Pillowcase How-To

Refashioning Your Old Pillows

An easy way to add some spice to your space is just to change something superficial, like a pillow. If you’re disinclined to go out and buy new pillows, it’s easy enough to just cover up the old ones. Instead of covering my pillow completely, I’m going to make an envelope style pillowcase so I can take it off to wash occasionally.

My mom covered this pillow for me when I was in high school. I recently opened it up and realized that the original pillow is a Minnie Mouse pillow that I loved when I was 7. I’m no longer into either of these patterns, though they were perfect at the time. So it’s time for something new. After digging through my fabric stash, I found the perfect fabric to fit my life now. (Alternately, you can use old curtains, a moomoo from the thrift store, sheets, etc just find something you like.)

What you’ll need:
A pillow to cover
Fabric (a large enough piece to cover your pillow and then some)
Scissors
Measuring Tape (I used a measuring tape, a yard stick, and a hem gauge)
Pins
Sewing Machine (or you could sew it by hand)
Matching or Contrasting Thread
Tailors Chalk

Step 1

Measure your pillow. Mine is approximately 18 inches square, measured from seam to seam.

If you want a nice and snug fitting pillowcase, don’t give yourself a seam allowance when you measure out your front piece. My pillow is a little flat, so I’m going to make one large square of 18 x 18 inches for the front panel.

For the back panels, I’m cutting out 2 rectangles, each 18 inches long. One is 11 inches wide and the other is 13 inches wide. The back panels will need a seam allowance on the overlapping edges of 1 inch each, plus they need to overlap by at least 1 inch. I like a lot of overlap so that they stay firmly in place.

Use this to check what your overlap will be: Overlap = (Width 1 + Width 2) – 2” seam allowance – height of pillow.

Mine is: 11 + 13 – 2 – 18 = 4 inches of overlap (this might be a little bit of an overkill).

After you’ve figured out what size each panel should be, draw directly onto the wrong side of your fabric and cut out your panels.

As you can see, my back panels are a different fabric than the front. No rhyme or reason there, just felt like it.

Step 2

Using a measuring device (I used my hem gauge), fold over 1 inch of one of the 18-inch sides of each back panel, then pin and iron. Then tuck half of that under itself, so the hem is only half an inch, like shown, ironing and pinning again.

Using your sewing machine, sew each hem in place, taking out the pins as you come to them. I chose to use a thread color that matches the front and contrasts with the back panels.

Step 3

If you wish to embellish the front, now would be a good time to do so, however you’d like. I chose to let the pattern on the front speak for itself.

Now pin the pieces together with the right sides facing inside.

Overlap the top and bottom back panels, pinning well, so that together the two back panels match the front panel.

I like to have the top back panel on top when all finished, so I pin it underneath the bottom panel, so it switches when I turn it right side out.

You can choose to have right and left back panels instead of top and bottom. That’s especially nice if you have a longer rectangular pillow, instead of a square one.

Step 4

Sew it all together!

One seam around taking out the pins as you go works fine, I keep a ¼ inch seam allowance. And do backstitch both the beginning and the end, which are in exactly the same place.

Snip the corners off, careful not to cut the seam.

Step 5

Turn it right side out. I like to use a chopstick to get the corners all pointy. A pencil or your finger can work fine too.

And now stuff it with your pillow.

Et voila!

By Karen
www.KarensMonsters.com

How to Make an Easy Cone Toss

February is National Wedding Month. According to the Wedding Report, the current average cost for a wedding is well over $28,000. With the current economic downturn, it's easy for couples to entertain the idea of going the DIY route wherever possible. As a wedding designer, I'm often asked for tips and ideas on how to do take on some portions of the ceremony or reception to cut cost. Using a cone toss is a very simple way to create something that you can use for your event. All you need is a sheet of paper, some ribbon, tape and a hole punch.

Start by laying the piece of paper lengthwise, and folding the top two corners down until they meet in the middle.

Take one of the lower corners and twist until it forms a cone shape.

Secure the end with tape. (Double-sided tape works well here.)

