Tutorials

The Sunny Days Waterproof Pool & Beach Bag A Tutorial & 52 (Family) Projects in 2012: #13

June 28, 2012 by Bonnie 28 Comments

The Sunny Days Waterproof Pool & Beach Bag is #13 on my 52 Family Projects list, and I put together a tutorial so you can make one for your family, too!

Do you feel like you have to pack a zillion things when you head out to the pool? I made this bag huge so it holds everything you could possibly need to have on hand . . . towels, sunscreen, water bottles, goggles, snacks, flip flops, sunglasses . . .

I’ve been using mine for our daily trips to swim lessons the last two weeks, and I can’t tell you how much I love it! The outer body and the outside of the pockets are sewn with Michael Miller’s new PUL (polyurethane laminate) so everything inside the bag stays nice and dry, and, if you happen to throw something damp inside the bag, the seat on your car isn’t going to end up getting wet on the way home either! (Of course, you can substitute cotton woven quilting fabrics for the PUL for a non-waterproof bag, if you’d prefer.)

These criss-cross pockets in the front work great to organize those things that you need to be able grab quickly. They look really cool, too!

I put the tutorial together in an easy to read and print pdf. You can find it right here: The Sunny Days Waterproof Pool & Beach Bag.

The Fabric I-Spy Book Tutorial

December 8, 2011 by Bonnie 18 Comments

Have a pile of scraps waiting for a good use? Need a quick last minute gift for the toddler or preschooler on your list? How about sewing up a Fabric I-Spy Book? I originally created this tutorial for the Holiday Bake, Craft and Sew-Along over at Skip to My Lou. If you’re looking for more Christmas cooking and crafting ideas, there are some great recipes and tutorials over there that you have to go check out!

This Fabric I-Spy Book is a perfect gift for toddlers to preschoolers, and it’s a great way to use up those scraps that you’ve been hanging on to! The book is folded accordion-style so your little one can read it like a book:

or unfold it to seek and find on multiple pages all at once:

Can you find a white measuring tape? a dalmation with spots? #18 celebrating? two barbecue grills? a swimming dinosaur with rainbow dots? a mama with six little babies?

Ready to get started? Gather up the busiest, most colorful fabric scraps you can find and click here for the downloadable pdf tutorial: Downloadable I-Spy Book Tute.

New Free Projects on the Stitch Website

July 10, 2011 by Bonnie 11 Comments

The Fall 2011 Stitch Magazine is due to be on the shelves of your favorite fabric store on Tuesday, and I have several projects included! (You can actually purchase the downloadable digital version in the Interweave Store already.)

Two of my projects are free web extras this time which means you can go grab them right now and sew! Both are projects designed for your sewing room. The Embroidery Hoop Pockets above are a great way to show off a few favorite fabrics and keep your sewing notions close at hand. Below, The Pretty Pattern Weights look beautiful holding your patterns and fabric in place while you trace or cut.

I have one more pattern in the magazine. I’m hoping my copy will come tomorrow, and I’ll share more about it then. As always, if you sew something from one of my designs, I’d love to see it! You can share in my Flickr group here: FD Flickr Pool or on the Fishsticks Designs Facebook page: FD Facebook.

Skirt Week Guest Post at crafterhours: The Upcycled Hem-less Tee-Skirt

June 17, 2011 by Bonnie 6 Comments

The incredibly creative crafterhours’ ladies, Adrianna and Susan, are hosting Skirt Week over on their blog, and they so kindly let me join in with a new tutorial! You’ll find some incredible tutorials over there from earlier this week, too. Go check them out and sew yourself (or someone else) a new summer skirt. If you sew really fast, you might still be able to meet the 8 p.m. deadline tonight for entering the challenge. If you can’t sew that quickly, then spend a bit of time checking out the flickr pools for some inspiration instead. There are some beautiful skirts to browse through!

If you know me well, then you know that I love putting old things to new use again, and this new tutorial does just that! Dig those old, unused tees out of that box in the closet and put them to work again: The Upcycled Hem-less Tee-Skirt.

It’s Time to Celebrate the Boy!

