Free Tutorial - Summer Placemats and Flatware Pouches

At my house, we're all decked out for summertime!

Wouldn't it be fun to jazz up your own table

with fresh new place settings?
Today I'm sharing a free tutorial,
for placemats and matching flatware pouches!

For these samples, I used a few summery coordinates

from Terry's Fabrics.

I got things started with a favorite print:

Beach Huts in Blue,

with red and blue cabanas on a creamy background.

Next I chose a solid fabric,

Panama Curtain Fabric in Linen.

The taupe tones reminded me of rich sandy beaches.

And now for a little zing...

I selected a fun stripe called Chips, in Ocean.

To make a set of 6 placemats and 6 flatware pouches,

I used about one yard each of the Beach Huts and Linen,

plus 1/2 yard of the striped fabric.

You can cut pieces for 3 placemats,
cutting across the 54" width of home dec or curtain weight fabrics.

Let's get started making the reversible placemats.

I created pieced sections for the front sides.

For each placemat:

cut a section of the beach huts fabric,

measuring 6" high x 17 1/2" wide,

to be used as the center strip.

Add the bottom strip in linen,

cut to 3 1/2" high x 17 1/2" wide.

Add the top strip, also in linen,

cut to 5 1/2" high x 17 1/2" wide.

Here's the placemat front, all stitched and pressed.

Trim the finished front to 13 1/2" high x 17 1/2" wide.

{Keep in mind, you can use a single piece of fabric

or make a patchwork in any pattern. Design opportunities are endless.}

For each placemat cut a backing piece,

measuring 13 1/2" x 17 1/2" wide.

Pin the front and back pieces with right sides together.

Starting on the upper edge, about 2" from a corner,

stitch around all 4 sides with a generous 1/4" seam,

leaving about 2 -3 " open for turning.

Here's a tip I always use

whenever I leave an opening for turning.

I backstitch a tiny (1/4") seam

that goes from the opening to the edge of the fabric, 

as shown in the photo below.

This strengthens the opening

and also makes it easy to turn under the edge

during the pressing step.

Turn the placemat right sides out through the opening.

Use a turning tool to smooth out the side seams

and gently push out the corners.

Give it a good press,

then topstitch near all the edges.
Repeat to create a set of four...or six...
or however many you need.

Admire your gorgeous finished placemats!

And they're reversible!

Now let's make those fun flatware pouches.

For each pouch:

cut (1) outer fabric 6" x 15"

and (1) lining fabric 6" x 15".

Pin outer fabric and lining right sides together,

and stitch with a generous 1/4" seam,

just as you did for the placemats,

leaving a 2" opening on one long edge for turning.

Turn the pouch right sides out through the opening.

Use a turning tool to smooth the seams

and gently push out the corners.

Press well.

Place the pouch with the lining side up,

and fold the bottom edge up to make a 5" pocket.

Press well.

Begin stitching at the bottom fold,

and topstitch along one long edge,

across the top,

and along the other long edge.

Reinforce the stitching along the top edges

of the pocket,

since these are stress points.

These are super quick to make,
and you'll have your set finished in no time.
Look how sweet the flatware pouches look,

filled with silverware and a napkin.

They really dress up those pretty placemats,

don't you think?

These would make wonderful gifts

for Mother's Day, birthdays, wedding showers...

I made some more, to match my Cherry Kitchen decor!
They're just as much fun to use indoors.

{Also, I have a fabulous red gingham picnic tablecloth for my outdoor table.}

I feel more of these coming on...
perhaps with some ric rac trim,
or button-down flaps.

For now, I'm going to have fun using this set all summer long!

This set looks really sharp with the Beach Huts pillows
I had created last summer!

If you create your own placemats or flatware pouches,

I hope you'll let us know how yours turn out!
Feel free to leave a link in the comments,
or add them to my Flickr group here.

Enjoy!

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Getting Skinny With My Pinnie

WOW! What fun I've been having with our

Skinny Pinnie Pincushion Swap!

I've joined 52 of my skinniest friends,

and we are all making our partners

a new Skinny Pinnie pincushion.

Here's what I made!

My skinny partner, Stephanie,

lives in Pennsylvania.

{Me, too!}

She told me she likes ric rac and selvages.

{Me, too!}

She loves Bonnie and Camille fabrics...

{Me, too!}

The fun part is that

I didn't even know that she is such a fan of

Bonnie and Camille until after I'd sent

her new skinny pinnie to her!

I love using some linen

along with dreamy fabrics like this.
It's a little design detail I picked up
from the Zakka Style Sew Along.

I had sew much fun making this pincushion!

I left the ric rac unstitched on the front,
just anchored in the seam,

for holding a small pair of scissors.

For the little selvage insert,

I adorned the top unfinished edge

with a wee bit more of the same ric rac.

In my last pincushion post,

I shared that I love to use

Pellon ShapeFlex 101SF interfacing

to keep my pincushions from distorting

during the stuffing process.

{It gives the pinnies great shaping...skinny or not!}

If you'd like to see lots more beautiful skinny pinnies,

head on over to our Flickr page,

and get the skinny!

Come back soon, and I'll show you what my partner made for me!

