TUTORIAL: Monogrammed Christmas Ornaments - Guest Poster - Rebecca from Klar Family Blog

We hope you are enjoying our Sew Crafty Christmas event! So far have 6 Giveaways going on right now! Have you entered? See below so you can WIN!

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Today's Guest Poster is Rebecca who happens to be one of my best (and craftiest) friends! Rebecca just started sewing - literally about 2 months ago - and she hasn't stopped since! Every time I walk into her house there is a new project cut and ready to sew or a new outfit on her children (sibling outfits that coordinate). She's amazing! She has made her curtains, a valance, monogrammed pillows, linens, handtowels, appliqued clothing and t-shirts and even sewed herself The Women's Ruffle Collared Cape. It was her first sewing project for herseIf! Can you believe it? 

I know crafty and creative when I see it and Rebecca is definitely top-notch! Wait until you see what she made for you today!

Take it away, Rebecca...

Well, hi everyone!  I'm Rebecca  from The Klar Family

blog.  I'll go ahead and confess, because it will

be glaringly obvious soon enough -- I don't have a

sewing blog ... and I've never even done an online sewing

tutorial.  Let's just say I'm a beginner :)  BUT, I've

always been interested in all things crafty and I recently

started sewing. 

I'm lucky enough to have Jenny as a sweet friend and neighbor who has

been encouraging me along the way as I learn to sew.  (She

literally taught me what a bobbin is and how to change it.  And

she met me on the sidewalk with her button jar when I made the first

dress for my baby girl.  I was so surprised by my dress success

that I hadn't planned ahead by buying buttons and I didn't want to

wait to run to the store!)

I'm always amazed by the creative things Jenny whips

together, and of course, I was just thrilled to
pieces when she asked if I'd do a post for her Sew

Crafty Christmas!!  So, here we go~

Monogrammed Christmas Ornaments

There's just something about a monogram that reminds me of traditional

elegance.  I love to give monogrammed items as a gift, because I

think they add a thoughtful personalized touch. 

Wouldn't these look pretty tied to the top of a present??

Time to get crafty! 

Before you start, gather up fabric scraps and trims.  Your scraps

should be about 5" x 5", depending on your preferred ornament

shape.  You'll also need ribbon to use as ornament hangers and

any tassels or trim you have from leftover projects.

Step 1: Monogram a fabric scrap for the front of your ornament.

If you don't have a monogramming machine -- no problem!  You can

applique letters or a design onto your fabric scrap with double stick

fusible web.  I recommend Steam-a-Seam 2.  Just follow the

instructions on the package, and voila!  Your own applique! 

Step 2: Cut out the front and back of your ornament to the same

size.  I did simple squares, rectangles, diamonds, and circles,

but I suppose you could get fancy and do any shape you

like.  Go for it!

Step 3:  Pin your trim in place.

To do this, you place the top piece of fabric right side up and

arrange your trim on the ornament, facing
INWARDS.  This way, your trim will hang down

after you sew the edges and turn it right sides out.  You have to

think ahead...

Next, place the other piece of fabric on top, and pin the trim in

place.  Make sure everything is pinned right sides
in!  This will make a fabric sandwich, with the

trim in the middle. 

Step 4: Time to sew!  Sew along your pinned edge, using the

presser foot as your guide.  Make sure you leave a 2"

unstitched opening to turn your ornament right side out.

Step 5: Use the opening to turn your ornament right side out. 

If you want to go for a precise look, this is the time to use a

wooden tool or chopstick to gently poke the corners of your

squares or diamond shapes from the inside so they are nice and

pointy.  If you prefer a softer look, you can skip this.

Now, stuff your ornament with poly-fil and get ready to stitch closed!

Step 6: Carefully turn down the edges of the unstitched opening and

pin closed.  Sew the opening closed by hand or with your sewing

machine.  If you use your sewing machine, you may chose to top

stitch all the way around the perimeter of your ornament to give it a

more uniform look.  I didn't do that this time, but I think it

would look nice.

Step 7: Hang your ornaments on the tree and admire your work!

Doesn't it make you feel all merry and bright~

Happy Holidays!!

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Ladies, don't forget to enter all our GIVEAWAYS!!

