Fast and Easy Seat Cushion

      Ok, here it goes ....a fast and easy to sew seat cushion for the porch. There are lots of ways to do this. You could add piping etc, but it would be helpful to have some sewing experience for that. I think a beginner could sew this.
      First measure the size of your old cushion from seam to seam.. Does it have sides? or is it like a stuffed pillow? If it has side pieces then you will also need to add the 3.5" to Length and width. If you dont have an old one to cover then buy your stuffing and stuff it. If your going to make your own and stuff it, then measure length and width needed to fit seat. Add 3.5" to compensate for drop caused by boxing the corners and seam allowances..
      Cut two pieces. Now you could just use the exact measurements, 1" seam allowance and just sew it up without boxing corners, leaving about 8" to stuff it, turn right side out, and sew the opening closed. I like the look of the boxed corners.So here are the instructions:
1. Place right sides together and pin.
2. starting on long side of back of cushion about a foot from the corner, sewing it around. If your stuffing,  
    leave about 8" opening. If your stuffing your old cushion inside then leave about 15" opening.
3. Now to box the corners:

Flatten corners so that side seams lay on top of each other. The beige fabric is my underside, drop cloth fabric. the blue is the top. Pin.

Now measure down from corner 2.5" on each side and mark.

Now do the same thing to other side.

Now lay your ruler across from mark to mark and draw a line.

Sew across this line. Trim off excess corner leaving 1/2" seam allowance.

Turn right side out and poke out corners.Once you get your old cushion in or get it stuffed, sew the opening shut.

This is a great beginner project. especially if you used all drop cloth since it is so cheap.

New Found Love of Drop Cloth

     Recently I decided i was going to give my front much a much needed make-over. It has always been kinda drab. No new furniture, no pillows to add pops of color except a couple of old cushions I had bought years ago. Even those have seen better days. Our porch faces South West and gets bright, HOT sun all day from noon on. Even tho it has a roof, it almost always is too hot to sit out there and enjoy it.
     So I decided to buckle down and get to work. I started researching ways I could block the sun from cooking us when we were on the porch. I seen picture after picture of curtains hung on a porch, and fell in love.Look HERE and HERE. They looked so lovely and romantic billowing in the wind. I also read many people were already enjoying the virtues of  Drop Cloth. Most of the pics I seen of outdoor curtains were done with drop cloths. I always thought drop cloth was probably just a cheap sheeting of some kind to use while painting a throw away. I have never seen them in person. After enjoying these lovely photo's, I went to Home Depot to buy my own. I bought the Everbilt brand that had two cloths 6x9 feet for around $10. I had every intention of making drapes to hand near my columns  on my porch. I washed and dried one package  and hung them up for inspection and trial run over a clothes line. Now I knew it wouldnt look that great draped over a string near my porch ceiling, but i was just testing it. My husband came out and looked at it, and immediately let out a "Hell No!" he absolutely did not want drapes on the front porch for all to see,lol. Well I decided to try to come up with a compromise since I still wanted to be able to use the porch . so back to the computer I went. After researching, I decided to make Roman shades for the porch. If mounted high up next the the ceiling on the inside, the foot high support beam would easily cover most of it while pulled up and then could easily be let down when needed. Plus the added benefit of being protected more from the sun and weather. Although I did read that someone said their curtains were going on 5 yrs old and still looked good. They just gave them a washing at the start of the season. Others also mentioned they sprayed theirs with a water protectant. Someone else even made a beautiful white slipcover for their couch from drop cloth by bleaching them. Look HERE. Drop cloth has a beautiful beige linen look, before bleaching. A nice weight similar to outdoor fabric.
    Well I have my four packages of drop cloth with 2 to a pack, I still have to buy some small metal rings and some 1" flat metal bars to weight the bottom of the blinds, and I am ready to go.
     Outdoor pillows right now at Joanns are $12 something for about a 16" pillow at 50% off. Outdoor fabric runs about $10 a yard with their current 50% off sale. with one yard of fabric at $10, I can make SIX 18" throw pillows if I back them with the drop cloth and make them reversible. Check out this sneak peek of my first pillows:

Check back often and follow my Front Porch Make-Over as I add tutorials for making  Roman shades, seat cushions and pillows for my porch. All using drop cloth and combos of beautifully printed outdoor fabric for pops of color. However, you can also paint your drop cloth to add stripes, stencils (which I plan on doing too) , or even dye it. I love this sturdy versatile and CHEAP fabric.
 

