Pretty Batik Pillows

I have recently been making more pillows and pillow covers to put on my Etsy Shop.  Since I mainly make accent pillows, I really like to use fabric that will stand out and add color to a room.  I really love the wonderful colors and designs of batik fabrics.  I also like that these fabrics are hand-dyed and a lot of time goes into making them unique.

The following fabrics caught my eye:

Both of these 2-piece pillow cover sets are for 16"x16" throw pillows and are for sale on my Etsy Shop.

Pinwheel Block

I have been hanging on to a beautiful collection of fabric since Christmas (when I received it for a gift from my mom) and I have been looking forward to making something with it.  The collection is a "Fat Quarter Bundle", which is great for making quilts, because it contains many different types of coordinating fabrics from the same fabric line.  The fat quarter bundle I have is called "Sand Dunes".  (I also purchased two other fabrics from the same line for the border and backing of the quilt.)  The fabrics are very bright and colorful - great for springtime.

While browsing the tutorials on Sew Mama Sew, I came across a tutorial on making a pinwheel quilt.  I really liked the fun bright look of the quilt, so I decided to start making one.  The first thing was to start with cutting the triangles to form the block.  It is amazing how much time of the quilting process is dedicated to preparing the materials (such as cutting and pressing).  First, I cut two   8 1/4" squares - one white (or beige) square and one square of a medium/dark fabric.  Then, I cut them in half diagonally twice to form 4 triangles in each square.

Next, I picked two light-medium fabrics and cut two different 7 7/8 " squares.  Then, I cut these squares in half diagonally once.  These will be larger triangles than the first set. 

Then, I arranged all the triangles to form a pinwheel:

Using a 1/4" seam allowance, I started by sewing the smallest triangles together (white to blue).  Then, I sewed those to the larger triangles.  I ended up with 4 little squares that look like this:

Then, I took those 4 squares and sewed them together to form this pinwheel block:

At the end, I should have 12 of these blocks (3 x 4) with borders and sashing in between each block.  Each block will vary with different combinations of fabric.



Jersey-licious

I have been looking forward to making some jersey skirts for quite some time now.  They are extremely comfortable and can be dressed up or dressed down.  However, it is very difficult to find garment fabric in my area.  After looking at three local fabric stores, I knew that I would have to travel in order to find some.  Luckily I work near Gastonia, home of Mary Jo’s Cloth Store.  The other day, my colleagues and I took a trip to Mary Jo’s after eating lunch.  Although I was a little overwhelmed at the selection, I found some lime green and bright blue jersey fabric.  I also found a good website for ordering garment fabrics, and I went a little crazy.  Here are all the jersey fabrics I bought in the last few days:

Here is the lime green cotton jersey skirt:

Waistband:

Below is a picture of the waistband folded over.  (When you make the waistband, it is best to make it pretty tall so you can fold it in half.)

Finished Product:

I chose to leave the edges at the bottom without a hem, because I like the way it hangs.  I have read that this type of fabric doesn't unravel, so it shouldn't need a hem.  I may choose to sew one in the future.  Now, on to some more colors! 

Re-purposed Polo Shirt Skirt

I have been on-the-lookout for some pretty fabric to make a skirt.  Originally, I was trying to find some cotton jersey (stretch) fabric in order to make a long maxi skirt.  However, the local fabric stores don't have much of a selection of that type of fabric.  So, until I can make a trip to Mary Jo's (a large cloth store in Gastonia), I decided to look for some material around the house.

My husband had recently cleaned out his closet and put aside some clothes he no longer wore.  After investigating, I found a pretty green polo shirt.  I just loved the color, so I decided to try and use it.  Because a shirt does not give you a whole lot of fabric to work with, I had to make the skirt about knee-length instead of the maxi skirt length I had in mind.  I started by cutting the biggest rectangular piece I could out of the shirt.  Since the sides were already sewed together with hems at the bottom, it cut out a lot of extra work!

The next task was to try to salvage as much fabric as possible from the remaining back side of the shirt in order to make the waistband.  I cut two small rectangles and sewed them together at each end to form a tube.  Then I folded the tube in half lengthwise and stitched the rough edges together to form a finished waistband.

