McCalls 6873 Sewing Pattern Review - Boys Pants from an Old Suit

Suit pants with an elasticated waist and they're supper simple to make.  I've made this pair from an old pair of gents suit trousers.  

Tools and Materials:

Most of my sewing stash comes form the lovely people at Minerva Crafts.

Pin, sew and serge front to back at inside leg.

Pin, sew and serge centre seam.

Pin, sew and serge side seams.

Serge hems and waist.

Press.

Cut elastic and sew ends together.

Insert elastic into casing.

Top stitch waist band and hem with a twin needle.

Purple Satin Irish Chain Patchwork Quillow (Pillow / Quilt) Sewing Tutorial

I love to give quilts as wedding presents.  This one is made entirety from reclaimed fabrics in the brides favourite colour.  The quilt can be folded up and tucked into a pocket on one side so that it can also be used as a cushion, known as a quillow.

Tools and Materials:

Purple Curtains

Black Sheet

Purple Throw

Most of my sewing stash comes form the lovely people at Minerva Crafts.

Here's my scribbles.  I always start by drawing the quilt design on paper so I can get an idea of the number of blocks I need for the size of quilt I want to make.  

The large blocks are 9" square so I've cut a strip of purple fabric 9.5" wide and 171" (18 x 9.5) long.

The small blocks are 3" square.  The strips for these are 3.5" wide by (18 x 5 x 3.5) 315" long.

I start by sewing together the 3.5" strips using a 1/4" seam allowance.

Then I cut these to 3.5" wide.

At this point I've counted the pieces and arranged them to make sure I have the right amount.  I've also made a set of three strips for the end of the block.

I sew the pieces together.

Then sew the finished blocks together.

I've pinned and sewn together the patchwork and throw.

Then quilted by stitching in the ditch around each block.

The pocket is made from some leftover blocks.

I've bound the edges as described in my earlier Quilt Binding Tutorial.

And here is the finished quilt in it's quillow form.

Patchwork Baby Quilt Sewing Project

I'm making a simple baby blanket for a friend.  I've alreday made the quilt top so I thought I'd record how to make up the actual quilt while I've got a small one to photograph.  Big quilts are done in just the same way except that they are so much more unwieldy!!

I've made the quilt top using a cushion cover I made for my daughter's bedroom when she was a baby.  My beloved huge floor cushions didn't really work in her bedroom so my patchwork was hardly used.  I'm glad it's getting a second life with a new owner.  I've run out of wadding so I used some fleece.  The backing is made from scraps leftover from making the original bedding.

Tools and Materials:

Most of my sewing stash comes form the lovely people at Minerva Crafts.

Lay the quilt top onto the wadding and that onto the quilt back.

Pin this quilt sandwich together.

Sew along the seam lines between the main blocks.

Trim away the excess fabric leaving a straight edge.

Apply the binding as described here - Quilt binding tutorial.

And stitch the binding in place.