Tubular Bandana Buff Tutorial

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Where it around your neck!

Yay for Spring!  I actually like yardwork and gardening quite a bit and nothing helps keeping hair out of your face, bugs of your neck, the sun from burning your ears, or sweat dripping everywhere like the perfect bandana!

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Gardening style- keeps hair up and ears covered.

It’s totally TUBULAR like they wear on Survivor.

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Stoner beanie! Or bold fashion turban! Or crazy bag lady!

The most popular brand of these is BUFF brand.  They are seamless tubes so they must loom their own tube-tastic fabrics or something.

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Apocalyptic home improvement expert!

But you can make one with simple jersey at home on a basic sewing machine!  Let’s make ours with a sort-of-kind-of-flat felled seam / french seam.  Read on for the tute.

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Girl with the pearl earring!

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Lillestoff Jorna!

Have I really never blogged about this masterpiece?!

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My friend Rae just posted this great blog about her favorite knit fabrics.   Since I am SO LUCKY and get to sew with her at Sew Ann Arbor meet-ups, she has seen me use some Lillestoff… specifically, this amazing if not pretty racist “Indian” fabric.

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Of course I made a Jorna in tank length.

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Was it ever warm outside?  Were there ever flowers?  What does grass smell like?

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You can see lots of amazing different Lillestoff fabrics here, and you can even own your own racist Indian fabric by buying here.

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Catnap Dress Contest

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Lizzy House had the best idea ever to hold a dress contest for her fabric line Catnap.  Participants chose to either make an adult dress or one for little girlies.  I opted to sew myself a full skirt sleeveless dress, perfect for wearing to cat tea parties:

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The pattern is Simplicity 1873 by Cynthia Rowley, Style B.  I had to merge two sizes in order to get the perfect fit and I added an inch to the bodice length.

dress-3Nope, these aren’t my kids.  I went to a girls-only party at EmmmyLizzy’s so I could hang with these darling ladies in their Catnap dresses!

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More pictures and one tip for sewing pleats after the jump!

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Riley Blake Challenge Quilt

Hello! Here is my entry for the Riley Blake Modern Quilt Challenge.  I call it Riley’s Cloud:

fullHappy little cloud bumps made using my sew-and-turn applique method explained here. 

It’s not blanket stitch, not raw edge, not needle-turn – it’s sew and turn and it’s my favorite!

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Can you see the scallop quilting?

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There are four cloud outlines hidden in the white.

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A little splash of color against our milk sky, our snowy roof-tops, and the black, bare trees.

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This quilt was made for the MQG Riley Blake Challenge.  Members of the modern quilt guild were sent fabric bundles of Riley Blake designer quilting cottons.

The Ann Arbor Quilt Guild is also having a challenge!  Our members will pick a favorite and win a stack of fabric!

More pictures after the jump:

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Vintage Hanky Quilt

My mother-in-law gave me a box of beautiful handkerchiefs that once belonged to her grandmother. I pieced them into a quilt to give to my MIL for Christmas this past December.

hankyTo make a quilt with handkerchiefs, I found it helpful to stabilize the hankies with fusible light-weight interfacing before cutting them into half-square triangles. I am so floored by how colorful and lush the hankies look when you cut them down!

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The solid I used is either Kona Bone or Kona Ivory… who can keep track of such things 😛

I call this quilt “Grandma Love” because it is both a way for my MIL to remember her grandma, but also a token of my appreciation for my boys’ Grandma Gracie.  She is such an absolutely amazing grandma to those kids.

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I used an all over magnolia quilting pattern.  I backed the quilt with a vintage sheet I bought from the lovely EmmmyLizzy via her etsy shop.

hanky1I bound the quilt in the same neutral Kona whatever  : )

Have you played with incorporating sentimental, non-quilting fabrics into your sewing projects?  I’ve got a stack of my husbands old work shirts I plan on playing with someday.

Thanks for stopping by!

 

 

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Woodlands in Winter Quilt and Tutorial

Here is a quilt I made for my mother for Christmas!  I call it Woodlands in Winter.  They live in the forest and run the Woodlands Sawmill.

