Bicycles are perfect for springtime sewing projects. Today I have four brand new bicycle embroidery designs being released and a bonus pillow project to give you some inspiration. Links to each design are below. The Bike With Balloons Embroidery Design has so much going on. There is a colorful bike with balloons and a puppy. Customize this one any way you like and it will be perfect. The Bike With Floral Basket Embroidery is a standout design that would be so sweet on towels or linens. The Bike With Heart Basket Embroidery is a whimsical design that could be used in Springtime or Valentine's Day. The Bike With Ribbon Bow Embroidery Design has a basket and flowing ribbon Customize all of these designs by changing colors. An Interesting look might be using the same design with different colors for your project. Or you can get all four bike designs and sew a patchwork pillow which is what I decided to do. I usually have many embroidery samples in my studio and I am always looking for easy quick projects that can incorporate them. I think you'll love this one. Sewing a pillow is a great beginner project because you can determine how large or small you want it to be without a pattern. I even sewed my own pillow insert and made my project into a removable cover so I can launder it. I cut my pre sewn embroidery designs into squares that were the same size. I left a nice one inch border around the designs. Then I used some scraps that were 2 1/2 inches wide. I cut those slightly longer than the embroidery squares. A 1/4 inch seam allowance was used and I attached them with right sides facing. I used my iron to press after piecing the seams together so everything stayed straight and crisp. When I had the short pieces sewn together, I trimmed them with my rotary cutter and then added the center strip using a 1/4 inch seam allowance. Be careful here to line up the design squares so they are not skewed. A few pins helped hold them in place. I sewed more strips to the top, bottom and then the sides. Then I found the center of the strips and embroidered a cute saying in the middle. You could use the built-in fonts in your embroidery machine for this part. Now you have a large piece of fabric with cute designs that can become more than a pillow. Another great idea would be a wall hanging or create more blocks for a quilt. Using two pieces of fabric for the back, I folded the ends over and sewed to create a 1/4 inch hem on each. Then I made sure to over lap these hemmed ends by about two inches. Placing the two pieces right side down on the center of the embroidered fabric pieces with the hem running vertically, I lined up the sides and top. If you have to trim the sides of your front piece to accommodate the width, it will be just fine. I had to because I was using leftover scraps. Everything was right sides together at this point and all of the edges lined up. A seam all the way around the perimeter held everything in place. You could add a Velcro closure if you wanted to also. My center overlap was wide enough to keep my cover closed once the pillow insert was installed. The cover was trimmed at the corners and turned right side out. I pressed it well and measured for my pillow insert using some left over fabric in my stash. The pillow insert was pinned right sides together leaving an opening for turning. After stitching around the perimeter and clipping the corners, it was turned, stuffed and hand sewn closed. Then it was placed inside the pillow cover. So cute. This project would be great for an outdoor space especially if you are using canvas or duck fabrics. Since my cover is removable, I can change my pillow seasonally. Or you may want to update a small space inside your house like I decided to do. Here is my new pillow on an entry chair. Now when I come in my door, a fresh new look greets me. Amazing how something small can give you such a lift in spirit. This was a fun project and I enjoyed watching it unfold using my latest embroidery designs and leftover fabric materials that were in my stash. Are you inspired to try a project like this? I hope you have enjoyed this post, share what you learn and are generous with what you create. Someone will appreciate your hard work.