 
 

Western Style Handmade Homespun Kitchen Towel Tutorial

        I just finished this towel this morning, and I think it turned out pretty well. There are a few changes in measurements I have decided to make after seeing it. It went together really easy and quick. Use your own embroidery designs, or just stitch on a band of contrasting fabric instead. These would make great Christmas gifts as well. To purchase the machine embroidery design I used for this towel, then go to:
http://stitchthisdesigns.blogspot.com/2013/10/lost-horse-western-design.html

Go here to download towel topper pattern for free. Be sure your printed dimensions are approx 7 and 1/4" tall  x 5 and /8" wide at the widest point at the bottom.
DOWNLOAD TOPPER

Here is the tutorial for the towel.
1. cut desired fabric for the body of the towel 13" long, and 21" wide
2.Cut out 2 pieces for the towel topper. be sure and add in seam allowances to patern piece all the way around. Iron on stabilizer to one piece. This piece will be your TOP piece.. Cut a piece of velcro about 1" long and stitch onto top of topper, and on bottom about 1" up from folded edge of topper. Stitch these onto the TOP piece of topper only. be sure to center them.

3. Place topper pieces with right sides together. Stitch around, leaving bottom open. Clip curves, and turn right sides out. Press well.
4 Turn up edges on bottom towards inside and press well.

5. Cut decorative band 3" wide by 21" long. Stitch embroidery design in center, and fold over long edges approx 1/4" and press.
6. Place band on towel 3" up from bottom on towel, and stitch long edges down. press well again. Trim edges of band that meat sides of towel to same width of towel if needed.

7. With a narrow 1/4" hem, hem sides of towel (13" sides), and lower edge of towel. Leave top edge un-hemmed.
8. find center of towel and mark it at the top edge. Then measure over 3/4" from center, and then 3/4" over from that mark. Then do the same on the other side of center.

9. With back of towel facing you, Pinch up fabric at second mark and fold over to meet center. Fold should line up on 1st mark from center. Do the same with the opposite side. Pin well. ( pen in pic indicates center mark)

(these folds are shown from the TOP or RIGHT side of towel)

10. Now fold sides of towel over to back to meet in center. Form a pleat in each side as needed to make towel width same width as your topper. Pin in place.
11. Now slip upper edge of towel into bottom of topper. Pin and stitch all the way around edges  of topper.

(the above pic shows pleat from the back side)

Notice velcro side of topper is on the right side of towel, same side as decorative band.

Enjoy!

Little Crochet Acorns

My daughter showed me a pic of some crochet acorn's that she found on the computer tonight. She fell in love with them, and wanted some. She asked if I could make them. well a couple hours later while watching a Christmas show on TV, this is what i came up with:

They work up very quickly and easily. here is basically how i did them.

1. Ch 2, 4 sc in first ch , join to first sc and ch 1

2. Sc in same joining space, and sc in same space again. Continue with 2 sc in each sc of row below.Join,

    ch 1

3. Sc in same joining space, and sc in same space again. 2 sc in each sc of row below. Join, and ch 1

4. Sc  in each sc in row below. Join, ch 1 . Repeat this row 6 more times. Tie off.

5. Now for the cap. Ch 17, and join. Make sure this loop will fit around the top of your acorn. if it doesnt 

     easily, separate and add or subtract a chain. Ch 1

6. Sc in each ch, join, and ch 1. repeat this row once more.

7. Skip next sc and sc in next one. Skip one sc, and sc in the next. Continue around , not joining, just 

     working in a spiral.

8.Continue  step 7 until you reach the very tip, and creat a little nub at the top, cut, and pull end thru loop.

9. Put a little bit of glue around the inside edge of cap. Stuff acorn, and push cap on and let dry.

Wouldnt these look adorable strung on twine to form garland and hung on the tree, or mantle? Or how about filling a little basket or bowl?Or even in a small nest and placed on the tree?

How To Make a Badge For Your Blog

       If you visit many blogs, you will notice a LOT are adding badges to represent their blog with special code listed below it. This ever popular and growing trend is to allow the reader to copy the code and paste it into their own blog. This allows their readers to click on this badge and visit that block. Gradually increasing your reader base.
      The popular "Linky Parties" are a good place for these. Host a party and virtual party goers can share your badge . I am still learning about this side of blogging, and considering hosting my own someday soon.
      While considering these parties, I was trying to figure out how to get this badge with its grab code to show up on my blog. I tried several different HTML codes from several different sites, and nothing worked.That is until I stumbled upon "My Cool Realm". This site should be considered "Badges For Dummies" It couldnt have been made any easier. Just follow the steps listed to add in your blog address, url for our badge, and your website title. It worked... just look at mine on my sidebar. Here are the steps to make yours:

1. Design your badge. Most sites recommend a badge no bigger than 125 pixels x 125 pixels to easily fit others sidebar. Some say no more than 200 pixels. I found 200 a little large for my sidebar. But 125 seemed way to small for my old eyes to read, so mine is 150 pixels square.

