Belts are all over the torso this year. From hip huggers that add shape to a shift, waist-cinchers for a pretty feminine look, and empire waist belts for a figure-enhancing trendy look. Pick your position, cut, sew and go. These 30-minute wonders are easy and satisfying to make; a classic plaid adds a lovely touch of fall to your wardrobe, especially when mixed with something unexpected.       

I have a wooden pencil box that has been a fixture on my desk since grade school. I believe my sister gave it to me... or perhaps I stole it from her; my memory is a little hazy when it comes to how things once hers came into my possession. A new pencil box instantly sends me back to crisp fall days dressed in even-crisper white shell-button blouses, itchy wool skirts and droopy knee socks. What does all this have to do with our cool little corduroy zippered pencil case with the cute front-buttoned pocket? Nothing really. But it was a sweet story, wasn't it?

What should you use to carry your school stuff this year? Well, if you're all about form and structure, the venerable back pack is your friend. But if you want something comfortably soft and slouchy, then go with the book bag: the wild child of school totes. Ours uses no stabilizer, only a lining. The exterior fabric is a velvety corduroy from Valori Wells with the thinnest of wales. Wooden beads, stone buttons and waxed cording create the closures. And, tiny golden rivets attach the strap. So cute... maybe you should keep it as your everyday bag!

Around these parts, Summer and early Fall are prime time for outdoor concerts. Seating for these events is usually just the grassy slopes of a natural amphitheater. You gotta have something to sit on. A blanket is often too big and rather bulky to pack in. Instead, try this lightly padded, roll-up cushion in two great outdoor fabrics. It's filled with foam, which your bottom will like, and the outdoor fabric is weather and water resistant, which your white summer pants will like.

Awhile back, with no project in mind, I picked up five fat quarters from Amy Butler's Love collection while browsing at Bolt Fabric Boutique here in Portland, OR. What to do with five fat quarters? I challenged myself to create an apron where there would be virtually no wasted fabric. What remains from this pretty flower garden apron would fit in a teacup.

Driving home last night, I noticed twilight had fallen a bit earlier than the week before. How did that happen?! I'm clutching at Summer's pant legs with desperate longing and wild promises of never eating two desserts again if only the warm and golden nights would stay just a little longer. But Fall is waiting in the wings, and soon it will be dark both early and late. So, as a last homage to summer, I made this reflective bandana for our doggies so we can walk in the gathering dusk in style and safety.

Mix and match! That's what these big, fun pillows are all about. One fabric on the front, another on the back, a third for the ruffles and ties. Put them all together for a cornucopia of color. We've blended some great greens, oranges and browns to create an updated take on the late '60s - early '70s mod palette. With a cute bow closure on the back, this set of 18", 20" and 24" pillows looks great from either side. Plop them against a plain sofa and watch the room go from boring to beautiful in the blink of an eye.

I tend to have wardrobe malfunctions at the most inconvenient times. Just before making an important presentation, a strategic button will fall off or a seam opens up. I can't even think how many stapler and Scotch Tape repairs I've made over the years. I finally created a small sewing kit that contains just what I need to fix almost any disaster – contained in a cute felt kit with a built-in pincushion kitty.

"Here Fishy, Fishy." Make your own colorful curtain for this classic kid's party game. Johnny (or Janie) stands in front of the curtain with a pole; mom or dad is on the other side with a bowl of prizes to clip to the end, guaranteeing the day's friendliest catch. It's a fun game they'll fall for, 'hook, line and sinker.' As an added benefit, you can use the curtain to cover a real window after the party's over.

Kick off the birthday festivities by printing your own birthday invitations and thank you cards using our free PDF files. Download, print, trim, fill in the details and pop them in the mail.

It's a reversible placemat. No, it's a party activity. Wait... you're both right! Our party placemats feature fun and festive fabric from Patty Young's new Playdate collection on one side, and Über cool chalk cloth on the other. Similar to oilcloth, chalk cloth is heavy yet pliable and waterproof. You can write on it with regular or liquid chalk and then wipe it clean with a damp cloth or baby wipe. We gave each party guest his/her own box of chalk to play with, keeping little hands busy while we set up for more fun and games.

