DIY Quick Hanging Fabric Bulletin Board

I don’t know about you guys, but sometimes I get in this mode where all of my creative energy gets focused on making projects that utilize the material that I already have at home.

While I love taking trips to the craft store, sometimes you start to see your bank account slowly go down and you realize that you need to tone it back a little bit, after all you probably have some amount fo craft supplies back at home that need some love.

Now that I recently started sewing, I am building up a large amount of fabric scraps that I have been eager to find a use for. I have also been on a streak of trying to make practical home decor items. That coupled with my home office becoming more of a reality, I have been wanting to make a bulletin board for a while now, and it has finally happened!

Personally I made this with things that I already had around the house, but if you have to go out and get these materials, it really shouldn’t break the bank, especially when you use the everyday coupons at places like Michaels, JoAnn, and Hobby Lobby. It also easily can be finished in about 30 minutes! So let’s dive in shall we?

Materials

• 1 Fat Quarter of Fabric (18″ X 21″)
• 3 Yards of Pom Pom Ribbon
• 1′ X 1′ piece of cardboard
• 1′ X 1′ some kind of squishy material
• Optional extra embellishments
• Hot Glue Gun
• Scissors

For the “squishy material”, i’m going to be 100% honest, I don’t know what the stuff I used is called, but I know I got it at Daiso. It is reflective on one side and a plastic spongey material on the other side. In general just try to find something with a little bit more squish to put between the fabric and the cardboard.

Construction

First you are going to cut out your piece of cardboard to 1′ X 1′. I had a box from Bath and Body Works which is why the cardboard is a cute gingham, it happened to be the perfect size!

Once you have your cardboard cute out, you can place it over whatever squishy material you are using and trace over it

Cut out your squishy material and hot glue it onto your cardboard piece. Since hot glue dries so fast, I glued an x onto the middle of cardboard piece and lined it up quickly with the squish material to keep it more structured. I then peeled up the edge pieces of the material and glued it down all along the edges.

Cut off any excess that you may have. It you traced and cut perfectly, but if you are kinda lazy like me, you will probably have a little bit of excess.

Place the 1′ X 1′ piece over your fat quarter of fabric. The fat quarter should be a quite a bit larger than the cardboard piece. If you wish to trim off most of the excess to use for something else, do that by all means! Just make sure you have at least 1″ of excess fabric around each side.

In the picture I had the squish side facing toward me, but don’t do that! haha. Make sure you have the squish side of the square against the fabric and have the cardboard facing you.

Simply fold the fabric over the edge of the square and hot glue it down. Similar to the way you glued earlier, since the hot glue dries really fast probably do little sections at a time to make sure all of the sections get glued down securely. The hot glue, as you can assume, is very hot so have something other than you hand to press the fabric down onto the glue so that you don’t burn yourself.

Once you have it all glued down, the back won’t be beautiful, but you won’t see it, so no harm done right? Flip the piece over and start gluing on your pom pom trim in small sections with small dots of hot glue. This is literally the part that took the most time and even then it was only 10-15 minutes.

Once you get all of your pom pom trim glued on, you should have some ribbon left over, which you have use as your hanging string by gluing it onto the upper back of the board.

Additionally you can add any other little embellishments that you wish to add to the corners. I had these fabric flowers that I needed to use for something and this felt like the time to do it! Once you make any additions you’d like you are done!

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial! As always if you have any questions or want to share your finished product, feel free to do so in the comments or on instagram!

Bow Tie Top McCall’s Sewing Pattern Review

Since I recently started sewing, I thought the best way to share my projects (with a purpose) is to do some sewing pattern reviews whenever I make a new piece! Do people do sewing pattern reviews? I swear I have seen them before, but of course now that I am specifically looking for some to reference, I cannot find a single one. I’m sure it’s a thing though.

While this isn’t the first pattern that I am following, I think it is likely going to be the first review that I post because I am so incredibly behind on taking photos of the finished garments (woops), but let’s go on and dive into this pattern review shall we?

Choosing the Pattern and Fabric

So when I began looking for a new pattern to follow, I knew that I wanted to focus on making tops for a while. The first pattern I ever followed was for a dress that wasn’t quick beginner friendly, so since then I decided that I should step back for a few projects and learn a little bit more before I tackle dresses again.

I am super guilty of being attracted to clothes that may be cute, but aren’t super practical or comfortable, so with that in mind I wanted to try to find patterns that I knew would be flattering, but also easy to wear.

