Pages

Saturday 21 February 2015

DIY Set of Coasters on a Ring - Ho, Ho, Ho and on We Sew Linky Party with giveaway

I'm joining the Ho, Ho, Ho and on We Sew Linky Party this month over at Threading My Way, where Pam has a lovely tutorial for making reusable drawstring gift bags. I love this idea: no waste here, you keep the wrapping too! Pam has a great site full of tutorials and they are very well sorted. So if you're looking for an idea for a present or for yourself, this is a really good place to look!



I thought I'd transform some log cabin blocks into a set of coasters as a present for Christmas. A big ring keeps the coasters together when you're not using them and you can use it to hang them up on a hook in the kitchen as a decoration.


From the 18th of each month this year you can join the Ho, Ho, Ho and on We Sew Linky Party, organised by Fiona at Celtic Thistle Stitiches and Paula at Mud, pies and pins. It's a great way to keep up with our Christmas sewing. Giveaways for the linky parties are the cherries on top! 

Celtic Thistle Stitches

So happy to have met my Lovely Year of Finishes goal I set at the beginning of the month too (with my Flickr foto, entry 125) with this set of Log Cabin Coasters! This is a finish that means a lot to me, after an unsuccessful January goal. I've warmed up now and am ready for more ALYOFs!

A Lovely Year of Finishes is at Fiber of All Sorts and Sew Bittersweet Designs.

A Lovely Year of Finishes

We are also joining this year's Finish-Along at Adrianne's On the Windy Side with our Set of Coasters on a Ring. Our original list for Q1 is here. We've ticked off two now!

2015 FAL at On the Windy Side


Follow on Bloglovin




Sunday 15 February 2015

Lucky (and useful) Sunday Stash

I owe my Sunday Stash to the generosity of Pat at Life in the Scrapatch. I was so lucky to win her giveaway which was supposed to be the tree panel by Tracy Lizotte for Elizabeth Studio. Supposed to be because she surprised me by adding an extra panel with Tracy's incredible drawings of birds and nests. Thank you so much Pat!




This fabric is going to come in very handy because I'm joining the Tree Bird Blog Hop in March, organised by Sew We Quilt and with cheerleader Lana at It Seams To Be Sew. The theme fabric is this special Beautiful Bird collection


I also have a new sewing accessory! Oh no, not another pin cushion?! Yes, it's a "Wrist Pinny", a magnetic wrist pin caddy. I swear I haven't got one of these. It should be very useful because I sew upstairs in the "Little Room" but when I need space I have to go downstairs to the kitchen. My pins always seem to be in the wrong place when I'm going from one room to the other! This caddy should help solve part of my "going up and down stairs because I'm forgetful" problem!


Linking up with the always sparkling Molli: go and take a look at Molli's shiny posh Sunday stash!

Follow on Bloglovin



Saturday 14 February 2015

How to make a Folding Envelope Heart Mug Rug - Tutorial

How about a Mug Rug you can fold up into an envelope? Slip a tea bag inside and you have a fun present or a special way to lay the table for a tea party!
We came up with this idea thanks to Ombretta at A Sunday morning with. A few days ago she posted free printables to make paper heart shaped envelopes. We decided to use her template to make a fabric Folding Heart Rug Mug. Ombretta kindly accepted to let us write a tutorial linking to her free printable.

So here's an easy tutorial for making a Folding Heart Mug Rug:

Heart Mug Rug


Folded Heart Mug Rug


Here is what you will need to make the Folding Heart Mug Rug:
  • Download a Heart shaped envelope to use as a template from A Sunday morning with (thank you Ombretta for the download!).
  • Two fabrics for the front of the Mug Rug (one is for the "flap"of the envelope);
  • Fabric for the back of the Mug Rug
  • Cotton Batting
  • Two heart shaped buttons
  • Elastic ribbon

To start, print a Heart shaped envelope from A Sunday morning with, enlarging by 20%.  Use the heart shaped envelope as a template to trace the heart shape on the fabric for the front of the mug rug.




The fabric for the "flap" of the envelope should be 2.5" high (higher than in the template because it's been enlarged by 20%). Leave the "flap" fabric wider than needed. Sew the two fabrics for the front together using a 1/4 inch seam allowance. Iron the seam open. Now, using the template, cut off the excess "flap" fabric.



Cut the fabric for the back of the Heart Mug Rug using the template. Place the pieced fabric for the front of the mug rug onto the fabric for the back, right sides together. Now place on top of the batting. Sew around the edge leaving an opening for turning. 



Cut off the excess batting and then cut little notches along the seam allowance, in particular on the curves and at the top centre of the heart. Trim the point of the heart. Turn right side out through the opening and iron.


Top stitch around the whole heart. Following the guide lines on the template for folding the heart into an envelope, sew three lines. You can use a piece of washi tape (see the not very good photo above!) as a guide for sewing the line in exactly the right position.


Check the position of the buttons and then sew one button at the centre top of the heart, placing the elastic ribbon underneath before sewing into place. Then sew the second button near the point of the heart.




And here is a fun Folding Heart Mug Rug, you can carry in your bag, hang up as a decoration, or make as a present for a special friend!

Thank you Ombretta at A Sunday morning with for inspiring this Heart Mug Rug and being so nice letting us link to your download. Don't miss Ombretta's blog because she has beautiful ideas and lots of free downloads.

Follow on Bloglovin


Linky Party 2015