Diary of a Sewing Addict: January 2018

Four days in the life of a sewing addict...

Thursday 1/18/18:

In an effort to document my sewing addiction, I've begun this diary. 

One might say "beginning" a diary on a blog meant to document my sewing is de trop, but I refuse to be cowed by convention.

After my favorite child went to bed, I finalized the design for the quilt I'm going to make out of all of the half-square triangles (HST) I made out of a jelly roll.

HSTs are great because they're so versatile. But since I went into making them without a plan, that versatility worked against me. When I do a full post on this quilt when it's finished (it might be a while, so please don't hold your breath) I'll take you through all the possibilities I went through.

Alas, this was not to be my project for the evening, however I was glad the decision no longer hung over me like a dark cloud of quilty concern.

Instead, I finished up some star points and started chain piecing this beauty together:

I got through five of the vertical columns before I realized I really should go to bed.

I knew it was time because I started making mistakes. Grr... You can see in detail below: that blue star's top and the piece next to it are rotated the wrong way. After this picture I did pull out my seam ripper and fix it before putting this project to bed for the night because I didn't want to accidentally forget the next time I picked it up.

And so to bed.

Friday 1/19/18:

After another eventful day of life as usual, once Babu was in bed I continued working on the starry quilt I worked on the night before.

This fabric is the same as one of my favorite quilts ever, which until now I hadn't realized I never blogged about other than mentioning in my end of year post.

The fabric is a Windham line by Carrie Bloomston. It's just so gorgeous. I love the colors, I love the pattern, and I love the fabric. You can still get some here at Hawthorne Threads or here at Fabric.com. The lookbook also shows all sorts of other cool uses for the fabric. It's been out about a year and a half so stockpiles are dwindling, unfortunately.

Above you can see Maggie's utter disrespect for my efforts in the sewing room. You can also see half of the horizontal rows sewn together compared to the unsewn half. It's crazy how much it shrinks once it's sewn together, one quarter-inch seam at a time.

I closed the night with a completed quilt top, although I waited until Saturday morning to document it in the sunshine. 

This is as far as I can get until I procure some more quilt batting, although I do have the backing fabric on hand. I'm not sure what I'll use for binding yet. If I were smart I'd figure that out now so I can make any necessary purchases ahead of time.

The jury is still out on my smartness in this regard.

Saturday 1/20/18:

1 yard of stretch corduroy went to the fabric store in the sky today.

I remember the first time I saw it:

It was 19 years ago. I was 12 and had just finished my sewing lesson at Rhona's. As I descended the stairs I almost tripped over a pile of fabric.

Rhona would leave fabric that was up for grabs on the stairs for her students to pick through. I saw this beauty and couldn't leave without it. 

It's not *actually* beautiful, dear reader. Consider that verbiage dramatic irony. It's just cheap stretch corduroy that attracts lint like it is its job.

Ol' stretch corduroy and I parted ways for a few years when I went to college, but when I cleaned out my old room at "home" once I got an apartment we rekindled our relationship.

SC joined my stash and when the stretch vinyl I got for the belt of the Washington Dress turned out to be classless and vulgar, I reached for my old friend to fill in.

It was finally happening. After 19 years we were finally sewing together. No sooner had I sewed the whole dress together and was trying it on for fit when SC started to fall apart at the seams.

I held it in its final moments. I cursed the heavens. Why now!? Why did SC give no indication of its weakness even hours before, before I'd wasted its final minutes on earth being punched with needles in a last ditch effort to realize the dreams I'd had all those years ago?

But those dreams were dashed upon the floor of my sewing room. I had to rip it asunder, and separate it in a most unholy manner from the dress. The violence! 

O, the violence.

In its last day on this mortal coil, it was among the beauty of this floral double knit. If it had to go, at least it went having known a true connection with a majestic friend of its own kind.

Goodbye sweet stretch corduroy. 

--

Prior to this travesty, we went to a toddler friend's birthday sledding soiree. 

Once we had recovered from all of the fresh air that had infected our lungs, I bathed my self-healing cutting mat. 

The "self-healing" cutting mat apparently needs to be properly hydrated to heal, and it wasn't recovering from all of the abuse I was inflicting up on it.

Only time (and a bath) will tell if my mat will recover.

Sunday 1/21/18:

My mat did not recover. It's possible it's not actually a self-healing mat and hydration will not cure it.

I had gone as far as I could on two projects this weekend only to find myself in a holding pattern, so I decided to whip up something to satiate my unending desire for a finished project using materials I had on hand.

I whipped this baby up in a *mere 6 hours. 

(*This is an example of verbal irony.)

The full explanation of this little tote is a post for another day, but please be assured I documented it fully and made plenty of mistakes along the way. As I have before, I blame this on my rudimentary understanding of geometry (curses upon you 10th grade geometry teacher!) and basic math "skills."

This project's intended recipient was my favorite child, and upon receiving it she immediately filled it with crayons. 

She has not colored since.

So You Want To Sew Some Pillows: The 15-Minute Hidden Zipper Pillow Tutorial

So, you want to sew some pillows? 

The following guide, using the second person and oddly formal language, will guide you through the process, as well as impart the secret to whipping up a pillow with a hidden zipper in about 15 minutes.

First: Acquire fabric.

Fabric is not hard to acquire if you are willing to part with your custom. This fabric was acquired from the aptly-named Fabric.com. Upholstery-weight fabric is best for pillows.

(Blush: Premier Prints Cut Glass in Blush - $14.95/yard

Dark Blue: P.Kaufmann Vintage Find Indigo - $17.82/yard

Lighter Blue: Justina Blakeney Birds Jacquard Indigo - $32.99/yard)

It's important to know how much fabric you need before acquisition, i.e. how big you want your pillows and the quantity.