Giveaway #1 - ENTER HERE - $50 store credit to So Sew Boutique

Giveaway #2 - ENTER HERE - Fashion Notecards
by ARTIST:  Anne Underwood Illustrations

Giveaway #3 - ENTER HERE - $20 store credit to Sew Adorable Too Boutique

Giveaway #4 - ENTER HERE - 3 FREE Sewing Patterns from Seamingly Smitten

Giveaway #5 - ENTER HERE - $20 Store Credit to Village Needler

Giveaway #6 - ENTER HERE - $30 store credit to PB3J Boutique

#1 Women's Sewing Pattern!! Thank you!!!

Thank YOU!!

Our sewing pattern The Women's Ruffle Collared Cape

is the #1 sewing pattern for women on the site youcanmakethis.com!

Check it out! CLICK HERE to sew one today!

(This could change any minute, but right now I am overwhelmed with gratitude AND excitement!!!)

Loving the polk-a-dotted liner!

How cool is this cape in some sassy leopard?

I will keep working hard to bring YOU patterns that YOU want to MAKE and want to WEAR!! 

Happy Sewing, Ladies!

I hope you are enjoying our Sew Crafty Christmas blogging event. 12 Giveaways and 10 Guest Posters.

Browse around!

CLICK HERE to see all Seamingly Smitten patterns currently available for YOU to SEW and LOVE!

TUTORIAL: Simple, Inexpensive Gift!! DIY Pillowcases - Guest Poster - Glenda Embree

We hope you are enjoying our Sew Crafty Christmas event! So far have 6 Giveaways going on right now! Have you entered? See below so you can WIN!
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Today's Guest Poster is Glenda from Busy-at-Home blog and I cannot wait to show you this Sew Crafty Christmas gift she made! I think I need to make my kiddos and nieces and nephew one TODAY! Glenda makes it look so easy!

Also stop by her blog to check out recipes such as this Quick Cooking Chicken Soup (using a pressure cooker - looks amazing!)

She also teaches you how to make your own Christmas stockings, embellised and all!

Take it away, Glenda...

Hi! My name is Glenda Embree and I write the blog, Busy-at-Home. I'm so grateful to Jenny and Laurie for inviting me to participate in Sew Crafty Christmas, here at Seamingly Smitten. It's my first ever guest post, so I owe them a great big thank you! I've been married to an extraordinarily awesome guy for 28 years. We have 5 kids ranging in age from 10 to 27 and three beautiful grandbabies (ages 2, 4 & 5). (I'm only SLIGHTLY partial. :) ) I am a Christian who loves to cook and create in the kitchen, have homeschooled our kids for the past 22 years and enjoy the challenge of living abundantly on a frugal budget. That's basically what I'm about. I hope you'll have a chance to stop by the blog and check out some of my recipes, a DIY project or two and enter our exciting giveaways. I'm so blessed to have extraordinary sponsors. I'd love for you to stop in for a visit!

Are you ready for today's TUTORIAL?

A Simple, Inexpensive Gift!! DIY Pillowcases

Guess what? You can create some inexpensive, and yet very personalized gifts, for Christmas. Yes, you can! It's super simple. Think positive! :) I just made three adorable pillowcases for our grandkids, in a little over an hour, and THAT included stopping to take pictures and to start some rye bread rising! Here's all you'll need to get started on your DIY pillowcase project:

Well, One-yard pieces of 45" fabric, some thread, straight pins, scissors and your sewing machine are the main necessities for this simple project.


Gather Materials:
a sewing machine, of course
1 yard of 44/45" wide fabric, choose a print or pattern that fits the personality of the person who will receive it
thread, choose whether you want it to match your fabric or to be a contrasting color
straight pins
scissors
ironing board and iron

Fold the yard of fabric in half, right-sides-together, so that it will measure about 22" x 36". Pin the long edge and the short edge that will be the bottom of your pillowcase, to hold them in place while you are stitching. Right-sides-together means your fabric will be folded inside out. Pin the long edge and one short edge. The short edge will be the bottom of your pillowcase.

Start sewing the 5/8" seam at the folded corner on the bottom edge of your pillowcase. Be sure to back-stitch to lock your stitches in place.



Run the pinned edge of your fabric along the 5/8" guide on your sewing machine to create the seam, being sure to back-stitch to lock your seam .

