Are you a beginner looking for a fun challenge to enhance your sewing skills? In this video tutorial, I'll guide you through the process of sewing a lined drawstring bag with a boxed bottom.

This adorable bag, made with cotton fabric, is an ideal opportunity to make the most of  fabric scraps.

The pouch is not only perfect as a gift bag but also ideal for small knitting projects or carrying snacks. Trust me, once you make it, you'll find endless uses for this cute bag!

Embroidery is an art form that allows you to express your creativity through delicate stitches and vibrant threads. If you want to take your embroidery to the next level and create more naturalistic and interesting designs, the key is to embrace experimentation. In this video tutorial, you'll learn how to use the detached chain stitch to embroider captivating flowers. We'll explore various techniques, such as the loop start method and the lazy daisy stitch, to add depth and beauty to your floral creations. Let's dive into the world of needle and thread.

In this blog post and video, we'll explore the art of embroidering wildflowers on linen napkins using the Lazy Daisy Stitch, French Knots, and Back Stitch. Plus, we'll discuss how embracing imperfections can create a naturalistic and charming look.

Finding Inspiration:

Before starting your embroidery project, seeking inspiration can be a great way to set the tone for your design. Consider exploring botanical books with diagrams and colorful illustrations of flowers. These can help you decide on the placement and design of your wildflowers.

Planning the Design:

For this project, a zigzag pattern along flowering stems is chosen for the design. To begin, crease the napkin to find the center of the corner and mark it with a water-soluble pen. For those who prefer working without a pattern, using paper circles as rough guidelines can help decide on the amount and placement of the flowers. However, don't be afraid to deviate from the initial plan and invite creativity while embroidering.

The Loopstart, start embroidering without a knot:

Using DMC six-strand embroidery floss is ideal for this project. Pull two strands but only use one to create a delicate look. To start your embroidery thread without a knot, use the loop method. This involves threading the ends through the eye of the needle, forming a loop at the fold, which will serve as the first petal of the Lazy Daisy Stitch.

The Lazy Daisy Stitch:

To create the Lazy Daisy Stitch, come up with an imaginary ring around the center of the flower. Then, go back down into the fabric where you came up and come back up where you want the petal to end. Form a loop with the thread and secure it with a small stitch. Repeat the process to form beautiful petals. Embrace imperfections, alter stitch lengths, and experiment with different placements to achieve a natural and charming appearance.

Adding French Knots:

French Knots add a lovely textured effect to your wildflowers. Start with the loop method but make a tiny stitch instead of a longer one for the petals. To create French Knots, wrap the thread around the needle a few times, hold the wraps under your finger to secure them, and make a small stitch while holding the needle in the fabric. Experiment with the number of wraps and strands for varying effects.

Connecting Flowers with Back Stitch:

Use the Back Stitch to connect the flowers and create the stem. Make single straight stitches, leaving gaps between them, and then go back to fill those gaps. Don't worry about perfect connections; slightly wonky lines can add character to your design, resembling pencil sketches and doodling.

Finishing Touches:

To ensure your embroidery stays secure, avoid crossing large distances without securing the thread at the back. Weave the thread through existing stitches to reach your desired starting point. To finish the thread, weave it through a few stitches and create a few knots. Leaving a small thread tail ensures that your masterpiece will withstand wear and tear.

The Final Result:

Once your wildflowers are embroidered, wash out the water-soluble pen and give the napkin a gentle press to showcase your work.

Embroidering wildflowers on linen napkins is a relaxing and creative way to add a touch of nature to your table. Embrace imperfections, experiment with stitches and colors, and let your creativity bloom as you bring this naturalistic look to life. Happy embroidering!

Are you looking for an easy and sustainable way to reduce paper waste in your everyday life? Making your own fabric napkins can be a fantastic solution. In this blog post, we'll show you how to create stylish and eco-friendly napkins using linen scraps. Linen, a classic fabric for napkins, is not only durable but also environmentally friendly. Let's dive into the process and discover some useful tips along the way!

Have you ever wondered how to turn yarn scraps into full balls without wasting any material? Well, I love using the Russian join that allows you to join yarn without creating a knot. Not only does this technique create a strong and smooth join when you are working on a project, but it also allows you to use up all your yarn scraps and gauge swatches.

The Russian join is perfect for plied yarn that isn't very sticky. If the yarn is sticky a wet splice is probably a better and faster option.

The Russian Join 

To do the Russian join, you thread the yarn through itself, creating a small loop through which you can thread the end of the yarn you want to join it to. I usually use a blunt needle for this, but sometimes it can be a bit fiddly to thread through the yarn. I like to scrunch up the yarn on the needle and then pull the end through the yarn. To ensure a strong join, I thread it through the yarn at least five centimeters. If you have a loop that's too big, you can pull on the tail before smoothing out the yarn completely.

