Butterfly Cushion Tutorial

I had great plans for this weekend's sewing - another iPad cover, little oven mitts, more sock monkeys, not to mention my plan to learn how to crochet! But well I found this cute butterfly cushion cover over at Ruffles and Stuff and I just had to make one of my own. :) I used different sized butterflies in a random pattern as I just didn't trust myself to line them all up as nicely as she did! But the end result is pretty cute I think. :)

Want to make a butterfly cushion of your own? Of course you do! 

Choose some fabric for the main part of your cushion and a cushion pad. You can do this all in felt but I had the perfect sized piece of soft brushed cotton so I used that instead.

Wrap your fabric around your cushion pad to see how much you need. Leave about 1/2" overlap at the edges and 4 - 5" overlap for the flap at the back. There's no buttons or zips so make sure it's overlapped enough and then cut it out.

Pick some cute butterfly templates (or download mine here). Cut them out, trace around them on some good quality wool felt and cut out. 

It's up to you how many you do or what sizes you like but I used 1 of the biggest two, 2 or the next two and 3 of the smallest butterflies.

Pin your felt butterflies in place on your cushion.

Sew around the centre of each butterfly so that the wings are still free to flutter but the butterflies are secured in place.

Next sew a hem on each end of your fabric. Just fold it over, pin in place and sew a straight line along it. Or a slightly wavy one if you're like me! :) I only hemmed the edge that you can see from the outside but then sewed it wrong and had to rip and redo! Oops.

Next take your fabric and wrap it around your cushion pad again. Make sure it's inside out (i.e the butterflies are facing the cushion and can't be seen), then pin the overlap closed.

 Pull the cushion pad out and pin the sides.

Sew along the two sides. (This pic is from my first attempt - if you're only sewing one hem you should have the raw edge visible here!) 

Then turn your cushion cover the right way out and pop your cushion pad inside! This is what the back of mine looks like.

And this is the front. Flutter by cute little butterflies. :)

Things I've learnt:

- Use a good quality wool felt, not your craft shop stuff. It looks and feels much nicer and it'll hold its shape better.
- Make sure to line up the front of your cushion properly. I really wish I'd taken a second to check mine, those big butterflies should be a little closer to the top.

- Just sew a hem on both ends of your fabric. Then you won't make my mistake and sew it wrong and end up with the unfinished edge on show. On the plus side my stitch ripping skills are coming on nicely!

- As there's no zip or buttons or anything this is really quick and easy to make. My favourite kind of project! The trickiest part is negotiating all the fabric around the machine as you sew the butterflies on.

- You could make this a bit fancier and add a little detail to the butterflies but I kinda like it plain and simple like this.

Linked up to Creative Itch, DIY Dreamer, Crafty Confessions, Earning My Cape, Someday Crafts, Threading my Way, Sugar and Dots, Sewing Barefoot, Trendy Treehouse, Handy Man, Crafty Woman, Semi Homemade Mom, Fireflies and Jellybeans, The Crafty Blog Stalker, Craft Junkie Too, Thirty Handmade Days, Ladybird Ln, It's a HodgePodge Life, Romantic Home, Petals to Picots, Cheerios and Lattes, A Night Owl Blog, It's So Very Cheri, Making the World Cuter, The Girl Creative, The Purple Pumpkin

Day 29 - Soap Pouch

Here's a quick and easy little sewing project inspired by Whimsy Love - a little pouch for your soap! Pop your soap inside, scrub away and throw it in the washing machine to clean it! It even has a little ribbon loop so you can hang it up to dry in the shower. And the best part of all? It's so easy to make!

 Wanna make some of your own? 

All you need is a face cloth (or hand towel), some ribbon and a bar of soap. Cut  a rectangle out of your face cloth about 4" by 11.5". Depending on the size of your soap you might need to play about with this a little, try 4.5" width if you want a little wriggle room!

Pin a piece of ribbon to one end of your rectangle. The nice thing about using a face cloth is that its the perfect length so there's no raw edges at the ends. If you cut yours from a bigger towel then just fold down the raw edge twice and sew across it. (Don't worry about the raw edge on the long side, it'll be hidden inside!)

Lay out your material with the ribbon end face up at the bottom.

Fold the bottom up to about 3.5". Cut another piece of ribbon and fold it in half. Place the loop just above the fold in your material. Make sure there's a little bit sticking out at the side!

Fold the top down so that the pouch measures about 4.5" - 5". This was the first one I made and the fold actually comes down a bit too far so try and have it a little bit closer to the middle so you can get your soap in!

Sew along the two long sides (where the pins are). 

Turn your little pouch the right way out and pop the soap inside! 