When you are 5/8" from the long edge of your fabric, leave the needle of your machine down in the fabric, lift the presser foot and pivot the fabric, so that the unstitched edge is now ready to be stitched on your machine at the 5/8" guide mark. This will create a perfectly sharp corner.

Pivoting the fabric so I can stitch down the long edge and create a sharp corner. Note that the sewing machine needle is down, holding the fabric in place, while the presser foot is up.

Now stitch the long edge of your pillowcase and back stitch to lock the seam when you reach the end.


Backstitch to lock your seam and keep your stitching from unraveling.



If you have a serger or a newer machine than mine, finish your edges in the way that works best for you, but I zigzag my seams to help keep them from raveling when the pillowcase is laundered. Run the presser foot along the stitching in the seam you just made, to zigzag the edge of the seam.

The arrow is pointing to the zig-zagged stitches on the outside of the regular seam.

Trim the seam, as close as possible to the zig-zag stitches, without cutting the stitches. Trimming the seam removes extra bulk and gives a nice finished edge. If you have a pair of pinking shears, even better. Mine are so dull they wouldn't cut hot butter. Definitely time for a new pair!

Trim the seam close to the zig-zag stitching.




Using a steam iron, press under 1/2" on the unfinished top edge of the pillowcase. Turn the fabric toward the inside of the pillowcase. Press the 1/2" hem around the full-circumference of the pillowcase top.

Press 1/2" hem toward the inside of the case at top edge of pillowcase.


The 1/2" inch you already pressed under has created a nice clean edge at the top of your case. Now, you need to fold it over one more time to create the final finished 3" hem. Press the hem in all the way around the top of the case using a steam iron.

Fold over three inches to create the finished hem and press it in with a steam iron.

Now, line the edge of your presser foot up with the folded under edge of the hem you created and stitch around the circumference. Be sure to overstitch the seam when you get to the end or back-stitch to lock the seam.

Stitching the pillowcase hem.

Turn your finished pillowcase, right-side-out and press out any wrinkles. You're finished! It's that simple!

Perfect fit!

I finished these three in about an hour. They were simple and inexpensive, but I know my grandkids will be thrilled with them!

So, are you done with your Christmas projects? What's left to do? I still need to sew a couple skirts, plus some aprons and hotpads. I already have published a simple DIY Christmas stocking tutorial, so I hope you'll pop over to Busy-at-Home, now and again, for a visit and to check out my new projects and recipes or to enter a giveaway or two. It's been great meeting you! Have a blessing-filled Christmas!


~Glenda

Can you believe that was Glenda's first Guest Posting Tutorial?? Way to go, Glenda!! Please stop by her blog and let her know it was awesome!!

Check back later for another GIVEAWAY!

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Ladies, don't forget to enter all our GIVEAWAYS!!

Giveaway #1 - ENTER HERE - $50 store credit to So Sew Boutique

Giveaway #2 - ENTER HERE - Set of 9 Illustrated Fashion Notecards by Anne Underwood Illustrations

Giveaway #3 - ENTER HERE - $20 store credit to Sew Adorable Too Boutique

Giveaway #4 - ENTER HERE - 3 FREE Sewing Patterns from Seamingly Smitten

Giveaway #5 - ENTER HERE - $20 Store Credit to Village Needler

Giveaway #6 - ENTER HERE - $30 store credit to PB3J Boutique

TUTORIAL: The Stockings Were Hung...(Have some wood and knobs?) - Jen from Scissors and Spatulas

We hope you are enjoying our Sew Crafty Christmas

blogging series!

12 Giveaways and 10 Guest Posters!
Check them out!

Today's guest poster is Jen from Scissors and Spatulas blog! Jen is always up to something inspiring and creative! But, the thing that stands out is that she does it all on a budget! She loves making a trendy craft, thrifting, creating with what she has (upcycling), using vinyl to decorate and baking.
Jen is always trying something new and blogging about it over at Scissors and Spatulas. Click on over and send her some Seamingly Smitten love!!

If you want to see exactly how good a brownie dessert could be, check out this trifle recipe - CLICK HERE TO GET IT!...

 Want to see some of the CRAFTY things that inspire me? Check these out! They make me want to run straight for my craft room, tear open those bins and get out some glue!


