Liz Johnson.Editor.Sew4Home, Author at Sew4Home

Pretty Prints Please: Flipover Floor Cushion

Down on the floor is the place to be for lounging, studying, and painting your toenails. You can’t really expect a teen to climb all the way up into a chair, can you? (Insert eye roll here.) This easy, reversible floor cushion would be a great addition to any room. Simply change out the fabrics to match your decor. Make a whole set for extra seating in your family room. It’s a perfect, low-to-the-ground option for a toddler’s room. And, if you’re feeling friendly towards Fido … wouldn’t one make a darling pet bed?!

Pretty Prints Please: Zebra Butterfly Fleece Throw

This very cuddly, very cute fleece throw is another no-sew project to which we added a dash of sewing … so we didn’t feel so guilty about including it on a sewing site. The basic instructions could be winnowed down to two steps: 1) cut fringe around two big squares of fleece; 2) tie together. It’s still just that easy, but we’ve added a soft appliqué to the front in the shape of a giant butterfly. This motif tied in perfectly to the fabric palette for our Pretty Prints Please teen room.

Embroidery Week: The Many Ways to Get Embroidery Designs

So, you’ve been following our Embroidery Week articles, and now are excited to get started with your own fantastic embellishments. The next step is finding all those awesome designs. You’ll be amazed at the amount of pre-digitized designs available and the many ways you can access them. Actually … overwhelmed might be a better word. There are thousands of options; thousands-squared if you decide to learn how to create your very own designs. Read on to get a taste of just how easy, inexpensive and fun machine embroidery can be.

Embroidery Week: Machine Embroidery Hoops

Mesmerizing. That’s what it’s like the first time you watch an embroidery machine stitch out a design. Sure, you have to get everything set up and threaded, but once you push that Start button, whoa … it just takes off on its own. Imagine if all you had to do was put ingredients in a bowl, then step back and watch them become a frosted three-layer cake. Whatever your task, having the right tools makes your work easier, and your success more assured. The most crucial accessory to successful machine embroidery is the hoop.

Embroidery Week: Wristlet

We debuted this fun wristlet project just last week on Sew4Home, and knew it would look cuter still with a dash of embroidery. So, we return during Embroidery Week with Wristlet Deux: same great design, a new set of fabrics, and with the personalization of embroidery. You can keep the one you like best and give the other to your sister for Christmas.

Embroidery Week: Adding a Personal Touch to Hand-Crafted or Store-Bought Projects

Embroidery adds an extra dimension to home decor projects. Literally. The raised stitches give a 3-D boost to flat fabric. The rich thread provides a pop of color and a dazzling sheen. Admit it. Embroidery is cool. If embroidery was a person, it would be Johnny Depp – flamboyant and scene stealing; but in a suave, charming, and fashionably dapper way.

Wristlet

Sometimes you want to travel light – with just the essentials at hand. For this, you need: the wristlet. A tiny, tidy tote that hangs from your wrist. It’s just 5″ x 7″, but holds all the necessities with room to spare. Zip up your spending cash, a couple o’ credit cards, maybe a bit of makeup and a comb. Ours has a detachable strap, so you can unclip it, and drop it into a bigger bag, like a handy wallet. So versatile, so itty-bitty cute, and with our excellent step-by-step instructions and photos … so easy!

Pretty Prints Please: Ribbon Memo Board

The lowly bulletin or white board is so yesterday. You deserve a much more stylish way to display your notes and favorite photos and all the other stuff that’s too cool to throw away. Find a frame you love, ours was a mirror in its previous life. In fact, we had two, which allowed us to leave one intact, turn the other into a memo board, then hang them side-by-side. Look at me, look at my stuff, look at me, look at my stuff. This almost counts as a no-sew project, but we decided to piece together our fabric covering, and so pulled out the machine. You could, of course, use a single piece of fabric … but where’s the fun in that?!