Measure out ribbon the length of the cone and add enough to include a handle.

Punch a hole on the top of the cone.

Thread the ribbon ends through the bottom of the cone and tie the end. Then feed the loop end through the hole on top of the cone.


Punch two more holes on the front side of the cone and thread a second piece of ribbon to tie a bow. That's it!

You can use these cone tosses for a variety of things at your wedding. Create it to hold confetti or petals for your guests to toss when you come down the aisle. Or use it at your reception to hold candy for your guests.

The beauty of this is that you can use whatever color paper and ribbon to create any number of different styles to match. In any case, this is a simple DIY project anyone can do to add a little personalization without breaking the bank!

Post by Lisa Fu
Pretty Stationery for Beautiful Souls
http://www.prettystationeryshop.com

Valentine How-To: "Mad Love" Game Book

My partner and I love to do Mad Libs together, and we have gone through many of their books, including the romance one that inspired this Valentine's project.

This "Mad Love" book will be 5.5" x 8.5," so plan your paper accordingly. I made my inner pages in Photoshop, but would have been a little bit easier in a word processing program. For content, I drew from romantic things we both enjoy, such as movie plots with quotes, song lyrics, book passages and old blog posts. Here is an example page:

I found for movies it was straightforward to use plot synopsis from IMDB, and then include your favorite quote at the end. For song lyrics, don't forget the helpful word type of "rhymes with ...," since non-rhyming lyrics aren't as fun. In addition to your standard parts of speech (e.g. noun, verb, adverb), throw in some that are more specific such as "occupation," "silly word," "place," or "famous people." The ever classic "person in room" should not be overlooked.

For my book I did about 10 pages, but more or less would be cool considering how much time or interest you have.

Next the cover:

This is a blank template for you to fill in as a cover. You can download it directly from my Flickr site here. For the Photoshop savvy, go ahead and use a close-up image (camera phone style super close-ups work great for this) into the green square. For the less computer inclined, try printing out a photo or photocopying one and cutting it to fit in the square and gluing it in place.


Cover your eyeballs with the classic style googly eyes to make it look like the original store bought versions. You can download them on my Flickr, again. If you're only semi-experience with Photoshop, note that once you select the eyeballs and paste them into the image, EDIT > FREE TRANSFORM, is useful in this situation. Again, for the non-computer option, scale your eyeballs up or down and glue onto the faces.


Here is my finished cover. I printed it out on card stock, but if you don't have any, print on regular paper and then glue to something stiffer. At this point I also got all of my interior pages cut down to 5.5" x 8.5," and cut a backing piece of cardboard the same dimensions.


You've done all of the hard parts already, now we just staple the pieces together, like so.


And I covered the staples and top edge with fabric tape to give it a more polished feel.


I'm really excited to give this to my Valentine, and I hope that you have fun making some too.

~Kari
http://ikyoto.etsy.com

How to Make a Lantern for Chinese New Year

Traditionally speaking, Chinese New Year lasts for 15 days. On the 15th day there is a lantern festival, which marks the end of the celebrations. The lanterns are hung up to symbolize a fresh start to the new year.

Using red envelopes, (a traditional envelope used for giving money gifts), you can make your own lantern to hang. You will need 30 red envelopes of the same size. If you don't have red envelopes, you can use red card stock and decorate.

Using clear adhesive tape, tape 6 envelopes together, top to bottom to form a long train. Tape both sides.

Using another 6, tape an envelope to each of the seams to form flaps.

Once you have 6 flaps, tape together the two outer envelopes of the train to make a circle.

Tape the center flaps together and pinch the outer corners to form a hexagon. Set aside.

Line up another 6 envelopes. This time tape the sides of the envelopes together.

Create flaps like before, taping both sides again.

Once you have the 6 outer envelopes and 6 flaps, tape and enclose like above to create a second hexagon.

Take another envelope, roll up length-wise and secure to make round tubes.

You will need 6 tubes.

Secure tubes on the outer corners of the larger hexagon.

