syko: Tutorial

11 April 2013

Mending knees in kids jeans tutorial

Today I did something that made me very proud of myself! I managed to mend little e's jeans that have been lying in an annoying pile in my studio for quite some time now. It took me about 20 minutes to get two pairs done! I had fun and used some scraps with heat n' bond (that's the iron-on adhesive I use for appliqué) that I improvised with to make the patches. It became a cat and a frog! Scroll down to see how I did it!

1. I ironed the patches with heat n' bond over the hole.

2. I used the mending foot/appliqué foot that allows me to move freely over the fabric. These jeans are very slim so it was a bit tricky! I worked the seams several times to get a durable patch.

3. Ready! As you see the seams are shaky, but when you stitch several times it looks like you did it on purpose. At least this is what I tell myself :)

The kitty looks like he has had something strange to eat... Little e says he's going to wear these jeans to school tomorrow! That's the best feedback I could get :)

Apr 11, 2013 5:02:48 PM | Appliqué, Clothes, kids, Kids and craft, Mending, sewing, Tutorial

11 April 2012

Felt cake play-food/pincushion tutorial

Tonight is the night I will be on TV (19.30 at YLE TV2), sadly most of you will not be able to see the programme, but I would like to share a little tutorial with you for the felt cakes me and my friends are making in the programme. They both have small kids so I thought it would be a fun little project to take home. All pictures are taken "behind the scenes" at the TV shoot by Viivi Lehtonen/YLE. The pretty felt needle book in the picture below was made by my friend Laurraine.

Ohjeet suomeksi ylen sivuilta.

What you'll need for your cake:

basic sewing supplies
felt (we used craft felt, but wool felt would be lovely)
cardboard (a cereal box will do fine)
embellishments, like buttons and lace
wadding

You can either sew the cake on your sewing machine, or by hand, if you have a lot of time!

1.Start by making the card-board circle. This will make the base for your cake and will prevent the needles to go through the bottom of the pincushion. You will need a circle with about 10 cm (4'') in diameter. Draw and cut it out.

2. Cut two circles from the felt. Use the cardboard piece as a pattern and add a 0,5 cm (1/4'') seam allowance. Then cut a 5x38cm (2''x15') strip from the felt.

3. You can either embellish your cake now, or when it is stitched together. I stitched on some lace cream to the side strip of my chocolate cake at this point.

4. Now stitch the top piece to the side strip. The ends will overlap generously so the side seam does not have to be sewn. Stitch the other circle to the bottom (right sides facing) leave a gap big enough for the cardboard piece (stitch about half way). Turn your cake inside out.