Setting a Circle into a Square: A Finishing Technique for the Hard Candy Block Pattern

For the Los Angeles Modern Quilt Guild's 2015 BOM, I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to design the February block. I'm calling it "Hard Candy" since it's designed after these Japanese hard candies I found at the grocery store.

It was super fun coming up with inspiration and designing the block (more on that later maybe?) but the real challenge was putting my techniques into words for others to follow.

If you're getting the block pattern from the LAMQG newsleter then YAY! You may have read the instructions (or seen my presentation at the meeting) and wondered what the heck I was talking about when I mentioned piecing the circle portion of the block into the background using a facing. Well, that's what this post is about. It's a tutorial for that method of piecing circles into blocks.

If you're not a member of the LAMQG you can get the block from the link below:

Hard Candy Block Pattern!!!

And please, everyone, let me know how you like the pattern in the comments! Con Crit is very welcome! This is my first formal block pattern and I'd love feedback.

Using a facing to set a shape into a block:

This method works for most shapes! All you need is some scrap fabric. The facing won't show in the end so feel free to grab whatever you have lying around, matching or not. **Please note that the grey floral Flea Market Fancy print in these pictures is the fabric on my ironing board, and not part of the block**

Step 1: 

Cut your scrap fabric exactly to the shape/size of the piece that you want to set in. For the Block, you'll cut a circle about 8" in diameter.

Step 2: 

Pin this piece to the RIGHT side of your background. For the LAMQG block example I centered this piece by pressing my facing AND my 12.5" background in quarters and then matching the centers. 

Once pinned, sew around the circle (or other shape) 1/4"-1/5"  from the edge (Keep it even all the way around. Make sure to stitch in a nice clean shape)

Step 3: 

Cut out the center 1/5" inch inside your stitch line. Cut through both the facing and your background fabric. You are cutting your hole!

Clip curves of inside seam allowance making sure not to cut through your stitching. 

Flip all seam allowance and facing fabric to the wrong-side of the background piece and press. You should not be able to see any of the facing fabric or seam allowance from the right-side of the background. You should have a nice clean hole. (There is no better way to phrase that. Sorry)

Step 4:

Place background on TOP of finished "Candy piece so that the candy is centered in the circle in the background. Pin if necessary  and then sew the candy to the background by stitching just to the left of your previously stitched circle (where you stitched the facing to the background). 3 layers of seam allowance should be to the right of your stitching and should roughly match up with the edge of your "candy".

Once you have stitched all the way around the candy following your previous stitching press your completed block flat.

Here's the block in the official LAMQG BOM colors!

 Boom! You're done! Congrats, it looks great!

Please don't forget to post feedback: what you like and what can be improved and tag photos of your finished block with #hardcandyblock Cheers!

Emo Emo Scrap Sack Tutorial

In my (hopefully very temporary) unemployment here in LA I've been able to catch up on a lot of sewing projects that I've been meaning to work on, and make a few domestic items that my adorable new apartment needs.

After seeing so many cute scrap sacks and thread catchers at sew days and workshops I knew I had to make my own and properly inaugurate my new sewing space!

Materials:
- 1/4yd cuts of interior and exterior fabrics (at least one should be of a heavier weight for structure)
          I used Kamiya Kanako's beetle print from Emo Emo for the exterior, and a Kaffe Fassett Shot Cotton in Grape for the interior.
- 1.5" strip for binding (I used Kona Lipstick)
- Ruler
- Rotary Cutter
- Something round, like a cup, that has about the same size circle as you want your sack to be

Cut:
Using your round object cut out one circle each of your interior and exterior fabrics, then get ready to do some easy math.
In order to achieve the correct length of the side pieces that you cut you need to determine the circumference of your base circles, and add seam allowance.
Circumference=2*raduis of circle*3.14
The radius of my circle was 2.25" so:
C=2*2.25"*3.14=14.13"
I then added .5" for seam allowance which gave me 14.63" for the length of my sides. Luckily this is is about 14 and 5/8", but you can round to the nearest number that you're comfortable with; it won't matter too much.
 Using this measurement cut one piece of your exterior and lining measuring 9" (for height) by the number you calculated (to fit around the base).
Also make sure that you have your 1.5" strip ready.

Right sides together, sew the side seam (9" seam) on your side pieces, and then finger-press your seams open.

Pin and sew base right sides together on both interior and lining pieces. If the sides and the base don't quite match up, make small pleats around the edges, or take in the side seam.

Turn your exterior right-side-out, and place the inside-out lining into the right-side out exterior. No seams should be visible when they're nested.

Pin your strip for binding along the top of your sack. When you first begin pinning, fold over your binding by about 1/4", and make sure that your last cut-edge overlaps this fold (to hide the seams). Then stitch down the binding using a 1/4" seam allowance.

Finger press a 1/4" fold all the way around the unsewn edge of the binding. Then fold te binging over the raw edge of the sides so that the fold is on the interior of the sack and no raw edges are visible. Pin.

Stitch in the ditch (or if you're like me, you'll sew kind of in the general vicinity of the ditch) on the exterior of your sack, making sure to catch the binding on the interior as you sew.

TA-DAH! You're done! Just fold down the top for extra color-cuteness and added stability.

Now you can keep your sewing area free of messy scraps and cuts without making a million trips to the waste-basket. It's perfect for traveling with too.

"Last Minute" Party and Gift Ideas

I don't know about you, but once posts in the blogosphere start having titles with "last minute" in them, I begin to get a little bit nervous...

But this year, after learning from last year, I came armed for the holidays with a few easy gifts to whip up at the last minute for both the men and women in my life, as well as a few fun party ideas.

For Him:

 

Bottle Cap Magnets: For the beer fan.

I live in a house with four young adult "dudes", so it stands to reason that at any given time, there are a lot of beer bottle caps laying around, which inspired this project. 

                               

All it takes is some of your favorite bottle caps, craft foam, magnets, and E6000.

~ To get nice bottle caps, either use twist-off caps, or open them slowly with the flat kind of opener.

~ Glue your magnets to the craft foam, then glue the foam to your bottle caps. (If your magnets are thicker than your caps, then just glue the magnet straight to the cap)

~That's it! I made a simple pouch to put them in. This project could be made more cutesy with craft bottle caps that you can find at large craft stores.

Webbing Belt: For the Fashionable Male.

This project takes about five minutes, and is so satisfying! And it can be personalized easily (this pictured belt is actually for me! The man in my life is getting one with skulls)

~ Purchase webbing and a buckle to match (make sure that the buckle is size-appropriate for the webbing you choose) I got this webbing and buckle at Britex Fabrics in San Francisco

~ If your webbing is made of a synthetic material, you can melt the edge of the webbing with a lighter to finish the seams. If you use cotton webbing, finish the edges with fray-check or clear nail polish. 

~ Sew the webbing to the buckle with a heavy denim needle (size 16 or 18)

~ You're done! In terms of how much webbing to buy, a yard and a half is about right for huskier men. You can always buy more and then cut it down (remember to finish the edges!) if you need to.

For Her:

 




Tote Bag With Pocket: For on-the-go moms or busy students.

I made up this pattern with a simple concept, but The Purl Bee has a great 20 minute tote tutorial as well.

~ Purchase 1/2 - 3/4 of a yard of a cotton or cotton/linen canvas. This one is from Echino and I got it from Harts Fabric.
~ Also purchase 3-3 1/2 yards of cotton webbing. The webbing is also from Harts.
~ Cut two pieces of fabric about 24" x 18", and one about 18" x 6" for the pocket (these dimensions can be tweaked based on the proportions you want)
~ Press tops of tote and pocket over 1/2", then again 1 1/2". Stitch hems down, then pin pocket to front side of tote, making sure to center it on the bottom.
~ We're going to make French Seams! WRONG sides together, stitch side and bottom seams with a 1/4" seam allowance. (making sure to get the pocket in there).  Trim these seams a bit if needed.
~ Then flip inside out with RIGHT sides together, and stitch around the side and bottom seams with a 1/2" seam allowance, making sure to enclose all raw edges.
~ Now stitch ends of webbing together making one big loop. Pin to your bag making sure that it goes down and under each side of your tote evenly and encases raw sides of your pocket.
~ Stitch all the way down and around each side of the webbing making sure to catch the edges of your pocket (the webbing should frame the pocket on the sides).
* If you want, you can be done here, or you can flip up the points of the bottom of your tote and stitch to make a flat bottom!

Pearl and Wire Bird's Nest Pendant: For the Jewelry Lover

This project is so fun and easy! I used this tutorial Sarah Ortega, and learned a few things along the way.
*Memory wire is easy to find ad craft stores, but do NOT use memory wire. Go to a real bead shop and purchase a nice malleable wire, it will make your life easier. I used gold-filled wire, for the pictured pendant. I paid a little bit more for it, but I only needed a yard, and the final product was so much nicer than when I used other wires.
* Make sure that your pearls have large enough holes! This seems obvious, but it could ruin your day if you don't double check.
* Using round-nose pliers also works better because they won't leave marks in your wire.

~ String 3-4 pearls onto your wire and arrange in a circle
~ Secure your circle by looping the start of your wire onto the wire immediately after your last pearl.
~ Start winding and winding around your cluster of pearls in imperfect circles until your nest is the right density, then loop remaining wire around nest to secure.
~ Attach to a jump ring and then to a chain. Voila!

For Your Last Minute Party:

Dressing up Dollar Store Cups:

I am a college student, and am on a college student budget. So for my holiday party I shopped for supplies at the Target dollar section (where I found this awesome glitter tree decoration), and the Dollar Tree. Unfortunately the Dollar Tree was out of X-mas themed cups, so I bought black cups and red and green tissue paper. Cut small strips of tissue paper, layer, twist into bows and hot-glue your festive bow-ties to your cups. How fancy!

Glitter Snowflake Bobby Pin Party Favors:

I took some glitter snowflake table scatter (Again, from Target's dollar section) and E6000'd (can I verb that?) them to some thick bobby pins. These not only make cute favors, but are fun last-minute gifts as well

Whether you're feeling the pressure, or are as cool as a cucumber this holiday season, I hope this has given you some good gift ideas as it gets closer to the holidays!

XOXO

Simple Ten-Minute Tee Tutorial

I LOVE the sense of accomplishment that you get you finish that perfect structured garment. However, sometimes I want sewing to be more like shopping, that is to say that I want to spend a little bit of time and walk away from the whole experience with a new outfit.

So here's my solution: The Ten-Minute Tee.

This project was born one laundry day when this indecisive dresser found herself about a half an hour before work and all of my clean shirts were in the laundry! ARG! So I whipped one of these up and have made several of them since.

This simple and quick project is also great for people who are a little intimidated by sewing with knits. It can be done entirely on a regular sewing machine with straight stitches!

Materials you'll need:
~ 3/4 - 1 yard of a jersey or interlock knit fabric
~ A Tee-shirt that fits well
~ A regular ol' sewing machine (with matching, or complimentary thread)
~ A pair of scissors
~ Pins


Step One:
Turn on your TV, or play some Netflix. This project can be completed in less time than it takes to watch an episode of "Say Yes to the Dress" but you might as well multi-task eh?

The REAL Step One:
Measure your torso and determine how long you want your top to be. Cut your piece of fabric to that length. At this point your piece of fabric should be have the dimensions of the width of your fabric (probably 60" or so) by your desired length (I like 'em around 27").

Step Two:
Fold your piece of fabric selvage to selvage, and cut along this fold. Remove selvages (I don't always do this if they're not obvious). You should now have two square-ish pieces of jersey fabric. These are all of your pieces! Yay! The sides that you just cut, will be the sides of your tee.

Step Three:
Place your two pieces right-sides together, and determine how wide you want your neck hole to be (this top also looks cute with a wider, off-shoulder collar). Use pins to mark where you want your neck hole to be making sure that it's centered.
Now sew your shoulder seams by sewing from the edge of your neck hole to the sides of your top.

Step Four:
Now flip that puppy right side out. You can pull it over your head to make sure that your neck hole is big enough. You may also pretend that you are a poncho-wearing cowboy at this point. No one will judge you.
Lay your top out flat, and then lay a top that you like the fit of on top of it. Pin around the edge of your old top to mark the beginning and general shape of side-seams (it will be more flattering if your side seams are a little curved).

Step Five (Last Step!!!):
Sew along the lines you made with your pins (yes! With your fabric right-side out!). At this point your basically done, but now you can shape your collar if you want. You can cut a round or scoop or v-shaped neckline. Mostly I like to keep it simple by cutting a straight slit a few inches down the front to make a v-neck with cute little "lapels".

Now go wear that puppy and make all of your friends jealous!!!

Stay tuned for: Easy and Fun Holiday Gifts for Ladies AND Gentlemen!