Next: Procure or create pillow forms. It's actually quite simple to create pillow forms if you have some sort of filling material (like Poly-Fil), but once you calculate the cost of materials, you might find it's not worth your time compared to the cost of purchasing ready made. 

For example, right now West Elm has pillow forms on sale for 20"x20" for $12. The quality is worth it, as is the lack of effort required.

Determine your cutting size: You might find other guides recommending that you cut your fabric to the same size as your pillow form, so that when it's all sewn up and seam allowance is taken into account your pillow will be plumper than Angelina Jolie's lips.

In this guide, you'll find things taken a step further. Your pillow should be as plump as Kylie Jenner's lips if you reduce the height and width by an additional inch.

Thus, for a 20"x20" pillow form, you need front and back of your cut fabric to be 19"x19".

Secret #1: When it comes time to cut your fabric, instead of cutting two squares, cut one long rectangle. In this case, you'd cut a piece 38"x19".

Caveat: if you are trying to center the fabric's design in a particular way, you should use the traditional method of cutting two pieces as above, and add 1.5"-2" to the back fabric height to accommodate the hidden zipper pocket. Once you get to the end you then sew together three sides instead of just two.

Finishing the edges: You might find some fabrics fray quite easily, which will in minor cases lead to an unattractive and messy interior and in major cases lead to your pillow fraying away into oblivion.

To prevent fraying, use a zig-zag stitch or an overlocker to finish the raw edges of all 4 sides of your cut fabric.

Cut/Prepare your zipper: Zippers either come pre-cut or on a long coil. If you have a coiled zipper, cut it roughly to size (a bit larger) than the side you're putting the zipper on. If you're using the folded edge method, the zipper should always go opposite the folded edge.

Trim your zipper to be exactly long as the side it will be sewn to.

Apropos of nothing: If you've never seen how to add a zipper pull to a zipper, you thread one side of the opened zipper coil through the pull just a smidge, then do the same for the other side slightly staggered below the height of the other side. Wiggle it up and nudge the pull down until it engages with the other side through the pull and you should be able to slide the pull down smoothly.

Once you get the hang of it, it takes just a second. You'll find it's actually faster than wrestling a pre-cut zipper out of a package.

Sew the zipper to one side of your fabric: The zipper should be placed on the ends opposite your folded edge. Place the outer edge of your zipper facedown along the edge of the fabric's right side, as seen above. Pin or clip it in place.

Using your zipper foot, sew it in place with your stitch line as close to the zipper as possible without, you know, actually sewing on top of the zipper teeth. 

Once you approach the zipper pull (which will be hanging out somewhere along your sew line), stop with your needle down, lift your presser foot, and maneuver the zipper pull back up to the area you've already sewn to the other side of the needle. Resume stitching until you get to the edge of the zipper.

The result is thus.

Sew the other side of the zipper to the pillow: Turn the fabric inside out and repeat the process from the previous step with the other side of the zipper and the other edge of the pillow.

You will now find yourself with a tube of fabric.

Secret #2: Create the easiest hidden zipper placket in the world.

On the back side of the pillow, create a hidden zipper placket by letting the fabric extend over the zipper and folding it back upon itself. You should extend past the previous stitch line about an inch, or about to the edge of the other side of the zipper. This is where you add in an extra 1.5-2" of fabric on the back side compared to the front.

(If you're using the tube method, the reduced size is distributed evenly on the front and back.)

Pictured above, the stitch line from the earlier step (which stitched the zipper to the top layer of fabric you see above) is to the right of the pins. The fabric then extends out about an inch, and then is folded under. 

The finished side of the fabric.

Side view showing the doubled-over fabric.

Sew: Using your zipper foot, sew as close to the zipper as before, through both layers of fabric and the zipper. This is also creating some visible top stitching, so if you're particular to hiding such things use a thread color that will blend in. If you're a real stickler, you can also baste the fabric together in this step from the back and then top stitch from the front for a neater, more even look. Then you can remove the basting stitch.

Position your hidden zipper: Some people might want to position their hidden zipper mid-way across the back of their pillow. Some others might want to position it along the bottom of the pillow, for the most unobtrusive look. In this tutorial, you'll learn how to do the latter.

Above, a view of the hidden zipper placket between the front and back of the pillow, ready to have the sides sewn.

Here's another view showing from top, the front of the pillow, the hidden zipper placket, the zipper, and the back of the pillow.

Zipper hiding under zipper placket.

Note the 1/4" - 1/2" of fabric below the hidden zipper placket before the fold. If you fold too close to the placket, it will just pop open and be visible from the front once you have your pillow form in.

Square up the edges and sew the sides: Make sure your zipper is open 50-75% before sewing the sides. Make sure you've folded over consistently along the bottom/zipper edge, and square up your sides before pinning/clipping in place and sewing up each side. No need to do anything fancy - just sew 3/8" or 1/2" straight from one end to the other, running off the edges and backstitching at both ends for strength.

Turn the pillow right side out: Congratulations: you've just finished your pillow. Although the first one might take a little longer, once you get the hang of the process you can whip one up in about 15 minutes.

Add your pillow form and zip up: Above, the back side of the pillow is pictured with the hidden placket along the bottom. You can tuck your zipper pull inside and pull closed to hide it even more if you like.

Lastly: Acquire a majestic cat to model with your new pillows and show them to their best advantage. 

So, you wanted to sew some pillows and now you know how. Did this tutorial blow your mind with its secret methods? Are you ready to make decorative throw pillows for every room in your house now?

Happy sewing!

All three different types of pillows I made, and a cat.

The two rectangular pillows, have a different look on each side thanks to creative cutting of the fabric. Both sides have one side that's the same (below - with more blue) and then the fronts are slightly different. I like that I can make them match or not.