30 minute pillowcase apron

I'll bet you've been "thrifting" lately like the rest of the craft blogging world.  And I'll bet you looked at the vintage pillowcases and even brought one or two home.    If your daughter has all the pillowcase dresses she needs, why not make something for yourself?  (yeah, I should totally have cleaned up the iron cord before I took the picture.  By the way, those of  you who guessed yellow would be the next ugly beach towel of choice just earned a gold star.)

The front of one pillowcase + Just barely over 1/2 yard of cotton + 30 minutes of your time = One very pretty hostess apron.

To start, cut the front off the pillowcase.  A lot of these older pillowcases have gotten a bit warped over time so be sure that you are cutting the case square with the design edge.  Also be sure you keep the design centered on the front.   I cut mine 20 inches long, but you can make it as short or as long as you wish. 

Now cut three strips of fabric out of a coordinating cotton.   Two should be 7"x45" and one should be 7"x the width of the apron front as cut.   If you want to keep this project to 1/2 yard of fabric, you can just cut your strips 6" wide.   That will give you a 2 1/2" wide sash which should be plenty.  I just like wide floppy bows on sashes so I wanted a full 3" sash.

Now sew the long pieces to either end of the short piece with a 1/2" seam.   Press the seam open.

Finish the sides of the pillowcase with a narrow handkerchief hem.   Basically, just fold the side 1/4" press it down and then fold it 1/4" again.  The raw edge should now be hidden.  Sew it down close to the folded edge.

Now sew the top of the apron front to the sash.   With right sides together, pin the apron front to the short section in the center of the sash.  The edge of the apron front should match up with the seams in the sash.  Sew it with a 1/2" seam.  Press the seam up toward the sash.

Now fold the sash in half with the right sides together.   Sew together with a 1/2" seam starting at the sash seam, down the sides and across the ends.  Do not sew across the apron front.  Trim the corners. 

Turn the sash right side out and press.   Turn the unsewn section of sash under half an inch and press.  Pin down and sew closed.  You can do stitch in a ditch, top stitch or hand sew.  I was feeling lazy so mine is top stitched about 1/16" of an inch from the edge of the sash. 

Super quick.  Super easy.  Super cute.  Now you are ready to host a party.

My sewing machine table

I've got a small house without much space for crafting.  I tend to take over the dining table, which means we eat at the counter for dinner.  Not exactly great family meal time.   So for Christmas my sweet husband made me this:

 The shelves hold my machine and have plenty of room for me to store current projects and notions.  I just need to get some cool boxes to hold everything in.

The table is nice and wide with two drop down leaves so if I ever do decide to sew a queen sized quilt, I've got enough table space to hold it. 

 Here's the leaf lifted up.  (Yes, he missed a few spots with the yellow.  I'll touch it up eventually.)

He used the Sewing Table For Small Spaces plan at Ana-white.com.   It was pretty easy to put together and he did a great job.  If you are making this though, I would measure your machine before installing the shelf.  I didn't need as much space as the plan allows for and I would have liked the upper shelf to have 12" of clearance.    It is only 10" and it's going to complicate buying bins a bit.  Other than that, though, it's been great.  It's nice to have a place to sew and still have a place to eat.

In the works is finding space in the basement for the table and getting my laundry room finished so I can hang the ironing board back up.   I so miss that ironing board.  I'm sure you all are holding bets on which color of ugly bath towel I use as a pressing cloth next.   Will it be green?  Purple?  The all time ugly not quite blue?  I have no clue.  But you will see ugly beach towels for a little longer because the laundry room still has bare studs.  I'm not looking forward to mudding dry wall again.  Not a favorite activity.

Chicken With Lemon Caper Pan Sauce

This isn't the best food photo in the world, but it was a really, really good pan sauce.  If you like lemon with chicken and you like inexpensive dinners that take less than 30 minutes you'll want to make this one.

(I'll bet when you read that I feed my family dinner for $5 or less you pictured them getting hamburger helper and spaghetti didn't you?  Nope.  I'm telling you, you need ATK recipe books.)

I always cut chicken breast into cutlets because there's no reason why anyone needs 8oz of chicken in one meal.  If you want cutlets, just lay a chicken breast out flat on a cutting board.  Place your non-dominate hand on the chicken to steady it, but make sure your hand is completely flat.  Do not let your fingers droop.  With your dominate hand slice the chicken in half parallel to the cutting board.   Cut all the way through so you have two thinner pieces of chicken.   Super easy and now 2 chicken breasts will feed four people and the cutlets cook in half the time. 

Chicken Cutlets with Lemon Caper Pan Sauce

2 chicken breast halves cut into cutlets
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 c low sodium chicken stock or white wine
1/2 c low sodium chicken stock
Zest from one lemon
juice from one lemon
1 T capers
1 t sugar (optional)
3 T cold, unsalted butter cut into 1/2" pieces

Pat the cutlets dry with paper towels and salt and pepper to taste.  Pour 1/2 T of olive oil in the bottom of a skillet and heat just until the oil is shimmering.  (The oil will look like the surface of a pond on a windy day, with little ripples running across it.)  Cook about 3 minutes on each side or until the internal temperature reaches about 165 on an instant read thermometer.   Remove from pan and set aside.  Tent the chicken with foil to keep them warm while you make the pan sauce.

Next you're going to deglaze the pan.   Basically you pour a liquid in the pan and let it boil up all those lovely pieces of frond left on the bottom of the pan.  (Frond is the crispy bits of chicken and fat stuck to the pan. It's very good stuff and very flavorful.)  I use chicken stock to deglaze but you can use white wine if you prefer.   Pour 1/4 c of stock (or wine) in the pan and let it boil away.  With a wooden spoon, quickly scrape up the frond from the bottom of the pan.   When the boiling dies away, pour in a half cup of low sodium chicken stock, the zest and juice of one lemon, and 1T of capers.  Do a quick taste test.  If it's too bitter for you, stir in up to 1t of sugar. Let the sauce reduce by half.  Reduce the heat to medium low.  Quickly stir in the butter  one piece at a time.  I just rest my spoon on the butter and swirl it around the pan until it's melted.

Serve the sauce alongside the chicken.   If you are watching your calories and you just winced at all that butter in the recipe, relax.  You only need about a tablespoon of sauce or so.   We had it with brown rice and veggies and it was so good!   I love doing pan sauces with my chicken.  There's so much variety you can do with them and it makes a simple chicken cutlet something special. 

From Pattern to Purse: Phase One, Sketching and Graphing

 You've seen my purses I'm sure.  The ruffle bag.  The fat quarter ruffle bag.  You may have seen some of my other purses.   I know that I don't post down loadable PDF patterns like a lot of other crafters do, and many of you probably haven't tried making my purses because of that.  Honestly,  there's a lot of reasons I don't do printable patterns, but mostly it's because I think anybody can create a purse pattern.  If you can dream it up, you can make a pattern for it.  Purse patterns are much simpler than clothing patterns.  Most of the time a purse is a modified rectangle or a simple oval.  You just make changes to a basic shape to get what you want.  

Have you ever looked at a purse and thought "that is almost what I want, but it should have  . . . ."  Ever dreamed up the perfect bag and couldn't find a bag or bag pattern anywhere that would work for you?  Make the pattern yourself.

I'm going to walk you through the steps to making a bag pattern all the way through the actual finished bag.  There will be a new post in the series every Friday until we're done.  It should be three to four posts.  My example bag will be a slouch bag for my 15 year old.  (I think my girls are really benefiting from this blog.)

Start with a sketch book.   No fabric.  No pattern paper.   Just your sketch book and a pencil.  Make a quick drawing of what you want.  Just suggestive lines, basic shape, hint at detail.   Now decide how big your bag needs to be.   Is it a shopper?  a small just essentials bag? a medium bag?   What will you use it for?  Write down the answers to these questions.

For the slouch bag, I've decided to make it larger so it's going to be 15" tall by 12" wide.  I want top stitched straps up each side and in the center with a strap that wraps around from the back to close the bag.  The closure will probably be a clip of some kind. I need to look at notions to decide for sure.  The strap will be shorter than the bag to help create the slouch shape.    There will be pockets in the lining, the standard pencil, cell phone, and extra pocket as well as a zippered pocket that will divide the interior in half.  I'm thinking a solid colored bag with a super bright lining like hot pink or lime green. 