I’ve only realized in the past couple years that I am truly a girly girl at heart, so if something has a bow on it, i’m immediately drawn to it. With that in mind, is it any wonder this is the pattern that I chose?

I decided to go with the McCall’s M7752 Misses’ Top Pattern.

I have been loving browsing the fabric aisles and there are so many cute fabrics I grab for smaller projects, but when it comes to choosing fabrics for garments, I have been rather picky.

Recently I have noticed that I tend to play it safe with the colors and patterns I choose for my clothing, not that there is anything wrong with that, but I have been wanting to step out of my comfort zone lately. I saw this bold colorful wave pattern and knew it would be great for this blouse. I know this fabric pattern is a little funky and not for everyone, but I really enjoy it!

Initial Thoughts

I had purchased a couple different patterns when I picked this one up and actually didn’t intend to make this one first because I thought it seemed a little more difficult than some of the other options. However, once I opened up the first pattern I realized that I accidentally purchased the wrong size. I wasn’t about to let a night of productivity go to waste, so I decided to do this pattern first after all.

Upon reviewing the instructions, I realized that this pattern is a McCall’s “Create It” pattern, in which you are supposed to mix and match different parts on the pattern to make your ideal top! I hadn’t seen a pattern like that yet (and clearly didn’t realize that when I purchased it). While I thought this was a really cool idea, I also started to think that it might make the process a little more complicated to understand, thankfully it didn’t!

Construction

There were quite a few mix and match options for this pattern, but I decided to go for the bow front (2), single peplum (6) and straps (4)

Overall, the instructions are very easy to follow, there really aren’t any curveballs. This was my first time following a McCall’s pattern and the construction process is definitely more refined than the cheaper patterns out there.

Not that it is revolutionary, but this pattern calls for lining and boning, which were two things I never worked with (1 of which I still haven’t worked with). I did partake in trying out lining for the first time, but I decided to forgo the boning. It didn’t specify, but after a few try on’s I feel like it would only have been necessary if you decided to make a strapless top. I’m sure it would help give the top more structure, but I still decided i didn’t need it.

This pattern also called for an invisible zipper, which I was pretty terrified of, I have purposefully been avoiding projects with zippers, but much to my amazement I actually found a really easy way to install them, as long as it’s a back zipper. Ultimately you baste the opening where the zipper will be closed, press the hem open and sew the zipper onto the pressed hem and when you are done you seam rip the original basted section and voila!

Hiccups

While the pattern itself was easy to follow, I did have a couple little hiccups during the construction process.

1. Pattern Pieces – This could just be because I am a beginner, but there were 2 or 3 pattern pieces in which the cut lines were rather confusing to know where to follow. From a beginner’s eye, it wasn’t immediately intuitive, so in the end I just kind of winged it, but I think I got it right??
2. Interfacing – Literally the first step is to iron interfacing onto all of the bra pieces and I went ahead and completely forgot to do it. I’m sure it would have been useful to have, but I still think my top looked good and felt stable and comfortable without it
3. Bow Hem – The second step is to sew a narrow hem onto the front bow overlay. I thought that this part seemed weird because the drape of bows is unpredictable, so you would likely have times where the wrong side of the fabric would be showing when you wear the top. I thought maybe there was an extra step later to address that, but there wasn’t. So if you have a problem with the wrong side of the fabric and the hem being visible, I would get a little extra fabric and have the bow be double sided, it may add a little bit of bulk, but i’m sure it would be fine.
4. Fabric Pattern – Again this is probably because I am a beginner, but if you have a single direction pattern, be sure to really pay attention to how you attach the pieces. I attached the opposite pieces quite a few times which cause some of the waves to be upside down and had to do a lot of seam ripping and restitching to fix it. Don’t be like me haha.
5. Straps – When I tried to measure how long i needed my straps to be, I tried them on with my posture being” proper”, however, in most cases I don’t actually stand that straight, so once I sewed them on, they were far too loose when I naturally slouched a little. So make sure you test our your strap length a couple times before you sew them on.

Final Thoughts

Overall I really enjoyed this pattern/ garment. The fact that it was mix and match as really fun and easy to follow. I mean part of making your own clothes is to make them super customized to your style right? So this is the perfect kind of pattern to make something that is true to you!

Although McCall’s patterns are a little more pricey, I really loved all of the detail of the pattern and the quality of the finished garment as well, so I will definitely be getting more of their patterns in the future!