Initial Jingle Bell Shirts- CLICK HERE



Ruffled Christmas Trees - CLICK HERE



Paper Crafting! CLICK HERE



Take it away, Jen...

Hey y'all! I'm Jen, from Scissors & Spatulas. I'm really excited to be today's guest in the Sew Crafty Christmas series! Thanks so much Jenny for having me!  Before I get started on my tutorial, let me introduce myself. . .

I'm a wife to an amazingly patient man and a mommy to two little boys (Jackson 3 & Parker 2) and three fur babies (Lily, Sophie & Lucy). As you can imagine, that there is never a dull moment in my house, but I wouldn't have it any other way! I constantly have my hands in something, whether it's cooking, decorating, DIY projects or crafting. To keep my sanity amongst all the chaos, I share my love of these things on my blog. You never know what you're going to get when you stop by Scissors & Spatulas! One thing you can expect - I try to spend as little money as possible! Everything I do, is on a budget.






What do I have to share with you today? 

A different way to hang your family's stockings.

Here is what I started with: scrap wood from the garage and four rusty old door knobs that I bought from my trip to Cline's Junkyard. I told you, I like to do things on a budget! I have a huge pile of scrap wood in my garage. Leftover trim pieces, 2x4s, plywood, you name it. And I buy little pieces of junk like this at thrift stores, garage sales and antique malls. You never know when you might need them!

This first step is fun. The wood was too perfect, so I took a hammer to it. What a great stress reliever! I just banged it up a bit to round the corners and rough up the smooth face. 

Next I used a dark stain in these crevices and around the edges. This is because I plan on distressing the paint I'm about to apply and the dark stain looks better than the light wood.

A light coat of primer spray paint and one heavy coat of white latex paint. 

While the paint dried I pulled out my brand spankin' new Silhouette Cameo to use for the very first time. Sigh, it's amazing! For this project I used red vinyl.

If you are not familiar with the Silhouette or any other digital cutting tool, you create an image on your computer and then let the machine do the rest. 

The best way to transfer vinyl is to use contact paper. Once the image is cut, place the sticky side of the contact paper on top of the vinyl. Peel the contact paper away from the sheet of vinyl and only your cut letters should stick to the contact paper. (Unfortunately the insides of the letters also stuck. I removed them with a tweezers after I adhered it to the wood.)

 When the paint was dry I used some low grit sandpaper to give it a distressed finish.

My sweet hubby drilled holes in the wood to just large enough to fit the knobs.

And then he squeezed them in. I thought we would have to use wood glue to hold them, but they stayed just fine without it.

And because I can't leave anything alone, I used my distress ink to make it look more worn. To do this you just take the ink pad and brush it across the edges and corners and in small spots along the surface.

Now for the vinyl. Place the contact paper gently on the board. Once it's in place, where you want it, press down on it and use a scraper or other flat edge to smooth over the vinyl, eliminating any wrinkles or bubbles. Then peel back the contact paper slowly. 

The contact paper removed some of the paint, but was okay with me! I love a distressed look!

I added a fat grosgrain ribbon to one side and then hung our stockings. I'm thinking about either adding an initial to the knobs or writing our names in black just above the knobs. But that will be another day. Like I said, I can't leave anything alone!

Perfect! And remember, I do everything on a budget! I had all the supplies laying around. If you want to count the purchase of the knobs, this project cost me only $2! Even if you don't have a digital cutting machine and vinyl, you can use a stencil to paint the letters. Inexpensive hooks can be purchased in place of the door knobs if rusty junk isn't your style.

Thanks again Jenny for having me today! I hope you all have a Merry Christmas! I hope you'll also stop by my blog, Scissors & Spatulas to do some looking around.

Thanks, Jen!!

  

Stop by and tell Jen hello! Tell her Seamingly Smitten sent you!

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Ladies, don't forget to enter all our GIVEAWAYS!!

 

Giveaway #1 - ENTER HERE - $50 store credit to So Sew Boutique

Giveaway #2 - ENTER HERE - Set of 9 Illustrated Fashion Notecards by Anne Underwood Illustrations

Giveaway #3 - ENTER HERE - $20 store credit to Sew Adorable Too Boutique

Giveaway #4 - ENTER HERE - 3 FREE Sewing Patterns from Seamingly Smitten