on the top and half an inch on the bottom. No matter what, you'll want your fabric to be the same length from one side of the ruler to the other to show your fabric is straight. Go ahead and cut!

Quick-Tip: Point Turner

This, my friends, is a point turner. It looks like this particular one is set as a button gauge as well. However, my main focus is on what the point turner does. It is so helpful when you are sewing a project that needs to be turned inside out and of course has corners.
  This will make your life much easier! For instance, I used it on the pockets of my purse that I just made and put on here.
  Anyway, it's pretty simple to use: push the pointy side into the corners and watch them come inside out with ease!

Enjoy!

Quick-Tip: Thread

Here are a few quick-tips when it comes to thread! 

1. Use the same type of thread in the bobbin as well as on top for an optimal sewing experience.

2. Use cotton thread when working with cotton fabric

3. Black thread can have more issues when sewing because it contains more dye on it (to make it black).

4. A good neutral thread is grey. Grey works with any color of the spectrum!

Quick-Tip: Transparent Thread

Quick-Tip:   When sewing, do not put transparent thread in both the top and bottom of your sewing machine. It's bad for your sewing machine as well as for whatever you are sewing on.

Why This Is Important:   Before I knew this rule I quilted with transparent thread on top and through the bobbin. I thought the reason my thread was always bunching up or "catching" on things was because of me. Then I learned what I should have been doing!

Solution:   If quilting, use your transparent thread on the top and a cotton thread on the bottom/in the bobbin. Also, make sure your cotton thread matches your quilt on the underside because it will show.

Quick-Tip: Curves & Corners

When sewing together a project that involves curves and/or corners, try this:

Corners: before turning your fabric inside-out cut diagonally on the corner. Be sure you do not cut where you have sewn or you'll have a hole!

Before:

After:

Curves: Cut into your fabric down to where you have sewn. Cut all around the curve about 1/4" apart.

Before:

After:

Add A Decorative Touch To Your Quilt

I bought this panel (awhile ago) called, "Crazy Eight Reindeer Panel". I saw the quilt put together and LOVED this detail: stitching! As you can see, I added snowflakes falling down from the sky. I also outlined a few items (like the striped blue hat below) to give the panel a 3D affect as well as to help hide the fact that this is indeed a panel! I'm not a huge fan of them, but this one is really cute. You can view the whole panel here. It comes with the large picture with the reindeer, and all of the squares you see with Christmas decor (ie. holly, Christmas tree, snowman, ornament, etc.) I plan to make up my own version of this quilt and have some cute quilting block ideas for you, so check back!

To stitch these falling snowflakes in, along with outlining items on the panel, I used cross stitch thread (all strands) and a needle. 

Quick-Tip: Stippling

A good way to keep a firm grim on your fabric/quilt while stippling is to wear gardening gloves. There are special quilting gloves you can buy, but this is the cheaper (and just as good) alternative! 

Quick Tip: Bordering Your Quilt

So I have this panel (shown in the middle), and plan to make this quilt up for Christmas! What I love about this quilt is that the outer border is just one fabric. You can take any striped fabric, stick it around your quilt in a perpendicular fashion, and your quilt will look more complex than it really is! You can also sew a line through some of the stripes (with the batting and bottom layer of the quilt) to make it look even more like separate pieces of fabric. 

Quick-Tip for Binding A Quilt

If you are binding a quilt with 2 1/2 x 40" binding strips, follow these guidelines:

Kids: cut 6 strips
Lap: cut 7 strips
Twin: cut 9 strips
Queen: cut 10 strips
King: cut 13 strips

If you have any leftovers, keep them! Label them in a gallon-sized ziplock as "binding". One fun thing I like to do with binding is cut up a lot of different fabrics (ex: different fabrics used within the quilt I am binding) and sew those together for my binding. If I have leftover pieces of binding it saves me some time!