Heart Shaped Pillows for Valentine's Day

*This post contains affiliate links

Several days ago, I was searching the internet for a cute heart shaped pillow to give to our granddaughter for Valentine's day. Since she is only 2 years old, I was looking for a cute, smaller pillow that didn't cost an arm and a leg. After about an hour of searching and not finding anything, I realized (duh) that I could probably make one faster than I could find one that fit my criteria because I have quite a bit of fabric I've purchased and not used (yet) and smaller pieces of fabric leftover from other projects.

 

I found these two fabrics and texted this pic to our youngest daughter and asked her which one she liked better. 

I was hoping she'd pick the super soft stretchy raised dot fleece ivory fabric and not the Waverly floral print that was a small scrap leftover from the balloon shades I made for our girls' nursery in the early 1990s.
She picked the floral, so I decided to make two heart shaped pillows.

I quickly cut out two heart patterns from a roll of dot paper I've had since I worked in the fashion industry in Los Angeles over 30 years ago. You can make a pattern out of a paper bag or other large piece of paper.
Then, I pinned the patterns to each fabric and cut two pieces of each...2 of the ivory fabric in the large heart pattern and 2 of the floral fabric with the smaller heart pattern. 

Then, I stitched the two pieces together (right sides facing each other) and turned them right side out. I left an opening on one of the straight sides large enough to get my hand through and put the batting in.

I had some sheet batting, so I cut it up in small pieces and bunched them up. I also cut some larger pieces to put on top if it was lumpy. 

You can see the part that was not sewn and left open in this pic. I just kept stuffing until it looked good and didn't feel too firm. 

Just about perfect and ready to close. I still kept adding batting as I sewed the opening shut by hand.

All finished and ready to ship.

This project cost me ZERO as I had everything I needed in my craft room. 

Mr. DIY shipped the pillows (and a few other Valentine's gifts) to our granddaughter this morning. 

You can see another Valentine's heart sewing project HERE.

Thanks for stopping by!

Pam

*This post contains affiliate links, which means I'll make a small commission if you purchase something from one of these links. So thanks in advance, if you do!

Little Vintage Lace Valentine Heart Pillow

Many, many years ago, I had a little, puffy, vintage looking, heart shaped pillow. I can't remember where I bought it,  but I kept it in the master closet at our last house. A few weeks ago, I remembered I hadn't seen it since we moved a year and a half ago.  I looked high and low for it, but haven't been able to find it. With Valentine's Day coming up soon, I was frustrated that I couldn't find it.

Since my craft room is filled with lots of vintage lace my grandmother made and leftover fabric from clothing she made for her granddaughters when my cousins and I were little, plus lots of other little lovelies I've collected over the years, I decided to sit down and make a new little puffy vintage pillow of my own,
Next time I'll show you how I made it, but for now, I'll just show you a few pretty  photos. 

The pearl shank buttons were left over  from when I made my wedding dress 32 years ago. I hand stitched them on some tatted lace my grandmother made, which is sewn on top of a pink embroidered fabric that was a good sized remnant from an Easter dress she made my cousin.

The lace doily and variegated pink thread crochet flower was also made by my grandmother many, many years ago, probably in the 1920s. The ribbon rose on top of the crochet flower is a little flower left over from when I made headbands for our girls when they were toddlers. 

More of my grandmother's tatted lace edging cover up the edges of a strip of fabric that our oldest daughter gave me several years ago. My grandmother and her sisters used to sit on their porches in the evenings and tatt lace edgings to eventually sew onto pillow cases. The pillow cases and other embelished linens would fill their Hope chest for when they would eventually get married. The faux diamond shank button was found in my button collection. 

There you have it.

A new little puffy vintage pillow with a lot of history.

If you'd like to see how to make the Vintage Lace Valentine Heart Pillow, you can find out HERE

Thanks for stopping by

Pam

How A Magnetic Pincushion Saved The Day

Everyone should have a magnetic pincushion.

I know you're wondering, "well that's random".

You know those moments when you see something on Facebook, which leads you to Amazon, which makes your mind wander and remember something that happened to you a long, long, LONG time ago?
Then you wonder, well heck, how did that happen?

Yep, just happened to me  today and I thought I'd tell you about it.
It's one of my very first DIY, I did it myself stories; not a house project DIY, but a fix your car when you're stranded 30 miles from home DIY story. Grab a cup of coffee or tea and I'll tell you about it...

Ottoman Slipcover

How are you friends? 

