Stop staring and start sewing!

I made my fastest bed skirt ever!

My hubby graciously gave up his office so we could have a guest room instead. He's been carrying his laptop around the house and working where ever he sat and we both realized that he really didn't need a whole room to himself. Especially since he wants to be out where our family is sitting.

I'm going to cover the whole process of re-doing the room but right now I just want to show off the new bed skirt.

This cotton gingham is one of my favorite staples and it's available at Walmart for under 4.00 a yard! I just cut it into 8 strips 14 3/4" long (x width of fabric) and sewed them together making a very very long piece of fabric. I didn't bother with serging my seams or anything fancy since nobody will ever see the underside of the bed skirt. I just pressed the seams open which made the next step so much easier.

I used this 3/16" rolled hem foot on my Juki 2010Q and had all 336 inches hemmed in just a few minutes! If I had done this the usual way it would have taken hours to double fold and iron and hem all of this. Seriously, tools are everything!

Then, since there was so much ground to cover, I decided to try the gathering method where you sew a zigzag stitch over a thread and then pull the thread. It worked like a charm. I used a very thick utility thread for pulling so it wouldn't break. It was perfect. I can't recommend this method for garment sewing because it's kind of loosey goosey and hard to distribute the gathers evenly, but for something big like this it was ideal.

For the base fabric I just bought a 4.00 twin flat sheet at Walmart and actually snipped and ripped it so I'd get nice straight lines (60 X 80). I moved my furniture to have room to work and it didn't take long to have everything gathered and pinned in place (lots of pins just to be safe!).

I rounded the corners slightly since that's the shape of the corners on the bed frame.

Pretty good for a days work. We are stashing my hubby's outdoors and boy scout supplies under there, which gives me room in the closet for guest supplies like blankets and towels. I'm happy.

Poppy is happy. Perplexed, but happy.

My daughter's quilt is happy (the fabric was a wedding gift from Bari J.). I'll be sad when my daughter takes it back. I'll just keep quiet about it so she forgets.

 

New fabrics are fun - especially this one from Melly Sews!

I've had so much fun this week playing with this sweet fabric designed by Melissa Mora of Melly Sews fame. It's Melissa's first full fabric collection manufactured by Riley Blake and it's absolutely dreamy. She sent me 1/2 yard each some of the Rose and Leaves prints. It was plenty! I was able to make a complete ensemble using my Evelyn Apron Skirt pattern plus I made a mini drawstring backpack, and a pocket for a store bought t-shirt to customize it.

I wanted to add a little trim and after trying some options I decided on the black and white pleated ribbon just for fun.

I'm in love with this outfit and so impressed by the quality of the fabric.

Here's that little pocket! It just takes a couple of scraps and now the t-shirt is part of the outfit.

This fabric feels as good as it looks. I'd love to do a baby's nursery in these prints. They are so sweet.

This collection is hitting the stores this week so look around for it. I still have a few scraps left so I'm off to create some more gorgeous stuff with it!

Sew the World's Fastest Zipper Pouch

Here is a quick video I recently posted on my YouTube channel. I timed myself (but made it without the cute ribbon tab) and it took me 3 minutes and 21 seconds from start to finish to sew one of these (I had my supplies cut and ready). I've already had a newbie from Instagram try it and she was so proud of herself. That is why I share this stuff! To unravel the mystery of zippers. Not really. There is no mystery. You just need to start.

The supplies are so basic. Just make sure you have a long (nylon, not metal) zipper and it will be quick and easy.

Let me know if you try it. And feel free to make a bunch. They are great gifts and might be good to sell if you're looking for a craft booth idea.

Let me know if you try it! If you post it on instagram be sure to tag me #jonagiammalva because I want to see it! Have a wonderful day!

A blog is still a blog even when there's no one bloggin' there...

So.....what's up? I've been busy. Busy with kids. Busy with marriage. Busy with sewing. And busy with teaching (sewing!). What are you busy doing?

I've been quiet on my blog I know. When I started in 2007, blogging was such a great way to share and it felt personal and friendly and fun. I think social media has sucked up all the oxygen (and the friendliness and fun) in the internet and kind of made me want my privacy again. So maybe it will feel good to hang out here again, instead of over there.

I've been working on a lot of fun new projects and re-working some old ones. I've got some great new ideas for a new direction and I'd sure love some input and encouragement from people who love to sew (or people who want to love to sew but need some help getting started, raise your hand if that's you!). 