March 10, 2011 by Bonnie 18 Comments

JUMP FOR JOY! It’s my turn to Celebrate the Boy!

Our four boys keep our home overflowing with all things boy all the time! If this is your first visit to my blog, WELCOME! I love creating patterns for little boys because, well, that’s who primarily enjoys the results of my sewing.

In honor of Celebrate the Boy 2011, I’ve created a free downloadable tank top pattern for all the fun-loving little guys in your life. With only two pattern pieces plus a few rectangles, this tank is quick and easy. The pattern includes sizes 12 months to 5T, and it pairs perfectly with my recently released Undercover Bottoms Boxer Briefs for cold-weather layering or warm weather snoozing.

This pattern (and almost all of my other patterns) is sewn using cotton knit fabrics. If you’ve never sewn with cotton knits or you could use a few tips to improve your results when sewing knits, be sure to check out my blog series: Knit Knowledge.

This is my youngest little guy, Charlie. He turned 1 recently, but being the youngest of six has him convinced that he’s really 11! I’ve had the Sweet Pea fabric that I used for his pjs in my stash for years, and I thought it would be perfect for him.

The other members of my family, however, have been trying to convince me that the red trim looks really pink and matched up with the lavendar of the main fabric, they think it looks not so boyish. I promise you, it’s red, not pink. I’m pretty sure putting pink in a post during Celebrate the Boy is grounds for permanent banning . . .

Since Charlie’s only one and obviously still wears a diaper, I sized up his boxer briefs two sizes so he could wear them over a disposable to bed. I love the cute little sleeping Sweet Pea on the bum panel!

My four-year-old, Jamie, answers the question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” the same way everytime. “A motorcycle man . . . with a motorcycle.” (Cause, really? What would a motorcyle man be without a motorcycle?) When this checkered-flag jersey showed up in a swap package that I received last month, I knew right away that it would be the perfect coordinate for the motorcycle knit that was already lined up for this project.

I used my Easy Applique tutorial to do the appliques. It is really easy! You have to try it!

Ready to sew a tank and some boxer briefs? You’ll find the full-size pdf pattern and the instructions for the tank top here: The Tank. (Like all of my instructions, you’ll find word-instructions coupled with picture-instructions of every step!) You can find the boxer brief pattern right here in my store: The Undercover Bottoms Boxer Brief. And, I’ve added a 15% discount code that you can use on any of my patterns through the end of March: “TheBoy”.

What are you waiting for? Go sew! Soon your little guys will be jumping for joy in celebration, too!

Knit Knowledge–Simple Appliques & Hemming Tips

February 17, 2011 by Bonnie 39 Comments

Now that you know all about the different types of knits. Let’s learn a little about adding the finishing details and a little extra punch to your knit sewing projects.

SIMPLE APPLIQUE
Because knits don’t fray like wovens, appliqueing with them is really easy! Here are the few things that you need to get started: a fabric that you’d like to applique, a fabric cut to applique on and a lightweight iron-on adhesive product like HeatnBond Lite (you want one that says it’s “sewable”).

Begin by using a washable marker to outline the sections that you’d like to cut out of your applique fabric.

Trim down your applique fabric so you have just a little extra left outside of the actual applique outlines, and cut out a piece of iron-on adhesive the same size as the applique fabric you have left.

Iron the applique fabric to the iron-on adhesive.

Cut out your appliques. (I cut just inside the washable marker.)

Peal the backing off of the iron-on adhesive.

Decide on the position of your appliques keeping the seam allowances in mind. (This is the side panel from the vertical colorblocked Charlie Tee, so it has a 1/2″ seam allowance.) You’ll see here that I decided after laying them out that I needed an additional smaller applique at the top to balance things out.

Iron the applique on to the main fabric. (If you’ll be overlapping them a bit like mine, start with the one on the bottom of the overlapping.)

Now just stitch around the applique. I generally keep my stitching about 1/8″ to 1/4″ from the edge. I intentionally did these a little messy, and I love the look!

Add a few more, if you’d like. Now wasn’t that easy?

HEMMING TIPS
I’m covering hemming last, but when I sew knits, I always hem first. I’ve found that hemming when you have a flat piece of fabric cuts down tremendously on the amount of puckering that you’ll have in your finished project. I covered hemming on my blog a while back. You’ll find my original post here: Hemming Knits Part 1. All of those tips are still great and work really well. I have, however, personally changed my hemming method a little. The way I was hemming then worked great for my guys until they got a bit bigger and started stretching and pulling on their clothes. Then, even with the stretchy nylon thread in the bobbin, our hems were breaking.

I was sharing my frustration over this with my friend, Michelle, one day, and she asked me if I used the triple-stretch stitch on my machine. Hmmmm. . . I’d never even heard of that! See–I told you I’m still learning new things along the way. Now, though, thanks to Michelle, I have a method of hemming that never fails! It takes a few extra minutes, but I think it’s worth the extra effort to have a finished product that not only will last for one season, but that I can pass down from child to child.

Here’s what that triple stretch stitch looks like on my machine. It’s stitch #5. (Am I the only one who didn’t know about it before?)

I start out my hemming by either folding up part way and folding up again or by serging off the edge and then folding up the hem allowance. (If you’re just starting with knits, use the first method because stitching through that extra layer will help cut down on the stretching while you’re sewing.)
If your knit fabric is really stretchy or if it’s rolling on you, use a little spray starch before you press.

Now, when I sew with knits, I always (ALWAYS!) have a stretchy nylon serger thread in my bobbin. (I’ve used Wooly Nylon in the past. Now I’m using Maxilock Stretch.) When I start my hem, I like to sew on the inside. If you only have white stretchy nylon serger thread, then you’ll have to sew on the right side if your fabric isn’t white, though. In this case, I’m sewing on the inside for the first step: straight across the top of the hem using a regular straight stitch.

I left the orange thread from the applique above as the top thread so you could see that I sewed this step on the inside.

Then I flip my fabric piece over and switch to the triple stretch stitch, and sew again on the front side of the fabric right on top of the original stitching.

(Now you’re wondering why I don’t just use the triple stretch stitch and skip the first step. I tried that, but the triple stitch pulls the fabric back and forth under the presser foot to make three stitches side by side, and I found that if I didn’t sew down the whole length first, I always ended up with wonkiness. I’m assuming that’s because of the back and forth motion of the triple stretch stitch.)

All done! A hem that won’t disappoint you!

HEMMING UPDATE:
When I wrote the above information about hemming knits, I was looking for a great way to hem that wouldn’t come undone. The preferred way to hem knits is with a twin needle. It gives a nice side-by-side double stitch on the front with a zig-zag on the back which allows the fabric to stretch without the stitches popping. At the time, I’d been unable to master using a twin needle which, frankly, given that I have a business built on sewing with knits, was a bit embarrassing.

Not too long after this Knit Knowledge Series wrapped up, I got determined to figure out this twin needle thing once and for all. I sat down at the machine, pulled out my twin needle and grabbed the manual for my machine. I skimmed over the instructions as I’ve done in the past, but something new caught my eye.

Do I admit that it was there all along, or do I try and convince you that someone must have added this little detail to my owner’s manual secretly at some point? What is this little bit of important information? Well, the instructions for twin needle sewing begin, “Press the twin needle key to enter the twin needle sewing mode.” Wait! What?! There’s a twin needle key? Oh, look, there it is. (In fact, if you scroll up to where I posted the picture of the touch pad on my sewing machine, you can see it on the bottom center of the screen.)

And guess what happened? I pressed that little key, installed the twin needle, threaded everything up, and I’ve stitched all my hems beautifully with a twin needle since. I suppose that’s a good lesson in reading the instructions . . . and if it still doesn’t work after you’ve read the instructions, maybe you should read them again.

Knit Knowledge – Introduction & Overview

February 14, 2011 by Bonnie 52 Comments

Welcome to Knit Knowledge Week! I’m asked questions about working with knit fabrics really often, so I thought I’d spend a week sharing some of my knowledge with you. I’m quite certain that I don’t know everything there is to know about working with knits, and I still occasionally discover a new technique that works better than what I was doing before. Everything I’ll share is what I’ve learned through my own hands-on experience.