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Prettified Pincushion

This week marks the grand finale

of the Patchwork Please Zakka 2.0 Sew Along.

Debbie from A Quilter's Table

has done a magnificent job of

hosting the last half of the sew along!

They say you can't judge a book by its cover,

but as soon as I saw those Prettified Pincushions

on the front of the book,

I knew I wanted to have a copy!

For my version,

I chose lots of sunny yellow prints

from my fabric stash.

I used linen, to mimic the samples in the book.

There is just something about the texture

of the linen, paired with

smooth quilting cottons...so touchable.

The neutral linen also serves

as a calming backdrop,

enhancing the brightness of the yellows...

so exciting!

I made my pincushion quite a while ago,

but I remembered to make some notes about

my progress,

for my "likes" and "dislikes" section.

Dislikes are always first...

If you haven't made your {first}

prettified pincushion already,

make sure you add a 1/2" for the seam allowance
{1/4" on each side}

to your template piece!!!

{This is just sooooo important. The finished pieced block will be 2 1/2" square.} 

The instructions don't say when to remove

the paper from the block.

I recommend waiting until all of the 4 blocks

have been stitched together.

One more criticism I have is regarding the 

size recommendations for the scraps

used in the paper piecing.

I am stone serious when I say that
I wrote in my journal,

"You will CRY, unless you cut the pieces LARGER

than the book recommends!"

I used pieces at least this size:

4 Prints: 2 1/2" x 3"

Background Linen:  (4) 1 1/4" x 2"

(4) 2 1/2" x 2 1/2"

(8) 1 3/4" x 2 3/4"

And now for my "likes"...

I really enjoy paper-piecing once in a while,

and this was really a rewarding project

to make with that technique.

I think it would be a great project

to make, even if you've never tried it before.

Another great thing about making this project

is that you end up with a

very functional and stylish item.

The size is just right,

and it is the perfect way to explain

what is meant by "zakka".

My greatest "like" is the finished result.

I mean...just look at how CUTE it is!

The covered button adds so much charm!

{And I'm not just talking about MINE...I haven't seen one I didn't love,

as they have popped up all over the internet and blogland.}

If you've got this book,

I guarantee you will be happy

with the pincushion you prettify

from this design.

 I think I'm going to have to prettify some more pincushions!

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A New Journal Cover...Eventually

Everyone probably already knows this,

but I'm going to say it anyway...

If you're gonna sew when you're tired,

you will need one of these:

No, not the adorable paper-pieced block made by Susie...

I mean you'll need the actual seam ripper!

I had to use mine late last night,

as I tried to finish my latest April project from

the Across the Pond Sew Along.

My dwindling pile of La Petite Ecole has been

calling me to make another journal cover

using this tutorial by Bloom.

Just one of THREE beautiful journal cover tutorials at Bloom blog!

I tried to modify the cutting measurements

to fit my own journal.

???

Somehow I ended up having to make 

very very very very skinny seam allowances,

for the final stitching.

And then...even after careful wielding

of Jack, the Seam Ripper,

and repeated re-stitching and re-rippping,

I still have an "issue" with the lower front edge.

I applied some Fray Check to the problem zone

and am keeping my fingers crossed.

And then...

my notebook just wouldn't fit!

But I HAD to have THIS cover for THAT notebook,

before I would go to sleep.

Look...

It's got a pretty strip of my favorite

La Petite Ecole prints,

and a little rooster applique...

and there's even an A on it for Amy.

Finally I won that argument,

and the notebook is in there to stay.

How, you may ask,

did I manage to squeeeeeeze 

the journal inside the cover?

;)

{I'll never tell, but I think I'm gonna have to get a new rotary cutter blade now.}

Oh, boy, am I glad I have my Sewing Journal,

so I could make notes on what didn't work,

and what to try next time!

The Good Journal

So now you know for certain

that I'm not a Perfect Sewist.

My notebook pages stick out a bit

from underneath the cover,

but I still love this little Teenager of a journal.

The Naughty Journal

Post your journal covers on the Across the Pond Sew Along Flickr page.

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Zakka Style Week #23 - Message Board

Here we are at the next-to-the-last project

in the Zakka Style Sew Along!

{This fun event has been hosted by Lindsey at LRStitched.}

This week's project was one I've been looking forward to making,

ever since the first time I thumbed through the Zakka Style book...

It's delightful, and it's called the Happy Garland Message Board!

The contributor is Katrien Van Deuren of the blog

A Bit of Pilli Pilli.

I've been aware of Katrien's work for a while now.

I favorited some of her Flickr photos a long time ago,

which featured bright bits of applique on a linen background,

framed in a hoop, like the one shown below.

And now she's shown us how to make our own versions in the book!

The hardest part about this project was gathering all the sweet little accessories that were necessary to make it so adorable.

Luckily I found a spool of green and white twine

and lots of teeny tiny clothespins one day at my local craft store!

I rummaged around and came up with 

an embroidery hoop in the right size, too!

I decided to use Heat N Bond to fuse my little flags in place,

then stitch them all together into two swags.

I was done stitching in no time!

My little hoop will be used to hold fabric swatches,

inspiring me to make projects from certain lines or colors.

I can't WAIT to dig into my layer cake of Simply Color

by V and Co. for Moda!

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