So here's a little ongoing project I've been working on....my husband's slightly moth eaten Pendleton shirt. He probably bought it when we lived in Portland but in Arizona it didn't get much wear and he was ready to throw it in the "out" pile. Not so quick there buddy!

He totally blew our Valentine's Day tradition of ignoring Valentine's Day and showed up with a gift. Argh, dude. So I scrambled up a plan and cut a sleeve off of that old shirt and bought him a bouquet of his favorite pilot pens. Add a zipper, lining, and faux leather tassel and I actually knocked his socks off. Whew!

Then he ordered a Hobonichi Planner for work and asked for a cover. Nailed it! He loves it and his coworkers are jealous so he's happy. And I still have bunch of his plaid shirt left! 

I have a lot more to share and some fun things going on here. And I'm sending out my first newsletter soon so be sure to join my mailing list!

 

My "new" painted pink and gold hutch (50 bucks!)

I found this quaint, but plain, 2 piece hutch at a local antique store a few months ago. It was marked down to 50 dollars and I knew I could do something cute with it. And I did!

I was inspired by this gorgeous dresser on Perfectly Beautiful Things blog. I used Benjamin Moore's Orchid Pink color but the paint is Behr glossy. The trim is Craftsmart Bright Gold paint from Michaels. Did I mention I'm in love with this hutch?

When painting it I found I achieved the best results by laying it on the tarp so any dribbles would slide toward the back. I took my time and ended up using 4 thin-ish coats of paint. If I noticed any big dribbles I waited for them to dry and carefully "shaved" them off with a razor. For the delicate gold detail on top I used a small art brush so I could get into the crevices without being sloppy (I used a wider art brush for the feet). The whole process ended up taking about 3 days (and watching the whole latest season of Call The Midwife).

 

I just used a cheap dollar store sponge brush (comes in a large set for a buck!) to paint the handles, hinges, etc. This took a lot of coats but it dried so quickly I would just dab on a fresh coat about every 1/2 hour.

I really love the fancy, whimsical look of all the gold trim.

Part way through painting I realized I was not going to have enough pink paint if I kept going so I scrounged through my paint collection and grabbed this bright green for the inside color. I like it a lot more than I thought I would and it's a fun surprise when the doors open.

Such a sweet place to keep all of my little goodies. And decent storage for office supplies too since it's right next to my desk, which has no drawers.

A little money and a little time, and now I've got a beautiful keepsake treasure to enjoy for years to come!

Listen to my interview with Pat Sloan. It's kind of a big deal.

 

I'm going to be interviewed by Pat Sloan!

Tune in on Monday October 9th!

A new direction and my first youtube video tutorial!

Hello! Sorry for the terribly long absence! I've been very very busy with something new and amazing and here is one small portion I can share right now. But first, an updated picture of me (remember when I started growing out my grey hair?). I'm still here!

 

I've missed you all and will be back with lots of fun stories about my new adventure. But be sure to watch this, leave a comment if you want, and download the full pdf pattern (link under video) if you want to try this project.

 

Here's the Patchwork Coffee Cup Cozy pdf pattern just for my blog readers! 

 

Oh! And join me on facebook at Make Sewing Studio!

How we made our own built in shelves and mantle using IKEA Billy Bookcases (again)

 This one's been a long time coming but I really wanted to share how we were able to take some short Billy Bookcases from IKEA and create another bank of built in shelves, like we did in our family room here.  A mantle on top really finished out this living room and the shelves give it some much needed character and storage. We love IKEA hacks (another one here, and here) and this one did not disappoint. We did a non-IKEA built in here that's worth checking out too if you're thinking of adding to your home.

 In my dream home I'd have a fireplace in the middle but I was happy to settle for a place to sit and watch tv in comfort. We started by clamping all of the Billy Bookcases together (these are the 41 3/4 tall version). Then Joey attached them to each other at the sides with screws deep enough to go through to the other side without poking out. At this point we could slide the whole unit to make sure it was centered on the wall. 

 Then we started trimming it out with 4" trim board (the same kind we used in the family room project).

 Here's another view.

 While the trim board is pretty it also provided a gap between the top of the shelves and the eventual mantle board. We used that gap to install an outlet facing down so we could plug in our electronics as well as 2 outlets facing upward so I can plug things into the mantle top (lamps, Christmas lights, etc).

This is the downward facing outlet. 

 Here's what it looked like going in.

 And here it is finished.

 Then we attached 2x4s to the wall directly across from the top of the trim pieces. We screwed these into the studs. I forgot to take a picture at this stage so this rendering will hopefully get the idea across.

