How to Sew with Piping {Tutorial}

 
I am in the middle of a much-needed makeover for my two younger girls' room as I posted about here. It is starting to come along, but I have hit a couple of bumps in the road. First, is my white quilts. I ordered two that are technically suppose to go inside a duvet cover, but hoped that they would work by themselves. Not so much. They're definitely going to need a duvet cover, but I'm planning to make a permanent cover for each one out of sheets, kind of like this duvet cover I made, only this one will be fitted to the comforter and completely sewn up. It's pretty much necessary in my girls' room. The second bump in the road to completion is that I have come to a painting project involving spray paint. Me & spray paint don't really jive. Think drippy and clumpy. I'm really trying to hold off as long as possible {or until my hubby is here to guide me on it}. I'm just a tad bit nervous about ruining a piece of furniture. No big deal, right? Yikes.

Today I did make some progress on a couple of sewing projects for the room and I am feeling good about it. So, I thought I'd throw in a tutorial on how to sew with piping. This is one of those things that looks absolutely fabulous on a pillow or what-have-you, but can be a little intimidating when you first start out. However, if you take it slow, you'll be just fine. Enjoy! And if you have any questions, feel free to comment.

This tutorial for piping is shown by sewing piping onto a pillow cover. So, we'll start from the beginning. If you need a pillow cover tutorial, check here. Take your two pieces of fabric for the pillow cover - Front and Back. Place right sides together and lay on a table top.

Now, take your piping and start placing it in between the top and bottom pieces, carefully pinning all the way around the fabric. You want the straight edge of the piping to line up with the straight edge of the fabric pieces. The rolled edge will be on the inside.

Pin carefully, approximately every inch or so to hold it in place. I like to leave the corners unpinned so that I can move it around exactly like I want it. Feel free to pin yours.

Leave an opening of approximately 7-8 inches, depending on how big your pillow is, so that you can stuff your pillow form inside before sewing it up. We'll deal with the opening in a minute.

Now, change your presser foot to the zipper foot. This gives you the ability to sew closer to the edge of the piping giving you a more professional look. The regular presser foot will leave a gap.

Start at one end of the opening and begin sewing all the way around until you have only 7-8 inches left. Backstitch at both the beginning and ending.

Now, turn your fabric rightside out. Be sure to push the corners out. Put your pillow form inside and fluff it up to fit your pillow cover.

Once you are ready to sew the opening closed, line up the piping to see how much you need to trim off. You are going to line it up so that you have about a one inch overlap.

Next, using your seam ripper, open up the fabric on the piping that will overlap about an inch down.

Cut the cording {not the fabric covering the cording} so that you can now line up the two ends and overlap the fabric piece on top of the other end.  {See pic.}

Now, fold each side piece down on both sides of the opening to line up with the already sewn part of the pillow cover. Line your piping up inside the two folded over sides and pin close together.

Still using your zipper foot, start sewing the closure. Go very slowly, removing pins as you go, to keep everything in place. Cut all loose threads.

You're done! If you want to embellish your pillow, do it before you sew the two pieces together. Unless you're like me and you decide to hot glue your design onto the pillow. I wouldn't recommend it for pillows that will be laid on or jumped on. The pillows I made are just for looks.....now if I can convince my girls of that.....

Thanks for stopping by! Stay tuned for more shared girls' room tips and tricks, and of course, the After pic.

Bunny Silhouette Pillow Cover {Tutorial}

This is a two for the price of one kind of tutorial! I love throw pillows because they can change the look of the room in just a matter of minutes and usually for just a few dollars {if you make your own!}. This post will show you how to make a pillow cover with a velcro closure AND how to personalize it. I love the idea of using throw pillows for seasonal decoration, but I really wanted to be able to use the down pillow insert for more than just a few weeks during the year. With the velcro closure on this pillow cover, I can use this pillow insert all year and just change the covers with the season. It's a win-win situation!!
I made this pillow cover out of ... dropcloth! I told you to stay tuned for more dropcloth projects, right?? Here's how...

