Sew & Tell Week 2

Congratulations to Joe from Bibbles Dribble Bibs, who was randomly selected as our winner of 500 reward points this week. I am very pleased Random.org chose her as she is such a special person!

Not only does she support NZ fabric shops like us, but  she loves NZ handmade and is so supportive of others businesses and charities galore!

And lets face it her bib's are just fantastic! They have a towl back so are perfect if you have one of those dribbly babies like I did but the best part is they look so fashionable!

Now here are my favourites! From this weeks selections! Gotta start with these amazing crocheted slippers using our 100% wool in Eggplant! Totally awesome Treena! You can find Treena's blog here

Bike Bags from Baby Bird

Made using this fabric

And check out this very clever sewing room wall clock from The Sewing Fairy

Made using these fabrics

Happy Sewing! Don't forget this weekend is the local Encraftment market if you are in Christchurch come along to meet us! 

Sew & Tell

Well done to Katherine for sharing the love with this gorgeous taggy made using the Michael Miller Forest Life in Watermelon. The colours in this fabric are so soft and pastel but somehow have a brightness about them!

We have a new function online that let's you upload your images of something you have made with our fabrics. Simply go to the fabric you used and you will find a link which was "Upload your handmade image here"

Each week we randomly select one of the images and you win 500 reward points which is worth a free Fat Quarter.

You also get to link your business name onto the image. Here is Katherines Felt Shop some very cute things in there! http://felt.co.nz/profile/stitchaholic

Thank you for all the lovely images you have been sending! It really gives you perspective of how the fabric looks once sewn and is an inspiration for others!

Some of my favourites this week are these

Sheree Brown

      Using Sunny Happy Skies

Eli and Belle's 

Using Birds in Bermuda

Scarf Tutorial

Time to wrap up.. bbrrrr

We opted to stay indoors last Saturday so it was the perfect time to sew something warm and cozy! 

Now I have to admit sewing for boys is quite tricky, not only is fabric selection often an issue, but to find something to sew that they will  proudly wear is another story all together!

Here at Sew Pretty we love boy fabrics! So much that we have an entire category devoted to it! And sub categories of Transport & Dinosaurs just in case you need specifics!

For these scarves the boys and I decided monsters where a great choice and I love the navy colouring! 

This is a really simple sewing tutorial, if you can sew straight lines then you can make this! It is also fabulous to use up leftovers of fabric especially if you love quilting.

To start you will need:

25cm x 112cm of fabric

12.5cm x 112cm of batting/wadding ( I created a listing enough for 4 scarves)

Button (or a fabric button kit)

Sewing machine & thread!

Step 1: Cut out your fabric (Because I was making 2 scarfs I just used a half meter ($10) and cut it in half) fold it in half  (right side to right side) so you have a 12.5cm x 112cm strip and pin your batting right through all layers.

Step 2: Sew all the way around using 1/2 inch seam allowance and leaving a gap large enough to fit your  hand through. Make the gap in the middle of the long side it is easier to reach each end for turning later. I also sewed right down the other side (that was folded) to secure the batting.

Step 3: Turn inside out and push out the corners (also a fun time to make a sock monster with your hand to scare your children ;))

Step 4: Now that your scarf is complete it is time to make a self cover button 

Place fabric face down on top of red tool

Place silver top on top of fabric, place yellow tool on top 

                             

Push down the silver top until the fabric starts to curl tuck excess fabric in 

Place clear bottom on top of fabric, using yellow tool push down quite hard

Fold the red tool backwards to pop out the button

Step 5: Sewing a button hole using your button hole foot:

Now all machines are different but this is how my button hole foot works on the Singer Futura CE 250 model. It is worth getting to know how yours works as it saves a stack of time!

Mark the space on your fabric with an  "I" shape (mine was 30cm from the bottom)

 

Pop your button in the space provided at the back of the foot and make sure it is nice and snug. Attach your foot to your machine. Pull down the button hole tab (seen on the left photo 2) and push the foot as far back as you can so that the orange maker is next to middle of your foot. (where the hole is)

Make sure the red mark on the foot is at the bottom of your "I" mark on your fabric. My machine sews backwards from that mark. Select your button hole stitch and watch as it sews the perfect hole for you!

Make a small hole in the middle of the button hole with your seam ripper and cut the rest with a small sharp scissors

Step 6: Sew your button into place (my button & hole were 30cm from the bottom of the scarf) If in doubt put it around your own neck, it is surprising how similar everyone's necks are! 

And there you have it, two warm boys! 

I would love to see how yours turn out! Please share on Facbeook or against the fabric you use from our store by uploading your images. I would especially like to see come girly ones with ribbons & lace!