marie-madeline studio

pillowcase fun!

Hello again. Here's the little tutorial for your own patched pillowcase! It's very simple...

First thing... cut a piece of fabric 31 inches long. (Of course your fabric is the standard 45 inches wide.)

 

Now. Open your piece of fabric up all the way. And don't forget your scraps! (Rather large pieces, we might add!)

 
We used a Yo-yo template to make our circles. If a strip happens to catch your fancy, use it!

 
With your main piece of fabric fully opened, start by laying out different sized circles and strips in a manner that's pleasing to you.

 
Using a zig-zag stitch, stitch along the sides of your circles, strips or squares.

 
Now that you've sewn all your lovelies down, stand back and admire your work!

 
Fold it in half, right sides together, once more. Stitch down one short side and the only long side.

 
Clip corners. Then do a small hem.

 
Turn right side out. YOUR PILLOWCASE IS DONE!!

 
We'll try to be back soon. If you like this little tutorial, perhaps you'd like this one as well! Has Spring been keeping you all busy? It has us!

Love, the Long ladies 

the tutorial: decorate your board!

 Hi all!  Here we are again for the fun tutorial we were telling y'all about.  We've been covering our bulletin boards for a few years now.  We think this makes a regular-old-board great enough to put in bedrooms too!  We decided to punch up our sewing bulletin boards when we were moving the studio, so we did almost all of these at about midnight (remember, Nanny?).  Oh, the fun!

So, now it's your turn to cover a plain bulletin board and make it pop!  Enjoy!  xo~the Long ladies

The Bulletin Board-Covering Tutorial

1. Get a desired piece of fabric that's 3" or 4" larger than your board.  Now cut a piece of batting slightly smaller than your piece of fabric.

3. Layer board, fabric, and batting together as follows: fabric right side down-batting-board cork side down.

4. Wrap one end of fabric + batting over end of board and at an angle push a straight pin in it. (It's very important to push the pins in at an angle to prevent the pins from sticking in to the right side!)  Stretch fabric on opposite side and repeat same procedure.  Make sure you keep the fabric nice and taut!

5. "Pleat" corner up, making a clean, smooth corner and stick straight pins in.  Repeat with the other corner on the same side and continue "pleating" until you've done all four corners.

6. Pulling tightly, finish sides same as ends (see step 4).  Remember to push the straight pins in at an angle!  You can also use scissors or another firm instrument to help push pins in-- that's what we do!

Turn over and admire!  If you want, feel free to leave it plain (even though it's not really plain), or continue with the next steps to add ric rac or ribbons to make "triangles" to slip pictures, etc. in!

7. Measure the short edge of your board and mark that length on the long edge.  Using these measurements, it will be easy for you to decide how far apart you want your ric rac (or ribbon).

8. Put the ric rac-- leaving excess so you can pull it onto the back and put a straight pin in-- at an angle from one short corner edge, to the place that you've marked in step 7.  Pull tightly and push a straight pin in the back.  Do the same from the opposite edge.   

9. Continue, using the same method as step 8, across your board, making little "squares".  Make sure to measure to allow the ric rac to be spaced evenly.

10. Stick little decorative head pins (we found our's at JoAnn's) on the "crossed" ric rac marks.  Or you can also hot glue buttons on it.  

All done!  Now, comes another fun part--- stick a bunch of lovely things in your revamped bulletin board!

Here's some more of our bulletin board adventures!

 

Invisible zippers aren't so scary, after all.

   (the finished product!) 
One of our very dear, amazingly-talented seamstress pals couldn't believe we'd never installed an invisible zipper before.  And we couldn't believe her when she told us they were really quick and easy.  That was a little over a year ago.  Since then, we Long ladies have never purchased another regular zipper!  Because, you know, the invisible kind really are simpler after all.

So... if you've never ventured into the world of invisible zippers, now's the time!  Hopefully, this little tutorial will help.

easy-peasy invisible zipper installation -- with pictures!

What you will need for this project:

~A garment, of course.  For our method of installation, your garment will have to be finished, except for the side seam.  (For example, if you're making a skirt with a facing, the facing will need to be completely finished, except for the zippered-side seam.  All of our sewing patterns use this technique.)

~A zipper foot to fit your machine.  Coats & Clark makes these, but some machines (like our Janomes) require specially-made invisible zipper feet.  The foot...

 
~An invisible zipper that matches your project.  We like to use 12-14" zippers when making skirts, and 20-22" zippers for dresses or (most) jumpers.

Note: These instructions are similar to the Coats & Clark way, with the typical Long-lady-tweaking.  As always, we love to hear about your tips and tricks, too!

Step 1- First of all, when installing invisible zippers, you'll need to leave the entire side seam of your garment OPEN.  Now, un-zip your zipper.  From the wrong side, iron the zipper coils flat.  You should see two rows of stitching.  We like to lay our zippers on top of an old towel to keep them from slipping around while we iron.  Oh yes -- and be sure not to press them for too long, or they'll melt!  (Been there, done that.)

Step 2 - Align the top of the zipper teeth with the top edge of your garment, with right sides together.  Using your seam gauge, pin the zipper to your garment at 5/8".  Basically, there will be 5/8" from the raw edge of your unfinished seam to the edge of the zipper.  (The zipper teeth will be facing down, furthest from the raw edge.)

Step 3 - Position your zipper foot over the teeth of your zipper.  The teeth should fit nicely into the little groove in the foot.  Start stitching, being sure to back-stitch at the beginning of your seam.  Stitch until the zipper stop stops you.  (Almost to the very bottom of the zipper.)  Back-stitch again.

Step 4 - Flip the free half of your zipper over onto the free side of your garment, so the right sides are facing.  (Did that make any sense?)  Now pin & stitch the zipper onto the garment, using the instructions in Step 2.  You should now have a functioning zipper, with the side seam below it completely open.  (You'll have to turn the zipper pull "right side out", before you can zip it up.)

   (before you flip the zipper over.................... then after the right sides are together)

Once you've stitched the other half of your zipper to the other side of your skirt (and flipped the zipper pull right side out), it should look like this...

Step 5 - Zip up your zipper, about half way.  Lay your skirt (inside out) with the side seams together.  Pin the rest of the side seam closed.  Starting about 1/8" from the zipper seam and approximately 3/8" from the bottom of the stitching, start stitching your side seam closed.  (After you've sewn about 2 1/2" down, you'll probably want to remove your zipper foot and switch to your regular foot.)

Step 6 - Clip into the side seam right below the end of your zipper tape.  Finish the seam below the clip.  Press seam to one side.

 
Step 7 - (If you don't have any pinking sheers, you can skip this step.  We like to pink the seams because it helps to prevent fraying.)  Pink the edge of the fabric alongside the zipper tape.  So it looks like this, when you're through...

Step 8 - Go back up to the top of your zipper.  Fold the zipper tape under the seam allowance, and pin in place.  From the right side, topstitch at 1/4" down about 1/2".  This should catch your zipper tape neatly.

 

Voila!  It's all done.  (You may hem your skirt now.)

 

Happy sewing!

xoxo, the Long ladies