2. Once this badge is designed, you will need some place to store it. I have read of a few different places, but photobucket seemed to be the most popular and easiest. So upload your badge.

3. Now while on photobucket, when it is uploaded you will see the pic show up below the upload box. Click on this to go to the image. On this page you will see a box to the right that looks like this:

see the box below the black box on the right? There is some URL's and HTML listed in the boxes. Click in the second box that is labeled " direct link". This will automatically copy the address for  your badge. 

4.Now go to mycoolrealm, and fill in the blanks. This address you just copied gets pasted into the box labeled: "Your Image URL". 

5. There are soem settings listed for colors and code box options below . I didnt mess with these, just left the default values, and my badge showed up just like I wanted, but feel free to experiment. You can easily re-do it if its not the way you want.

6. Now click "preview". This brings a pop-up box with your badge and a box that says something like "grab code" or similar. Click This.

7. Now this box disappears and at the bottom of the original page is a box with all your precious HTML coding to make your very own Grab Button.  Just click on "select" below this and it highlights your code. Now right click over this, and left click "copy", now we go to your blog.

8. I use blogger, so I am not real familiar with how the other blogs work. On blogger, go to "design" at the top of your blog. then to "layout". Now "add a widget" in your desired spot. Most use the sidebar. I have seen a few at the bottom.

9. Click on the tab to add HTML, and paste your code in here. be sure and click "SAVE", and your  done.

Check out your handiwork, and celebrate. A little cheering, a little dancing. Be careful....dont hurt yourself  :)

Sew Easy Method for Lining a Tote....Perfectly

        Ever make a beautiful tote bag to have it ruined by a lining that was not a perfect fit? You try to tops stitch the opening, just to have one side or the other bunch up because they dont match. You try and try, but your seam allowances just arent perfectly the same on both the tote and the lining.
        Sounds like I have some first hand experience huh. Who me? Never..........well, more times than I care to admit.
        Today, while trying to put together a quick tote for my granddaughter, I decided to try a shortcut. I have never done this before, nor seen it anywhere else, but believe me....I will be doing it again.  I didnt take pics along the way, simply cause I figured I would be ripping it out. But I did create a quickie tutorial using paint. If you have any questions, dont hesitate to leave a comment below.

When you decide on your bag dimensions, then add a little extra for thickness of your depth of bag. For example if you want to hold a book that is 1" thick, then we need to make sure the bag will have a 1" bottom, and still be the dimensions you wanted. So if you wanted your bag 10" wide, then add 1/2" to each sides width (A)

To figure the height of bag (1/2 of B), if you make the bottom 1" deep, then add this amount to B.

You can click on these pics to enlarge   

1. As indicated above, lay fabrics together with right sides facing together. stitch along edge A, leaving approximately 3" space for turning as indicated by red arrow. On the right edge, stitch clear down.

2. Now roll tube around, so seam lines are lined up against each other down the middle. Its best to have one seam facing one way and the other going in the opposite direction to kinda lock the seam lines together perfectly. Wrong sides are still facing out.

Now stitch the long edges as indicated by dotted lines.

3. Turn right sides out thru opening, and then slip lining INTO tote. Push corners down firmly into each other, turn back so lining is on the outside. Flatten corner so seam line goes down the middle

With corner flattened out so seam line runs right down the MIDDLE as indicated by black dotted line, figure out how thick you want your bag to be, depth of bag.

If you decide on thickness of bottom being 1", then lay ruler across red line, and slide down until red line measures 1". The distance down A and B should be equal. draw a line and stitch on this line (red line), These flaps will just fold over on the inside. Now turn back so outside of tote is back on the outside and lining on the inside. 

Add straps, and closures as desired.

TIP: you could sew the handles inside, between the layers when you do step 1.

German Lace Tutorial Series 3

      Well, its getting late, but I thought I would try and add a few more steps in. So here we go:

Now we are going to work our way back in the direction of the red arrow, beginning at the blue arrow.
Ch 3, dc in the first ch 1 space below. make a picot at the tip as you have done before. ch 1, dc in the next ch 1 space, and picot again. Ch 1, and repeat until you have completed 5 dc with picot's at the tip. End with ch 1. Do 12 dc into the next ch 7 space below, and ending at the tip of the red arrow.

Your piece should look like this.

Now ch 7 and turn. You will be working in the direction of the red arrow, beginning at the blue arrow.

dc in the 7th dc from the hook in the row below. ch 1, dc in the next dc, continue until you have 6 dc made, and with the dc. You will now be at the tip of the red arrow.