Using red string or ribbon, create a loop through opposite triangles of the larger hexagon an tie a knot on both ends.

Using a second length of ribbon, loop through opposite triangles of the smaller hexagon, then tie a knot to secure.

Ta da!

You can create variations of this simple lantern. For instance if you want a larger lantern, just create an extra larger hexagon and attach to the bottom of the smaller. Or you can find a fish charm (to signify abundance) or Chinese knot to add to the bottom to fancy it up!

by Lisa
http://fubabee.com

Upcycle How-To: Holey Sweater Hats, Batman!

It's a fact that one of the best ways to keep warm is to cover your head. Unfortunately two other things are also usually true by this time in the winter. I've gotten bored with my current hats, and I've managed to ruin one of my favorite sweaters. Here is a simple sewing "How-To" to turn a holey sweater into two fun new hats.

Roughly cut up the sweater into useful pieces for both hats like this:
Now we're ready to start on Hat #1. So far this has been described by onlookers as "Asian-inspired" or "Modified Pillbox," but I figure that a hat by any other name will look as sweet.

Cut your large circle, and two pieces of the 3" band which are each 1/2 of around your head plus 2".

Pin and stitch (using a zig-zag or serger stitch to allow the hat to stretch) with 1" seam allowance at the finished edge diagonally to no seam allowance at the point of the unfinished edge.


This might give a slight point at the seams, so just cut at part off to make an smooth band.Pin band down to round with finished edge facing the center onto your large circle. There will probably be way too much seam allowance on the round, so just cut it off to match the edge of the band. wherever it makes a nice circle. Stitch with just 1/4" seam allowance (again using a zig-zag stitch or serger) around the circle.
Turn it right-side out, and put on your finished hat and show off your eco-friendly handywork.

Let's begin on hat #2. I refer to this style as "Mob Cap," but some others have insisted it's "Chef."

Cut your large circle, and 1 piece for the band which goes around your head plus 1".
Pin and stitch band (using a zig-zag or serger stitch to allow the hat to stretch) with 1/2" seam allowance to make a ring.
Sew 2 rows of shirring (either a large running stitch if by hand, or a straight stitch on the longest stitch length of your sewing machine) around your large circle. Leave long tails to pull the shirring tighter. Pull the threads until the edge of your circle is the same size as the band. Pin into place (wrong sides together, of course), and stitch around with 1/4" seam allowance.
Turn right-side out, and model it for anyone willing to look!

Now that you've finished two hats in the same fabric, you could get a hat accessory that could play double duty. Since my hats are orange, I'm partial to this threaded pin by urbahnika.


Hope you enjoyed this tutorial, and continue to let the NewNew blog keep you warm!

~Kari
http://ikyoto.etsy.com

Snowflake Gift Wrap - Download Exclusive Design

The NewNew continues to ramp up our plans for our Handmade Holiday Calvacade at the Knitting Factory on December 6th from 10am-5pm, with our handmade gift wrap option. The gift wrap table will be manned by volunteers from the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition - NYC Chapter, with the proceeds going to their cause.


The gift wrap is hand screen-printed on brown craft paper with a snowflake pattern designed especially for the occassion. Each snowflake was designed by a different vendor. Perhaps you can guess which ones after checking out our individual styles:

AdornmentsNYC, Allene la Spina, bshorr, Blue Stitch Books, bungaloe, Caja, Cakehouse, Citibitz, fubabee, Ikyoto, Jantar, J Davis Studio, Karen's Monsters, KimmChi, La Pistolera, Lingua Nigra, Look Closely Press, Luck(x4), MayLuk, mshoelace, Pulp Sushi, Sarah Kathleen Warner, Red Bridge Studio, and wabisabibrooklyn.

To finish off the look, the bows will be tied with white vintage lace or contrasting satin ribbon at your request.

Out of the NYC Metro Area, or just can't wait to start wrapping your presents? Download our exclusive snowflake design here, and check out the screen-printed gift wrap tutorial on The Storque.See you at the Cavalcade!


~Kari
http://ikyoto.etsy.com