Liz Johnson.Editor.Sew4Home, Author at Sew4Home

Tall Drawstring Laundry Bag

This heavy-duty, jumbo duffle is nearly three feet tall with a drawstring top that allows for easy stuffing. And, with its sturdy strap slung over-the-shoulder, it can be carried down to the laundry room – or home for mom to do!

Back to School: Zippered Pencil & School Supplies Case

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?

Back to School: The Perfect Slouchy Book Bag

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!

Festive Fall Ruffled Pillows in Three Big Sizes

Liz’s Hiding Curtain

Kid’s Birthday Party: “Something’s Fishy” Game Curtain

“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.

Kid’s Birthday Party: Tasseled Fabric Party Banner

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.

Summer Fun: Terry Towel Coverup & Matching Beach Pillow

Kid’s Birthday Party: Setting the Scene for Fun

What’s the biggest day of the year for any kid? His or her birthday! It’s the one day of the year to be the center-of-attention… no questions asked. Our summertime birthday celebration has a colorful, Day At The Beach theme and is a perfect choice for either a boy or a girl turning about four, five or even six. It seems everywhere you turn these days, you find those paper and plastic sets of cheesy decorations and party favors with grinning television and movie characters to tempt your little one. Enough already! We found our initial inspiration in the vivid designs of Patty Young’s new Playdate collection from Michael Miller Fabrics. When you create your own decorations and take-home gifts, you throw a party that is more memorable, more unique, and more green, because nearly all the elements are reusable.

Working With PUL (Polyurethane Laminate)

Summer Fun: BBQ Apron with Rivet Accents

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.

Quick Trip Diaper Bag

Fresh Linens: Fig Tree Threads’ Amelia & Me Sun Hat

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.

Snap-on Baby Bib with Packaged Binding

Fresh Linens: Ruffled Lumbar Pillow from Fat Quarters and Layer Cake

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.

Fresh Linens: Apple Green Panel Curtains with Jelly Roll Accents & Tie-Backs

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.

Braided Jelly Roll Pillow

Like creating a French braid in your hair, braiding fabric strips takes a bit of brain power, but the result is stunning. And, there are no bobby pins or hairspray required! We used Jelly Roll strips for a beautiful blend of colors.

Fresh Linens: Restful Rose-Banded Pillowcases with Honey Bun Accents

“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.

Donna Babylon: Quick Tip – How To Find & Work With Design Repeats

Your project calls for a panel of fabric two or even three times wider than the fabric you bought at the store. No problem. You’re going to sew multiple widths together to get the bigger width you need. But you can’t just start cutting widths of your fabric. The pattern isn’t going to match up and/or your beautiful design motif is going to end up in the wrong place on your project. Instead of wasting expensive fabric through trial and error, you need to figure out your cuts based on the fabric’s design repeat.

Baby Gifts: Pretty Bird Travel Changing Pad

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.

Fresh Linens: Layer Cake Round Wedge Pillow

We provide a pattern download that gives you the perfect wedge shape to create the pinwheel design of this pillow. You can easily cut two wedges from each 10″ x 10″ Layer Cake square, which means you’ll use just six Layer Cake squares for this project. Or… spread your creativity around to friends and family, and make SEVEN pretty pillows from the 42 squares in a standard Layer Cake pack. I’d say that’s quite enough for a grand scale pillow fight.

Donna Babylon: Quick Tip – Make A Perfect Match When A Seam Goes Through A Design

‘Matchmaker, Matchmaker, make me a match,’ the girls sang in Fiddler On The Roof . They wanted husbands. But they could just as well have been singing about matching up both sides of a seam when goes through the middle of a design. Both kinds of matches can be tricky to pull off. And even worse, they’re obvious to everybody when not done correctly.

Fresh Linens: Patchwork Euro Pillow Shams Using Charm Pack Squares

One of the best ways to add both height and drama to your bed linens is with pillow shams. They sit in front and cover up the more ordinary pillows. Just like in real life… the pretty ones are always in the front row! There are two traditional shapes, regular and Euro. A regular full size sham usually measures around 20″ x 26″, a regular king approximately 20″ x 36″, whereas the Euro sham is square, usually about 26″ x 26″. Our Fresh Linens Euro Shams feature an easy yet elegant patchwork center made from a Charm Pack, plus a lovely flange in a coordinating solid.

Whimsy: EZ Pre-Quilted Baby Blanket

Love, love, love this double-faced, pre-quilted fabric from Joanna Figueroa’s Whimsy collection for Moda Fabrics. There are two, reversible patterns to choose from. We selected the option with Whimsy Vintage Flash Cards in Milk on the front and Whimsy Dot in Milk on the back. Then we trimmed the whole thing with coordinating Whimsy Ric Rac Stitching in Multi. I used a fancy decorative stitch to attach my binding, which takes a little longer to stitch, but adds an extra-special touch. Since all you do for the center of the blanket is cut a square, and the binding is a faux-mitered technique, this blanket is SO easy, I even simplified the name to: EZ!