Pretty Prints Please: Genie Pillow

If your favorite teen were granted three wishes from her/his own personal genie, what would they be? Twelve fingers to allow for faster texting? A school day, which started at noon and ended at 1:00 with an hour for lunch? That all days would be good hair days? The options are likely as endless as a late-night phone call. Whip up a few of these darling tufted and tasseled genie pillows and see what wishes come true for you.

Thanksgiving Arts & Crafts Style Napkins

Square fabric napkins are super simple, especially when you follow our easy directions for how to make a perfect double-turn, narrow hem with clean corners. This holiday, pass on the paper, and make your own beautiful cloth napkins.

Thanksgiving Tablecloth with Arts & Crafts Style Panels

Our Arts & Crafts inspired holiday tablecloth features a unique panel design, which incorporates the beauty of a placemat into the tablecloth itself. Three highlight strips provide the perfect backdrop for your best china and flatware. We selected two gorgeous fabrics from Joel Dewberry’s Deer Valley collection. The striking patterns and interlocking architectural motifs create an elegant Thanksgiving theme.

Pretty Prints Please: Butterfly Pillow Shams

Pillow shams are a pretty way to keep things tidy up top. Bigger than a toss pillow, they not only contain a regular size bed pillow inside, they’re large enough to cover up other pillows in regular pillowcases underneath. Our four-patch shams mirror the design of the Pretty Prints Please Butterfly Duvet. But of course, you can create your own design to match your room, someone’s favorite colors, or even to celebrate a favorite hobby or animal or school: patchwork ponies or volleyballs or team mascots.

Monogram Week: What to Shop For in a Machine That Can Monogram

Shopping for a first embroidery machine can be a little intimidating to the uninitiated. There are quite a few options to choose from at a wide variety of price points. Fortunately for you, we did our homework in preparation for Monogram Week, and have broken down the necessities to a few top-level considerations.

Monogram Week: Picking the Right Thread, Stabilizer & Other Special Notions

Like any sewing project, using the correct materials is crucial to success. Monogramming and embroidery use their own special set of notions, which aren’t necessarily used in other types of sewing projects. We created a list of the materials you’ll need, with an explanation of their use to help you become an educated shopper – before you start your first monogramming project.

Monogram Week: How to Monogram a Plush Towel

Monogrammed towels lend a lush and elegant accent to any bathroom. And they make fabulous gifts for newlyweds or an anniversary. The only problem is they’re often far too pretty to actually use. I’ve gotten past this problem by pretending my bathroom is really part of a luxury suite at a five-star resort. This image is usually shattered when my teenage son wanders through the door in his boxers looking for toothpaste. If monogrammed towels keep me close to my dream … I’m usin’ ’em!

Monogram Week: The ABCs of Machine Monogramming

A monogram turns an ordinary household item into a treasured heirloom. There is simply nothing more personal and elegant than a monogrammed towel, napkin, handkerchief, or anything else for that matter. The monogram is the symbol of success and privilege in our collective imagination. Think of the Wall Street exec with his monogrammed cuffs, the jet-setting movie star with her matching monogrammed luggage, or the luxurious bath towel and robes in a five-star hotel. Bringing this kind of stylish luxury into our own homes – and making it affordable – is what DIY is all about. And so, we bring Monogram Week to Sew4Home to celebrate the art of this most tasteful of embroidery accent for the home.

Spooky Halloween Banner

Halloween Patchwork Treat Bags

Spooky Charm Pack Table Runner

Are a host of Halloween goblins headed your way? Roll out this fast and easy runner to spread out your goodies in style. The simple patchwork is made up of forty 5″ squares for a colorful grid of stripes, dots, bats, and spiders.

Hostess Apron with Dreamy Bow

Sofa Caddy

If it seems like remotes and other controllers are never where you need them when you need them, this sofa caddy keeps everything right at your fingertips. Side gussets in all the pockets allow the flexibility to hold a variety of devices.

