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 April 29, 2016April 29, 2016 in Pattern, sewing, Tutorial

US Passport Cover Tutorial

Completing this pattern has been an exciting process, but highlighted the challenges of communication. I hope this tutorial/pattern is easy to navigate and helps the user make a passport cover. This is a fun project! The covers make great gifts to your friends that travel or are perfect for making yourself a personalized cover.

Tutorial & PDF: Passport Cover by Brambleton Threads

Materials:
Fabric: scraps or 1 Fat Quarter or 2 Fat Eighth of different colors.
Woven Fusible Interfacing
Thread
Sewing Machine
Rotary Cutter
Self-Healing Mat
Fabric Pen
Scissors
Iron
Spray Starch

Measure and cut
Shell: 1) 5 3/4” x 11 3/4”
Lining: 1) 5 3/4” x 11 3/4”
Fusible Fabric: 1) 5” x 7 1/2”

2. Using the instructions provided by the manufacturer, iron interfacing to the center of the wrong side of the shell fabric.

3. Place right sides of the shell and lining together and pin all sides.

4. Using a fabric pen and ruler, mark 1/4” at each corner. Use scissors to clip all corners 1/4”.

5. With a 1/4” seam allowance sew three sides, both lengths and one width (two longs & a short), leaving one side open. Backstitch the start and beginnings of each edge. Set stitches by pressing with hot iron.

6. Pull the fabric right-side out through the open edge. Press edges.

7. Fold the short-side’s open seam under a 1/4” and press using fingers or iron. Pin.

8. Sew shut the open seam with an 1/8” top-stitch. Set stitches. Trim thread.

9. Fold the piece in half and press, creating a crease in the middle. Reopen the piece flat.

10. To create the flaps, fold each width in towards the middle crease 1 3/4” and press. Pin in the middle of the creased edge and flap edges. Do this on each side.

11. With an 1/8” top-stitch sew the entire length of the top of the piece, backstitching at each corner of the flaps. Repeat this on the bottom edge.

12. Set stitches. Trim. Add passport & admire! The fabric will soften with time & travel.

Please share your results and comments! Thanks for stopping by.

Posted on February 2, 2016 in Embroidery, sewing, Tutorial

Greeting Card Tutorial: Embroidery!

A thank you to all that have stopped by & looked, liked, commented, or a combination of all three. Deciding to start a blog wasn’t easy for me due to introversion, but that was a feeling I pushed aside to forge ahead.

The way I typically thank those in my life is through a greeting card. With the internet being my platform here, I thought it best to provide a greeting card tutorial. The embroidery greeting card first came in to my life in the form of tiny hearts I cut out. I embroidered my friends’ initials or names in the hearts. Many of the tiny hearts were cut without a thought about templates and I hadn’t learned back-stitch yet (my favorite right now)! This is the sophisticated version, using calligraphy style script, of those sweet little hearts. The embroidery greeting cards don’t take much time, but make a big impact on the recipients!

Materials:

Card-stock or any type of paper you would like to use for a card. Firm is better here.
Embroidery Needle
Embroidery Thread
General Purpose Thread
Pencil & Eraser
Scissors

1. Measure the paper to to size of card you would like. Here I cut the paper down to 6 1/2″ x 11″.

2. Fold the paper in half hamburger style. I used my fingers to set the crease.

3. Free hand draw what you might like on the card. Typically I write “Happy Birthday, _____!”, or if for a couple I draw both their names with a heart in-between. Don’t worry about using fancy script, because everything looks beautiful once embroidered.

4. Poke holes in the card every couple of millimeters or centimeters. The closer the holes are the more likely of a collapse of the card-stock between the spaces. The further apart the holes the larger the stitches will be and this will make the card faster to complete. A variety of stitch lengths are used in the making of this tutorial for demonstration.

5. Pick your colors and embroider! I like to use french knots for periods. The thread may feel bulky and stiff, but this is because paper is a more firm fiber than cloth overall!

6. I prefer to hide the knots inside the card, but if you are feeling bold you may leave them on the outside of the card.

7. The corners have to be secured since the card will not close flat on its own. I used general purpose thread to anchor each corner with an X, but you could as easily use embroidery thread. I tied the knots to the back of the card.

8. Admire & fill out your card to send away. Or you might use the card as a wall hanging for your inspiration board.

Thank you for reading & I hope everyone has a lovely week. Please feel free to share any made embroidery cards!

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!

Posted on January 18, 2016January 30, 2016 in Knitting, Tutorial

Merino Wool Bump Blankets + Easy Pattern

There were six merino wool bumps around the house. Now there are no bumps around the house! The bumps are from Bag Smith & are 94% merino wool with 6% nylon (mainly to provide structure for the wool) & each have 125 yards of yarn (it feels like the softest rope). My sister gave me these as an exchange & I love how soft the yarn is to knit with.

I taught myself to knit about five years ago & have enjoyed it ever since. Knitting on size 50 needles made my hands feel a bit like jellyfish. The needles tap each other & a nice rhythm develops. It was a great reminder to me about making sure I don’t knit too tightly in general. This winter weather has everyone inside & I was kept cozy under the wool being knit!

To make your own blanket you will need:

Two Merino Wool Bumps ( or around 350 yards)
Size US 50 (25 mm) needles
Scissors
Finished size: 45″ x 45″
Gauge: 1 stitch/inch

Cast on 34 stitches
Purl next row (WS)
Knit next row (RS)
Repeat steps 2&3 by purling all WS stitches and knitting all WS stitches.
After purling the 39th row, cast off.

***Of note: While knitting three throws in a row I noticed that the length of yarn in each bump was not the same. All of the bumps had enough yarn to make 39 rows + cast off & bind off. If you have more yarn & would like your blanket to be longer keep knitting, but make sure to leave enough yarn for casting off.

Posted on January 4, 2016 in Hand Sewing, Tutorial

Greeting Card Tutorial: Upcycling Scraps & Notecards

I needed a card yesterday. The store’s cards were okay & nice, but lacked a personal touch. After assessing materials in house, I decided to use 5″ x 7″ lined notecards & scraps from the just finished half-squre triangle quilt to make a greeting card.

Materials: