Easy Gifting Crafts: Hanging Kitchen Towels

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I always have the best intentions of making handmade gifts… and almost every year I fall short on time. I can’t be the only one. So this year, leading up to the holidays, I’ll occasionally be posting a quick and easy crafting tutorial for some great things to gift! Today’s tutorial? Hanging kitchen towels!

Easy Gifting Crafts: Hanging Kitchen Towels

To Prepare:

To start, you will need a  square potholder with a loop, a kitchen towel, and a large button. (Button not pictured here, but you will need one lol)

The first thing you need to do is find the center of your potholder. As most potholders are about 6 inches square, I found it easiest to just lay my acrylic ruler on top of it and mark the center. Keep in mind, some potholders have the loop on a corner. If this is the case, you will mark the corners and your top will be triangular when finished.

I just make little marks at the edges. Ink pen was used here for better visibility in pictures, but you could also use chalk or a fabric marking pen. (Tags were also cut so it didn’t get in the way later.)

Now that that’s done, we need to mark the towel. Measure the length, find the center, and draw a line straight across. You will use this line to gather your towel.

Sewing Your Hanging Towel

To begin the sewing process, you need to gather your towel. So, using the line you drew as a guide, sew your gathering stitches. (You can find various methods of gathering here if you are unsure how to do this.)

Once you have your stitches in, gather your towel to the same width as the potholder.

And then you are going to pin the towel to the potholder right sides together. I start by pinning the center of the towel to the center of the potholder on either side before pinning the center down. This picture shows that my towel is pinned with the graphic sides of both against each other.

When you’re satisfied with the placement, you’ll take it back to your machine and run a straight stitch across the center of everything along the same line you used to make your gathers. Then you’re almost done!

Finishing Touch

Here’s where the button comes in. Find the center top of the potholder on the side without the loop and mark it. Then sew your button on right there. Pull the loop over the button and you’re done! A beautiful hanging towel that should take less than 10 minutes to complete!

Don’t just think of these as Christmas gifts, either! They’re also great for weddings, anniversaries, housewarmings, etc! Personalize it with embroidery or themed towels to make it perfect for your recipient! It’s so easy to make this a perfectly thoughtful gift!

Do you have any tutorial requests for fast and easy gifts? Leave your request in the comments and we’ll do our best to bring you what you’re looking for! Don’t forget to join our Facebook group for news and sharing! We’d love to see you there!

5 Things To Look For When Buying a PDF Pattern

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We love our PDF patterns. But there are SO many different patterns and designers out there, how do you know which ones to buy?  Sometimes it can be hard to choose. Today, we’ll give you 5 examples of things to look for when you’re thinking about buying a PDF pattern!

5 Things To Look For When Buying a PDF Pattern

Sizing

Sizing can be hard. Buying or sewing. So many brands have different measurements for the same sizes it’s hard to know WHAT you’re looking for. The beauty of PDF patterns is that those sizes also come with measurements. Regardless of your RTW size, if you’re sewing for adults, you’ll want to check the measurements of the size chart in the PDF pattern you’re considering to make sure that the measurements you’re sewing for are included within their size range. One of my favorite things about Bella Sunshine is that the child sizing is pretty spot on with most RTW kids clothing, which is awesome!

Thorough Instructions

 

This one can be a little more difficult to determine before buying, but it is important. Everyone writes their instructions a little differently. And some writing styles mesh better with some sewists than others. I’m of the thought that “more is more” when it comes to sewing directions. Luckily, most designers now offer a free pattern or two so you can “test out” their writing and pattern styles for yourself before you spend money! For Bella Sunshine, those patterns are the Reagan Raglan in Child and Women’s sizing and the Eden Leggings in Child and Women’s sizing. (Note: You can get the Eden leggings for free by using the code found in the pinned post of our Facebook group.)

No Trim Pages

No trim pages can be pretty handy when you’re printing and assembling patterns at home. Unfortunately, it isn’t something we currently offer here at Bella Sunshine, but… It IS in the works! Most patterns that offer this option will list it as a selling feature in the pattern description, so just be on the lookout for it.

A0 Printing Option

One awesome thing that Bella Sunshine DOES offer is A0 files for print shop printing! It’s a GREAT option if you’re trying to save ink and paper at home, or if you just don’t want to spend the time and energy to assemble the pattern yourself. We actually wrote a post on print shop printing that you can find here.

Reputation

The best indicator of whether a PDF pattern is worth it is to look at the designer/company’s reputation. Look at the reviews of their shop on their site, on Etsy (if they sell there), or on Facebook. Chat with other sewists to see if they’ve used that designer and what their thoughts are. Find out how long that company has been around. A bad designer won’t usually last long. Bella Sunshine is VERY proud of its reputation and always welcomes feedback from customers. We are also quick to address concerns and rectify mistakes.

Do you have any other guidelines for buying a PDF pattern that we haven’t mentioned? Please share them in the comments below! And join us in our Facebook community to get real-time advice, see reviews, and share your opinions with us!

PDF Pattern Series: Printing A0 Files

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Most of us are quite familiar with printing from home, but did you know there’s a way to get your patter all on one sheet or two? You can save SO much time on the assembling and taping by using A0 files! Want to know more? Great!

PDF Pattern Series: Printing A0 Files

A0 files can be handy for a number of reasons. Maybe you want to save paper and/or ink. Maybe you just don’t have a printer at home to print from. Whatever the reason, it can definitely be worth it! There are a number of places you can have A0 printed. Kinkos, Staples, and other office stores normally have the equipment. There are also a number of online options. Our recommendation is PDF Plotting.

I’ll walk you how to place an order with PDF Plotting. Most other printers should have a similar process. One caveat, though. Unfortunately, it is unlikely that you will be able to print single sizes with A0 files, as printers are not allowed to alter the file to print selected layers. As a result, that means patterns like Juliet or Sweet Lilly are still best off printed and assembled at home using single sizes.

PDF Plotting Walk-Through

When you first get to PDF Plotting, you’ll see some drop down menus. Hover over Pattern Printing to see the options. Considering you’ll be getting all of the sizes, my suggestion is to choose color printing, as that will make it easier to see the different size lines for tracing or cutting.

Scroll down until you find the option that says A0 and 36″ by 48″ Color Pattern Printing. At this point, if you haven’t already, check your pattern for how many pages it has in A0 form. Girls Sahara (which I am using for the purpose of this tutorial) has 2, so I selected 2 pages, 1 copy.

Once you’ve selected the number of pages and number of copies, you will see a button that reads “Choose File”. Click that and find your A0 file to print. Make sure it is labeled as an A0 so that it prints correctly. Select your file and click open to attach it to your order. Then Scroll to the bottom of the page and click “Add to Cart”. Keep in mind that PDF Plotting has a minimum order requirement of $7.50. But if you have 2 or more patterns to print, you’ll hit that pretty easily and save a bit on shipping too.

Wrap up

That’s it! Pretty easy, right? Then you just wait for your package and you’re ready to go! If you choose to print locally in a shop, the associates there are usually friendly and willing to help you get it all set up to go. And now that you know, you can have no pattern assembly needed sewing days! How great is that?

If you have helpful hints or tricks to A0 printing or any questions, please leave them in the comments below! And feel free to join our Facebook community for other fun tips, games, and pictures of amazing makes!

PDF Pattern Series: Printing And Assembling At Home

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Now that we’ve covered the very beginner basics, we’ll get into actually USING these patterns! So today, we’ll talk about printing and assembling your patterns at home in preparation of using them to sew! It might be easier than you think.

PDF Pattern Series: Printing And Assembling At Home

Print Prep

Before you can get to printing and assembling anything, you need to make sure you have all of your settings correct. First, make sure you have the correct layers selected to make the cutting easier. You can find the layers tutorial here.

Once you have the sizes sorted, I find it helpful to write down which pages I’ll need. Especially if you’re dealing with a pattern that includes a lot of options. It saves paper, ink, and some headache later if you only print what you NEED. Fortunately, Bella Sunshine patterns include a chart at the beginnings of all of their patterns to show you exactly what you need to print, eliminating the guesswork!

Print Setup

Print setup is CRUCIAL to making sure your pattern prints correctly. If it’s off, your sizing and everything else will be off… no fun! Thankfully, setup is easy once you know what you’re looking at!

There are 2 main things I always look for. The first will not be a concern for everyone, but if you have a printer that prints two-sided, you’ll want to make sure that option is turned OFF. Secondly, check that the sizing is set to ACTUAL SIZE. Anything else runs the very real risk of things ending up skewed and then you will get an end result that is ill-fitting. This is also where you’ll type in the page numbers you want/need to print so that you aren’t wasting paper and ink on the things you don’t need. Once it’s all set up right, hit that print button and you’re ready to assemble!

(note: I will typically just print the first page to start with in order to check the sizing square. This is an important step and is used to ensure your scale is correct.)

Assembling Your Trim Style Pattern

The next step in your printing and assembling adventure is the assembling. There are 2 different ways that a designer can format their pattern. Trim, or no trim. Today, we’ll discuss the trim version. Next week we’ll talk about no-trim pages.

Without Trimming

So… you’ll start with your printed out pattern. The pages should (in theory) all be in order. Most designers have pages numbered, which will likely come in handy (especially if they manage to somehow become out of order).

How to Trim and Assemble

If you’re on the lazy end of the spectrum (*cough*likeme*cough*), you don’t have to actually trim your pages if you don’t want to. If you look at the picture above, you can see the line of the border from the bottom page through the top page. Simply place those lines directly over each other and tape it.

If you’re concerned about lining it up correctly, or you can’t see the lines through the paper, you will need to trim. I find the easiest way to do this is to cut along the border on 2 adjacent sides. Preferably the left and top (although I managed to cut the bottom instead for these examples).

Now, you’ll carefully line up the cut edge with the line on the uncut page and tape. The triangles along the border will also line up to form a diamond shape which will help you make sure it’s lined up perfectly.

When you get to the next row, it’s just the same on a shorter side. And with the rows, you have options. You can keep taping one page at a time like this, or (my preference), you can tape each row completely together and then tape the full rows together. Either way you go, when you’re done you should have a complete pattern ready to cut out!

I really hope this was helpful! Next week the plan is to show you what no trim pages look like and how they go together! Thanks for joining us! Let us know how we’re doing in the comments below!

PDF Pattern Series: Learning About Layers

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Welcome back to our informative series about using PDF sewing patterns! So far we’ve told you why they are so amazing and talked about some storage options. Today, we’re going to learn about layers, what they are, and how to use them effectively. I’ll be using the lovely Amelia pattern in my screenshots to show you how it’s done. Ready? I am!

PDF Pattern Series: Learning About Layers

One of my favorite things about PDF patterns has to be the layers feature. With it, you can print just the size you need. Or, if you need to blend sizes, the two (or three) sizes you need. So we’re going to walk through how the layers feature works. I promise it’s super simple!

Finding Your Layers

BSD patterns come equipped with the layers feature, but unfortunately not all brands do. I’ll show you how to tell. First, you’ll want to open your pattern in the Adobe reader.

Next, look for the layers icon. I’ve circled it in the screenshot below. If you see this icon that means your pattern includes the layers feature. If not, you’ll just have to watch the key to make sure you’re cutting the right cut lines. I think most designers are using layer now, though, which makes the assembling and cutting process SO much nicer!

Now, you’ll want to click on the little arrow next to the pattern name in the sidebar. This will open up the size options so you can select the size or sizes you need.

Using Your Layers

From here, you’ll click on the eye icons for the sizes you don’t need. The eye means it is visible. If you’re sewing a straight size you should only have on layer visible. When you are blending sizes to get the right fit, then you’ll need to leave all pertinent layers visible so you can do your grading once you have your pieces printed and assembled.

Once that’s done, you’re left with a very clean pattern in only the size or sizes you need and you’re ready to print! See? Super simple! And now that you know, cutting your patterns will never be hard again (as long as they include the layers feature).

Did you learn something new today? I hope you did! Now, feel free to share which tidbit of information was new to you today! As always, if you aren’t already a member, feel free to join us in our Facebook community for questions, triumphs, and fun! Next week we’ll take a look at printing and assembling your PDF patterns at home, so be ready!

PDF Pattern Series: Storing Your Patterns

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Thanks to the digital age and PDF patterns, needing a lot of physical space for storing your patterns is no longer as big of an issue as it once was! This week, I’ll give you some ideas and guidelines for storing your digital patterns as well as an idea or two for keeping physical copies of your favorites if that’s something you want to do.

