tutorials

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tutorial | tissue case

May 1, 2009 in sewing, tissue case, tutorials by Sew Funky | 7 comments

You will need:
two paper templates; 7 inches x 6 inches (outer) and 8 inches by 6 inches (inner)
fabric for both the outer and inner of your tissue case
a packet (or two) of tissues

1. Choose your fabric, these don’t use a lot so you can cut into that favourite print for this one!

Pin, and cut out the fabric using the paper templates you made with the measurements given.

2. Place and pin right sides together on one of the shorter sides (6 inches).

Sew together using both a straight stitch and either overlock or zig-zag stitch.

Do the same to the other end.

3. Iron the seams towards the outer fabric.

4. Turn the fabric right-side out and iron. There will be a small overlap of lining on each 6 inch side. :)

5. Fold in half and iron so that you know where you are going to sew the side seams. Fold one side to the halfway mark and pin.

Do the same to the other side, overlapping slightly at the middle.

Now sew each end, by using both the straight stitch and zig-zag stitch.

6. Turn right-side out and use a knitting needle to push out the corners.

TAH DAH!!!

Kudos to Lianne who chose the fabric combination!

I’ve now made three for each of my wonderful daughters to take to school with them! The elephant one goes to Briahna, the circus one to Aimee and the cute retro one will be Hope’s. Woo hoo! :D

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It’s a wrap…

January 12, 2009 in crayon wrap, gifts, sewing, tutorials by Sew Funky | 4 comments

Hehehe!, well actually it’s a crayon wrap! :)

Avert your eyes, Rebekah and Jodz, or you’ll ruin the surprise!

Today is the first day that we are kidless! Well, they left yesterday, and today’s the first full day away from them. Can you tell I’m missing them already? Well, kinda, at least it’s given me some wonderful time to get creative!

I wrote my first review on Filmguide late last night after watching Australia – go check it out and tell me what you all think! The first part of the review was written by Mr Sew-Funky and the second part, by me! A kind of “he say’s, she say’s” review!

Back to the original reason for this post – the crayon wrap!

I don’t know if you’ve ever been stuck with lot’s of broken crayons before, but with three budding artists in the family, I am. So what to do with the useless little bits… Well, you can make new ones, rainbow ones if you like… And so before I even made the crayon wrap prototype I wanted to make some wee crayons by recycling the old. :)

Here’s how;

You need something to melt them in, I chose an old gem iron, but you can make them in muffin pans too!

You need some old worn out crayons, my girls have plenty! :) Don’t worry if they look awful, they won’t look bad for long!

Put baking paper in the gem iron (so they won’t stay in there after melting!). Break up the crayons and put them in. I chose similar colours, but you can mix the crayons up for a rainbow effect!

Put them in the oven at 180 degrees Celcius for about 15 minutes. Look at them melt, this is after around 5 minutes.

They’re ready to take out when they look like this! Leave them to set in the gem iron. :)

This is what they looked like when I took them out of the iron, all ready to put into the new crayon wrap!

Tah Dah! All ready to use by little hands!

And here are the gorgeous little wraps that I made for Miss Jodz Stuff and for my cute little nephew Mo!

This is what they look like when they’re open. They have a little flap that covers the crayons. :)


Seriously cute, don’t you think?

tutorial | Dodecahedron Christmas Ornament

December 5, 2008 in christmas decorations, homemade christmas, tutorials by Sew Funky | 3 comments

A couple of weeks ago I wrote a post about some really neat ornaments I had been making, see below pic…Well, I’ve finally gotten around to taking some photo’s so that you too can make one (or two…) for your tree! Excuse the quality of some of the photographs, I think I need to get some lessons from Mr. Sew-Funky over the Christmas break!

I discovered that this particular shape is actually called a dodecahedron (a bit of a mouthful to say – but good all the same!).

What you need…
Scraps of fabric
12 pentagon templates (you can get some here, just cut them out of plain paper)
thread (2 different colours – one to match the fabric, one obviously different to the fabric)
soft toy stuffing
ribbon

1. Cut out 12 templates.

2. Pin the templates to the wrong side of your chosen fabric.

3. Cut around the template leaving a 1cm seam allowance all the way around.

4. Begin tacking the fabric to the template using the different coloured thread, folding the seam allowance over the template. Do this to all 12 pentagon shapes.

5. Sew the pentagon shapes together, around two of the pentagons making two flowers. Use the matching thread.

6. Sew the two flowers together.

7. Sew up all the seams, except one.

8. Remove the templates, by undoing the tacking.
9. Turn the fabric the right way around.

10. Fill with stuffing.

11. Cut some ribbon (I think I used around 5cm). Sew up the last remaining seam, sewing in the ribbon inside the seam at the end.
12. Tah Dah!!!
Let me know if you make one… :D

new peg bag | refashioned

November 5, 2008 in refashioning, sewing, tutorials by Sew Funky | 1 comment


So, I’ve been needing something to hold my pegs for a while. Having a family of 5, means that there is LOTS of washing and therefore lots of pegs! So what to do…

As soon as I spyed this jersey at Mr Bo. Jumbles I knew it was perfect. It was already a little felted, and I just threw it into a hot wash and dried it in the drier once to make just that little bit more felted!