I love walking through my local Dollar Tree and searching for unique items I can upcycle. It is kind of thrilling to get that spark of inspiration and see it actually come to life. The price point makes it attractive also. My latest Embroidery design is called Coffee Time Pad and it is made using a Dollar Tree Microfiber product. These are the microfiber pads that I found in the personal care section of my store. There were four different color selections available. I like the pads because they are made from a microfiber material on one side and that is perfect to catch any coffee drips and keep a cup stable on your surface. It is pretty sweet that they are already finished around the edges with binding also. The opposite side is a scrubby material but the design will cover that area with fabric. It is a very easy project done in a 4x4 hoop and I was able to complete 12 of them in a few hours. If you have fabric scraps in your stash, this is a great way to use them up. You can see here that I am trimming away the excess material while it is still in the hoop. This design will use a 4x4 piece of scrap fabric. If you are like me, you probably have many of those. All of the edges get covered after that and you are ready to remove from the hoop. I did use wash away stabilizer and after trimming closely, I was able to remove the extra with warm water. A little extra bonus in the design download is this graphic. If you print it out on card stock, you have a perfect gift card that the mug rug can be slipped into after some trimming. Instead of sewing one at a time, I used my larger hoop and ganged them up to four in one hooping. This made my stabilizer go a little further. Here is the removal of the extra stabilizer once they are out of the hoop. When they are dry, you can insert them into the cards. I made the entire batch of colors I purchased and they will be going to one of my local senior citizen homes. I have brought other projects to them in the past and they love getting things they can use in Bingo or game days for prizes. These would be awesome for that. So have I inspired you to look for those unique upcycling ideas at your Dollar Store? You never know what you might find browsing the shelves. I have filmed a tutorial video you can watch below to see how the Coffee Time Pads come together. I hope you have enjoyed this post, share what you learn and are generous with what you create. Someone will appreciate your hard work. Time is surely passing quickly and Easter is upon us. In honor of holy week and springtime, I am releasing my latest design today for an In The Hoop Bible Cover. This project is designed to cover a small bible that measures 3 inches wide by 4 1/2 inches tall. I purchased mine from my local Dollar Tree The entire cover is quilted and there is a cross stitched detail on the front of the cover. The back of the cover has a bible verse. The addition of a ribbon bookmark with a free standing lace cross and ribbon closure dresses up the cover nicely. The snaps allow the bible to close so you can place any small items inside the front or back pockets like an announcement from a newspaper. My Dollar Tree has these small bibles in two colors. Look for them in the book section. They are usually stocked on the very top shelf. If your store doesn't have them, you may be able to locate a similar size at another big box location. The project will have two separate parts so you need a 4x4 hoop to do the Free standing lace. Then you need a 5x7 hoop to sew the actual cover. Free standing lace is a lot of fun to stitch out because it is done with wash away stabilizer. Here you see the small cross just after I have pulled it out of the hoop. Your best bet is to try to leave some of the stabilizer in the item so it gets stiff as it dries. I accomplish this by using a small spray of water and my iron with a pressing cloth. I also use an additional spray of starch on the item while it is wet so that as it dries, it will get even crisper. Then if you wash the item later, you can always use starch again to retain the shape. All of the design elements for the cover sew in the 5x7 hoop and that includes adding the ribbons for the snap closure and book mark. You can cut your bookmark ribbon short or long. I wanted mine to hang just outside of my bible when it was complete. When it comes out of the hoop you will have trimming to do and then turning the entire book cover so you can close it up. I used a needle and thread but hem tape would work also. When you are ready to attach the Free Standing Lace cross to the ribbon, you will need to set your machine to a zig zag stitch. The ribbon is simply threaded through the eye of the cross and then doubled over the back. This zig zag will sew both layers together. On a side note, the embroidery design for the free standing lace cross could be used on it's own. If you have a bible with a ribbon in it already, just stitch this out and add it to your favorite one or gift a Free standing lace cross to a friend or family member. Such a cute little treasure. The final steps will be installing the snaps on the book cover itself and the ribbon. I like to fold the end of my ribbon on itself to create a double thickness before I install the snap. This will give it extra strength. I usually also seal the end of the ribbon with a lighter after I trim the extra length so it does not fray. When you download the design, you will receive a set of full color instructions that take you step by step. This little bible cover has so many uses and it is inexpensive since I purchased mine at the Dollar Tree. Think Bridal parties for favors, Baptism or dedication ceremonies, gifts for shut ins, retirements centers or cancer treatment units, or just to carry along with you. This is a sweet item that will be a pleasure to open and read, mark your favorite passage or particular scripture you are studying, or hold when comfort is needed. There is a full video tutorial you can watch below (JUST CLICK ON THE VIDEO PLAY BUTTON ICON) where I take you through an entire project. I hope you have enjoyed this post, share what you learn and are generous with what you create. Someone will appreciate your hard work. |
AuthorLagniappe Peddler believes that the process of working with our hands can be one of the best forms of healing the hurts in our lives and welcomes all who visit this safe little corner of the world. What is a Lagniappe Peddler?
ˌlanˈyap,ˈlanˌyap - something given as a bonus or extra gift Archives
May 2023
Blog Categories
All
This website uses marketing and tracking technologies. Opting out of this will opt you out of all cookies, except for those needed to run the website. Note that some products may not work as well without tracking cookies. Opt Out of Cookies |