Donna Babylon: Quick Tip – Joining Fabric Widths to Make an Extra Wide Panel

Father’s Day: Pendleton Wool Chinook Stadium Blanket with Canvas Tote

Dad will love this big, warm Pendleton wool blanket with its own handy canvas tote. It’s the perfect compact companion to take to his favorite sporting event. The Chinook pattern is a Pendleton classic, an authentic Indian design adapted from petroglyphs found in the Columbia Gorge. When the weather breaks or the game is over, roll up the blanket, wrap it and latch it, and he’s good to go. Dad could even use it to wave over his head when celebrating a touchdown or goal… in the event he’s left his giant foam finger at home.

Summer Fun: Babylon Flip Flop Pillows

You can’t welcome the arrival of spring and summer weather without flip flops! Bring the fun inside with one of these super cute flip flop pillows from our friend, Donna Babylon. Ya know, I just gotta say… back in the day, we called this particular type of footwear: ‘thongs.’ I can’t tell you the gales of laughter this brings from my kids when I accidentally slip and still call them this. It’s similar to the reaction I get talking about records and/or rotary dial phones. Read on to learn Donna’s secrets for a smooth, full and fabulous pillow.

Art Journal Super-Stylin’ Appliquéd Burp Cloth – Guest Tutorial by Bari J.

We’re back with the second of Bari J. Ackerman’s two delightful Art Journal projects. We adore the painterly look of this Windham Fabrics line, and were thrilled when Bari offered to put together two projects just for us. This is simply the world’s most stylin’ burp cloth. If I’d had something like this when my kids were babies, I would have ruined a lot fewer shirts and jackets. Okay… raise your hand if you’ve walked around for an entire day at work with a spit-up stain on your back shoulder! Check out the appliqué collage; this is a Bari ‘signature style’ – a wonderful combination of color, texture and pattern.

Donna Babylon: Quick Tip – The Care And Feeding Of Bobbins

The bobbin on your sewing machine provides the lower thread supply, allowing your machine to form stitches. Needless to say, if your bobbin isn’t set up properly, your machine won’t work.

Whimsy: Neckroll Pillow with Ric Rac

This comfy neckroll is the first of a trio of wonderful Whimsy projects. Joanna Figueroa’s Whimsy collection, for Moda Fabrics, debuted in February of this year, so we’ve been admiring it now for several months. We fell in love with its soft, warm colors and the nostalgic prints, florals and stripes. I even love the names of the colors: buttercup, beach, chocolate and grass are just a few that make me want to lie on my back and look for the bunnies and dragons in the fluffy spring clouds. Joanna’s simple line drawings of vintage wagons, milk jugs and chickens are perfect throw-backs to the old Dick and Jane early-reader books. ‘See Liz sew. Sew, Liz, Sew!’ Our roly-poly neckroll pillow features the Whimsy Wavy Ric Rac design. Neckrolls are great for youself and make a much-loved gift for anyone on your list who’s had a hard day and needs a little nap.

Art Journal Pinwheel Play Mat: Guest Tutorial by Bari J. Ackerman

The first time we saw Bari J. Ackerman’s Art Journal fabric line, we thought perhaps we’d stumbled onto a collection of paintings masquerading as fabric. Beautiful. Plain and simple. Bari’s designs have an exuberant use of color. Her florals make us feel like we’ve collapsed inside an impressionist’s garden where everything is bold and lush and shot through with lilac, periwinkle, citron, rose… all the cool crayon colors!

Re-make & Re-use: Napkins to Go from Dad’s Old Shirts

This very unique Re-make & Re-use project comes to us from Julia Chapman, a new member of our Sew4Home seamstress team. She developed the idea for a benefit in which all the items for sale had to be an ‘upcycle’ product of one kind or another. We love cloth napkins here at S4H, but had never seen any made from old shirts, let alone with their own handy carrying case. There are racks and racks of men’s short sleeve shirts at thrift and second hand stores… and probably in your own closets. Colors and patterns that might be too wild to wear would be perfect as napkins.

Moda’s Ruffled Jelly Roll Table Runner

This terrific table runner combines two of 2010’s top trends: the color turquoise and ruffles. Hats off to our new friend, Angela Yosten; a web developer for Moda Fabrics, United Notions and Moda Bake Shop… as well as a very creative blogger under the name, Moda Home Mom. We met Angela recently while setting up our designer relationship with Moda Fabrics. She was very enthusiastic about our Turquoise 2010 series and had a great idea for a table runner, using a Moda pre-cut Jelly Roll. Angela’s designs have been featured on many popular blogs and sites, and we are thrilled she wanted to share one with us. We’ll be returning the favor very soon – be looking for a Sew4Home pre-cut project to be featured on Moda Bake Shop.