If you are thinking of trying this pattern out, I hope any amount of this information helped you out!

An Adventure Into Sewing

Hello Everyone!

If you read my last post you will know that I have been going through a bit of a creative slump lately (honestly when aren’t I though?). Every time this happens I feel like the reasons can vary, if I can even pin them down in the first place (sewing pun intended). However, along with the reasoning being different, the solution is often different as well.

Easy DIY Yarn Coasters

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If there is one thing I have been looking for in every project that I have worked on lately, it is that I want it to be easy. As you may know, my motivation levels have been at an all time low, so my definition of easy doesn’t always coincide with others. I’m sure we have all seen those DIY tutorials that have EASY slapped all over the title and then you get to the nitty gritty and it doesn’t actually seem that simple.

Sometimes we just need the simple satisfaction of getting something done, and that is usually easiest to do when the project takes minimal supplies and can be finished in under an hour or so, because that is often my limit of when my motivation will run out.

Another thing that I always try to look for in a project is that it is practical. If i’m going to dedicate my time to making something, I’d like it to be something that I will use and brownie points if it can save me money in some way.

My boyfriend and I are planning on getting our first home soon, up until now we have only had apartments, which in my opinion just can never really feel like a true home. Now, there are a million reasons why I am incredibly thrilled at the prospect of having an actual home, but i’m not fooling myself into thinking that it will be a walk in the park either.

One things that has definitely been on my mind is simply how many new things we will have to buy when the time comes to actually move. Generally I would like to say that I am a fairly frugal person, so the thought of a home essential shopping spree is a little stressful.

With that in mind, I have been trying to think of practical projects I can DIY so it can be one thing we can check off the list. I know I can’t build a bookshelf or a washing machine, but if there are little things I can work up that will help us in our new home then I’m gonna go for it.

The idea of making coasters has been stuck in my mind for so long, but there was never any design or method that I could stick through making multiples of. So I rummaged around my craft supplies to see what I already had and could make use of and soon enough I had 5 coasters in about an hour! (My ideal project! *insert heart eyes here*)

Materials

• Felt (or any stable material you can cut into a circle and put glue on)
• A cup or container to trace your circle
• Hot Glue Gun/ Refills of Hot Glue Sticks
• 2 Colors (or more) of Yarn (I recommend using a 100% cotton yarn such as Lily Sugar and Cream as it is more heat safe than other fibers if you plan on using the coaster for hot drinks)
• Scissors

Cut The Felt

This step is very self explanatory, but simply take whatever glass or container you wish to be the stencil for your coaster (or this can absolutely be made into any shape you’d like), place the stencil on the felt and trace around it. Then cut out the piece that you have traced.

Constructing The Coaster

At this point we can literally just jump into constructing the coaster. you will be using quite a bit of a hot glue and it can get messy so make sure you set something down on your work space that you don’t mind getting glue all over.

The entire process is really rather straightforward and simple. Take your yarn (which you don’t need to cut from the skein yet) and align as many strands as you would like in the pattern that you would like them to repeat on the coaster (you can get as creative as you want here really). Make sure you have them ready to place onto the coaster as the glue will dry quickly.

Starting from the top of the felt piece, apply a line of hot glue, line up your yarn above the hot glue, making sure to have a little bit of the yarn strands go over the edges of your felt. Once you have it positioned, press the yarn into the hot glue (pressing upwards slightly to get it as close to the top edge of the felt as possible). Clip your yarn strands, again leaving a little bit over the edge of the felt.

As usual when working with hot glue, be sure to be careful because the glue, much like the name implies, is hot. I have fallen victim to hot glue burns plenty of times in my day (at the ripe age of 25) and they are no fun.

As to be expected, you simply continue the last step of apply glue and pressing down your patterned strands of yarn all the way down the coaster.

When you have glued on all of your yarn strands, you will flip the coaster over, so that you have a clear line to follow when trimming the extra yarn bits on the edges. Then when you turn it over, you will have a clean circle!

There you have it!! It is super easy to whip up a whole set of these in under an hour and it doesn’t take a lot of supplies at all!. I chose to experiment with a border for the coaster as shown below, but i decided to make the rest of the without the border in the end. It is a very simple concept that you can get as creative as you want with!

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial! As always if you end up making your own coasters feel free to tag me on social media if you share any photos! I’d love to see your work! Additionally if you have any questions please email me or leave it in the comment section below. Happy crafting!