I'm hoping you're doing well and having some fun. 

Mr. DIY and I are still working on the "get the house ready to sell" list day and night and on weekends.Today I  painted the deck stairs.(the deck is on the second floor since we have a walkout basement) The deck floor is next...and it's my last painting project. 

Hurray!!!

I believe we have painted about 95% of all the trim in our big house and about 85% of the walls.
Of course, we didn't forget the front door and sidelights and the posts and arches on the front porch...oh and the deck. 

We still have to clean carpets, do a final clear out of the basement and clean/clear out the garage.(and it's awful)
Did I mention this has to be done by the end of this month?

After all that, the house has to be staged to look pretty.

Which brings me to the ottoman in my bedroom. 
I bought it several years ago for $30 when it was on sale at Pier One.  It really doesn't look good with the chair in my bedroom the way it is and there may have been an little run in with some of Mr. DIY's barbecue sauce, so I needed to make a slipcover for it.

I ordered some fabric from Fabric.com and it arrived a few weeks ago. I found a tutorial online over at  Sew 4 Home and it helped me figure it out. I sat down one evening and measured, then last week I cut out the fabric. Finally yesterday I started sewing. 

Not bad for a first try. I'd do a couple of things differently should I have to make another one, but 

overall I think it came out pretty good. At least, it's good enough. There's no time for perfection these days.
I think I'll put the slipcover away for now and bring it out when the house is all finished just in case there's another run in with barbecue sauce.

Hope you're having a good day!

Pam

How To Make A Liner For A Basket

In between doing projects for the Mountain Cottage, I've also been trying to keep up with projects that need to be done at home. 
Painting the Laundry Room has been on our project list for a lonnnnngggg time.  The paint was purchased last March, hangs head in shame.  
Well, about a month ago,  Mr. DIY came home from work one day and was surprised that I had already started. One morning I just couldn't take it anymore and decided to open the can of paint. There was no going back once I cut in the corners! 

I still have one more project to do before the new Laundry Room is revealed. 

If you remember, the Laundry Room looked like this...

The new paint color is lighter and brighter and the old baskets that I keep Laundry Room essentials in didn't look good with the new paint. 

So, just like the wall art I painted (you can click HERE if you missed it), I used a couple of cans of Rust-Oleum Paint and Primer to paint the baskets white. 

Here's how I made the liners:

The old basket liners were taken out of the baskets and I started to measure them, but found it so much easier to measure one of the baskets. 

I measured height, width and the bottom, then made a pattern  for each side and added 1/2" for seam allowance all the way around. I also added 3" for the fold over on the top. The 3" also included 1" for a seam allowance. 

Since the pattern was very large and wanted the pattern in a specific place, I placed the pattern paper over the fabric until it looked good, then I cut out the fabric.

You can either sew the top finished edge first like this- fold under 1" and fold 1/2" of that under and sew or...

...you can sew the all the sides together first, then fold the top finished edge over the side seams and sew the top edge last. 

I always have to remind myself...right sides together!

I had to rip out one seem on this project because I wasn't paying attention! This is why when I sew, the seam ripper is my best friend. 

On the first basket liner, I sewed the top edge first. 

On the 2nd and 3rd basket, I sewed the side seams first then sewed the top last. 

I think I like the top seam sewn last. 

Once you sew the sides together and the top seam, then sew the bottom to the top.

Place the liner in the basket to see how it fits.

Here's a look at the baskets all finished. 

This could also be done as a no sew project if you don't know how to sew, just follow the same steps above. 

In the last photo, you see the wall paint(although it's more minty than gray) and you see a peek of the final project on my list for the Laundry Room.

Looking forward to showing you the finished Laundry Room...hopefully in a couple of weeks.

I'm off to SoCal for a week again, (by myself this time) to help my dad with cleaning and organizing his home.

Follow me on Instagram for what's happening behind the scenes.

Leave me a comment and tell me what your favorite sewing project (or no sew project) is!

Pam

How To Make A Hobo Bag

This post contains affiliate links, which means if you purchase something from the link, I'll make a small commission.

Several years ago, I bought a hobo bag from Forever 21 and absolutely loved it and used it all the time. It's always been on my mental project list to make one just like it and finally decided to make one for the Haven bloggers conference coming up in a few days.

I wanted to make  the bag with longer straps so it can be worn across the body and wanted to have pockets inside that would fit my cell phone, sunglasses and some room for pens. 

