Heirloom Hankies Sewing Projects

Sewing Project - Heirloom Hankies

Sewing Friends:

It is amazing what precious memories come up when you see or think about a simple old fashioned ladies handkerchief. If you have some of these dainty hankies laying around in your cedar chest or attic, get them out and do something with them.

Make a small pillow, large pillow sham, wall hanging or table runner as a gift for someone special who will appreciate the love and the stories behind all those wonderful pieces of embroidered cloth with crocheted edges.

I remember making handkerchief dolls and tea aprons using printed hankies when I was a kid. I also remember my grandmother crocheting and tatting around the edges of hankies. She also did the finest hand embroidery I have ever seen. I never could make such tiny perfect stitches.

In one of my previous posts, I told you what I did with some of our family hankies. See Sew A Pillow Sham From Vintage Hankies and Old Linens. The pillow shams I made are now family treasures to be passed down to the next generation.

Here is another idea of preserving some family heirlooms by Debbie Cook. Debbie offers instructions on how to create an Heirloom Hankies Pillow.

I agree with Debbie that the hardest part was cutting into that first handkerchief. That was hard. It seemed almost sinful.

If you are interested in more information about vintage hankies, go to Vintage Hankies - More Than Sneeze Catchers .

Don't leave the family hankies stored away. Get them out and enjoy these collectibles. Let us know what you created with your vintage hankies.

To Your Sewing Success,

Marian

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Sewing Project - Heirloom Hankies

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Sew a Hooded Tunic Dress

Sewing Video - Hooded Tunic Dress

Sewing Friends:

Isn't sewing fun? Last post, we covered haute hostess aprons and this one is about sewing a hooded tunic dress out of a man's XXL hooded sweatshirt and a little elastic. This tunic dress has short sleeves and an origami pleat in the back.

I think I will make up a sample for the college kids "Sewing Cafe" class. It's definitely not something that my senior citizen friends would wear, but I can see some of the teens in it.

Mike Gonzalez demonstrates all the details on How To Make A Hooded Tunic Dress in his sewing video. He also provides written instructions.

Mike suggests that you wear this hooded tunic or dress with leggings or skinny jeans.

Instead of handsewing, I prefer sewing the seams by sewing machine or serger so that they hold up better in wearing and laundering.

Mike leaves the bottom ribbing on the hooded tunic dress. You might think about removing it and adding a decorative fun trim around the bottom or making a lettuce edge or binding the bottom and the sleeve edges with a novelty print fabric.

Have some fun with it. It's a good way to recycle that huge bulky sweatshirt into a fashion statement.

It just makes sense!

To Your Sewing Success,
Marian

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Haute Hostess Aprons

Aprons

Sewing Friends:

Just when I thought I had seen everything, a friend sent me this video on "Haute Hostess Aprons" designed by Elizabeth Scokin.

These simple aprons are "big news". Elizabeth says that you aren't supposed to cook in them. You are just to look glamourous. I need more than an apron to make that happen.

The "big news" to me is the "BIG PRICE" that she gets for these hostess aprons. I can't believe that someone would pay from $100 to $300 for a simple apron that requires dry cleaning. But, I guess "Oprah" and "Martha" have them and that helps to make them desirable to folks who can afford them.

When I was a kid, I made aprons and sold them door to door for 50 cents. I know that was eons ago, but still $300 is really beyond belief for a yard of polyester or nylon or even silk fabric and a little trim.

Beginners can sew these aprons in an hour. Get out your sewing machines and stitch up some haute hostess aprons for yourself and your friends. You don't really need a pattern for this sewing project, however, there are lots of patterns available.

Preshrink your fabrics and trims to make your apron washable.

Design your own and give them as gifts. Think outside the box for fabric ideas. Check out the fabrics in Elizabeth's aprons.

If you really want to buy one, go to Haute Hostess Aprons. Or, show the site to your husband and tell hem how much you save him by sewing.

Think I will check my "stash" to see what glam aprons I can sew.

Aren't you glad that you sew? It just makes sense!

To Your Sewing Success,
Marian

Aprons

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Sewing Technique - How To Sew A Pillow

Sewing Technique - Tutorial - Pillows

Sewing Friends:

Pillows can be very expensive to buy. You can sew beautiful designer pillows that match your decor and add a touch of pizazz to your home very easily. Pillows also make great gifts.

You can make a pillow out of almost anything. Teens are making tee shirt and old jeans pillows. Here are instructions to Recycle a T-Shirt and Sew A Throw Pillow

Preserve that favorite "blankie" or what's left of it in a pillow for your child to keep. They can take it off to college with them. You would be surprised how many "blankies" go to college.