For yarn that isn't very sticky, I like to thread it through at least five centimeters so that I can taper the ends by thinning out the plies. The extra length gives me some wiggle room and reassurance that it will be a strong join. If you think it looks too bulky, you can thin out some of the plies before smoothing out the crunched up yarn.

Revive Frogged Yarn 

One of the swatches I had was made up of a lot of smaller pieces, and I joined them as I frogged. As you can see in the video, there were a lot of kinks in the yarn, but I was able to do the Russian join without much extra fuss.

After joining each piece, I wound them into a ball by hand, but I wasn't quite ready because of all the kinks in the yarn. So, I decided to use a swift to unwind everything and tie it together so that I could use a steam iron to relax the yarn. It looks so rewarding!

I did have to move up the ties because the seam didn't quite penetrate the wool underneath it. If you don't have a steam iron, I'm wondering if you could do the same over a pot of boiling and steamy water. Washing is another option, but I don't want to wait for it to dry.

I'm using a fancy Knit Pro swift and ball winder, but you can just as easily wind it by hand and use the back of a chair to unwind the yarn. It does take more time, but with a nice movie or podcast in the background, it can be an enjoyable process.

My cake is now ready for a scrappy blanket that I'm planning to knit in the future. I'm so happy with the result!

Do you want to create a unique and eye-catching? Look no further than these wiggly eyed gift bags! 

To begin, you'll need some basic supplies. This includes:

• Cotton fabric
• 18mm googly eyes, you'll need safety eyes because these lay nice and flat on the front of the fabric. 
• 3mm braided cotton cord
• Optional: some cardboard from old packaging to create a template. You can mark the dimensions straight onto the fabric.
• You'll also need an awl for making holes in the fabric or a seam ripper or scissors to create a small hole
• Pins
• Matching thread

Although the bag is unlined, you can add a lining to give it more body if you'd like. 

These wiggly eyed gift bags are easy to make, customizable, and most importantly, fun and playful. Give it a try and see how creative you can get!

Fancy awl - https://amzn.to/3ROjqaB

Googly eyes - https://amzn.to/3ZcBuxR

Prym aqua trick marker - https://amzn.to/3S71fwR 

These are affiliate links, which means if you make a purchase on the site after using the links, I could earn a commission. Thanks for supporting my work.

I have a cherished hand-knit sweater that has seen better days, just like many of us. In the video, and blogpost I want to share my experience in repairing it. I will take you through the process of what worked and what didn't, so that you too can save your favorite sweater and make it wearable again.

Fixing the worn elbows with duplicate stitch

I started with the worn-out elbows, which are a common problem for sweaters. Repairing them takes time, but it's relatively easy when the stitches are still in tact.

I was lucky enough to have the original yarn for my sweater, as I knit it myself. If you don't have the original yarn, you can use something of the same weight. Alternatively, you can use a slightly thinner yarn, which may be easier to work with. If your yarn is too thin, you can double it up. Also, consider using darning wool with nylon in it, as it will protect your sweater better in areas prone to wear.

To repair the elbows, I used the duplicate stitch technique. All you have to do is follow the original stitches. It's easier to demonstrate than explain, but it's not too difficult. Don't worry about making it perfect, as perfection is not necessary the network of stitches will be so much stronger that a missed stitch won't cause much problems.

It helps to keep the knit tensioned over something like a darning mushroom, darning egg, or even a small bowl or light bulb. This way, you can open up the knit fabric, combined with daylight or a bright light to make life easier.

I found the duplicate stitch to work great for the elbows, as it creates a tight fabric that's essential for areas subjected to a lot of wear.

Mistake no. 1

My first mistake was starting in the middle of the worn area. It would have been easier to mark the area I wanted to repair with contrasting yarn first. However, even though I learned from my mistake and marked a the area for the second elbow. I ran into some difficulties with the waste yarn constantly getting in the way, and I even ended up sewing through it. So next time I'll mark a larger area.

To finish the yarn tails, I wove the yarn through a few stitches in the back, plucked them apart, and cut off the excess after wearing or washing the sweater.

Fixing a dropped stitch

The armpit is another area that sees a lot of wear. In my case, I think the white yarn was a bit too tight, causing it to wear out faster. There were actually two stitches there, and I treated them as one since it was probably a decrease. While I was at it, I also repaired the other armpit, as I could see it was starting to wear out too. To secure the ends, I wove the yarn tail around the white yarn still in place, and since it was Icelandic wool, it's so sticky that it will felt together with wear, ensuring it stays in place.

The cuff

The cuff was a bit more challenging, but I am happy with the end result. I picked up the stitches at the bottom of the sleeve and re-knit the cuff, sort of matching to the original 1x1 rib of the cuff. I experimented by picking up both stitches at the edge of the patch and at random intervals in the row. 

Mistake no. 2 

Of course I didn't think to mark the area I wanted to knit so I ended up missing a few stitches ate the edge of the cuff. I decided to pick up a few extra stitches and create a cast of along the edge off the cuff. But at the end I decided to simply wrap the yarn around the edge for a few centimeter... in hindsight I think it will wear out faster than the cast of edge and I should've continued to using the bind off.

