Hanging Tea Towel tutorial

Simple Hanging Tea Towel Tutorial
(Previously featured on the The Village Haberdashery blog)
By Amy Cavanagh

Materials

• 8" x 8.5" piece of linen fabric (or any fabric really - just be aware of pattern direction during assembly)
• 8" x 8.5" piece of iron-on interfacing
• One 2"piece of sew-in Velcro
• 1 waffle weave (or linen or thin cotton) tea towel 
• One AWESOME button (I used a ceramic button purchased at a craft fair many years ago and used embroidery floss to attach it)

Instructions
1.  Iron the interfacing onto the wrong side of your fabric.

2.  Crease fabric down the middle along the long side.

3.  Lay fabric flat and good side facing up.  Use a ruler and Hera marker (or chalk or some sort of marking device that can be removed), draw your 1/4" seam allowance along the long sides.  These will be used to help place the Velcro in the correct place.  See picture in Step 4 to see the scored lines.

4.  Now place your button on the right hand side 1.25" from the bottom and centred between the 1/4" line and the creased centre line.

5.  Place one part of the Velcro one inch from the top on the left side, centred between the 1/4" line and the crease in the middle.  Pin in place. 

6.  Place the other Velcro part 1.25" from the bottom on the left side and centred between the 1/4" line and the crease in the middle.  Pin in place.  Refer to the picture in Step 4.

7.  Sew both of your Velcro pieces on.

8.  Sew your button on.  I hand sewed mine on using embroidery floss because the button was ceramic.  Feel free to attach your button using your sewing machine.

Arrows show where I attached the two Velcro pieces and the button.

9.  Fold fabric in half along the crease in the middle so that the right sides are together.

10.  You will now sew two of the three open sides.  Please sew the long side and the short end where your button is.  Press.  Trim corners.

11.  Turn right side out and push the corners out and press again so this rectangle is flat, taking care to avoid the Velcro (it will melt!). (sorry this image is so blurry) 

12.  Take your tea towel and cut it down to 15" tall (or shorter if you prefer) so that three sides still have the original hem of the store-bought tea towel.

13.  Now we need to fold and manipulate the raw edge of the tea towel so it will insert into the fabric rectangle opening.  Here is a picture how I folded and creased mine but it all depends on the thickness of the towel and if you like uniform or irregular pleats or folds.

14.  Take the fabric rectangle and turn the raw edge inside about 1/4" to 1/2" and press.  Avoid the Velcro!

15.  Insert the folded towel top into the opening of the rectangle and pin in place.  Check the front and back to see that you are happy with the placement of the folds or pleats and how the towel hangs.  Adjust if necessary.

16.  Top stitch approximately 1/8" around the entire rectangle, locking the tea towel in place and giving a nice finish.  I did a double row of stitches where the tea towel is inserted into the fabric rectangle.

17.  Press and hang on the oven door or cupboard handle.  Step back and admire your work!

Q3 2015 FAL - goal setting

I love lists.  I write a list everyday so here is my overly ambitious Third Quarter list of things I would really love to complete:

1.  Fresh Lemon Quilts inspired Poinsettia  table topper - finish sewing together, baste, quilt, bind, label

2.  Arrows bee quilt - baste, quilt, bind, label

 3.  FIVE Michelle Pattern Grocery bags - all cut out and ready to sew since August 2014!!

Picture borrowed from Michelle Patterns

4.  Simply Solids Amaranth bee quilt - baste, quilt, bind, label

5.  HST Quilt - add another border (?), baste, quilt, bind, label

6.  Lizzy House Meadow quilt - baste, quilt bind, label

7.  Make a back, sandwich, baste, quilt, bind and label my Diamonds in Diamonds quilt

8.  Big Bear - add paws, border, backing, sandwich, baste, quilt, bind, label

9.  Finish my EPP Carnival project (Katy Jones pattern) from Fat Quarterly Retreat four years ago.  This will become a cushion I think. 

