DiagonalZipperCase

I designed and made this pillow case already in September. I have been hiding it because today is a very special day. It's the Birthday of my very special friend. I didn't want to spoil the surprise so I had to keep it out from the blog until now.

It is a very simple and traditional quilt block design but it has something very special too. I used hours of thinking how to make the background in the way that it doesn't look at all like the background. Meaning that you can keep the case at any side front without it looks it's placed backside at front. 

Also, I wanted to use recycled zipper for it so I had to think how to use the zipper in the way that it still works and doesn't hurt your face if you want to lay your head on it while resting. I didn't want to place the zipper in the side edge seam as usual and typical. I neither didn't want it to run across the whole pillow case because then it hurts your face. I think I invent quite a genius way to place the zipper and for sure will use this also in the future with other pillow cases I will make.

LeatherDecoration

This leather pillow case is made of recycled leather pieces. It is just a simple and easy design. I have had the leather design for years but only now finished it. The back side of the cover is made of wool fabric and has a zipper closing system. I added slippery lining fabric to make it easier to place the pillow in. 

Patchwork Pillow

Last October I started to design a project. Then I started to make it true and got injured. But now I have finally finished it!

Designing this pillow case was challenging because I wanted to use only left over fabrics I have in stash. I used also recycled zipper (at backside) from an old bag. The ribbon is from the collection I have bought for my stash to decorate plain fabrics. I think it matches well with this design.

SceneCases

Do you remember My WinterScene and SummerScene? I finished them last autumn but have been far too busy because of MyStudies to do anything with them before this. Now I sew them to turn out two pillow cases. The zipper is recycled and all the fabrics are left over materials from other projects. The fabrics are from the boxes I inherit from my grandmother like the tapestry scenes.

WovenPillows

This time I designed and made these two decoration pillow cases of recycled traditional Finnish woven wall hanging called "raanu". They are made of wool but the warp is traditionally white cotton. Don't try to do this unless you are advanced in sewing and craft. Simply because you need to be very skillful in your sewing skills and understand the structure of woven fabric to avoid the warp to fray out and whole project to turn out to a disaster.

PS. If you google "raanu" you will find many pics of this traditional Finnish wall hanging. They are very colorful like our autumn nature and Northern Lights which both usually inspired the designers. Today "raanu" is not popular anymore because it is often considered too big, needing too much space and old fashion. They used to be hang on the walls to create warmth.

SagaPillows

Do you remember Nordic Collection of Important Items? Some fabric was left over the project so I made SagaBag. It has been MyShoppingBag since that. Now I designed and made two SagaPillows for the living room where also Nordic Collection of Important Items is placed. The blue fabric is from old but unused hammock!

CableJumperPillow

Like Hers also His jumper got old. It got accidental rupture to one elbow. At the end we decided there is no use to fix it. That's why I designed and made another decorative pillow of it.

CatPillow

Another beautiful my own design pillow has been done. I used last pieces of An Old Jacket of which I've made pillows over 4 years ago. Those pillows still look very fine! For this pillow case I used CatGobelin picture I inherit from my grandmother years ago. Isn't it cut!

JumperPillow

 

YoungLady faced few dramatic moments when She realized She had overgrown Her DearFavoriteCottonJumper that's B L U E !!! OMG!!! Well, I decided to be TheBestMomEver and made Her a special Christmas gift of it. Santa is going to be very nice to Me this year!!!

Using BiasTape and zipper is easy way to open & close the pillowcase. By accident She saw the pic of it but not the physical pillowcase. There's renovation going on in Her room, so this comes for a need.

Patchwork Autumn Pillow No2

My own design Patchwork Autumn Pillow No1 got a friend. Together they form out a couple. I made them for my friend's birthday for her terrace.

Patchwork Autumn Pillow No1

On the begin there was my own design idea.

It turn out from a pile of squares to the lines of squares.

I re-arranged them.

I sew them all together.

I stitched it with padding.

I used some velcro for the back side.

Oh! It turn out to be a lovely autumn pillow!

IKEA Klippan -tutorial

Don't get confused! This is an old project which I moved here because of the renewings the blog is going through. I know it is important to know you can still save your IKEA Klippan sofa for 4 persons by new cover. I destroyed the Sewing site where this was so it can be found here now.

This is an old IKEA Klippan sofa in new clothes and pillows for 4 person. We bought it over 6 years ago. It was on sale and I didn't understand they were going to stop selling it. That's why I bought only one cover for it. Now the life with the cat has lead us to the point despite of desperate seeking I ended up the fact we need new sofa or cover for the old one. It would have been shame to throw the old sofa away because finally now it has got a bit soft and cosy; besides the damages were done just on one corner of the cover. So, I bought the fabric and spent three days with the project. I wasted just 70€ and the result is good. :) 

Making new cover for a sofa is easy. Especially if it is one you can take away and wash easily. This cover & pillows pictured above are my own design but anyone can do the same. You can get the patterns from the old cover. You can cut them out from the old cover by cutting the pieces by the seams. If the cover is symmetric at both sides you need to cut only half out off it. If you are ever again going to make another cover I recommend you draw the patterns on the paper so that they are easier to storage. Save the "whole part" of the half cover as an example of it how you must sew it all to get similar. :) After finishing the new cover you can throw the old away. 