PDF Pattern Series: Storing Your Patterns

Everyone tends to have their own way of doing things. Their own ‘system’, if you will. With PDF patterns and storing them digitally, you just need to find what works for you and then follow through. I’ll share some ideas and how I do things and you can adapt that to fit your own personal needs. Ready? Good!

Platforms

The first thing to consider is where you want to store them. There are MANY options out there and available. The size of your collection might be a determining factor, though. The more patterns, the more digital space they take up, right?

Hard drive

If you have a small to a moderate collection, you could get away with just storing them on your computer’s hard drive. That gets harder as your collection grows, however, because computers have a limited amount of space.

Thumb Drive/Flash Drive

Another smaller option is a thumb drive. Benefits of this include having your collection portable and always available. The downside to this is if you somehow manage to lose that drive, you’ve also lost your collection. Which is why I don’t use this method, as I am forever losing things.

The Cloud

Internet storage has been my go-to. You have a lot of options there, too. You can use Dropbox, Google Drive, Amazon Drive… among many others. Most of them do have a fee to get a significant amount of storage, but I haven’t found one yet that was unreasonable. With online storage, you have the benefit of having access to your library wherever you have access to the internet. But unlike the thumb drive, you don’t have to worry about losing it. The internet is always there. (For the record, I started on Dropbox, outgrew it, and now utilize Amazon Drive)

Organizing Your Pattern Library

Organizing is definitely something some people are better at than others. And I say that with complete kindness, as I am in that latter category. But I did find a method that works for me and I will share that with you. I start with one folder labeled “Sheila’s Patterns”. Within that folder, I have other folders. As I sew mostly children’s clothing, I have folders labeled “Dresses”, “PantsShortsSkirts”, “Tops and Jackets”. I know all of those are kids’ things. I also have a folder labeled “Adult Patterns” and one labeled “Bags”, so I know where to go when I need something that isn’t a child’s garment.

Within those folders, I have it broken down even further. For example, my dress folder contains a folder for “Knit” and “Woven” patterns. Now, here is where I deviate from some.

Within this folder, I have all of my patterns that are knit dresses laid out. I have them renamed by designer and then the pattern name. It makes it easy for me to scroll the alphabet to find the designer, then the pattern. Some people prefer to make a separate folder for each designer and place their patterns inside. This is where you need to decide that will work best for YOU and follow that plan. But regardless of which way you go, in the end, you should have an organized system which will allow you to find what you need quickly and easily.

Storing Printed Patterns

What you do with your patterns once their printed varies wildly from person to person. For example, some people just toss/recycle the paper when they’re done. It’s so easy to reprint them, you don’t necessarily NEED to hang on to them if you don’t want to. I do this most of the time, but…

Sometimes I know I’ll be making the same item (in the same size) multiple times and don’t want to keep reprinting if I don’t have to. So, here’s how I handle that. I have a box of manila envelopes. When I’m done using my pieces, I’ll fold them neatly and slide them inside that envelope. Depending on my mood that day, I’ll either print and tape the front page of that pattern onto the front of the envelope, or I will write the designer’s name, pattern name, and size (or size range) on the front of the envelope. They then get stored in alphabetical order by designer’s name, much like they do in my digital system. Mind you, that’s just one of MANY ways you can do this, so if this isn’t for you, I’m sure you can find a solution that is!

Do you have any of your own tips for storing digital or printed copies of PDF patterns? Please share your solutions with us in the comments! Join our Facebook group if you feel so inclined for help, sharing, and fun! And join us next week for the low-down on layers!

PDF Pattern Series: What They Are And Why They Rock!

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I know for many, this may be an unnecessary post, but we feel like there are enough people out there that could use this information, that we are creating a whole series of posts on what a PDF pattern is and how to effectively use them. So if you’re a fan, follow along… you might learn something you didn’t know before, and that’s always fun. First up in the series… What is a PDF pattern? And what makes them so awesome?

PDF Pattern Series: What They Are And Why They Rock!

What is a PDF pattern?

A sewing pattern is basically a template of pieces that you use to assemble a finished product. A PDF sewing pattern is a digital version of that which includes the pieces and instructions you will need in order to successfully sew a complete garment. You can find PDF patterns to make a wide variety of things. Clothing, bedding, wallets, purses, bags, stuffed animals, home decor items… literally just about anything.

Why do they rock?

There are SO many reasons that PDF patterns are absolutely amazing! Let’s just walk through some of those reasons.

Storage

For one, storage of them is SO much easier since they’re digital. Could you imagine how much room hundreds of paper patterns would take up? Now think about how great it would be to have all of those patterns stored in the cloud? At your fingertips and perfectly organized whenever you want or need them? Never lost to some random corner of your house or dragged off by a child or animal? It’s a definite bonus.

Cost

While they may not always be as immediately inexpensive as a paper pattern on sale at JoAnn’s, I can promise you that you will ultimately be saving money. Let me explain. First of all, with most PDF patterns, you will get ALL of the sizes included as opposed to just a few. A whole range of kid’s sizes, or women’s, or men’s… So with one pattern, you have it all! You also need to consider how much wider the range of sizes is with most PDF designers. Us plus-sized girls can get all the cute we want for us now too! Plus, if you lose your pieces? Or your kid outgrows a size? Just reprint it! No need to repurchase!

Ease of Use/Support

Once you get used to using PDF patterns, you’ll likely never want to go back. They tend to include much more comprehensive explanations and instructions than traditional patterns. Plus, most PDF designers have facebook groups (like Bella Sunshine), where you can talk directly to the designer or loads of other talented seamstresses if you get stuck and need a little help figuring something out. Community makes sewing so much more enjoyable! And then you have the perfect place to show off your creations too!

Instant Gratification

Shopping for PDF Patterns is the ultimate in instant gratification! Browse from the comfort of wherever you are… no getting dressed, going to crowded stores, standing in long lines… You can shop at ANY time of the day or night. In the wise words of one of our fans, “I can buy them without having to wear pants. Apparently, Joanne’s frowns on that.”

More Current Styles

PDF designers are constantly looking for all the newest trends and designing for them, so the clothes you make will always be in style! Plus, if you’re talented enough, you can take those patterns and hack them into some pretty amazing cosplay/Halloween costumes!

Sturdier

One of the things that always made me cringe with paper patterns was that flimsy tissue paper it’s printed on. It tears so easily, it’s hard to get back into the envelope… and if you happen to accidentally get it wet? Forget about it, it’s toast. With a PDF, you print it on regular paper. And while I’ll admit, it’s mildly inconvenient to have to piece them together, ultimately, I’d rather do that then deal with the tissue.

Layers

Many PDF pattern designers are now using the layers feature when creating their patterns. What does this mean? It means, when you open your pattern in the Adobe reader, you can choose which size(s) you need and ONLY print that! No more confusing intersecting lines and trying to decipher what’s supposed to go where with what. SO much simpler. And if you’re blending sizes, only seeing the lines you NEED to see is a benefit you can’t ignore!

I’m sure there are bonuses that I’m forgetting, so if you have a great reason to love PDF patterns that I haven’t mentioned, please add it to the comments below! And I’ll be back next week with more PDF fun!

Halloween Costumes Made Using Bella Sunshine

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It’s that time of year again! Temperatures are coming down, trees are starting to drop leaves, there’s pumpkin spice EVERYTHING in the stores… Fall has arrived! And with fall comes my favorite holiday, Halloween! Crafty moms (and dads) everywhere are gearing up to make this the best Halloween ever for their kids by making them the cutest, fiercest, scariest costumes their kids have ever dreamed of. So today we’re going to show you some amazing Bella Sunshine hacks that became amazing Halloween costumes for you to use as inspiration!

Halloween Costumes Made Using Bella Sunshine

 

As I stated before, Halloween is my absolute favorite! So, of course, I’m always on the lookout for fun new costume ideas! Let’s start with Sahara. Its fun shape and low difficulty level make it a no-brainer! And its versatility can take you to SO many places!

picture by Debbie Schaeffer-Parker

Anna

What little girl doesn’t want to be a princess at some point in her life? And with the ever-popular Frozen remaining at the forefront of most girl’s minds, this Anna dress is perfection! The details can be stenciled on or embroidered, giving you a couple of options to recreate this beautiful look.

picture by Indu Anakareddi

Supergirl

Girls can totally want to be superheroes too! I completely ADORE this Supergirl look! The added touches of the arm warmers and cape round it out perfectly.

Picture by Stephanie Hauser

Luna Lovegood (Harry Potter)

Witches are SO popular for Halloween. But why be a traditional witch, when you can be an unconventional Luna Lovegood? This dress has it all. And the added additions of the hat and wand make it SO unconventionally Luna!

picture by Anna Fisher

Princess Bubblegum (Adventure Time)

Why let the little kids have all the fun? I’m 40 and proud to admit I totally still dress up! So I love seeing big people in costume too! Which is why this group speaks to me. Princess Bubblegum (in the pink dress) was achieved here by mashing the Sahara bodice (slightly modified) with the Amelia skirt. And I  think its perfection!

Let’s move on to another great option, Adaline! With a few tweaks, she’s perfect for costuming as well!

picture by Danielle Jasmin Oliver

Queen Elsa

This Ice Queen has it going on! This Adaline was sewn pretty much as she comes, but the maker added a cape and crown that paired perfectly with her fabric choices to create a truly beautiful Elsa dress. And the model looks so regal!

Picture by Sandra Zeigler

Mulan

Admittedly, this one took a bit more tweaking. But if you’re good at hacking patterns, something like this is totally doable! This stunning Mulan was made with Adaline as a base, and I think she looks amazing!

Our next look was made using the super simple Maggie pattern, but it was JUST what the costume called for!

picture by Rachel Daymude

Sally

From the Nightmare Before Christmas… The Halloween/Christmas move we all know and love. Maggie’s simple lines make it the obvious choice for Sally’s simple dress. And if you can find the right fabric… *happy sighs*

And how about Juliet? All of those ruffles are worth it for some costumes right? Well, feast your eyes on this one…

picture by Melissa Prendergast

Nemo and Dory

Those ruffles made the BEST little fins, right? Nemo and Dory have never been so cute! And the color blocking and trims add just the right touches, don’t you think?

Our last inspiration picture is my absolute favorite, which is why I saved it for last. The Sansa pants were used for this one. Are you ready for it?

picture by Lindsay Hamilton

Lady Glitter Sparkles!!!

I cannot get over how amazing this one is. If your household is anything like mine, you know the Trolls movie well. And being a huge fan of Zooey Deschanel, Bridget aka Lady Glitter Sparkles is my favorite. The Sansa pants were used to make the bottom of this jumpsuit with a little horsehair braid in the hem to really make them pop. How can you NOT love this?

Which one was your favorite? Have you made an awesome costume using our patterns? Please share with us in the comments below! Or better yet, join our Facebook group and share ALL of your Bella Sunshine creations with us! We really do love seeing them!

How to Apply Fold Over Elastic (FOE)

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When making some garment items, we might want a more delicate look than bands can supply, and maybe with a little more stretch than traditional knit binding can get you. FOE to the rescue! Fold over elastic (or FOE) is a great way to accomplish what you’re trying to do. It can feel intimidating (I know from experience), but if you do it the right way, it’s a breeze! So let me show you an easy way to apply FOE!

How to Apply Fold Over Elastic (FOE)

What You Need:

The garment in need of binding

FOE

A sewing machine

Thread matching the FOE

A walking foot (not required, but highly recommended)

Step One:

Quarter your foe and the openings needing to be bound. This is relatively simple. Stick a pin in the seam of your FOE and then fold the FOE at that point to find it’s exact opposite point. Place a pin at that point. Open the FOE out again and place the two pins right against each other to create the quarter marks and place pins in both of those folds. You now have a quartered elastic piece!

With the garment openings, this will go a little differently. If you are binding a leg or armhole, your first pin should go in a  side seam, which you will match with the FOE seam in a later step. Once you have your first pin placed, proceed as you did with the elastic, making sure to match edges to ensure you are marking evenly.

If you are binding the neck or waist opening or a garment, your best bet is to find the center front by matching shoulder (for a neck opening) or side (for a waist opening) seams and marking the exact center. Repeat for the back. With a waist opening, you can generally just mark side seams for the quarters. If binding a neck opening, please do not just mark the shoulder seams! This will rarely give you a true quartering. Instead, take your time to match from and back centers and carefully match your edges as you find your true quarter. For the purposes of this tutorial, I am using underwear for my photos. But you can find pictures of a properly quartered neck opening in our blog on adding a neckband here.

