FREE Pattern – Easter Placemat

February 26, 2008October 26, 20085 Comments

Yesterday, I promised a placemat to go with your new Easter table-runner, and even better, this is my own pattern (with the exception of the appliqué in the center), so I can offer this as a free pattern to you!

You will need the following supplies to make 4 placemats –

white cotton fabric – 1 yard
colorful accent fabric – ½ yard
fabric for appliqué of your choice – depends on design chosen
small fabric squares for yo-yo embellishments
buttons
neutral fabric for backing – 1 yard
a strong, flat batting (I recommend using Warm & Natural, or Pellon Fleece) – 1 yard
coordinating seam binding – 8 yards

Pattern Image A Instructions that follow will walk you through the creation of ONE placemat, repeat as needed to complete your set.

Cut a white square 12½” x 12½”
Apply your applique to the center of the white square
Cut the accent fabric 6½” x 12½”
Sew accent fabric to left side of white square, using a ¼” seam allowance.
Sandwich together design fabric (top of placemat), batting, and backing fabric.
Using a ¼” seam allowance, sew around the placemat, trim edges, and add seam binding.
Quilt, using a simple design that will not detract from your center appliqué.
Your finished placemat will be approximately 12″ x 18″.

Image Pattern B My placemat also included some embellishements – the yo-yos that run down the seam between the accent fabric and the white fabric, as well as buttons to secure the yo-yos. I recommend adding any embellishments such as these after step 4, but before you continue on to step 5. This way all of your stitches will be inside of the quilted placemat. You will need to take care in quilting the finished product to avoid any damage to the yo-yos. The image to the left shows how the yo-yos were placed, and the approximate placement of the egg appliqué I used from the book “Quilted Holiday Accents”.

The sky is the limit with a pattern of this type, you can add multiple small appliqués, or just put in one large one as I did for my Easter placemat. The Easter Egg applique used on this sample you will find in the book “Quilted Holiday Accents” featured in the blog yesterday. Pick a copy of that book at Hancock Fabrics in the quilting department. The accent fabric down the left side could be a space to embroider the name of the person sitting at that place – turning your placemats into name cards. (What a fun way to make a guest feel special for a holiday dinner.)

You can also use your imagination when embellishing, just remember that if you want to use the placemats at the table with food, you need to keep things fairly simple. But with that in mind, imagine making special placemats up for your own little princess – using a marabou boa to trim the side of the placemat. These would make a fun party favor for the guests to take home with them as well as a great memento for your little princess of her special day.

Well, now you’ve seen the pattern, and seen a few suggestions for ways to make your own unique placemats. Below is the image of the finished piece. I think it will look great with the table-runner – don’t you?

What’s your inspiration? I’d love to see what types of ideas you can come up with for this fun pattern! Enjoy!
Sheila Reinke, Heart of Sewing
Sheila

Yo-Yos Everywhere!

February 8, 2008October 26, 20081 Comment

I’m still finding things to do with my yo-yos, I’ve made up so many as demonstration models recently that I really have more than I need. But they do add such fun to a project!

My first idea was to find something I could do with tiny yo-yos, once again these have been made using the Clover Yo-Yo maker (please see my earlier posts on how this great tool works). While I was searching for inspiration, I came across the pattern at the right. You may not be able to see the detail well in small scale, but if you click on it you’ll see what the pattern is. Basically, small aprons for a doll, bottle of dish soap, or other application. The retro style appealed to me, and I knew that at least some of my tiny yo-yos had found a home! Pattern number is Kwik Sew 3596.

2 Aprons Closeup
The apron fits onto a bottle of 30 oz. dish soap, and I discovered that one brand (the name starts with a “J” and has only 3 letters), comes in enough colors to let you coordinate your apron to the soap!

On the left are the finished aprons – each with coordinating dish soap. And on the right is a closeup of one of the aprons. Can you see the yo-yo embellishments used? There are three yo-yos at the bottom of the blue/yellow apron, and the red apron has yo-yos that have been used on the shoulder straps.

Imagine giving one of these as a housewarming gift to a student moving into their first apartment – or just as something fun to give to your neighbor who loves the look of these retro aprons! I am thinking about making them with a summer theme and giving one to all the ladies that come to my house for Easter this year. This would be a fun project to have an apron for every holiday – and they dress up the kitchen a little bit.

Now, what could I do with the large yo-yos? Once again I turned to the pattern books for inspiration, and I found McCall’s #5441. I used yo-yos instead of the large buttons that were suggested in the instructions.

I thought this would be a great idea for someone who buys lots of greeting cards in advance of birthdays or special holidays. You could have up to three month’s worth of cards in easy reach – one month to a pocket. It would also be great for those who make their own cards, or even for scrapbooking enthusiasts as a place to stash photos until everything is ready to create that new page in the book.

If you made this up in Christmas colors, it would be a nice place to put all the cards that come in.
Or, a variation of an idea I’ve just seen for this time of year – assign a pocket to each member of the household. Make this their ‘mailbox’ where notes of encouragement, love or praise could be left. The kids will soon get excited to check and see what type of message has been left for them!

I yo-yo, do you?

Check back with me next week to see what I’ll be doing next – the yo-yos have been fun, and we may return to them later in the season, but there is so much more to talk about! Oh, and a special treat tomorrow – check back!

Sheila Reinke, Heart of Sewing
Sheila

Ideas for the Yo-Yo

February 6, 2008October 26, 2008Leave a comment

Those who make yo-yos seem to make them by the dozens (if not by the hundreds) at a time. Next comes the dilemma – what to do with them all? As I promised on Monday’s post, here are some ideas that I’ve made up recently.

A darling purse that the bride can carry with her on her wedding day. This purse was made using a bridal brocade that was lovely to look at – but very slippery to sew! To solve that problem, I pinned the fabric down with flat flower quilting pins (see my DYK sheet on Dritz Pins for more information on these pins). Ruler The quilting pins helped to stablize the fabric while I was cutting the pattern pieces. Since the pieces for the purse were all rectangular, I decided to use my rotary cutter, and the flat pins worked great for that – the ruler lay over the fabric nicely and my pattern pieces came out perfectly.

After you cut out all the pieces you baste on a heavy sew-in interfacing to each piece. This really makes it nice to work with the fabric – now it’s stable. The pattern I used was McCalls pattern #4794, view B. I ironed the purse using the Dritz Sleeve Roll, which was great for the size of the purse. The sleeve roll could actually get inside of the purse, so I was only ironing one layer of the purse at a time (rather than both front and back).

After completing the purse, I added 7 heart yo-yos that were made using two layers of chiffon. This gave the hearts a nice delicate look. The hearts were attached by sewing through the centers to attach them to the bottom of the flap of the purse. I then added a gold bead to the center of each heart for accent. Here’s a close-up of two of the hearts.

Need another idea? How’s this? Here is a jacket and skirt that have been embellished with yo-yos and pearls. It gives a whole new look to this outfit. The skirt and top were made using McCalls Pattern #5542. Hancock Fabrics Demonstrator Carol Prettyman made the outfit and added the embellishment. Heart yo-yos have been used to accent the bottom of the jacket and down the front . Hearts have also been added to each of the sleeves. And if you look carefully at the close-up picture, you’ll see that circle yo-yos dangle from the hem of the jacket to add a little extra movement. Using fabrics that matched and coordinated with the skirt pulls this entire outfit together. The pearls add just that little touch of flash that we all like to see in our clothing from time to time.

Sheila Reinke, Heart of Sewing
Sheila