Headband Tutorial

Spring break is here! You wouldn't know it from the freezing fog that has enveloped my world today. The signs of spring break include: the Punk shopping with the Pixie and I.

And shop we did! My LQS was having a sale and I picked up 8 meters of fabric at $5 each.

I love these stripes, and I went wild for the pebbles! I'll make my headband out of this print.

The last piece is this fugly green. It looked much better in the dim light at the sale racks in the back of the store. In real light it's a sinister shade of chartreuse. I'll save it for backing, unless anyone wants a straight up trade. Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

Now for a first run-through with the headband I designed. Ready?

1. This is the pattern. Cut out two on the fold.

You will have two pieces that look like this.

2. Place the pieces right sides together, and pin onto a scrap of batting.

During pinning, I placed a 3 1/2" piece of elastic in one short end. (Note to self: buy more black elastic.)

I also used my double pin trick to delineate start and stop points to allow for turning.

3. Sew around fabric edges using 1/4" seam allowance. I backstitched an extra time over the elastic. This will be a heavy stress point.

You can sort of see in the above picture that I skipped sewing the end without elastic. This is very important! I sewed right to the ends and backstitched. Then I picked up the presser foot, shuffled the fabric into the new start position, and kept sewing without cutting the thread. You can see better on the batting side.

4. Trim.

5. Turn and press. Do not push out the non-elastic end all the way. Leave the seam allowance tucked in.

6. Pin the opening closed.

Push the free end of the elastic into the open end of the headband, being careful not to twist it. Stick a pin in to hold it.

7. Double topstitch around the entire piece. Backstitch at both stress points.

8. Brace yourself. Model for the camera and hope that random aiming hits the target. Posts pictures of yourself wearing completed headband on the scary internet.

I'm certainly not normally this Caucasian, but with the flash right at the end of my arm....you get the point.

Things to do differently next time include using elastic that matches more closely, and redesigning to take an inch off the width. I was also debating adding an extra 1/2" to the elastic length, but I've been wearing it while writing this post and I like the snugness.  I have a plan to do a paper-pieced headband using a similar pattern. Oh! Oh! What if I.... scalloped the edge of the pattern before cutting? Or quilted the whole way across instead of just topstitching? Or sew with a solid fabric and use FMQ in contrasting thread to add visual interest?

So many ideas! But it'll have the wait. I did promise my girls Easter dresses since Mommy didn't make them new Christmas dresses. To the big box of stash I go!

Sick Day

We were woken up by the Pixie at about four in the morning....she reported that the Punk had puked in both beds. My day has just been one round of eew after another.

I could not work on Rambo Bright. That requires too much concentration to keep my designs straight in my head from block to block. Instead I pulled some blues and threw this top together:

I wanted to practice sewing free-form curves.

But now, how to finish? There are several options.

I could quilt and bind traditionally (by hand or machine). I could quilt and "art bind" by turning the entire binding to the back so it doesn't show on the front - a good option for a piece large enough to need a hanging sleeve. The outside measurements for this piece is 22"x 14" so I know I'll likely hang it with pushpins.

I chose to bag this quilt.

Bagging is basically finishing the edges before you quilt. It's not recommended for any project larger than a baby quilt, but it's great for small art, mugrugs, table runners, or wherever you don't want a traditional binding. It's also the easiest method that allows me to follow the natural skewed lines around the edges of an improv piece.

Here's how I did it. (The Bagging Tutorial)

1. Obtain a backing of the approximate same size as the top. Press it well. I pieced a backing using leftovers from another quilt.

2. Estimate batting size by laying your top on the goods and trimming around. You do not need to give a lot of extra around the edges. This is a great place to use frankenbatting.

3. Layer in this order: batting first, then backing, right side up. You could chose to spray baste between these layers. I did not.

Then smooth your top wrong side up on top of the batting and backing. The top and backing will be right sides together. Using your fingertips, feel around the edges to make sure there is batting underneath the entire top. Reposition if necessary.

4. Once you are satisfied with the smoothness of your quilt sandwich, pin around all four sides using straight pins. The space between the double pins is to be left open for turning. The double pins remind me to not sew in that space...a good trick for someone scatterbrained like myself.

5. Switch to a walking foot if you have one, and pop in a 90/14 topstitch needle (or whatever you would normally use for quilting). Sew around the entire piece, leaving a space to turn; backstitch at double pin markers. Follow the edges of your top, rather than squaring up (unless that's your thing). This gives you that organic shape and wastes less fabric.

