Sewing » Radcrafter

6 Easy Sewing Skirt Tutorials for Girls

Aug 192012

My littlest one starts Kindergarten next week and although she has a ton of clothes that have been handed down to her from older friends and cousins, it’s always fun to let her pick out some fun fabrics and create something unique. She’s big into skirts and loves them all from your frilly, ruffled girly girl skirts to your more tailored, formal, dress-up skirts. So below are a few of my favorite skirt tutorials that I found recently (including one super cute baby skirt tutorial) that are all easy to sew and include great tutorials.

Oilily Shaza Skirt Tutorial (Knockoff) from the Sewing Dork

Great tutorial and love the skirt!

Rainbow Ruffle Skirt Tutorial from the Meaningful Mama

Great for sewing beginners and so cute!

Pleated Bubble Skirt Tutorial from See Kate Sew

I love the look with the pleats running along the bottom.

Little Baby Circle Skirt from Dana Made It

Makes me wish I had a little one to sew some of these!

Super easy skirt tutorial from All’s Well, DL

These are like crazy simple to sew. Great for beginners!

Quicky A-Line skirt tutorial from Sugar City Journal

I’m so making some of these for my daughter this school year!

Bohemian Skirt Tutorial from Riley Blake Designs

Love this skirt and the tutorial includes lots of great pictures.

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The Pouf/Bean Bag Part Deux and Mini Tutorial

Sewing, Simple DIY Projects, Tutorials 4 Responses »

Apr 132012

About a month ago I shared a post about my venture into pouf making, you can read about it here. My daughter was in love with the finished bag and carried it with her from room to room. All was well, except for the fabric used for the exterior of the bag. It was this soft, stretchy panne and the give in fabric really kept the bag from maintaining any shape other than a flat pancake when used regularly.

Exhibit A:

Not too pretty, huh. I left it alone until I couldn’t stand to look at the poor misshapen thing any longer and decided to replace the cover. My only debate was whether or not to purchase something or try to find something I already had on hand. I just so happened to have purchased some beautiful home decor prints and seriously considered recovering it in one of those, but then remembered that she does everything on this pouf, including eating snacks and sometimes meals. My daughter is not a neat at anything she does be it coloring to eating, so the thought of ruining the beautiful fabric within minutes kept me thinking of other possibilities. And, then I had one of those “Aha!” moments and remembered that I had a cotton canvas drop cloth (previously used as a backdrop for photos) & some purple iDye (purchased earlier for another project, but never used). Decision made…dye the canvas purple and use it to recover the pouf.

The canvas was dyed purple without any issue. I just followed all the directions inside the little pouch. After it was washed and dried, I went to work on recreating the pouf with a few minor changes. First, I wanted something a little smaller because my daughter lugged this everywhere and getting it up and down the stairs was sometimes a challenge for her. Second, I wanted to create one band to create the side of the pouf versus the four individual sides on the current bag.

So below you’ll see two 23 1/4″ squares along with a 90″ L x 14 ” H piece. The drop cloth was only 90″ in total length, so that also played a factor in determining the overall size of the bag. I cut everything on the floor just because it was easier than trying to wrangle the large drop cloth onto my cutting table.

Now to assemble the pouf, I used my ruler and white marking pencil to make the first tick about 13″ in from the end. From that first mark I measured out 23 1/4″ inches and marked again and again until left with about 13″ inches on the opposite end. Repeat on the other side.

Now I matched up a corner of the top of the pouf to the first tick mark on the side and began sewing about 5/8″ from the end.

You can see I stopped about 5/8″ inches from the end. I did this to allow room for the other side. If you stitch all the way across, you have no way to create your corner.

In order to make the corner, I clipped at an angle almost to my stitching. This allows me make the turn with my band of fabric. Without the clipping it is really difficult to line up the fabric properly.

Then, I lined up the band to the next side of the top and matched the end of the top to the next tick mark on band. Repeat steps from above. I had some sides line up better than others, but I just made the adjustment at the corners. A tiny bit of overlap at a corner isn’t going to be noticed (at least not by my 4 year old ). I also clipped the excess fabric off at each corner. The extra fabric will make the corner bunch when turned right side out.