Mistake no. 3 

I was lazy and didn't take the time to grab the proper needles, instead I went for my Chiagoo mini's. Resulting in me struggling to knit and having sore hands afterwards... don't be like me and grab the right tools for the job ;) 

Despite the mistakes I made I had fun experimenting and the end result is a lopapeysa that is ready to be worn and loved once again with a little more character to boot! :D

In conclusion, mending a favorite sweater is a worthwhile task. Whether you're fixing worn-out elbows, armpits, or cuffs, it's a great way to bring life back to a cherished item and make it wearable once again. So grab your yarn and needle, and let's start mending!

In this tutorial, I'll show you how to make a lined drawstring bag or pouch using the entire width of fabric. This beginner sewing project is perfect for storing small items, like a skein of yarn, an embroidery project, or use it as a reusable gift bag.

You'll be able to create a beautiful lined drawstring bag in no time! If you're new to sewing, or just want to learn a new sewing technique, this is the tutorial for you!

Materials you'll need for the lined drawstring bag:

- 112 X 29 cm [44"x11.4"], I used thew entire width of the fabric including the selvedge. You can easily adapt the size to your preference or to fit the fabric you have.

- 3 mm braided cotton cord

Finished size:  26.5 x 26 cm [10.4" x 10.2"]

In this video, I'l l be sew an unlined drawstring bag with French seams and a boxed bottom. This is a beginner-friendly project that you can easily complete in just a few hours.

If you're looking for a diy project to work on during your downtime, or you want to learn how to sew, then this is the video for you! I'll teach you step-by-step how to sew an unlined drawstring bag, and by the end of the video, you'll be able to sew a bag of your own.

Materials:

• 1 piece of fabric: 74 x 42 cm [29.1 x 16.5 inch] medium to heavy weight fabric like denim, canvas, ticking or plain weave cotton. My fabric is from Ikea 235 gsm.
• 2 x 95 cm [38.6 inch] braided cotton cord 8mm [5/16 inch]

Techniques used in the bag:

• French seams
• Boxed bottom

If you just started sewing you might wonder...How do you match thread to the fabric? Do I need to buy a matching colour for every sewing project? Because it can be hard to perfectly match your sewing thread to your fabric. Luckily, in many cases you don't have to exactly match the colour of the thread to the fabric. 

I recently had an interesting conversation on Etsy about how to pick colors to match the fabric of your sewing project.There is always some experimentation involved, but here are a few tips I've picked up during my sewing journey.

• Can't buy your thread locally and do you have to shop online? Buy a range of grey (light, medium, dark) and neutrals like beige, off-white, navy, black,etc. they blend in to many more fabrics than you'd think! If you end up using up one color faster than other colors, you can buy a bigger spool and save some money in the long run. This works for serger cones too!
  
  But do make an informed choice. So look into your wardrobe (if you sew clothes for yourself) and look at your favorite colors. Are they dark, light, bright, muted? For example: If you don't have anything white or black in your wardrobe you are probably not going to sew with them much.
  
  You can use them as a construction thread (to sew side seam) and in many cases for topstichting too especially on patterned fabrics. I find the colour of the thread is often most notable for buttonholes so you can do a test buttonhole to see if you think it's a good enough match.
  
  
• Go for a thread that's a shade darker than your fabric, these tend to blend in better than lighter options.
  
  
• Take a small fabric swatch when you go shopping for threads. I used to stuff a few fabric swatches into the little pocket in the back of my planner so I would have them with me if I went shopping for thread, other fabrics or notions.
  
  
• If you have a few options in your thread stash, first pull some thread from the spool and lay it over the fabric, squint to see which on blends in best. When in doubt sew a line of stitches of each option so you can compare them.
• Go for contrasting top stitching. This can work, but every wobble in your stitching will stand out.
  
  
• For patterned fabrics pick a colour closest to the colour that stands out most or is the background colour. Often grey will work too. 

And remember that with most sewing projects your are moving around and people won't even notice if the match isn't perfect. ;)

A few examples

In the images below you can see that even though a spool of thread sometimes looks quite different from the fabric once you pull out a length of thread some magically disappear. So always try a few threads even if they look like they don't match while still on the spool.

The blue fabric is made from white and blue threads, so which do you pick? I went with a grey colored thread which blends in really well.

For the patterned fabric I picked pink which doesn't match the dominant offwhite base, but I like how they look together. 

For the top stitching in this one I didn't really have a thread that perfectly matched any of the colors so so I picked a muted and darker red. You can see it's different up close, but when I wear it I don't notice it at all.

Next time you are sewing and don't have a perfect match at hand, I hope you'll try a few colors that, at first, don't seem like a perfect match.

Do you do this too? Do you have any additional tips? Let me know in the comments.