Posted on July 15, 2017 in Embroidery, Household, sewing, Tutorial

Tea Towel Tutorial

I wanted to have a little gift for a couple whose engagement party we were attending, and tea towels were the first thing to come to mind. Tea towels spruce up any kitchen and are a nice way to use up fabric from the stash.

Finished Size: 16″ x 24″ ***As you will see the size of the towel is adjustable. If you have a favorite tea towel, measure that one and add the seam allowances to the measurements. Or if you have a FQ (18″ x 22″) than you can use that after squaring it up, but it’ll be a bit shorter in length.

Materials for Two Tea Towels

1/2 yard of fabric or two fat quarters (the length of these towels will be shorter)
machine or hand sewing supplies
ruler
rotary cutter and/or scissors
pins
iron
thread (I use Auriful)
embroidery floss (I use DMC)
embroidery needle

Here is the Costco bought towel I based my tea towel on.

First I measured this towel to find the dimensions.

I added a 1/2″ seam allowance on each length and an 1″ on the width. ***Use these seam allowances if you’re using a fat quarter or a custom size.

After pressing the fabric cut 2) 26″ x 17″ pieces.
On each length side, turn and press a 1/4″ of fabric. Repeat this step twice for each cut piece of fabric.

3. Now that each side of the length is folded over 1/4″ twice, pin each side in place.

4. Sew 1/8″ away from the edge on both lengths. I’m using a 2mm stitch length here.

5. Sew 1/4″ away from the edge of both lengths, creating a parallel line to the first. Now the lengths should be completely sewn.

6. Turn to the width edges. Press and fold each width edge 1/2″, and then fold and press it 1/2″ again, pinning the edge to hold it in place until sewing. Repeat this on the other width.

7. Sew 1/8″ in from the edge on both widths.

8. Sew a 1/4″ from the edge on both widths.

9. Trim up any loose threads. Admire your tea towels!

10. This is a prefect item to embellish. I went for a little spot in each of the bottom right corners. You might want to put your initials or maybe an important date.

Thanks for stopping by! Hope you make some awesome towels.

Posted on May 31, 2017May 31, 2017 in Household, sewing, Tutorial

Easy Pillow Covers

A few months ago a cousin and I made a trip to the fabric store and then by the Goodwill for some pillows. The Goodwill has great deals on pillows, especially for pillows that will receive a lot of good use. I referenced the blog Hey There, Home’s post on How to Make an Envelope Pillow Cover. I really enjoyed the clear instructions shown on Hey There, Home. My method was basically the same.

Here are the pillows pre-covering.

After measuring each pillow, I cut the fabric with a half inch seam added to the overall size.

The pinning.

I marked the corners before sewing and using the serger on the edges.

A covered pillow!

A long pillow covered.

A complete set.

This has been such an exciting month. A big thank you to all of those backers that helped fund our Kickstarter campaign–the support is stunning and I look forward to the stitching! We’ve been super busy with regular life. We are grateful for our good health.

Sending all our best to everyone!

Posted on October 9, 2016October 7, 2016 in Household, Improv

Pincushion Progress

I made a pincushion with some of the scraps left over from the quilt tops I’ve been working on. The fabric is from Andover’s Natural History deisgned by Lizzy House and Robert Kaufman. Lavender is one of my favorite scents, so PlumEasy‘s pincushion filling was a natural fit. The finished size is 5″ x 6 1/2″ x 2″, and it holds a lot of pins!

What is your favorite pincushion?

Posted on July 25, 2016 in Household, Quilting, sewing, Uncategorized

Colorful Quilt Top

This quilt is an amalgamation of cloth, time, patterns, and my brain. I started making this quilt for a class using T he Rabbit Factory’s Homespun Hill. The pieced blocks were fun and quick to put together. The color palette is dewy grass.

I modified this quilt top by adding Carolyn Friedlander‘s Creativebug Polk block. I’ve done some paper-piecing, and found this exercise to be helpful and inspiring. Paper-piecing is a great stash buster. Creativebug provides excellent instructions, visually and in print format (I’m big a fan!).

The quilt top has batiks, prints, solids, and paper-pieced blocks. The fabric on hand became this quilt; in the past year my taste, knowledge, and understanding of fabric has become more robust, and I’m happy to see some old fabrics being incorporated into a quilt and removed from the stash. Sarah Watts’ Honeymoon made it in and some batiks my auntie gifted to me. I’m partial to Sarah Watts round lines.

Honestly, sitting close to this quilt top since April, I don’t know if I’m ready to look at it as a whole. And really, it isn’t complete, because I have to add quilting, backing, and binding. Overall, I like the movement and the quilt top.

What did you make over the weekend?