Citrus Holiday: In-a-Word Pillow

There’s one in every family. The helpful host/hostess who just won’t rest – always rushing around to make sure everyone else is in tip-top shape. You know who I mean, don’t you? This special holiday pillow is for that special holiday someone. Toss it his or her way and demand they ‘SIT!’ Bold red letter appliqués and matching red piping make a statement even Helpful Hannah (or Hank) will have to stop and pay attention to. The pillow is reversible, so when they pop up again to refill your glass, you can flip it over and try again later.

Stylish Baby Nursery: Flowery Curtains & Striped Valance

Curtains with a matching valance are the perfect start … or finish to any room decor. As the Big Lebowski would say, ‘They really tie the room together.’ The valance is also a great way to add a dramatic dash of color or pattern in your room decor, and because the valance is narrow, you can accomplish this without making the room look too busy.

Citrus Holiday: Reversible Gift & Wine Bags

We all know how it goes. In the fall, we make a resolution to give only handmade gifts for the holiday season. Then, December rolls around, and you don’t have the tree up, you have a full queue of holiday parties to attend, and the kids are begging to make cookies all weekend. That’s where our handmade Gift & Wine Bags come in. They’re quick to sew, and can at least add a homemade touch to those last-minute purchased presents. Plus, they’re re-usable,which means they’re a green alternative to wrapping paper.

Citrus Holiday: Christmas Morning Table Runner

I love table runners. You can use them alone or layered over a table cloth. They create a beautiful focal point for your table or buffet, like a little fabric runway, perhaps giving me an excuse to invite Tim Gunn to my house. But if I invited him, I’d probably have to also invite Heidi Klum, and then it would just be too crowded. So instead, I’ll make this beautiful Christmas Morning Table Runner and invite my friends and family.

Button Front Pillow

Bed Caddy

I don’t know about you, but my nightstand is pretty crowded. There are books and magazines and lotions and a clock and remotes and, and, and! This handy bed caddy allows me to keep my most-used items right at my fingertips, and the top of my nightstand stays tidy. The pockets all have the perfect expandable gusset: big enough to easily slide stuff in and out, but not so big that things topple out.

Patchwork Table Topper with Vintage Button Trim

A classic nine-patch center shows off a beautiful selection of vivid, large motif quilting cottons. The border all around features rows of vintage buttons, and bright corner tassels add an extra special finishing touch.

Stylish Baby Nursery: The Three Blankets

Once upon a time there was a beautiful baby with golden curls. Admirers came from far and wide with gifts of soft, cozy blankets; each visitor trying to out-do the one who came before. The beautiful baby smiled and laughed and shook her golden curls. She loved all the blankets, declaring each one to be, ‘Just Right!’ We offer you the Goldilocks of receiving blanket options: Easy Baby Bear Decorative Stitch Blanket, Harder Mama Bear Ric Rac Blanket, and Hardest Papa Bear Bound Edge Blanket.

Citrus Holiday: Lemon Zest Tablecloth

Does someone wake you up at o’dark-thirty on Christmas morning?! Then you need a zesty zap of yellow to get you going. This lovely, lemony tablecloth is the perfect foundation for a holiday breakfast feast of waffles, fruit, juice and coffee. The bright yellow is set off with creamy drop panels and it’s all tied together with deep crimson bands and bows.

Citrus Holiday: Easy Napkins with Festive Trim

Adding a simple fabric border kicks this napkin up a notch. Napkins are a great beginning project and a great way to practice hemming. We made all our napkins match for our Citrus Holiday table, but it would also be snazzy to do a different, coordinating trim on each person’s napkin. Not only would it be a great way to use up fabric scraps, you could also keep track of which napkin belongs to which guest.