You should wash the fabric before using it to make it shrink (if it will). But still you can add some extra centimeters keeping your eye on shrinking abilities. The fabrics shrinks more to its lenght direction than width. Including a bit extra is important even you had shrink the fabric before sewing. All the shrinking may not happen at one time and later in the future it might happen that you need to try to save the cover by washing it in hotter temperature than allowed to... The easiest way to add this extra is to add bigger sewing allowances but use the normal of them; for example add 2cm but use only 1cm. (If you have ever washed the old cover it have shrunk a bit.)

If you want to make some pillows for the sofa you can use the left over fabric. If you want fat and soft pillows easiest way to make them is to make the pillow cases too small. The pillow cases pictured above are 38cm x 40cm (finished size) and the pillows inside are actually 45cm x 45cm. When the pillow cases are approximately 5cm smaller than the pillows inside they keep up the thick fat soft shape very easily. And believe me -it all fits in there very well. The pillows can have different kind of background so that you can use both sides. I made the pillows which have just jeans blue fabric on the back side. If I feel too striped I can calm down the style just by turning the pillows. :)

Once upon a time

Once upon a time there was a princess...

...who grew up and much pink princess stuff was left behind.

So her mother grabbed last pieces and stored them well in hidden place. For further use; of course. Because she had no squared pattern paper she needed a pen and ruler to draw 5 x 5 cm squares all over. Because she had no quilted princess fabric she needed to do it by herself.

She had done it several times before so it was easy and finished fast.

She charmed two blankets and pillows for a little MissN who is about to think she and all her dolls are true princesses.

MissN will get them on her birthday on a dark autumn day when the magic is real and all the wishes become true. Until that very special moment these crown linen will be stored and hidden well.

My own design

An Old Jacket

I got and old jacket.

I was very grateful.

I took my scissors...

...and cut it to small pieces.

I took the pieces

and mixed them up

with my imagination.

I had a bit fun with Helga.

And that is how I got two new pillows.

They are woollen and warm!

Horse dreams

I have been sewing today. It included fixing few armpits but also making something new. I took the fabrics I bought over a month ago and made two horse themed pillows of them. They decorate a bed and wish sweet dreams to a horse lover.

These horse pillows are my own design. They are made of printed fabric that has several different kind of horse figures. The star blanket under the pillows is old and I have bought it from a shop. It is coincidence that both blanket and the cotton fabric used in pillows happen to have similar star theme. I had to buy that fabric for the pillows because they look like from the same collection. The quilt is from 1999 when I made it from old curtains I had got from different persons for a toddler. Also it is my own design.

This is how the pillows look from the back side. It is ok to use them in both sides despite the front side looks better in my opinion. When I make decoration pillows I use zippers, buttons or velcro to close the cases proper to keep the inner pillows inside. These buttons are recycled.

New outfit

Christmas season is full of crafty secrets. I can't add pictures of things I've been doing. But as you can see now the blog is wearing a winter outfit. It is still under the work but it all should be done in few days. Actually my daughter is doing this for me so I can be proud of her because she is not so old yet.

Crocheting, knitting and stitching are the main things I have been doing. I also found this old picture of a pillow I've done years ago.

This pillow is made by the inspiration of Cross Stitcher's 2006 Calendar which is sponsored by Coats Craft UK & Anchor. The design is The Big Hug from Sarah's Garden design collection by Tina Wenke.

Sheets and lace

We must have sharp brains because it seems that all pillow cases are full of tiny holes. I end up sewing new pillow cases from granny's old good quality sheets that are manufactured then when everything was made to last lifetime and longer. I decorated some of them with old hand made lace that I actually bought ridiculous cheap price from an antique shop at late 90's. I bought tens of metres that lace (all they had) and these are the last ones I have left.

100% cotton sheets are easy to dye if the colour is not what you want. If the lace is made of synthetic fibers it won't change the colour. The lace I used is 100% linen but I won't dye these pillow cases. If you don't have any lace you can make pillow cases without decoration or use folds that are fast to sew by sewing machine. My own design but easy to do by anyone.

I designed and made also a tiny dress for a new born baby. The fabric is actually quilt fabric. When you seek fabric for children clothes you should go through also the quilt fabric collection. There is always very beautiful alternatives. And the figures are small enough for baby dresses too.

She got also a cute mouse which design is from old Finnish Uudet käsityöt (13/1997) craft magazine.