This process was just repeated over and over until both the top and bottom were completely attached to the side band. There was a large opening along the backside, where the two shorter ends met in the middle. Perfect for turning and stuffing the pouf liner inside.

Let the stuffing begin! I worked up a sweat getting the large stuffed liner inside it’s new home, but when it was done I was excited about the change in appearance almost immediately. The canvas is definitely thicker and more capable of maintaining the square shape. After the stuffing was complete, I slipstitched the opening by hand using purple thread. The double stitching was already there as it was the stitching around the edges of the drop cloth originally. It didn’t dye with the rest of the fabric, so I’m guessing it is nylon (dye was for cotton only). You can ignore the loose threads, I pulled those out later.

That’s it. New cover now completed and thoroughly tested. My daughter has brought it up and down the stairs numerous times, jumped on it and even shared a brief tug-of-war over it with her brother. All the while it managed to keep the shape you see below. Yay! No more flat pancake.

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DIY Basket Weave Ribbon Christmas Stocking Tutorial

Christmas, Sewing, Tutorials 4 Responses »

Dec 082011

I did it. Oh yeah, I can cross hang the Christmas stockings off the checklist. Yay! For those of you who read this little blog, you know I mentioned previously that this was a major TO-DO on the Christmas checklist this year. If you’re just checking in, you can read more about that here. And, after lots of online oogling and book skimming (I’m always reading crafting, decorating books, etc) it finally came to me. My idea was to merge a simple stocking pattern found online with a basket weave pillow design that I discovered in an old Martha Stewart decorating book.

These stockings are lined, only require a few supplies and require minimum sewing skills to create.

Here’s what you’ll need:

2 rolls of ribbon. I used 30 ft rolls of 1.5″ w ribbon and had some leftover from each, including the silver which was used on both stockings.
1/2 yard of fabric (this will be the back and the lining).
Stocking pattern/template – The one used in this project can be found here (thank you, Simply Notable!) and it’s free to download.
Small piece of fusible interfacing – 13″ w x 18″ L

First, cut the ribbon into strips. You’ll need 10 – 13″ long pieces in one color and 7 – 18″ long pieces in the contrasting color. If you decide to use a different width of ribbon, you may need more or less. Also, I used wired ribbon, but not by choice. The kids wanted something with sparkle and we couldn’t find anything in the regular ribbon area, so after a little more searching we found this sparkly wired ribbon in the Christmas section.

Place the interfacing shiny side up, so that the fusing will adhere to the ribbon when it’s time to iron in place. Take the short pieces of ribbon and pin along the long edge of the interfacing. Keep the sides touching of each piece as you work your way up the edge.

Once all the short pieces are pinned in place, take one long strip and start weaving it through. It works well to pin at the starting point so you can create a nice tight weave.

Keep weaving until the entire piece of interfacing is covered. Remember to keep everything as tight as possible and keep adjusting the pieces as necessary. A completed piece should look something like this…

Once all the ribbon is in place, it’s time to iron the fusing in place. The ribbon you’ve selected may be heat sensitive so keep that in mind before you slam the hot iron down. Carefully flip the piece interfacing side up and iron in place. Be sure to adjust any pieces that may have slipped or moved while flipping. Mine was fairly stiff even before fusing to the interfacing, but I’m sure the wire had something to do with that. You may want to pin in several places along the edge to keep everything together, if you are worried about too much shifting during the flip.

Now it’s time to cut all the necessary stocking pieces. Position the pattern piece over the weaved ribbon (pin, if necessary) and then cut. Now using the same pattern piece cut 3 more from the fabric. One will be used for the back of the stocking and the other two will be used for the lining. Another option would be to use contrasting fabrics.

Match the back of the stocking to the front (ribbon), right sides together. Stitch a 1/4″ seam from the top of one side all the way around. Repeat with the two lining pieces, except stop about midway along the longest side and leave an opening, then finish stitching to the top of the side. You’ll see the opening in the picture below. *If using wired ribbon just sew carefully and be sure the needle dodges all the tiny wires. I thought it was going to be more of a challenge, but both stockings went together easily.

Turn the stocking right side out and adjust any ribbon that may have shifted during the turning. To create the loop for hanging your stocking cut a 10″ piece of ribbon, fold in half lengthwise and stitch. Now fold the length in half and stitch it to the stocking along the back seam.