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Improv trees on a sea of mixed neutrals.  I was inspired by Lovely Design’s Lovely Little Forest quilt from the Purl Bee.

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Walking foot quilting in flowing lines, inspired by Debbie’s Joy of Simplicity pillow seen here.

tree-3 I bought a white-on-white bundle from Pink Castle Fabrics and used a lot of Kona Bone for the background.   It measures something like 80″ x 75″.

fell-downOne tree fell down.  Time to harvest its lumber!

Read on for a tutorial on how to make these wonky trees and plan for the final layout…

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Katniss Sweater

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If you saw the Hunger Games: Catching Fire, then you might have noticed this amazing sweater vest cover-up dealy worn by Katniss.  I sure did!

Screen Shot 2013-12-31 at 4.23.06 PM I put it in the back of my mind that I wanted to make one, and then my friend (Nicole from Owen Faye) asked if I knew how to crochet or knit so I could make THIS.

It looks like maybe Two of Wands has stopped selling the pattern? Not sure what’s going on there, but here are two similar other instant download patterns…

Enough is enough!  I have to 1. buy this pattern 2. learn to crochet 3. learn to knit 4. make this thing.

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I did it!  I actually think this is a great first-timer project.  Sure, you have to learn a bunch to get the final product, but the bulky yarn makes things go fast.  Also, the whole point is to get an organic looking product.  Drop a stitch?  So what!  Katniss made hers from a BRANCH.

katniss3If you would like to dive in the deep end like I did, might I recommend these youtube videos?

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Reindeer Fabric Palooza

One night last spring I was drunk and bought 4 yards of holiday Fair Isle printed jersey fabric.

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The first time I’ve ever gotten a rib-knit neck right on the first try!

That’s a lot of fabric for not having any projects in mind.

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Drafted a t-shirt pattern for my husband!
Jorna tank for me.

I decided to spread it as far as I could into as many holiday outfits as possible for several of my favorite people:

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flashback tees for my boys.

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My niece and nephew!

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Jorna Junior!

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Jorna Juniors!

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Fancy Pants Leggings by Titchy Threads

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happy holidays.

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Infinity Sweater

Karen from One Girl Circus has a great new pattern out called the Infinity Sweater.

I love the look of an Infinity Sweater in Jersey, which can be worn in countless ways, but for the cold end of fall, I longed for something super warm.

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So I made a version of the Infinity out of flannel!  And not just any flannel! Made by Rae’s flannel Fanfare Foxes!

Sorry for the grainy photos here.  Terrible fall lighting + dead camera + blogging with kids = my excuses.

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The first time I saw Rae’s little foxes, I just wanted to drape myself in them.  Screw kid’s clothes – it was time to ensconce myself in flannel.  I am a modern-day George Costanza.

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George ensconced in velvet

But I didn’t stop at the foxes!  I made another version for a friend out of some really fun woven fabric.

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Blankets as fashion – this is me:

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nicole6These “tribal” sweaters (ugh – there’s a better word I’m sure, but that’s the one getting used) are so hot right now.  Check out this one from Anthropologie:

anthroAnd I made one more.  This one I made from just cheap JoAnns flannel, as it was my first experiment with a flannel Infinity.  A wearable muslin, if you want.

plaidSo cozy! I love it.  I love all three of them and they are WARM.  If you’re looking for a socially acceptable way to wear your slanket out in public this is it.

plaid3  A couple tips if you want to try this look yourself.

  • Get the pattern – it’s awesome and can be made as-is, or given slight alterations to take on INFINITE design ideas.
  • Go a size-up – the Infinity is designed for stretch fabric, and if your fabric doesn’t stretch you should account for that for a better fit.
  • Play with the front-flap lengths.  If you’re making this from a thin fabric (like most t-shirt jerseys) then you could keep them full-length so you can wear the cardigan in multiple ways (as a wrap! tied behind your back! over your neck!).  But if you’re making this from a thicker fabric and know you’ll ONLY wear it open, you may want to shorten the flaps.
  • For the foxes Infinity, I shortened the flaps so it’s all the same length around when worn, and I actually hand-tacked a fold to keep a certain look in place.  Let’s call the a couture hand-sewing element, rather than a weird cheat ; )

 

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