All I needed to do was;

1. Cut off the arms. You don’t need them for this project, but you could use them for something else (a softie, perhaps?)


2. Sew up arm holes.


3. Sew up the bottom.


4. Insert a coathanger, and TAH DAH!

bags from rags…

August 11, 2008 in refashioning, saving the planet, sewing, tutorials by Sew Funky | 3 comments

well, not really rags, but from old singlet t-shirts. I had an epiphany this afternoon whilst looking at some old tops that Jodz gave to me a month or more ago. Yes, I finally got round to looking in that bag you dropped off Jodz! I didn’t really need any more tops, plus it’s too cold around here to think about summer yet…

I think the only downside to these bags is that you wouldn’t want to overfill them. I don’t think your family’s weeks worth of canned food is gonna do any good, because the straps are just too skinny.

Anyway, they are so super easy and I took a few photos to do a tute. Here goes…

the singlet bag

1. Choose a singlet, I liked this one with beading on the front.

2. Turn inside out, and then sew up the bottom seam. I used zigzag because the material is knit.


3. Fold up the bottom seam to meet the side seam in a triangle. Then sew across the triangle about 2 inches in. This gives your bag a boxed bottom. On my singlet it was easy to figure out where to sew, because the bottom had a cuff – you can see it in the above picture.


4. I then sewed the “triangle” down to the bottom of the bag. You could just skip this step, especially if you wanted a smaller bottom to your bag.

the inside

what it looks like on the outside…


5. Snip the threads and you’re done… A very quick project that’s quite satisfying!

I’ve made 2 already!!!

great for storing all that cupcake material you bought at Spotlight – hehehe!

tutorial | Knitting Needle Roll

June 18, 2008 in knitting, sewing, tutorials by Sew Funky | 4 comments

This idea has been rolling around in my head for a month or so. I needed a better place to keep my knitting needles. So that I could find the right size when I needed one, and also so that I knew what I still needed size-wize. I am so sky high happy about my bernina – it worked like a dream on this project.

So here we have it, the simple knitting needle roll made from a very simple tea towel. :D

requirements;
a nice tea towel, I used a really nice ladelle Dandelion tea towel
sewing machine & thread
ribbon, around 25cm in length
elastic

1. The most important thing to do here, is to choose the tea towel you are going to use.

I like this one, it ended up costing me $1! I kid you not!!!
Make sure your knitting needles will fit nicely (i.e. that the tea towel is wide enough).Then choose some matching ribbon.

2. Next, make the elastic casing;

Fold over and sew one long edge to make elastic casing.
Thread the elastic through the casing.Sew the end’s of the casing to encase the elastic. Make sure to sew backwards and forwards a couple of times to strengthen the seam.Gather the elastic a little bit and sew the other end. It needs to be able to be pulled flat.Trim the elastic ends so that they don’t show.
3. Side Seam’s;

Pin and sew the side seams – using the tea towel seam as a guide. :)This is what it looks like now:
4. Sewing on the ribbon;

Fold the tea towel in half length-wise to find the mid-point.
This is where you are going to sew the ribbon.Pin in place.sew the ribbon twice (see pic below)
don’t forget to reinforce the stitches by sewing back and forth a few times
5. Sewing the pockets for the knitting needles;

Tack, by using a long stitch along the elastic edge.
Take care to pull the elastic straight as you are sewing, so that it is even.
This is what it looks like now;

Begin sewing the pockets.
You could measure here, but since my tea towel had a
nice geometric design. I used that as my guide. :)Make sure you trim the thread ends as you go,
speaking from experience they can get tangled up!This is what it looks like now;


6. The finishing touches;

Unpick the tacking thread.Put your needles into the roll. I left a larger pocket on the side to fit my scissors.TAH DAH!

Let me know if you use this tutorial to make one! :)

tutorial | fabric covered journal

June 10, 2008 in tutorials by Sew Funky | 3 comments

Make a fantastic looking journal…

Requirements;
2 x medium weight card (23cm x 16cm)
2 x cotton fabric (36cm x 29 cm)
1 x polar fleece/wadding (23cm x 14cm)
p.v.a glue
paint brush
2 x light cardstock (14.5cm x 10cm)
A5 paper – however many sheets you would like

1. Choose and cut out your fabric to the measurements given above. If you are using wadding, cut out a piece. I used polar fleece as a cheap alternative because I have so much of it in my stash – use whatever you have.


2. Glue the polar fleece to the card, as in the picture below. You need to leave approx 2 cm on one side so that when you punch the holes out later it will be flat.


3. Glue the 2 cm edge you left.


4. If you are not using polar fleece/wadding, and for the back cover, glue one side of the medium weight card.


5. Place the card glue side down on the fabric, making sure to place it in the middle.


6. Flip it over, and glue a square in the corner (like in the picture below).


7. Fold the corner in and glue down.


8. Repeat on all 4 corners.


9. Glue and fold in sides.


10. Glue the light cardstock to cover the edges.


11. Leave to dry. I hastened the drying process by ironing mine.


12. Punch holes in the A5 paper using the guides on the hole punch.


13. Punch holes in the covers, making sure it is centred.


14. Bringing it all together… Choose some ribbon to match and tie a nice bow to finish.


TAH DAH!