Slide the right side out stocking into the lining (still wrong side out) so that the right sides are touching. Match up the two pieces at the seams and pin in place. Stitch a 5/8″ seam around the top.

Once the two pieces are sewn together along the top, use the opening left in the lining to pull the outside of the stocking through. The weaving may get a little wrinkled during this but it can all be smoothed out easily. After the outside of the stocking is pulled through, sew the opening in the lining shut and push the lining into the interior of the stocking. Top stitch a 1/4″ seam along the top of the stocking.

The ribbon Christmas stocking is now complete…

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Fabric Organizer Bin (aka Diaper Caddy) – Sewing Tutorial and Free Pattern Download

Sewing 36 Responses »

Nov 012011

These little bins are fairly easy to sew and I would definitely recommend to any sewing novice. The fabric storage bins are very popular at the moment and I recently sewed one for a baby shower, which then resulted in sewing a few more to offer up in a giveaway. Knowing I wanted to write up a tutorial to share, I was a good girl and snapped the necessary pictures while working on the first one. And, then that’s were it sat for the past couple of weeks, while I worked up the energy to create the pattern pieces (my least favorite part). Today is one of those ‘get it done’ days, so pattern pieces have finally been created. Yay!

Here’s how to create your own fabric organizer bin. The fabric length recommendation below is generous and it is very possible to create a bin with less fabric, but this will allow for any mishaps that may occur.

You’ll need:

1/2 Yard of Fabric (home decor weight recommending, but if you use a lighter weight cotton be sure to use interfacing)

1/2 Yard of Lining

Mid- Weight Interfacing – small amount for the handles and optional for the body of the bin.

Peltex One Sided Fusible – Very stiff interfacing. Pattern pieces not included. You’ll need one piece 9″ x 5.5″ and two pieces @ 15″ x 7″.

Pattern pieces – Available for download at the bottom of the post.

After the templates have been printed out and the pattern pieces created, you cut everything necessary for the fabric bin. I like to create my pattern pieces out of cardstock or posterboard, but for the trial run you may want to go with regular paper just in case you decide to make any adjustments.

Start with the handles. Iron the mid-weight interfacing to the back of your handle pieces. Fold each piece in half lengthwise, iron well. Then open and fold/iron each side to meet the middle crease line.

Now top stitch each side of the strap close to edge. Set the handles aside.

Move onto prepping the body and lining bottom. First, center and iron the one sided fusible Peltex to each fabric body piece (but not the bottom piece). The fusible interfacing comes with directions on how to apply to fabric. I usually position it on the back side of the fabric, hold in place, then flip right side up and finally iron in place. Now use the remaining Peltex piece for the lining bottom. Repeat the sames steps as you used for the body pieces. When completed you should have the stiff interfacing applied to the back of each piece of the boy fabric & one smaller piece applied to the backside of the bottom lining piece.

Once everything is prepped you can begin assembly. Both the lining and the exterior of the bin are assembled exactly the same, so only the assembly of the lining is shown. Match the bottom lining piece to the bottom of one body piece, right sides together. Stitch 5/8″ seam. Repeat for other body piece, but leave an opening in the center for turning.

Now topstitch along bottom, with seam allowance towards the bottom. Remember not to topstitch the opening. The topstitching is really optional. Your bag will still function properly without the topstitching. It just gives the bin a more finished look. **When stitching the exterior fabric for the body, you do not leave an opening. Both seams along the bottom are sewn completely from one side to the other.

Match up sides, right sides together and then stitch a 5/8″ seam on each side. Press your seam allowance to one side and then topstitch. Pic below shows the topstitching, after the sides were stitched together.

Match the seam on the sides to the center of the bottom piece. I usually eyeball this, but if you aren’t sure you can always mark the center of the bottom before assembly. This will make it easy to match up after pieces have been stitched together.. Stitch a 5/8″ seam.

Trim seam allowance down to about 1/4″. This helps eliminate some of the bulk and define the shape of the bin when everything is turned right side out.

This is a completed lining and body sitting side by side.