Now you will start at the blue arrow and work in the direction of the red arrow. Ch 3, and dc into first ch 1 space below. make a picot at the top, ch 1, then dc in next ch 1 space,picot and ch 1. Continue until you have 5 dc with picots, end with ch 1.

Complete 12 dc in ch 7 space below, and end at the tip of the red arrow.

Your piece now looks like the one above. 

THERE WILL BE AN OPTIONAL STEP HERE

Work the following part in black print, or skip this section and go immediately to the red print

According to the  chart above you will start at the blue arrow and work in the direction of the red arrow. 

Dc into the end of the 12 dc group as indicated by the green arrow. You may need to slide the group back a tad to make room. Then ch 2 and 3 dc back into ch 3 space between cluster group of row 4, ch 3, and 3 more dc in smae space to form another cluster group for row 5.

Your piece will look like this:

Note, I did not care for the way this last step layed. So I made a slight change. You can do it either way, But since we are also learning to read charts, I wanted to show you the way the chart indicated too. 

above in the chart method, you started with the 3 dc into the end of the 12 dc group as indicated by the red arrow in the green piece above. Instead, make this 3 dc group in the space indicated by the red arrow. No ch 2, and do 3 dc into ch 3 space between cluster group of row 4. Ch 3, and do 3 more dc in same space. Ch 3, sc into 3rd  ch of  row below. Ch 3 and do 3 dc into ch 3 space between cluster group of row 4 below. 3 more dc into same space. You have just completed row 5. 

I think this change makes it lay a little flatter, and a little nicer.

Now we will continue to follow the chart. Start at blue arrow, ch 4 and turn. Work in direction of red arrow. 3 dc into ch 3 space of cluster group below. Ch 3, 3 dc in same space. Ch 5 and 3 dc in ch 3 space of cluster group. Ch 3, 3 dc in same space. End at tip of red arrow.

According to chart above, ch 1 and ss into 7th dc of 12 dc group to right as indicated by red arrow. Ch 2, working in direction of blue arrow, 3 dc into ch3 space of cluster group. Ch 3, 3 dc back into same space. h 3, sc into 3rd chain below. Ch 3, 3 dc into ch 3 space of cluster group, ch 3, 3 dc back into same space. You have just completed row 7. 

This shows two repeats done. Tomorrow I will get a pic of just the first repeat in the blue. Congratulations, you are doing very well. You have gotten this far on a pretty complicated pattern. hang in there for the next series and you will learn how to join the first row of the next repeat to your last (8th) row.Then you will be able to start your next repeat, and make this baby as long as you need.

PS, The link for each series will be listed under the "Tutorials" tab above so you can easily go back and forth between them as you need.

German Lace Tutorial Series 2

   Well, I hope you werent too intimidated by series 1. Just keep at it, and reading the steps. It will click and you will have some beautiful lace to work with. Now for the next steps.

Beginning at the red arrow from previous steps, ch 3, and turn work to move in direction of blue arrow.

Now dc into first ch 1 space of row below. The circle at the tip of the dc symbol indicates you will make a picot at the tip of 5 dc. It is done as follows: ch 3, slip stitch (ss) back into top of last dc just completed.

Now dc into next ch 1 space, and make another picot. Contine until you have 5 dc with picot's as indicated by chart. Ch 1, and complete 12 dc into ch 7 space below. You will end at tip of blue arrow.

Your piece should look like the above pic. Click on it for a close-up view.

Now ch 7 beginning at blue arrow. Move in direction of red arrow, and dc into 7th dc of 12 dc group in row below. Dc into next dc, ch 1, dc in next dc, ch 1, and continue until you have completed 6 dc. End with 6th dc at tip of red arrow.

Now beginning at blue arrow in chart above, and moving in direction of red arrow, you will ch 3,and turn

Now you see the same pattern of 5 dc with picots at the tip again.

Dc in next ch 1 space below, ch 3, ss back into tip of previous dc completed, and ch 1, dc into next ch 1 space, picot, and repeat until you have 5 dc with picots. Ch 1, and 12 dc into ch 7 loop below, and end at tip of red arrow. Another segment completed.

Sorry for the blurred pic. I must have moved when I snapped. But your piece should look like this now. If not....its just thread....pull it out and practice again. Remember......Practice makes Perfect!

Beginning at blue arrow and working in direction of red arrow, ch 7, and dc into 7th dc from hook of previous row, ch 1, dc in next dc, and repeat until you have completed 6 dc with a ch 1 between. ending at tip of red arrow.

Your piece will now look like this.