Use up your scraps on this festive bit of fun for a special birthday or everyday room décor. Our party banner turned out to be so colorful and cute, I'm tempted to leave it up year 'round. It adds a super splash of color and the extra-long tassels shimmer in the sun.

Back in the day, your 'beach towel' was simply a ratty bath towel that had seen better days and which Mom allowed you to drag outside. Today's beach towels are colorful terry cloth works of art in jumbo sizes. We used one to make our simple summer beach wrap. A clever cut allows you to make optimum use of the towel's bound edges, and leaves you the perfect scrap to create a matching pillow. To add a splash of summer fun, we braided three colors of polka dot knit to create the wrap's wonderful ties. It's all super quick to make, so you can be lounging by the shore in style before all the good spots are gone.

Birthday party treat bags can be flimsy plastic things filled with candy and tiny trinkets, which are ultimately lost and sucked up by the vacuum. Or... you can bestow these dandy mini backpacks on your party guests. They are oh-so cute, actually useful, and fun to make! You can still fill them with candy and tiny trinkets, but they are cool enough to be great parting gifts even with nothing in them. You could also fill them with the souvenirs and prizes from the day's activities. Like I said: cute, useful and fun.

This is the first time I have used an organic cotton fabric. Organics are a still a small percentage of the quilting weight cottons available, and almost twice the cost. But, I figure organic fabric will grow in the marketplace similarly to organic food. Remember how difficult it was to reliably find organic groceries? And they were almost prohibitively expensive. A decade later, it's how I shop. There's a great selection and milk is no longer $8 for a half gallon. So, I was pretty thrilled to find emerging organic fabric companies debuting high-quality and colorful fabrics as well as some pretty edgy designs. These summery box-pleat pillows made from organic cotton make a powerful statement: We are pesticide free!

Webbing, ribbon, hardware, a couple of hours, and you can make your very own boutique style dog collar and leash. This is such a fun and easy project, you'll be offering to make them for all your canine friends. Of course, it's not just for dogs! That's Dexter, one of our French Alpine goats, stylin' our collar, and I think he's saying, "I HEART Sew4Home." Ahhhhh, thanks, Dex.

Fire up the grill and pull out the spatula; it's barbeque time! Summer Fun means something should be sizzling on the ol' outdoor grill. This tough canvas BBQ apron is a serious sizzle shield with its handsome rivet accents and extra-large pockets for grill tongs, tools and those giant hot pad mitts.

Our smaller (and cuter) diaper bag isn't meant to supplant the full-size, workhorse of a diaper bag; you know the one I mean... the one that holds enough stuff to open your own nursery school. Nope. This one is perfect to grab and go for short jaunts out and about. It's still big enough, with pockets inside and outside, to hold the essentials: several diapers, wipes, a couple bottles, a special blankie or toy, even your own wallet and keys. The outside fabric is our fave Pretty Bird from Pillow & Maxfield for Michael Miller Fabrics; the inside is the popular PUL waterproof fabric.

There simply isn't an easier way to make a queen-size quilt than this! It's perfect for a beginner. The Fat Quarters, which we cut for our blocks, make it look like you've been saving scraps for years. And, a machine-stitched binding keeps the time requirement pretty darn low, especially considering you'll be able to show off a quilt that fits your entire bed. Practice these responses to the compliments that are sure to flood in, "Why YES, I did make this quilt myself. Oh... you're too kind, but it is pretty isn't it? No, you can't have it... back away from the bed."

My husband has freckles, which means my kids have freckles, which means if left out in the sun for any length of time, the whole lot of them looks like a carton of speckled eggs. We have all learned the benefit of good summer head coverings! This adorable floppy sun hat is a pattern from Joanna Figureoa's Fig Tree Threads collection. It uses very little fabric, and so is a perfect way to use up some of your favorite scraps.