It’s time to attach the handles. Pin each so that the inside edge of the handle is 1 1/4″ from the side seam. Stitch in place. Sew approx. 1/4″ seam. I usually stitch in a zig zag pattern to reinforce the handles.

With the handles sewn to the exterior of the bin, its time to attach the lining to the body. Set the exterior of the bin inside the lining, right sides together. Match and pin at the side seams.

Starting at one side seam stitch all the way around the bin.

Once the stitching is complete, turn the bag right side out using the opening in the lining bottom. Double check all your work and be sure everything looks good before stitching the opening closed. The last step is to topstitch around the top of the fabric bin. It’s usually a good idea to iron all around the top so that all the fabric is smoothed out before sewing. The topstitching also helps keep the lining sitting nicely inside the bin.

You’re done. The finished bin should look very similar in shape to the one above. The handle pattern piece included is shorter than what you see on this bin, so you’re finished bin should have slightly shorter handles. The Peltex is incredibly stiff and keeps the bin standing all on it’s own. The are perfect for storing diapers, dvds, toys, books, doll clothes, dolls, toy cars…..

Click on the image below to print out the fabric bin organizer templates. The pages need to print out at 100% to ensure the proper size and you’ll also want the smallest margins possible. A finished bin should measure approx. 9″ L (side to side) x 6″ D x 7″ H.

Sharing my tutorial at these parties…

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Camera Strap Slipcover – Tutorial

Sewing No Responses »

Oct 112011

This is a super easy & simple camera strap cover. Very little sewing required. Anyone will basic sewing skills can do this one easy peezy. All you need is some fusible interfacing, fabric & a good iron. Seriously, that’s it.

This is probably the trickiest part of the whole process, determining the necessary width of the slipcover. First, measure the width of your strap. Be sure that you measure at the widest point (usually the leather tabs) even if you don’t intend for the slipcover to actually cover that point. The completed slipcover must be able to slide over that point or all your work will be for naught. The strap in my tutorial measures 1.5″ inches wide, so my slipcover is going to be 2″ inches wide. This allows room for the thickness of the strap & for the top stitching on either side (you’ll see that later). I like the slipcover to be a tight fit to prevent slipping once in place, but you can always go wider (this will make it easier to slide on).

VERY IMPORTANT – Cut the fabric piece 4x times the width of your finished camera strap slipcover. So for my 2″ wide slipcover, the fabric is cut to 8″ inches wide. You want the cut length to be a few inches longer than your finished length. The area I want to cover is 23″ L, so my fabric is cut to around 26″ inches in length. This doesn’t have to be exact. But it’s better to go longer vs shorter. You can always cut it down to length, but you can’t add that fabric back on.

Cut the fusible interfacing piece to the actual width & length of the area to be covered. For the sample, that would be 23″ L x 1.5″ W. This may have to be adjusted slightly later on.

Once everything is cut you’re ready to start the first bit of ironing…fold over about a half inch, iron & then another half inch & iron again. After completing one end, measure from the end you just ironed to about an inch past the length of the desired finished length. So for my 23″ L slipcover, I’m going to measure out to 24″ & then cut off any excess. Repeat the fold & iron steps from above. Adjust your folds slightly, if necessary, to give you the proper length. Both ends should look like the image below & the length of your piece should now be the finished length. This one now measures 23″ total.

Now fold the piece in half down the long side. Iron. This needs to be a clean, crisp line. Be sure to line up the ends.

Unfold the long piece & then fold one side in towards the middle stopping at the center line. Iron. Repeat on the other side. It’s important to keep the ends matched up as you go along or your final product will not line up properly in the end.

Now you finally do a little sewing…stitch through all layers close to the edge & then stitch again about a 1/2″ in. Once again be sure you keep all your ends lined up neatly. This stitching will keep everything in place. You can always pin before stitching if you are worried about the fabric shifting.

Now it’s time to insert the interfacing inside the strap. It can go on either side, just be sure it lays nice and smooth. Trim the length as necessary. Now fold the strap down the center line. Flip the strap, if necessary, so that the fusible side of your interfacing is face up. Iron it in place.

The last step in assembly is to top stitch the slipcover closed & then repeat on the other side. You may want to pin along the length to keep everything in place as you stitch it closed. Be sure to match up your ends…have I stressed that enough !