Now go make some more so you have one for every day of the week! Or colour coded ones for different family members. Or make two and tie them with a ribbon to give as a gift. :)

Things I've learnt:
- Soaps come in many different sizes, play about with the measurements (or seek out some smaller soaps!) if yours doesn't fit first time.
- It's definitely easier to use a face cloth, less raw edges to work with!
- You know the ribbons on tops and dresses that are used to keep them on the hanger in the shop but are really annoying when you're actually wearing the clothes? Start hoarding them, they're perfect for this project!

                                                                   

No time to make some? You can always buy some online! Embroider the recipients name on it and it'll still make a cute thoughtful gift. :)

Linked up to Today's Creative, The Creative Itch, Sugar Bee Crafts, Funky Polka Dot Giraffe, Hope Studios, Not Just a Housewife, Carolyn's Homework, The DIY Dreamer, Someday Crafts, Semi Homemade Mom, Seven Thirty Three, Earning my Cape, Sugar and Dots, The Trendy Treehouse, Handy Man, Crafty Woman, Fireflies and Jellybeans, The Crafty Blogstalker, Michelle's Tasty Creations

Day 26 - Sock Monkey

I've been meaning to make a sock monkey for ages, even had the perfect socks chosen and waiting. So I finally got around to it and let me tell you - sock monkeys rock!! It takes a while to sew all the parts on but the result is so worth it. :)

How cute is this little guy?!
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Wanna make one of your own? You could buy one but making it yourself is half the fun! Grab some socks! Stripey ones look very cute and make it easy to match up the sides when sewing.

Lay out your socks like this (inside out) and press them. Then mark out your pattern. The first time I cut out all the pieces first and then sewed them. Big mistake! It's way easier to sew first and then cut. :)

Here's the pieces all laid out. When you sew his legs make sure to leave a gap at the top so you can turn it and stuff his body and legs.

Turn all the pieces bar the tail the right way out. Cut out a bit of white felt and pick some buttons for his eyes.

Stuff his body and legs. Sew up the gap using a ladder stitch.

Next sew his eyes onto the felt. Then sew the felt onto his little face.

Stuff his arms and ears and sew the open end using a ladder stitch. Fold the ears in half and sew the bottom to make them look rounded and pinched.

Stuffing the tail is probably the trickiest part. For the normal sock one I just took a darning needle, threaded it and knotted the thread. Then I sewed a few stitches into a long piece of batting and fed the needle through the tail. Pull it out through the very tip and then gently pull the thread so it moves the batting all the way through the tail.

For the fleecey one this just didn't work!! I think my batting may have been too wide or something but it kept breaking as I pulled it through! In the end I sewed a separate line of thread through the batting to make it more secure and then it worked okay.

Then sew your tail in place.

And sew on his arms and ears. 

Pin his mouth in place and sew 3/4 way around, stuff and then sew the rest. Use embroidery thread to sew on his mouth (use a backstitch).

Then let your little guys rock out.

Too cute, right? :)

 Things I've learnt:
- Sewing fleece is a pain! The sewing machine did not like it! And its really hard to see the lines you've sewn when it comes to cutting. But thankfully it's also really hard to see the hand sewing you patch up your mistakes with! :)
- Make sure to sew the eyes onto the white felt first before you sew the white felt onto your sock monkey's face! Much easier. (I learnt the hard way...)
- Use good quality socks, my non-fleece monkey is a little see through now he's stuffed. :(
- Two sock monkeys are even cuter than one.

Linked up to Milk and Cuddles, Earning my Cape, Ginger Snap Crafts, Southern Lovely, Sugar and Dots, Michelle's Tasty Creations, The Crafty Blog Stalker, Thirty Handmade Days, It's a Hodgepodge Life, Ladybird Ln, It's a Blog Party

Day 24 - iPad 3 Cover Tutorial

I won an iPad the other day (wohoo!) and although I haven't actually got it yet the excitement inspired me to make this little beauty:

It's an iPad cover! :)

There are loads of great tutorials around for making iPad covers but none of them were quite what I wanted or used the supplies I had to hand. I particularly love this one over at Little Birdie Secrets. It uses a binder to make a hard case, might make it next time! :)

*Update - want to see what I ended up making for my next iPad cover? Click here for another tutorial!

This was definitely a figure it out as you go along project so my measurements were quite rough and I changed my mind a lot but I'll do my best to make it into an easy to follow tutorial! Any questions just ask!

What you need:

- 1/2 yard fabric for the outside

- 1/2 yard coordinating fabric for the lining

- 1/2 yard of fusible interfacing

- 1/2 yard of batting/wadding

- 4 inches of velcro

- a button, thread

First cut out your fabric, interfacing and batting. Here's the tricky bit. I cut all of mine 12 inches x 11 inches and then as I was making it it seemed huge so I ended up trimming it! I'd say 12 inches x 10.5 is probably better but just see how you get on. It's always easier to cut it smaller if its too big than the other way around!