 Joey installed the mantle outlets by using extension cords stripped and attached to the new outlets (and plugged into the wall behind the shelves). The mantle is an inexpensive length of melamine shelving. There is a "seam" in the middle but it's very discrete. Again, if this were my dream house I would've insisted on a top notch wooden mantle but I'm completely happy with this one and it looks better than I had expected (not cheap looking at all, whew).

 I really love having these outlets but if I had it to do over I would've had them installed on the sides, up near the top, so they wouldn't be as visible.

 Almost there and so much better!

 Here's how we trimmed out the sides of the mantle. I had some white paint matched to the melamine and shelves and, once this was painted, the little flaws were covered up.

 We used quarter round trim at the point where the top of the mantle meets the wall. This picture was taken before I caulked and cleaned up the paint, but it still looks good. I also painted all of the trim pieces in a nice gloss to make it look clean and new.

 Joey notched out the back corners of the center shelves to make room for the speaker cords and tv/dvd player cords. He drilled a small hole through the side here to allow room for the cord to come over to the next shelf.

 We trimmed out the bottom using the same trim as the top. Easy peasy. More details on this process over at our previous built in (including how we covered the seams where the shelves met next to each other).

 This was the fun part. I finally got to pull some pretty stuff from storage and fill it with meaningful items that make me happy every day.

 This is now a beautiful room to walk into. It's the first thing visitors see and that makes me happy.

 Such a happy improvement!

 Here you can get a peek at the boxes Joey made to hide the lamp cords. I've filled them with pinecones from our vacation at the Grand Canyon so they are practical, pretty, and meaningful to me.

We spent under 400.00 for the whole project and it looks like a million bucks! I hope this has been a helpful explanation. Don't be afraid to tackle something like this. It's a fairly uncomplicated and inexpensive way to add oodles of character and happiness to your home. 

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How to make quick and easy bookmarks using your fabric scraps

I'm so thrilled to finally have something quick and useful to make with my scraps! I bought some Pellon 72 stabilizer to try on some projects and really didn't like the way it made the fabric look rumply. Fortunately it was only a yard so I set it aside but kept it in the back of my mind. Then this bookmark idea hit me and the Pellon 72 is the perfect medium for this project so now I'm very happy with it. It's an incredibly quick project and cute as can be so it's great for little gifts and you can even make tiny versions to go with my Petite Planner Cover tutorial.

Here's all you need to make a #fabtasticbookmark:

2 pieces of fabric 9" x 1.5",

one piece of Pellon 72 (also 9" x 1.5"),

one narrow ribbon about 10" long,

and 1 metal eyelet (optional)

Iron your fabrics to each side of the Pellon with the right sides of the fabric facing outward (see the pictures below for the version without eyelets since the process is a little different).

Here's how it will look on both sides.

If you're making one without the eyelet, fold your ribbon and tuck the folded edge into the top between the fabric and the pellon (make sure it's more than 1/4" inch down so your top stitch will sew through the ribbon).

Press in place with your iron.

Now stitch all the way around your bookmark (both versions) 1/4" from the edge.

Use your rotary cutter to trim the edges so they are clean and even.

Install your eyelet and thread your ribbon through. My favorite tool for that is my new Crop-a-dile but there are oodles of tools for this and you may already have something else that works for you.

Here are examples of the two different versions.

Make oodles of them! Use them yourself or give them as gifts! Stuff stockings with them or tuck them in a birthday card! Just do it.

Let me know if you make some and be sure to share pictures on Instagram using the hashtag #fabtasticbookmark. Keep on sewing!

Sew a welt zipper pocket with no stress

This week I sewed my very first welt zipper pocket and it turned out perfectly! I was so satisfied with my results and I give credit to two great video tutorials. This one by Professor Pincushion, and this one by Gertie. Watch them both if you want to give it a try and between the two of them you'll have enough information to make solid pockets that look fantastic on the first try.

I wanted a pocket in this darling planner/organizer cover. I've been making oodles of these (for my etsy shop) and I wanted to step it up to make it a little smarter.

The outcome was nice and straight. There are a couple of imperfections but they are so small that I'm the only one who knows where they are. And I'm fine with that.

My pocket is about 4 inches deep and will hold a great amount of goodies including my phone if I want to use this organizer as an impromptu handbag.

It's got it all and I learned a new skill I had avoided for a long time. So if you're looking for a new sewing skill to learn I highly recommend tackling the welt zipper pocket. You'll be glad you did. Do it!