My plan is to spend the week sharing a bit each day. Here’s the lineup that I have planned: Monday: Knit Overview, Tuesday: Interlock Knits & Jerseys, Wednesday: Ribbed Knits & Ribbing, Thursday: Hemming & Simple Applique, Friday: Questions & Answers and the Giveaway.

This week will require some participation from you, too. In order for me to have a Q&A on Friday, I need you to post any questions that you have in the comments section Monday through Thursday. Then, I’ll choose as many questions as I can and answer them on Friday (if I haven’t already answered them during the week).

Friday’s post will also include an exciting giveaway! Caroline at The Fabric Fairy has generously donated a $20 gift certificate that you can use in her store to purchase some knit fabrics from her incredible selection to try out for yourself. ~~Just comment on my posts Monday through Thursday (one comment per post, please), and I’ll hold a random drawing on Friday morning.~~

Alrighty, let’s get started with a quick overview.
OVERVIEW
First off, don’t be afraid of knits! Knit fabrics, primarily cotton and cotton-blend knit fabrics, are what most of us live in! Once you become comfortable sewing them, you’ll be ready to sew up whole wardrobes of comfortable clothing that you and your loved ones will love to wear.

THE BASICS
ThinkQuest explains, “Knitted fabrics are made from a single yarn or a set of yarns. In making cloth, a knitting machine forms loops in the yarn and links them to one another by means of needles. The finished fabric consists of crosswise rows of loops, called courses, and lengthwise rows of loops, called wales. This looped structure makes knitted fabrics more elastic than woven cloth. Garment manufacturers use knitted fabrics in producing comfortable, lightweight clothing that resists wrinkling.”

Simply put, knit fabrics have stretch. Some, like sweatshirt fleece, have only a little stretch. Others, like cotton ribbed knits, have a whole lot of stretch.

The stretch in most knit fabrics runs across from selvage to selvage. When you place your pattern pieces on knit fabrics that show grainlines rather than direction of stretch, you generally want the grainline to run perpendicular to the stretch.

The right tools:

Before working with knit fabrics, you’ll want to switch out the regular foot on your machine for the walking foot. Your sewing machine has “teeth” that guide the bottom of the fabric under the foot while the needle sews. A walking foot has similar teeth that grip the top of fabric so top and bottom pass through under the needle evenly. This feature helps a great deal in cutting down on the amount of puckering that you’ll see in your knit fabric seams.

It’s also a good idea to switch out your sharp sewing machine needle for a ballpoint needle. Sharp needles cut through the knit loops on your fabrics and leave the fabric with small holes which tend to grow larger as the garment is pulled on and off. Ballpoint needles are designed to glide through the loops instead without causing harm to the fibers. Knit garments sewn with ballpoint needles will hold up much better over time.

The third tool that I think is worth mentioning is a serger. It’s a bit of an investment, and you definitely don’t needone to sew knit garments. (All of my patterns include instructions for sewing with a regular sewing machine, as well as a serger.) However, if you’re planning to sew a lot of knit garments, a serger will give you a nice finish to the inside, as well as a sturdier finished item. Once you get the hang of using a serger, you’ll also find that serging together a piece of clothing is much faster than sewing!

So those are few basics to get you started. To get your giveaway entry today, you’ll need to leave a comment. You can either leave a comment with a question that you’d like me to answer about sewing with knit fabrics, or you can answer my question for today, “What’s your favorite thing about wearing clothing made with knit fabrics?”

Oh, one more thing! As a thank-you for joining me this week, I’ve added a 20% discount code that you can use on any of my patterns through Friday: KnowKnits.

Adding a Little Detail with Your Serger

January 10, 2011 by Bonnie 10 Comments

I was working on this laptee for a t-shirt and cloth diaper set that I’m sewing for a swap and thought I’d try out this idea that’s been running around in my head for awhile. A lot of ready-to-wear clothing has detailing like this around the neckline and sleeves. They use a special machine to do it, but I was sure that you could do something similar just using a run-of-the-mill serger. As it turns out, it’s really simple. I did take some pictures as I went along, though, so I could share with you how I did it.