Now get out your graph paper.   If you don't have graph paper on hand, you can print your own.  I used a graph paper PDF from a site called Incomptech.  Make a rectangle the size of the outside dimensions of your bag.  Fill it in with a large, detailed sketch.  Do full front and full side sketches as well as a 3/4 view, just like house blueprints. You need to fill in where stitching lines will be and what you want the hardware to be.  Draw in pockets, ruffles, patches, etc.   Color it if it helps you visualize better.   Keep your sketch in proportion.   That's what the graph paper is for.  Use it.

Notice on the front of the bag I've marked that the straps will be 1 1/2" wide and extend the full length of the side of the purse.  I've also shown that I'm considering a 3" clip assembly.  It feels in proportion to me.  I've also marked the top stitching on the straps.  Notice that the bag is a basic rectangle.   I've also noted in the corner that I'm using two squares to equal an inch. 

On the back of the slouch bag I've written down that I want the center strap to be shorter by about 3" to create the slouch shape.  I've marked where the strap should be sewn down to the bag and where it should start hanging free.  You'll also notice that I've drawn in the fact that the handle strap will be attached with D rings.  These little details really help when it's time to start creating the pattern.

When you draw the bottom of your bag you need to decide if you are doing a separate bottom or just extending the fabric for the bottom.  Whichever you choose should fit the style of bag you are making.  Look at manufactured bags online or in person to get a feel of how each type of base works and what it does for a bag.  It's your choice but don't be intimidated by separate bottom pieces.  They are super easy and can really add structure to a bag.   I wrote a quick tutorial on sewing separate bottom pieces in purses if you need a refresher.

For the slouch bag, I wanted to soften the base.  I've planned an oval base that is too small all the way around the bag.  This will create gathering and curve the profile at the bottom of the bag.  I've also included top stitching and purse feet.  (oh purse feet, how I love them.)

On to the lining!  This is where making your own bag gets really, really fun.  Manufacturers do not understand the needs of modern women.  Most bags have a single zipper pocket barely big enough for your once a month emergency supply.  There's nothing in there to separate your keys from your cell phone from your lotion.   I always add pockets.   At the very least there will be two pen pockets, a cell phone pocket, and an extra pocket across one side of the bags I make.  Many bags have more than that.  My daughter's book bag has 15, although that was her choice and I'm still just a teensy bit bitter about it.  15 is a bit excessive. (In age and number of bag pockets.)

For this bag, I'm putting in the pockets along one side and a key clip near the top.  I've even got marked off where the sewing lines will be to separate the pockets.   I've also marked down the finished dimensions of the zipper pocket divider. 



Now you need to decide how many pieces of fabric you need to build the purse.  Does it have a separate bottom and side pieces?  What do these look like? How will you attach your strap?  How long with the strap be?  or are you using a manufactured handle?  How will it close? Zipper? Snap? Clip?

The Slouch bag, as I've noted will have D rings to attach the strap which will be 20-24" long.  I will only use a clip to close it so The Girl can get in and out quickly.  (Which is just an excuse to avoid the zipper issue.)

For the slouch bag we need:
2 large rectangles for the outside
1 oval base
2 straps for the sides (measuring longer so we can attach the D rings)
1 center strap finished measurement about 7 1/2"
1 center strap that will wrap from the bottom back of the bag all the way around to the front
1 handle, 20-24"  (gotta ask the girl what she wants)
3 D rings
1 clip or metal closure of some kind

For the lining:
2 large rectangles
2 zipper pouch pieces
1 pocket piece
1 12" zipper

Next week we'll take all this information and build our pattern.   This is where the graph paper comes in very handy.   You'll want to have pattern tracing fabric on hand.  You can buy either the blank fabric or the fabric with the 1" grid on it.  Which ever works best for you.

So get started sketching and then move on to the next step in Phase Two:  Pattern Construction.
When you've got your pattern you can start Phase Three:  sewing the lining

Think Bigger: ConKerr Cancer

Here's another sewing craft charity:  ConKerr Cancer.  They distributed brightly patterned, happy pillowcases to seriously ill children in hospitals around the world.   Their pillowcases bring smiles to children who don't have a lot to smile about in their lives.  It's just a little bit of hope and love to brighten up their hospital room and the children respond.  Do take a minute to read the "about us" page on their website with thank yous from families whose children have received a pillowcase.   It will make you start thinking about that stash of cottons you have sitting in your cupboard waiting for the "right" project.   I hope this is the right project for you.