It's pretty easy to knock off a pattern from an existing cloth bag. Sewing this bag is another story and I had to figure things out as I went along.

For all you who just want to see the finished project, skip down.... a whole bunch!  This is a pretty long tutorial, so scroll down if you don't want to read through all the instructions. 
 Some of you might just want to pin this post to one of your boards on Pinterest for a later date.

Here are the details:

First off, I had one yard of fabric for the lining and straps(black fabric) and one yard of fabric for the patterned fabric. Your yardage may vary depending on the size of the bag you are making. 

You can find similar (very sharp) fabric shears HERE

To make the pattern, trace the bag on some pattern paper. You can use any type of paper or even a cut up paper bag.

To make sure the pattern is even,  fold the pattern down the center. Then add 1/2" seam allowances for every seam.

To make the pocket patterns, put a 1/2" pleat in the paper lengthwise and make the pattern a little larger than the item you want to put in it. Add 1 1/4" seam allowance at the top of the pocket and 1/2" on the other 3 sides.

The steps above are repeated for the other 2 pockets. Cut one of each. 

I may have an obsession with C-Thru Rulers. They come in 6", 12" and 18" in pink and if you can find them; blue

...find them HERE

Since my fabric had a symmetrical pattern, I placed the paper pattern  over the patterned fabric and lined up the design on the fabric to line up with the center of the bag.

 Cut 2 of the patterned fabric and 2 of the contrasting lining fabric.

I measured the straps and added the length that I wanted to allow me to wear the bag across my body. 

Make your straps the length and width that you like. 

Starting with the pockets,  iron the seam allowances(1 1/4" on the top and 1/2" on the other 2 sides)

Sew the top 1" seam allowance. Fold over the seam allowance 1/4" and sew at 1" on each piece(don't sew it to the black lining yet)

Pin a 1/2" pleat at the bottom.

It's easiest to start with the small center pocket first by placing the pocket where it looks good on the lining. The bottom of the pocket is sewn to  lining first.

Stitch the right side of the pocket, then measure the bottom of the pocket and line up the left side of the pocket by making sure the top is the same measurement as the bottom of the pocket. 

Sew the left pocket next by placing the left pocket up against the small center pocket  and sewing the right side of the pocket and the bottom.

Line up the left side of the left pocket the same way as the center pocket. 

Place the right pocket up against the smaller second pocket, pin and sew the 3 sides. 

Voila! pockets are attached to the lining. Check the pockets to see if the items you want to keep in them will fit. 

Next, with right sides together of the main (patterned) fabric, I placed a pin 5" down on both sides. (the right side is shown) Then  I sewed  the side from the pin down, then continued to sew the bottom, then up the other side up to the pin on the left side. 

Your hobo bag might be a little different.

I decided to round off the corner by sewing across the corner. I also cut off the corner after.

 Repeat the above steps with the  lining fabric, only  don't sew the bottom...sew the sides only.

Turning  the right sides out, this is what they look like at this point. Notice the bottom edge of the black lining is not sewn.  You now basically have 2 bags.

This is a little tricky, but put the lining bag into the pattern bag, wrong sides of the lining fabric to the wrong sides of the outside fabric. Pin and turn right side out, just to make sure that you will be stitching the correct sides.

Stitch all but the tops (where the straps will be attached) and the bottoms of the bags

Clip the fabric  around  any curves.

I  clipped the fabric several times in the center  of the bag.

Sew the long sides of the straps with right sides together and then turn them right side out.

This is where it gets tricky again.  The straps will be attached to the body of the purse at the top ...see photo. The straps are in between the pattered outside fabric and the lining fabric(right sides together)

Sew the seam, then turn right side out to check again.  Here's what it should look like.

Pull the black lining out, press (iron) the seam allowance inside (with right sides together.) Then top stitch the bottom. 

I attached a button just for looks  and to add my blog name tag to it for Haven coming up on Thursday.

Now to the final product!

 Tada! I'm always excited when something comes out well.

Phew! That was a long post...maybe my longest post EVER!

Check another project off the list...

feels so0000 good. 

Leave me a short comment and tell me what you think- I read every one!

Pam

You might like to see how I made a Basket From A Wine Box. 
You can find it here. 

 p.s. I found my fabric at Fabric.com. They did not compensate me in any way for this post.
Disclaimer: The above post is how I made our my hobo bag.  I don't take any responsibility for any errors or results obtained from using this information. When using power tools, use safety equipment.