Where there is huge discrepancy in the shape, just wing it: use your stitching to smooth the shape a little (unless you like to deal with more than four corners on a piece). You can barely see my stitching line on the light blue, but you can see the results in the final pictures.

6. Trim by running your rotary cutter about 1/4" away from your line of stitching. Chop the corners to make for easier turning.

7. Reach between the top and the backing and turn inside out. Use a bone folder to push out the corners. Also, run it around the entire line of stitching to stretch your fabric to the stitching line in preparation for pressing. Then, using steam, press the three layers from the top to make sure your backing doesn't show on the front. Press the edges of the opening in.

8. Slipstitch the opening closed. Press again to meld the layers together.

9. Pin baste. Generously.

10. If you want your label quilted on, fuse or applique a label to the back now. Do it after quilting if you prefer.

11. Quilt as desired. Stop when it looks good. You're done when you clip the final thread. I used my walking foot and meandered waves across the entire piece.

12. Enjoy! I stuck pins in each corner and hung this "Fish Tank" on the wall behind the tv. This way I have something nice to look at while the Pixie is on a Treehouse kick. (The second picture didn't want to include the weird corner.)

The added bonus? We now have two new pets who never need feeding.

I think I'll call them Stinky and Slimy. They shall by my spokesfish for a new camera.

Tutorial: Extending the Life of Old Towels

Towels are so expensive! Has anyone else noticed? I have towels that are years old that look ratty and nasty....strings hanging off the edges that grab at you after you shower....or they're been washed so many times that the selvedge edge (the tight, decorative stitching on the ends) has permanently crumpled up. Here's how to save your towels and extend their lives.

First of all, lay out your towels and trim off anything ugly - strings, frayed ends, selvedges, fuzzies, hems. At this point, you can also slice your towel in half if you have a need for hand/face towels. I've also been known to sew two towels together to make a super long towel.

Now, sort through your donate pile and find an old t-shirt with not too many holes. We're going to chop it up.

Match the shirt hems and fold it so that it fits your cutting surface. Then chop off the hems and slice the shirt into long strips about 2 1/4" wide. Cut to 2 1/2" if you're not confident that you can follow a narrow edge with your sewing machine.

Cut one side of the strip open.. If there are side seams, go ahead and cut one off, but leave the other. Why make more work?

Match the edges of the strips and sew a diagonal line across the ends. Don't worry about using a stretch stitch. It won't matter anyways. If you have trouble getting the first join to sew flat, run a leader through first. Just wing it on this step - accuracy makes no difference in final product. Eyeball it.

Trim the strip and press in half, wrong sides together. You've just made double fold binding. (Google it for a more detailed tute.) When pressing, the edges will curl, so be sure you hit them with some steam. Also, take care to not stretch the knit or you won't have binding; you'll have t-shirt yarn.

Start sewing the binding onto the towel somewhere along an edge and about an inch or two from the end of the binding. Please learn from my mistake and switch to your walking foot before you start this step. If you have no walking foot, just ease the binding under the presser foot using a pin. You'll get tiny pleats, but it's no big deal - they won't show on the right side. And if they do, who cares? It's a towel, not a showpiece.

Miter the corners if you like, or just wing it. When you get back to the start, just trim the end and tuck into the starting piece. Do not try to make the binding continuous (unless you're one of Those people) - it's a knit and won't fray anyways. Just keep it quick and simple.

Now, simply flip the towel and fold the binding to the other side. Sew in a continuous line right around the towel. This a a technique known and "machine binding." You can google that, too, if you need clearer instructions. As long as the folded edge of the binding covers the previously sewn line, you're good to go. Stretch to cover if necessary - another reason to use a soft, comfy old t-shirt.

And this is your final result! We do most of our towels this way and it extends their life sometimes by several years!

You can make mismatched towels into a set by binding them all in the same colour. You can buy new-to-you towels at second hand stores and give them new life for cheap. If you have towels that are worn in the middle, sandwich them together and run random lines down the length and width (especially around the really worn spots or holes) to "quilt" them together before binding (use wider binding for this). These double towels are super absorbent and soft - the men in my family have a preference for these thicker towels.

Today I'm linking up to Frugally Sustainable - they've got many more awesome ideas that you should check out, too.