Tutorial; Make Pajama/Lounge Pants

May 30, 2008 in lounge pants, pajamas, sewing, tutorials by Sew Funky | 12 comments

I had an email from one of my readers (Marie) and she asked how I went about making my lounge pants, so thanks to her I decided to make a tutorial for you all. :)

They are super easy and here’s how:

Requirements;
1 metre of chosen fabric (mine here is 120cm wide, and I didn’t use the whole metre)
thread
old pair of pajamas or trousers to base pattern on
good fabric scissors

1. Fold the fabric into half, then half again lengthwise. If I was making proper trousers I would be more careful, and would probably fold in half once, make one side and then place that onto the fabric again to make the other leg – but I’m lazy… Lay your old pajamas onto the folded fabric with the fold against the fold, sewn edge should face the selvedge.

2. Cut the fabric, making sure to give yourself a seam allowance – I gave myself just over a centimetre at a guess. Make sure you leave enough at the bottom and top for hemming and elastic casing.

3. The back needs to be higher than the front, so cut about 1 centimetre off at a slight gradient.


this is what the legs look like at this point


4. Here comes the BORING part. Zig-Zag around the entire edge of the fabric.


5. Now sew the inside seam of each pajama leg. I don’t even bother to pin, but you could if you wanted to be careful.


6. Here’s where I use the pins. Pin both sides of the crotch together, making sure the centre of the inside leg seam lines up with the other side.


7. Sew together, reinforcing the crotch area by sewing back and forth a few times.


8. Make the casing for the elastic by folding and ironing the fabric at the waist. I fold/iron about 1/2 a centimetre in first, and then enough to cover the size elastic I am using.


9. Sew the elastic casing, leaving a gap to thread the elastic.


10. Just like when you made the casing, iron the hemline of both legs twice.

once
twice
11. Sew both hems.


12. Thread the elastic into the casing. Then sew elastic together using the zig-zag stitch. Sew up the gap you left to thread the elastic.

TAH! DAH!

If you have any questions, just leave a comment… :) Please excuse the photo’s, I’m no professional!

thing a day; fifteen

February 15, 2008 in thing a day, tutorials by Sew Funky | 1 comment

I have been busy creating the last couple of days – unfortunately most of the creations are to be gifts, so I can’t post pictures yet. I am wondering how other people deal with this. Especially when you know the person the gift is intended for regularly reads your blog! Give me some help here!!

One thing I can show you is the personalisation of one of the rice bags I made yesterday. See the process below…

I made two rice bag sacks the same (big mistake as very quickly the girls were fighting about whose was whose!) So I gathered the materials needed to personalise them.
I wrote Aimee’s name in invisible ink and embroidered her name in metallic thread. (unfortunately it means that when the sack is heated it needs to come out of the sock!)
Here is Aimee wearing the bag across her shoulders. It’s the perfect size for this. Personally, though, I like to use it on my stomach for that “extra special” time of the month. ;)

Tutorial; Make a Rice Bag

February 14, 2008 in sewing, tutorials by Sew Funky | 2 comments

Materials:
15 1/2 “ x 8 “ Cotton Fabric for Sack (Inner) (COTTON ONLY)
18 “ x 8 1/2” Cotton Fabric for Sock (Outer)
1 3/4 cups of Long Grain Rice

1. Take the cotton fabric you chose for the inner (I used cotton chambray) and zig-zag (or serger) edges. 2. Fold the fabric in half (right sides together), and sew one short end and up the long side. Use a scant 1/2″ seam allowance.3. Turn rightside out. This makes a little sack to which you add 1 3/4 cups uncooked long grain white rice. Use a funnel to help get the rice in!4. Now turn in the seam allowance on the remaining open end and finish by sewing across it. Make sure you sew right across so that the rice can’t get out.5. Take the fabric you chose for the sock. I used some remnants that I had in my stash – this is a great way to use up some of that extra fabric you have lying around! Sew up this piece like you did the sack only finish off the open end by sewing the seam allowance in by an inch (see pics below).
This will be what can be washed if it gets dirty. DON’T WASH THE RICE SACK!!

To heat:
Put the rice bag into your microwave oven, set on HIGH and time for 1 1/2 to 2 min. I usually only put it in for just over a minute as that is hot enough – especially if you are using it for children!

Here is a little poem I found on the internet that you could use if you made your sack and sock as a gift!

The Rice Bag
This little pillow filled with rice,
Is such a comforting device.
Microwave for 2 minutes on high
And kiss those aches and pains goodbye.
Apply it to the troubled spot,
The heat will ease the pain a lot.
Or warm those little toes so cold,
You’ll find this nice to have and hold.
Or freeze it for a little while,
And fix that booboo up in style.
Instead of a compress made of ice,
Use this pillow filled with rice.

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