I took the main skirt piece and straight-stitched around the rough edges.  (This is a temporary stitch, so I didn't backstitch at the end.)  Then, I pulled on the bobbin thread at the back in order to create "gathers" in the skirt. 

After I was satisfied with the amount of gathering, I pinned the rough edges of the waistband to the rough edges of the skirt.  Using a zig-zag stitch, I stitched the pieces together.  After that, the only thing left to do was take out the temporary stitch used to gather the fabric. 

And here is my re-purposed polo shirt skirt.  It only took a few hours!

 

Finished Duvet!

After I finally found a place to stretch out the duvet in order to pin it (my parents' dining room), the process started moving along quickly. 

When I finished sewing the duvet, I realized that one of the issues I was concerned about had to be dealt with.  I needed to attach the back flap to the front in some way.  Some options were buttons, a zipper, or ties.  After some deliberation, I decided to make ties with the same black patterned fabric I used on the duvet.  (I thought this would blend in better.)  I remembered reading about a creative idea for ties in my friend Megan's blog, Textile Love.  Since Megan is such an experienced sewer, I contacted her to get the exact details on how to make them. 

I attached them to the back flap and the top about every 12 inches.  They are attached in such a way that they are not very noticeable from the front.

The pillow shams were next.  (At this point, I was just ready to be done!)  I made them out of a coordinating gray fabric and finished them with french seams for durability.  Here is a picture of all the pillows:

When I made the duvet, I had always planned on the patchwork stripes running horizontally.  But, after I put it on the bed, I decided I might like how it looks better with the stripes running vertically.  (The good thing about this queen-sized duvet is that it is square, so you can flip it either way.)  I can't decide.  What do you think?

Well, I am glad to be done!  I hope my sister likes it!

Throw Pillows for the Duvet

I ran into a road block while finishing off the duvet cover.  The queen-sized duvet cover was so large, I didn't have a good place to spread it out and pin on the back cover.  While I attempted to lay it out on the floor in my hall, I didn't have enough room to stretch out the wrinkles.  So, I decided to work on another part of the project before finding a place to pin the duvet. 

I started on the matching pillowcases.  While my sister already decided on a gray fabric for the standard pillow shams, it took me awhile to come up with a layout I liked for the throw pillows.  I wanted to include elements that were in the duvet itself.  I put the floral fabric in a centered rectangle with thin pink and green borders.  However, I couldn't decide what fabric to use for the majority of the throw pillow.  I was trying to decide between the blue fabric and the black polka-dot fabric.



I finally decided to use a combination.  The main fabric was the black polka-dot fabric, with small side borders of blue fabric.  (Another factor in my decision, was that I had more polka-dot fabric.)   I used a white fabric for the envelope back cover.

Throughout this project, I have learned a lot about ways to conserve fabric.  For example, I only had thin strips of the floral fabric.  I had to sew two small strips together to form the center rectangle.  Although I couldn't match the patterns together exactly, I tried to make it as "seamless" as I could.  My supply of pink and green fabric was also fairly low, so I could only do thin borders with them.

Working on the Duvet...

Well, I am finally making progress on the duvet cover for my sister.  After some delay, I am starting to wrap up the front side.  I wanted a modern look with a mix of colors.  There are so many bright colors and patterns, I decided to tone it down a bit by alternating the patterned rows with large rows of black fabric with gray accents.  The back of the duvet will be made of the same black fabric in order to tie everything together.

I have a few things I am still considering.  First of all, I am trying to decide if I will use ties, buttons, or nothing at all for the duvet envelope closure on the back.  I guess I will wait and see how well it holds together without ties or buttons.  Also, I am trying to decide what type of matching pillowcases I will make.  Should I make simple black/gray pillow shams, black/gray tube pillowcases with a pattern accent, or some type of patchwork pillowcase incorporating different fabric patterns?  I don't want the pillowcases to clash too much with the duvet cover (since the duvet is "pattern-heavy").  Still trying to decide...