Cate Anevski

House Ornament Tutorial

The ever-splendid Kathreen of WhipUp.net was kind enough to host a guest blog post by yours truly today featuring a tutorial to create a little felt house ornament. I am very excited to have the opportunity to improve my skills in creating tutorials, and I'm honored that Kathreen let me take part in her slice of the Web. Thanks a million!

Sachets or Pincushions. Your choice!

For the next round of "What to Do with that Massive Stack of Spoonflower Swatches," I'm going to show you how to make a super-simple sachet or pincushion. The only difference is the stuffing. These make great gifts for your friends who are either crafty or smelly, or maybe even both.

Materials: Spoonflower swatch (or 8 inch square of fabric), ribbon (optional), thread, stuffing (polyfill for a pincushion or lavender for a sachet)

Tools: Pinking shears, needle or sewing machine, pins

Step 1:

Cut your fabric swatch in quarters using pinking shears. Also cut along the edges of the fabric so that all sides are pinked in order to avoid fraying.

Step 2: Cut a 3 inch piece of ribbon if you want a hanging loop for your pin-sachet-cushion.

Step 3:

Pin together two quarters of your swatch with the wrong sides together. For the hanging loop, fold the ribbon in half and sandwich it between the two pieces of fabric along the side you'd like to be the top.

Step 4:

Sew three of the four sides of the fabric squares about half an inch from the edge.

Step 5:

To make a sachet, fill the pouch with lavender or another potpourri you enjoy. For the pincushion, fill with polyfill stuffing. You can fill the pincushion with lavender if you like, but I'd be afraid it would make me sleepy, which is never good when dealing with sharp, pointy objects (I speak from experience).

Step 6:

Pin the opening shut (to hold in the stuffing) and sew the last side of the fabric squares. You're all set!

From Swatch to Pouch in 9 Easy Steps

A while ago, I decided to find a use for all my Spoonflower swatches. I had to abandon the project for a little while when some other things got in the way, but I'm back on track now. This time, I created a tutorial to make a tiny drawstring pouch from your swatch. It's actually so itty bitty you can get two per swatch. Have fun!

Step 1:

Cut your swatch in half.

Step 2:

With right sides together, fold your fabric in half lengthwise and sew each side from the fold to approximately 1.5" from the top.

Step 3:

Flip your pouch right side out and press the seams. Stitch down the edges on both sides.

Step 4:

Press down the top edges and stitch down approximately 1/4".

Step 5:

Fold the top of the fabric all the way down the the sewn side seams. Press and stitch in place, as close to the folded edge as possible. This creates the channel for your drawstring.

Step 6:

Attach a safety pin to a ribbon or string. Feed the safety pin and ribbon through one of the channels.

Step 7:

Taking care not to twist the ribbon, feed the safety pin and ribbon back through the other channel.

Step 8:

Tie a knot in your drawstring ribbon to hold it in place.

Step 9:

Pull the drawstring to close the bag. Enjoy trying to find something small enough to fit into your new pouch.

I don't make tutorials often, so feel free to let me know if anything is unclear.