Step Two:

The next step is to pin your elastic to the opening. Just stick with me here. You’re going to pin the wrong sides of the elastic and the garment together with the elastic *just* over half off of the fabric. Start with your quarter markers and then fill in extra pins between to keep it even. Your elastic should be slightly smaller than the opening. When you’re done it should look like this from the outside:

So just over half of the elastic should be showing above that raw edge. Ok, flip it back inside out.

Step Three:

With your garment inside out, stitch along the very edge of the elastic with a stretch or zigzag stitch. Be VERY careful as you go that you are NOT stretching the fabric, and only stretching the elastic as much as you need to to get a perfect fit. A really great way to accomplish this is to use a walking foot. Now, I’ll have to admit, that this project was my first ever use of a walking foot and I’m basically in love. It makes sewing stretch anything SO much easier! They aren’t really all that expensive and worth every penny!

Step Four:

Now that the elastic is attached, we get to the tricky part. You want to fold your elastic over the raw edge, trapping it inside the elastic, and pin it down. Take care to pin it down over the stitches you just made, so that they won’t show when you’re all done. For this, I had to run my pins the long way, parallel to my stitches and pull them out as I went. Again, you’ll want to stitch as close to that elastic edge as you can manage without going off. This is where the FOE-matching thread is important because if it matches, nobody will see your stitches. I used a contrasting thread so you all can see what I’m doing.

That’s it! Once you’ve been around the outside, you should have a great looking FOE bound opening! Just think of all the adorable undies and amazing tanks you can make with your new skills!

If you have an idea for a tutorial you’d like to see us do, please leave your suggestions in the comments below! We’re always open to new ideas! And if you want to share your outstanding new FOE skills with BSD patterns, please join our great Facebook community! We’d love to have you!

5 Fun Craft Projects For Back To School!

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Back to school has always been dreaded by most children, while celebrated by most parents. What can we do to make the transition more fun for our kids? How about some fun craft projects for back to school that they can use when they go back? We’ve searched for some awesome projects featured on other blogs and we’re going to share them with you! So, without further ado…

5 Fun Craft Projects For Back To School!

Vinyl Pouch Tutorial by Bonjour Quilts

This is a super fun see-through pouch that can be jazzed up with a fun print and colorful zipper at the top! Kids will love it when you make it with their favorite prints. And it can help them with organizing their school supplies. Everything within sight and easy to reach! It’s a quick and easy sew that will be a hit with the back to school bunch.

Felt Apple Garland by Heather Handmade

While maybe not as “useful”, this felt apple garland is adorable and would make a fantastic gift for a new teacher. It’s so simple and sweet and I could totally see it dangling cutely from the front of a teacher’s desk or across the top of a whiteboard.

Fabric Scraps Memory Game by Apple Green Cottage

If you have children entering preschool (or maybe a toddler jealous of older siblings going off to school), this one is fun! They can get their own back to school game! Just a few fabric scraps, a machine, and a little time and you have a fun (and durable) memory game that can travel anywhere easily! Use their favorite character fabrics to make it even more fun! And pair it with the vinyl pouch tutorial above for an easy storage solution to keep it all together!

Taco Zipper Pouch by On The Cutting Floor

This one is great even for the older kids! How cool is a taco pouch! I know my teen boy will jump at the chance to carry his pencils around in this one. It’s fun and colorful and just the right touch of trendy and unique to make it an instant winner!

Calico Cat Pencil Case by Sewing a la Carte

This last one is a HUGE dose of cute! Don’t be alarmed by the Dutch language you see when you click, if you scroll down there is a complete set of instructions in English too! I’m completely in love with this pouch, as I’m sure any kitty-loving child will be too! This one ups the difficulty lever by a smidge, but it’s still relatively easy to accomplish.

HUGE thanks to Bonjour Quilts, Apple Green Cottage, Heather Handmade, On the Cutting Floor, and Sewing a la Carte for sharing these amazing craft projects for back to school with us today! I hope you’ve enjoyed this little mini-craft roundup! If you have any new fun back to school craft ideas, please share them in the comments below! And please join us in our Facebook group if you haven’t already! You don’t want to miss out on all the fun! See you next week!

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