Now, you can leave it like that or you can personalize it. I chose to do a bunny silhouette in honor of Spring and Easter.

I love how this turned out! And I love even more that I can take the cover off and store it until next year and still use my pillow insert for another DIY pillow in the future! I'll definitely be making more. To see more of my dropcloth projects, click here.

I'm sharing this with some of these parties!
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Painted Flag Pillow {Tutorial}

I have seen so many cute flag pillows lately and I love this one from Pottery Barn. They have a few different kinds at the outlet nearby, but with a price tag of $39.50, I knew I could make my own. So, I did. It's not exactly the same, but it's my version and I love it! I'm very happy with the results. The total cost was less than $5.

 To make a basic pillow cover with velcro closure, click here.

 After the paint dries, stuff the pillowcase with polyfill or a pillow form and sew closed. Very simple!

I am loving this pillow! It fits perfectly in my chair and is just what I was hoping for. This was a fun, simple project. Anyone can do this!

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Thanks for stopping by!

15 Minute Dropcloth Table Runner {Tutorial} + Centerpiece

My kitchen table is the most used table in the house. It gets eaten on, drawn on, colored on, crafted on, etc etc. It was the first table I ever bought and I've had it for 11 1/2 years. So, it's starting to look a little worn. I normally leave it plain or just with a vase of flowers on it because it gets used constantly, but after making my dropcloth curtains for the door behind it, I felt like it looked mighty plain. I started thinking about what to do and decided that since I happened to still have the dropcloth left out from these projects, I'd make a table runner out of it! It literally took about 15 minutes start to finish. It's as simple as sewing a straight line. Everyone can do it! So, if you need to brighten up an old table consider using this durable and washable dropcloth.

 If you want to make a quick and cheap centerpiece for Spring or Easter, this is what I made. My girls love it. It's simple and I think they just like having something Eastery on the table.

I spent $20 on two 4'x15' dropcloths at Big Lots and so far I've made these curtains, this kitchen curtain, this pillow cover, a tote bag {soon to come} and the table runner out of them. I still have quite a bit left to make many more projects! I'd say that's pretty thrifty.

What dropcloth projects do you want to make?

I'm sharing with these parties. Happy Spring!!

I {Heart} My State Art {Tutorial}

When I started this project, I was planning to make another pillow cover like this one. However, I didn't have enough dropcloth left to make another one. I was going to use the freezer paper method and make a silhouette of my state to replace the bunny silhouette from Spring. It took me about five minutes to change my mind and I decided to make this. It will be a great addition to the living room!

 

I'm sharing this with these friends!

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

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Sewing Tutorials for Beginners

If you've been following along the past few days, you've read a lot about sewing with patterns and WITHOUT patterns. Now, it's time for some easy tutorials for beginners. I've been sewing a long time now and still enjoy easy projects. Not all sewing has to be difficult or take hours and hours in order to be done well. That's what this blog is all about. Are you ready to try some fun projects??

This Bowtie Tutorial is one of my most popular posts and probably the easiest sewing project ever. Try it! You'll have fun with this one!

This is about as simple as it gets with an Elastic Waist Skirt. You could make these all day long. They're easy and can be made in a lot of different colors, styles and lengths. Try it! Or go to this post to see a list of tutorials I found for making other elastic waist skirts.

This 15 Minute Table Runner is fun and easy! Straight lines only. You can make yourself a table runner for every occasion on the cheap!

Make a Pillow Cover with a velcro closure to change out with the seasons in just a few easy steps! You can personalize it however you want and the tutorial shows you how to use freezer paper to make a stencil, as well. The sky's the limit with this.

You can also find hundreds of tutorials on Pinterest or Google. Just type in what you're looking for or 'sewing tutorial' and you'll be overwhelmed with options!

This is part of my 31 Days of Home Economics series. You can find the whole series at the tab above labeled {Home Economics}.

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Thanks for stopping by! I'm sharing this with some of these friends.