Black & White Pillow Pile: Six-Cornered Tassel Treat

You know what’s cool about pillows? You can take one design, and by simply changing up the fabric, get a completely different look. That’s what we’ve done with this stunning hexagonal pillow. We’ve used this style of pillow a couple times before, but you’d never know it. Our black and white version features a coordinating linen back and Extreme Fussy Cutting (similar to what those daring skateboarders do, but you’re less likely to fall) to create a beautiful flower in the center of the pillow… complete with a contrasting linen covered button as the flower’s center point. Pretty tassels finish the high-end designer look.

Black & White Pillow Pile: Eiffel Tower Pom-Pom

Did you know the Eiffel Tower was built as the entrance arch for the 1889 World’s Fair? Its graceful lattice ironwork has attracted visitors for 121 years. I wonder if our beautiful Eiffel Tower Pom Pom Pillow with its tufted center and covered buttons will last that long? This is a super-simple pillow, but the finished look is one that would go for BIG bucks at stores and in catalogs. You can make one for a fraction of retail, and it will be unique to you. Vive l’Pillow!

Black & White Pillow Pile: Lovely Pleated Lumbar

Patty thought pleats were pleasing and so put plenty on her projects. I think pleats are one of the coolest ways to add a bit o’ pizazz. I still have to pause and really think them through every time I start, but as soon as they’re pinned in place, I look again and it’s like, ‘Duh! That was easy.’ So don’t you be put off by pleats. We have easy step-by-step directions, and throw in a few diagrams and plenty of pictures for good measure. The combination of the pleats with the natural linen and Michael Miller’s bold black and white accent fabric makes a very elegant statement. I think the statement would be, ‘Good gracious that’s a lovely pillow. I think I’ll make one for me.’

Black & White Pillow Pile: Squares & Stripes

One of the most classic decorating palettes is black and white. It never goes out of style and is anything but ‘basic.’ The combination can look crisp and casual or sophisticated and stylish. Black is a color that anchors and grounds; in fact, any room will benefit with a bit of black to add definition to its focal point color. We have a whole week of beautiful black and white pillows for you, starting today with our extra-large Squares & Stripes. Its dramatic pinwheel center is achieved with clever cutting and careful seaming.

An Interview with Fabric Designer, Joanna Figueroa of Fig Tree Quilts

The Sew4Home community (that’s you!) has really enjoyed the designer profiles we’ve done so far with Patty Young and Paula Prass. We love them too. It lets us a peek into some very creative worlds. This time, we turn the tables a bit, and instead of talking with someone whose fabric we’ve already used in our S4H projects, we introduce you to Joanna Figueroa of Fig Tree Quilts. We have a number of awesome projects upcoming with fabrics from two of her collections, Fresh Cottons and Whimsy. Joanna took time out of her VERY busy schedule to chat with us, and you, about home décor sewing, the inspiration behind her fabric design, her books on quilts and vintage sewing, and how, as a very little girl, she once sewed buttons on the the clothes of all her fellow passengers on an International flight. She’d never get the needle on board today!

Mother’s Day: Quick Gift – Tattered Flower Headband

You’re late, you’re late for a very important date! Stumped for a quick gift for Mother’s Day? Our Tattered Flower headband saves the day. I made this in about 30 minutes. But, it looks like I slaved for hours over the intricate triptych design, button embellishment and chic frayed-edge flowers. If asked, you’re welcome to use any of those big words to describe how hard you worked on this gift as well.

Mother’s Day: Pretty Pleated Travel Pouch

Mom’s have stuff. Lots of stuff. It’s a rule. Sometimes, we need to take our stuff from one place to another, in which case, we need a stuff-carrier… and we do not want to use a plastic baggie. This lovely pleated travel pouch is an elegant answer to a pressing need. It uses just tiny bits of fabric, so it’s a great project to try out little fabric cuts or perhaps use up some scraps. Our design has an easy-to-insert top zipper, generous pleats on both sides and a luxurious satin charmeuse lining. I’m thinking… perhaps one for you AND one for Mom. I bet you have a bit o’ stuff, too.

Terry Cloth Spa Wrap

This cozy shower wrap will make you feel like you’re at a luxury spa every time you step out of the shower. Try it in extra-thirsty 100% cotton terry velour with quilting cotton for the binding, flower accent, and ribbon-edged pocket.

Reversible Breakfast Tablecloth

It’s two tablecloths in one. The top is created with three pretty print fabrics. The back is a soft yellow with a print accent kick for the flounces. Each corner comes together like a perfect four-way intersection. For breakfasts and more.

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