Shop around the finest home decor boutiques for pillow ideas. Carry a small notepad with you to write or sketch the ones you want to copy. The details make the difference as well as choice of fabric and trims.

Many pillow sewing instructions include a zipper in the middle of the back piece. Instead of a lapped or centered zipper, try sewing an invisible zipper in one of the end seams to make the pillow reversible as in the recycled tee shirt pillow.

Here is another good tutorial on how to sew an invisible zipper in a decorative designer pillow.

Sewing Tip: To help keep the zipper from slipping while you sew it, fuse Lite Steam-A-Seam to the zipper tape. (This is a paper backed fusible web.) Fuse the zipper in place and then stitch it. This technique works for all types of zippers. Try it!

Note: Be sure to see How To Sew Ends Of Satin Twisted Cord Trim On Pillows

Check out this site to Learn How to Prevent Dog-Eared or Floppy Corners on Pillows

Go to this site for sewing instructions for three great pillows by Linda Lee from The Sewing Workshop.

See "How To Sew An Easy Decorative Pillow Cover" to make a pretty Harem Pillow.

Shop Amazon. For some good books on sewing pillows, see: Christopher Nejman's Pillows: Designer Sewing Techniques or Sandra Betzina Sews for Your Home: Pillows Window Treatments Slipcovers Table Coverings Kids' Accessories or Simply Pillows (Simply) or Sew Sensational: Pillows

Search Amazon for more books on sewing pillows.

For tons of ideas for pillows, go to Sewing Pillows is a Fun Home Dec Project.

From beginners to advanced, from no-sew to the most intricate sewing techniques, everyone loves pillows. Follow these guidelines to make your own gorgeous designer pillows.

It just makes sense!

To Your Sewing Success,

Marian Lewis

PS: Share your pillow ideas with us.

Sewing Technique - Tutorial - Pillows

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Sewing Video - Crushing Velvet

Sewing Video - Velvet

Sewing Friends:

I made a lot of velvet dresses for my daughter and granddaughters over the years. And, I made a lot of velvet skating costumes for my grandson and his ice dancing partner, too. Some velvets weren't very easy to work with, but the results were always rewarding.

Velvet is one of the most luxurious fabrics to wear. It seems we often see more of it at holiday time. It is a bit tricky to sew and press, but if you know a few tips, you can achieve sewing success.

One of my favorite pressing tips is to use a small scrap of the fabric itself as a pressing cloth. I do this with all my nap fabrics. Lay the right sides together (nap to nap) with the grain going the same direction (especially on corduroy or you will get a checkerboard effect) and steam press.

When sewing stretch velvet skating costumes, I used 1/4 inch strips of Lite Steam-A-Seam on the seams to help keep them from shifting. It seemed to work pretty well. The seam allowances were only 1/4 inch and were pretty bulky seams so you may not want that on a more formal garment. My suggestion is to test on scrap fabric. You may find the fusible really does help to solve the velvet and other nap fabric shifting problem. If it works, use it.

Right now, I am very excited about this sewing video by Christine Jonson. She shows you how to crush rayon velvet into lovely designs using only your iron. I have seen other techniques to make crushed velvet, but I think I really like this one better.

Most of the time, when we sew velvet, we don't want the iron marks to show, but in this case, Christine shows us how we can turn those marks into a very desirable look. You will be amazed. You don't want to miss this sewing video on how to make crushed velvet.

Check out "Crushing Velvet" and turn what we once thought disastrous into something very lovely indeed.

I can't wait to try this technique. You can even do it on a ready-to-wear garment. If you have a velvet dress with a bad spot on it, here is the perfect solution to make it wearable once again.

Here is some sites that teach you more about working with velvet and making gorgeous velvet creations.

Burnout Velvet

For information on how to burnout velvet and other fabrics with Fiber-Etch, go here.

Sewing Velvet

Here are some sites with some sewing and pressing tips for velvet.

Velvet Sewing and Pressing Tips

The Art and Technique of Sewing Velvet

Tips For Sewing With Velvet

Crushed Velvet Tips

Enjoy the tips and techniques for sewing velvet fabrics. Hope this info helps you to create some beautiful velvet garments this holiday season.

Sew a velvet dress for that special little girl in your life. Or, sew a simple velvet top or skirt for yourself. Keep the garment seams to a minimum. Let the velvet make the fashion statement for you. You will look and feel so elegant!

It just makes sense!

To Your Sewing Success,

Marian

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Sewing Video - Velvet

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