I loved the result when the laptee was finished so I just had to try it out on a Charlie Tee. The pattern’s namesake is growing so fast, and he needed a couple of new longsleeve tees added to his wardrobe anyway. Aren’t they cool?

Just so you know, this serging method does leave a visible overlap at the back of the neck. If that little bit of messiness bugs you, you might want to just stick to using it for laptees or other patterns that don’t use a full loop of trim.

Honestly, though, once you put the tee on someone as cute as this? Would anyone even notice that tiny little imperfection? (And, just in case you wondered, I went hunting through my kids’ drawers and discovered that the clothing that has detailing similar to this almost always has an overlap at the back or on the bottom . . . and I’d never noticed it until I went hunting for it.)

Ready to try it out? Here’s my quick tutorial: Serger Detailing. Let me know if you have any questions!

The Joy-Nicole Bag Tutorial

January 2, 2011 by Bonnie 37 Comments

Each year, I sew new bags for my nieces and daughters for Christmas. Last year, with my Messenger Bag Tutorial, I started a tradition of designing a bag for them and sharing it in a tutorial here for all of you to use, too. I’m a little behind on Christmas sewing this year. (There was this wedding . . . and it took up just a tiny bit of my time . . . ) I wasn’t ready to give up on the bag or the tutorial, though, so I made some time for finishing up both over the last week.

The first two versions of this bag weren’t quite what I wanted, but I’m thrilled with this final version! I can’t wait to hear what you think of it, too. This one is Samantha’s–as soon as she saw it, she begged for it to be hers. I’m so happy with the piping around the flap. It gives the bag a great finished look. If you’ve never worked with piping before (or if you have without great results) don’t fret–I’ve included my suggestions for perfect piping in the tutorial.

My nieces were here for the wedding, so I had the opportunity to have them visit my sewing studio and share with me their fabric preferences. My oldest niece, Tristen, asked for a bag made with her school colors: green and orange. I had my doubts about how those two colors would work together, but I love the result. I can’t wait to hear what her friends at school have to say about it!

Allie loves polka dots. She showed me a fabric in my stash that she really liked, but there wasn’t enough of it to work with for a bag. These polka dotted fabrics jumped out at me at the fabric store, though, and then I found the button that looks like it was made just for this bag. (The button is just decorative–there’s a magnetic snap under the flap.)

Finally, this is Kristen’s bag. When Kristen walked into my sewing studio, she saw this Michael Miller Dino Dudes and immediately said, “I want the dinosaurs!” I can honestly say that it never would have occurred to me to sew up a handbag with this fabric, but I think it might be my favorite of the bunch. Seriously? How often do you see someone walking around with a dinosaur purse? It’s definitely one of a kind!

I really like how each of the bags that I made this year showcase so much personality. Ready to sew up one or two in your favorite fabrics? You can find the pdf tutorial complete with pattern pieces right here: Joy-Nicole Bag Tutorial. If you use the tutorial, I’d love to see your bag!

Handmade Christmas: Fabric Garland Tutorial

November 30, 2010 by Bonnie 3 Comments

Looking for a simple project to add some handmade beauty to your holiday decorating? I was really tired of our old tinsel garland, and we’ve been working towards decorating with mostly handmade Christmas decorations. I played around with a few different ideas for making a garland and this one is the one that turned out the best for the least amount of work. (I am really short on decorating time this year because, in case you haven’t heard, my daughter is getting married in just over TWO weeks!) This project took me an evening of cutting plus an afternoon of gluing with my two middle schoolers.

Here’s our tree all decorated with our new garland and mostly handmade ornaments.

It’s definitely not department-store perfect, but I wouldn’t want it any other way. I love all the memories that all of those ornaments bring back . . . our children when they were tiny, our former homes, all the foster children that we loved years ago when we were fostering, our past pets, our old neighbors . . . I try to steal a few quiet moments during the Christmas season to sit in the rocking chair with a hot cup of tea and admire the tree while enjoying those sweet memories.