As you can see, I hope to turn some of these quilt tops in to REAL quilts!  Wish me luck!
Linking to:

Q2 2015 Finishes - two things completed

 

For various reasons, my 'sew-jo' abandoned me in September 2014 and has still not fully returned.  I have made several things (baby quilt and five brooches) in the past eight or nine months but only managed to complete TWO of the items on my Second Quarter Finish-Along list.  Here is the link to my original Q2 to-do list!

I completed my Polar Bear cushion (paper pieced pattern by Quiet Play) and I am thrilled with it!  I tested this pattern and the block sat for the longest time so I am pleased it is no longer an orphan!  And now I appear to be ready for Christmas - win win!

My other finish was a Sew Together Bag for Nathalie.  We did a 'talent/skill swap' - she made me the most gorgeous hand knit socks and I was to make her the Sew Together Bag.  However, I had made one before and swore to NEVER make another.... which could be why it took me a year and three months to complete!  But I gifted it full of things for Nathalie to enjoy.  I am pretty pleased at how it turned out - so much so that I may even make a third one in the future.... 

Nat's favourite colour is teal/aqua (also one of my favourites too!!) so I enjoyed picking the fabrics for it - and the zippers too!  And of course I sewed one of the THIS TOOK FOREVER tags inside -- because it was the truth!

I am all linked up to the 2015 Q2 Finishes linky party.

Q2 FAL 2015 - goal setting

 

My 2nd Quarter 2015 Finish-Along goals are:

1. Hand quilt my Meadow Quilt


2. Finish Nathalie's Sew Together Bag


3. Finish the Giraffe and make it into a wall hanging

4. Complete my bag testing for Geta

5.  Make this polar bear into a cushion cover
 

6.  Handquilt my Diamond in Diamond quilt


Linking up to On the Windy Side

Mighty Mouse Pincushion tutorial

Hello - I thought that I would share my tutorial for MIGHTY MOUSE (pincushion) that was originally posted on The Daily Stitch in 2013. I LOVE making these mice.  Here is one I recently made in pink mirror ball fabric!  So cute!

Mighty Mouse [weighted] Pincushion

You will need:
(1) 6 inch charm square [I used Anna Maria Horner ‘Field Study – Spotted in the Crowd Amelia’]
(2) beads or buttons for eyes
(2) 1 inch x 2 inch  [approx – adjust to how big you want them to be] felt rectangles for ears
(1) 6.5” piece of cord (or yarn) for tail
Needle and black thread
Polyfil toy stuffing

Steps:
1. Fold square diagonally, right sides together to make a triangle.


2. Sew along one open edge using small stitches, backstitching at the beginning and the end.


3. Clip corner near stitches and turn so right side out, making sure to use a pencil or chopstick to ensure a tidy point (the nose of the mouse).

4.  Trim off corner (you can trim right to the opposite edge if you want to make a better cone).


5.  Press a hem around the open edge.

 

6.  Baste stitch along this hemmed edge using strong thread (or doubled up thread).

 

7.  Gather thread so the opening is cinched slightly and add stuffing, making sure it goes into pointed nose.

 

8.  Cinch more and add stone if desired (helps keep the mouse upright on an angle).

 

9.  Cinch closed and secure thread.  Sew tail to the bottom near the closure. Stitch felt over this area if you feel the cinched area is untidy or not closed tight.

10.  For the whiskers on the nose, thread three pieces of black thread through near the nose tip and tie each side with a knot close to the body to secure.

11.  Add beads or buttons for eyes.  French knots would work as well.

12.  For the ears, take the felt pieces and trim the corners off so you have semi-circular tops.  Pinch the bottom of one ear together so the ear has some dimension and stitch these gathers in place.  Now stitch to the body of mouse.  Repeat.


14.  Adjust the stone in the bottom to get the desired angle of your mouse.

15.  Now you have a weighted mouse pin cushion!!  Enjoy!