I also want to just quickly remind you that the QLD Flood Relief project is still underway.   You still have time to buy something from an Etsy store or buy a raffle ticket or bid in an auction or just plain donate.   The master list of those participating is up at Make it Perfect.   I've bought a raffle ticket for a beautiful hand crafted item.  Have you?

Easy Flip Case

As promised, a Flip camera case that's easy to sew.  This one you can make in an hour and there's no zippers.  It's just a simple envelope with boxed corners and a flap.  This one is also padded.  The padding isn't going to save your camera if you drop it.  It's just a little extra protection as it's getting knocked around inside your purse.   I'm not sure I'm keeping the flap I have on this one.  I may swap it out for something an inch longer.  That flap just looks skimpy to me.  I'll give the longer measurements for the flap in the directions.

Start by cutting two rectangles 10.25"x3.75".    Cut two small rectangles 4"x2 5/8".   Set a coffee mug upside down on one end and trace it to get the nice curve.   Cut a piece of interfacing for the flap and fuse it to the lining.

Sew the flap together leaving the straight end open.   Clip the curve.

Turn the flap right side out and press.

Fold the large rectangles in half the long way and sew up both sides. 


Fold the outside piece so the seam meets in the center and the bottom makes two points.   Measure one inch across each point and mark that with a pencil.  Notice how the half inch is on the seam and the edge of the measuring tape lines up with the edge of the fabric at zero and 1.  This is how you know the line is straight.   Sew across that line.  Repeat for other point and for the lining piece. 

Now you have two little boxes.  Aren't they cute?   Press them along the sewn point and along the other edges of the box if you wish.  Leave the lining inside out and turn the outside right side out to press.

Turn the lining right side out.   Sew the flap down so the lining faces down and the outside faces up.  It needs to be centered along one side of the top edge. 

Now cut out your foam.  It will be 9.5" long and 3" wide.   You need notches in the center of the long side.  They are 1" long and 1/2" deep and should line up with the bottom of the camera.   Measure and mark carefully.

Now turn the lining inside out again and slip it over the camera.  Fold the foam around the camera and hold the sides together.  Slip the outside, right side out, over the whole assembly.   It will be a snug fit.   Fold down the top edges of the fabric 1/4" on both the lining and the outside.   Hand sew the the outside to the lining.   Attach a snap or button or some sort of closure to the flap and case. 

You're done.  The hand sewing on the top edge is because the foam isn't sewn down anywhere which makes it impossible to keep it in place and turn the case inside out or anything like that.  I constructed it this way to keep from having extra bulky seams.  Since that top edge is barely more than 6" around, I figured it wouldn't be a big deal.  It's not.  It's five minutes of hand sewing.  Easy peasy. 

And that is a camera case a beginner can sew.  Have fun.

Keeping Kids Entertained On a Rainy Day

We're all getting a bit stir crazy around here these days.  We don't live in the Great White North, just the North Enough To Be Cold and Snowy and Boring From December to March.   My kids have also had a four and a half day weekend. 

When things get desperate around here and sending them outside isn't an option, I fall back on my favorite craft site for kids:  The Toymaker.   Marilyn Scott-Waters designs 3-D paper craft printables for kids.   The projects are simple  to do with beautiful artwork.  She has paper dolls, race cars, mice that roll, and tiny puppet theaters, and little books to read.   My kids love her stuff. You can also check out her book on Amazon.com, The Toymaker's Christmas.  Her first book, The Toymaker, is not in stock new from Amazon but you may be able to find it somewhere else.

If you've got an older child you need to keep busy, you can also check out Canon Creative Park.  They have lots of more complicated projects and right now have quite a bit of Valentine's Day crafts. 

For simple 3-D paper crafts usually a glue stick is fine.  I do find that over time glue stick joints will break.  If you are doing a big project (like a castle) you may want to use white glue applied with a small paint brush.  It will hold forever.  Be sure to have good sharp scissors with a nice point for the detail cuts.  

Have fun and I hope you have full ink cartridges. ;)