Posted on July 12, 2016July 12, 2016 in Household, sewing

Savory Spice & Herb Mix

Spices & herbs jazz any meal. Lately I’ve been adding this savory spice & herb mix to eggplant, garlic, pasta, grilled cheese, and potatoes–the results are pretty amazing. As with most things, these spices may be adjusted, substituted, or swapped out as desired. I like to use organic or locally loved and grown ingredients when possible.

The amount of each spice I use depends on my mood and the dish. I follow what I like.

Savory Spice & Herb Mix (amount of spice or herb to be determined per usage)

Cayenne Pepper Powder (or ground Black Pepper if a more mild taste is desired)
Sea Salt
Onion Powder
Garlic Powder
Dried Rosemary
Dried Oregano
Dried Basil
Dried Thyme
Dried Parsley

On these six sliced potatoes below I sprinkled the spices & herbs on along with three slabs of butter, diced up, all mixed on a rimmed baking sheet. The oven was 375 degrees Fahrenheit; I placed the tray in, stirred the potatoes every fifteen minutes, checking for the desired crispness. The cooking time was forty-five minutes.

What spices do you enjoy using?

Posted on July 10, 2016June 30, 2017 in Household

Brambleton is on Instagram!

Good morning to most and happy day to all the rest! Brambleton Threads Instagram account has been activated and is up running. Woo! Many of you are already posting, and I’m excited to see the many lovely pictures.

Stop by and follow or leave you username below: @brambletonthreads

Update as of June 2017: we are no longer on Instagram. Thank you!

Posted on June 19, 2016 in Household

Cross Country Move

We are finally settling in after moving all of our many items to new locations. There are so many exciting sights to see here I’ve hardly made anything. Looking forward to getting my foot on the pedal!

Posted on February 18, 2016 in Household, Recipe

Berry Smoothie Recipe

Winter does not deter us from smoothies. Saving fruit in the freezer is helpful for us, because we have a short berry season, but we don’t always have a local stock of fruit, and often buy from the store. Are smoothies drinkable ice cream? Possibly!

Berry Smoothie Recipe

1 cup berries (I love raspberries and blueberries)
2 bananas
splash of water, coconut water, almond milk, apple juice, or anything else you might like. More watery liquid will make the smoothie more liquid.
Yogurt
1 TBS of chia seed (for fiber and great texture)

We use this as a base recipe and add from there. Have fun and please share any smoothies you like to make!

Posted on January 23, 2016January 23, 2016 in Household, sewing, Tutorial

Tutorial: Loose Cord Holder

With all the indoors time this week I noticed cords all over the place. The cords took up more than a fair share of the floor space. Cord wraps & holders are nothing new, but I had an idea modification yesterday, sketched it out & whipped up four this morning.

These cord holders are perfect for cell phone and tablet chargers. For bigger corded items these holders work great too! My main goal here was to utilize as much scrap material as I could to make something not-yet-useful productive. The buttons are from a collection of odd buttons & I used all fabric scraps. Customization is easy here! To make a longer & wider wrap for a certain product, measure the diameter of the cord when wrapped & double that number. This will give you an almost perfect measure of how long to cut your fabric; make sure to add at least a quarter inch at each end for seam allowance.

Materials

Fabric scraps –enough for 2) 2″ x5″ pieces
Sewing Machine or Hand Sewing Supplies
Buttons
Fabric Marker or pen or chalk
Iron
Ruler
Rotary cutter or scissors

Press fabric. Measure fabric & cut 2) 2″ x”5″ pieces.
Place Right Sides together & pin fabric.
Using 1/4″ clip each corner.
Sew with a 1/4″ seam (or 1/4″ foot) the top & two side edges back-stitching at each end. Press to set stitches.
Turn inside out, gently, with finger & knitting needle or chopstick. Press. Admire!
Tuck in top edge & top stitch about an 1/8″ from the edge.
Mark the button hole along the top edge & sew. If making two button holes, mark the top buttonhole first & then measure to add a second. This helps make sure fabric shrinkage doesn’t affect buttonhole placement. This may not be something you experience on your machine, but I like to be careful! When marking button holes, I went between 1/2″-3/4″ for the top button hole & around & 1″ to 1 1/4″ for the second button hole.
Mark button position on fabric. Again, place the top button first. When placing the second button make sure the cuff is buttoned & then find the middle, marking it with a fabric pen. Sew on all buttons.
Sit back & enjoy a less unraveled environment! Please share any pictures of wraps you make & let me know if you have any questions or comments.

Thank you to everyone that has stopped by, commented & liked this blog. Sewing, in all forms, has been a passion I’ve had for a long time & it is wonderful to share it with any one else that is even a little bit interested. Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Brambleton Threads

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Category: Household