The baby bib's number one job is to be a stain force field. It is often the only line of defense between that adorable handmade white sweater from Aunt Lisa and a favorite bottle of fruit punch. The best bib should: fit snuggly around baby's chinny-chin-chin, be absorbent, easy to launder, fast to get on and off, and in my book, super cute. When you're under 24 months, the bib is your primary fashion statement... ya gotta work it. We offer a free, downloadable pattern for our Snap-On Baby Bib.

A lumbar pillow is the common term for just about any long and narrow bed pillow. It can be large or small, soft or firm. Though we've seen them in all shapes and sizes, we'd never seen one with ruffles and covered buttons, like the one we designed for our Fresh Linens guest bedroom. The deep pleat-like ruffles add a romantic touch and soften the geometric edges of the squares and points on the other pillows in our pile. That's the secret of an effective grouping of throw pillows: mix shapes and sizes and subtly blend textures and styles.

This is absolutely one of the best baby gifts ever! Bundling up baby after bath time with a hooded towel is easier and cozier. The hood doesn't just help dry those clean mop tops, it actually acts as a little anchor, allowing mom or dad to more quickly wrap the rest of the towel around squirming, slippery baby-boo. Ours is made with Michael Miller Fabrics' great new organic terry cloth and features a matching bound washcloth. Free patterns are included.

Pretty curtains softly billowing in the breeze of an open window are a sure sign of summer. You can almost smell the honeysuckle, can't you? Our guest room curtain panels are made from two simple width-of-fabric cuts with a flange accenting their seam. Long, loopy tie-backs let you pull your curtains off to the side or cinch them in the middle with a generous bow as we did. We also show you a fast and easy way to handle the lining.

When I was a teenager, I figured out how to French braid my hair all by myself behind my head. For those of you who've never attempted this, it's a little like weaving linguini with a blindfold on. But, once mastered, the interlacing rows are quite stunning. So it is with our Braided Jelly Roll pillow. The braiding technique takes a bit of brain power to keep track of the strips, but the result is still... quite stunning. And, there are no bobby pins or hairspray required.

Drool. Spit up. Food smears. There's a lot of stuff that comes out of babies' mouths. It's a darn good thing a sweet little coo or heart-melting smile comes out once in awhile too. That makes it all worthwhile. But... a burp cloth is still a must! Ours are so quick and easy to make, you can whip out of slew of them in an afternoon. Absorbent terry cloth on the back makes them functional. Adorable Pretty Bird fabric on the front makes them fabulous.

'She used to say she could taste sleep and that it was as delicious as a BLT on fresh French bread.' I love that quote. It's from Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells. I'm a good sleeper, and I firmly believe there's nothing better than nodding off on a new, freshly laundered pillowcase. Our pretty pair of pillowcases is a great beginner project. So fast and easy, you can start at noon and be napping by 3:00.

Babies need blankets. When my kids were small, I liked to think of my blanket collection as little baby drop cloths. Because, just like painters, babies are often in need of their own little piece of clean real estate, which they can then destroy as they choose. In my mind, a cute baby blanket is always the perfect gift. Our adorable design is super fast and easy to make, especially if you have a ruffler attachment.

My grandmother, an immigrant from Lithuania, was an unbelievably talented seamstress. She did everything by hand, including free-hand embroidery, tatting, and crocheting. She never needed a pattern; you could just sketch something and she would create it. It was the sewing equivalent of the musician's 'hum a few bars.' Her vividly artistic creations seemed to flow from her fingers like water from a pitcher. In fact, as a young child, I thought everyone had handmade and hand-embroidered sheets and pillowcases and dresser cloths and curtains, and, and, and... I was shocked the first time I slept over at a friend's house and saw her sheets were (gasp!) plain white. My grandmother's influence is likely a big part of why I love the idea of antique linens, and why I steadfastly refuse to give up my dresser cloth.

Go, baby, go! Diaper bags are great, but sometimes seem so big and bulky. When you're on-the-go and need a clean, soft surface for a quick change, this travel pad is perfect. The center panel, where baby's buns go, is a heavy, quality polar fleece. It resists water (for quick mop up) and is super soft. Works like a charm without being bulky. The entire pad folds and wraps up small enough to pop into a shoulder bag... or keep it in the car for travel emergencies.