I also cut out a 5 inch squares of my lining fabric to make a pocket. I have three in the picture as I was originally going to use this for the fold over tab but used the outer fabric in the end (about a 4 inch square) - up to you which you like!

Lets do the pocket first. Fold about half and inch up from the bottom and an inch down from the top and pin and press. Then sew along the other two (unfolded) sides. If your material has a wrong side then it should be seen in centre in the picture above and the wrong side in the one below.

Then clip the corners and turn the bottom and the top out and press. It should hopefully look like the picture above. This is the back side of your pocket! Next sew across the top of your pocket to enclose the ends. (I love double stitching for pockets even if the lines aren't quite straight!)

Pin your pocket onto the right side of one of your pieces of lining fabric and sew around the two sides and the bottom. (Don't sew across the top or you won't be able to put anything in your pocket!!)

The mistake I made was not sewing on the velcro at this stage. I hadn't decided whether or not to use velcro (and to be honest I'm still half tempted to take it out) so I didn't add it til later. But if you are using velcro to close your cover then pin each piece to the top of one of the pieces of lining fabric and sew in place. Make sure they line up properly!

Next pin your two pieces of lining fabric together with the right sides facing each other. Pin around the outside and sew. Make sure to leave the top open and also to leave a gap of about 4 inches at the bottom (where you can see the little piece of paper in the picture). This is so you can turn your cover later on. 

I ended up sewing this again as the lining seemed too big. But just leave a pretty decent seam allowance and see what you think. It's easy to adjust.

Next I ironed the fusible interfacing onto the wrong side of my outer fabric (forgot to take a picture!). Place it shiny side down and iron on a cotton setting. This will just make the cover a bit sturdier. 

Then I sewed the batting to the outer fabric/interfacing. This might not really be necessary but it just makes it easier to work with for the next step. Pin it in place on top of the interfacing and sew around the edge. I was afraid my sewing machine would protest against sewing the batting but it was fine. Just give it a quick clean after to get rid of any runaway fluff!

Now you should have two pieces of your outer fabric with interfacing and batting sewn in place. Pin these two pieces together with the right sides facing each other. Sew around the two side and the bottom, make sure to leave the top open. 

Clip the corners and turn the right way out. 

At this stage I finally committed to velcro and sewed it in place. A bit trickier to do! I sewed around the edges and also one line through the middle of each piece of velcro to make sure it is good and secure.

The button and tab are really just to look pretty as the velcro with keep it safe. But I like pretty. :) Sew your button in place, making sure its centered.

For the tab cut a piece of the outer fabric about 4 inch x 4 inch. Mine's a bit longer but I ended up chopping an inch or two off! Fold it in half, right sides together and pin. Mark a triangle at the end to make your tip. Sew around the edges and across the marked lines. Leave the other end open. Then cut off the excess and turn and press.

Mark a line about an inch long (depending on the size of your button) near the pointed end and sew a button hole. Carefully cut it and test to make sure it fits!

Pin your tab pointed end down to the buttonless side of your cover. Test to see if it closes easily. Sew across the top to secure in place and trim off the excess.

Slide the outer cover inside your lining. It should fit nice and snugly. If it seems too roomy then sew around the lining again to make it a bit smaller.

The pocket should be facing the outside of your cover now. And you'll be able to see the batting inside like the picture above. Pin the lining and outer cover together.

Sew around the top. Trim off the excess (I forgot to do this!!)

Now the fun part. Remember the 4 inch hole in your lining? Push the outer cover through the hole. Now your cover should look like this!

Push the lining inside the cover.

Close up the button and tadaa!! All done! :)

Things I've Learnt:

- I finally learnt how to do button holes! They're not by any means difficult but I'd just never tried before. Now what else can I add buttons to...

-  I'm still tempted to take out the velcro and just use the button to close it but I'll wait until I actually have the iPad and see. I definitely wish the velcro was a little further down inside the cover so you couldn't see it so easily. 

- I didn't trim the excess off the outside/batting fabric after I'd sewn it as I thought it would give a bit of added protection for the iPad at the sides and bottom but I kinda wish I had now as it's a tiny bit bulky.

- I'd also probably use a slightly thinner batting next time. Although this does seem nice and cosy and protective!

Linked up to: A Creative Princess, Gluesticks, The Crafty Blog Stalker, Fireflies and Jellybeans, Momnivores Dilemma, Yesterday on Tuesday, Made in a Day, Seven Thirty Three, Chic on a Shoestring, Creating my Way to Success, Project Inspire, Sew Can Do, Threading My Way, Making the World Cuter, Creative Itch