Citrus Holiday: Fussy Cut Placemats

A ‘Fussy Cut’ is not pitching a fit in the barber chair when one side of your bangs is longer than the other. Although that is perfectly justified behavior. To fussy cut in sewing is to select and cut out a specific motif from a printed fabric or center your pattern piece directly over a design within your fabric that you want to feature. This is what we did to perfectly center the beautiful pineapple design on each of our placemats.

Stylish Baby Nursery: Fast & Fabulous Wall Art

For each of our themed rooms, we like to have one idea dedicated to using up the scraps of fabric leftover from all the other projects. With the Stylish Baby Nursery, it’s these adorable wall hangings. All you need is an inexpensive hand embroidery hoop, a square of fabric, a little glue or tape, and you’re on your way to instant art.

Stylish Baby Nursery: Super Simple Throw Pillows

This is our favorite pillow pattern. Even though the style is the same, it looks different in each different fabric combination. It’s so simple and uses such a tiny bit o’ fabric, making a pile of pillows is a snap. The envelope back means it’s easy to pop out the pillow form and wash the pillow cover, and we all know easy laundering is a MUST for any nursery item.

Stylish Baby Nursery: Sunny Horizons Twin Bed Duvet Cover

Having a small bed in the nursery is a luxury during the months when your baby doesn’t sleep through the night. For our Stylish Baby Nursery, the Sunny Horizons duvet uses bold stripes of several Andalucia fabrics to make a colorful covering with simple ties finishing off the bottom. When you collapse on it in exhaustion, you’ll feel so much better knowing it’s such a beautiful match to all the other items in the nursery.

Stylish Baby Nursery: Buttoned Up Triangles Pillow

Liven up a regular square pillow with triangular front accents. Choose a funky button to contrast with more conservative fabrics, or pick fabrics in bold hues and patterns to make the whole pillow pop. The unique design makes your finished pillow look pretty darn tricky, but the actual construction is quite simple.

Citrus Holiday: Perky Pom Pom Pillows

Do you have a friend who is perky? Does the description go something like this: bright, happy, bouncy, cute? We think these plump and pretty pillows are perfectly perky. I got a quarter for every ‘P’ I used in that sentence.

Vintage Rescue: Chenille Bedspread

We’re excited to debut our new Sew4Home series: Vintage Rescue, a category of inspiring ways to recycle, re-use or redesign something old to create a great new look and perhaps salvage something meaningful. For our first article, I thought I’d start with a personal story. It involves my always-a-challenge-to-buy-for sister’s impending birthday, cleaning the attic to move, and a much-loved and almost-lost rosebud chenille bedspread.

Stylish Baby Nursery: Collapsible Storage Baskets

These clever storage baskets are not only cute and handy, they’re also a secret recycling project. The sides and bottoms of each basket are stiffened with recycled cardboard! But wait … they have another hidden talent: they collapse and fold flat to store.

Stylish Baby Nursery: Sunny Horizons Dresser Cloth/Crib Quilt

If you want to ease into trying your hand at quilting, this project is for you. It introduces the technique of joining together small strips to create a single large piece. We originally designed this tutorial as a little crib quilt, but decided we liked it better as a dresser cloth for our changing table. So, we omitted the batting and quilting through all the layers. So, the purists out there are hurling quilt pins at me, because without out those things it’s not really quilting. I know, I know … it’ll be our little secret.

Stylish Baby Nursery: Pretty Patches Pillow

When your baby isn’t resting on this adorable pillow, it can be used for a rousing game of tic-tac-toe. The Nine Patch Center square is a quilting classic and very easy to create … even if you’ve never tried patchwork before.

Stylish Baby Nursery: Bloomin’ Dust Ruffle

A dust ruffle catches the eye and brings top-to-bottom cohesion to your nursery décor. It’s as functional as it is decorative – especially when it hangs all the way to the floor. It does really help keep dust from beneath the crib, but it also allows for secret storage space. My daughter’s crib came with a rolling storage trundle, and the dust ruffle keeps it stylishly hidden from view. Dust ruffles look especially cute with a softly gathered edge.

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