DIY Dainty Summer Kitchen Rod Pocket Curtains

I've been working on sorting and restoring my Mom's fabric and retaso (scrap fabric) stash. I've been toiling over it for the past few months and decided to take a break by sewing. I restored a cute, embroidered fabric. It still had some stains, so I thought it best to make kitchen curtains. 

Since the fabric was a bit short, I decided to "upgrade" my curtain sewing skills, by adding a different kind of fabric to make it longer. I matched it with some soft denim fabric and added lace. I wanted to try make table top curtains (the one with loops), but I'm still doing a lot of other stuff, so went for my usual rod pocket curtains.

Here's how I made it:

The result:

Measurements based on my kitchen window:

I just also realized the new curtains match my cat kitchen appliance covers!

Potholder Made from Scrap Jeans

I found a bunch of scrap jeans coasters my Mom made back in the 90s. I remember it was a project she was doing with one of her assistants. It smelled of the 90s so I washed it and sun-dried it for a few days. Mom gave me one potholder a long time ago and we still use it. Quite sturdy IMHO!

I got to work and made another one. Hand sewing it together took two days and it wasn't easy (and probably why Mom abandoned the project!). Here's how I made the potholder:

It was a good first project for the year! I've been busy sorting my Mom's stuff and needed a breather, so I got to work :)

#BeKind #StaySafe

Quilted Throw Pillow Case for a Doctor

I have this really cute fabric perfect for doctors. It has hearts and squiggly lines representing ECGs. Last time I used it was to make gifts for my doctors in Singapore. I have a new set and thought I'd make something for my current set of doctors. 

I decided to make a throw pillow case for one of my doctors. She had a pillow in her clinic. I asked permission to measure it and surprised my doctor with the throw pillow case during my next appointment. I still wanted to learn something new for this project, so I made heart accents for the throw pillow case. I'll share next time how I made it (I'm still trying to perfect it). 

Here's how I made it:

Materials:

themed fabric

red fabric

black fabric

fabric for the back of the pillow

fusible interfacing

batting

backing fabric

Size:

17" x 17"

Quilted Monochromatic Tote Bag

From a bag full of colors, I thought I'd try doing something opposite. Black and white, well, a gradient from black to white. It took me a long time to finish this project since I lacked fabric that's in-between white and black. I eventually found some and got to work. It's a belated birthday gift for a friend and she told me she liked her totes to be black.

I didn't want it to be just black, so I thought I'd play around with the color. Oh boy, I didn't realize how hard it would be to find the best layout for the fabric. It took me awhile just to get it right. I had to consult with my son since he's better with colors than me. Things were easy after the layout was finalized. 

Here's how I made it:

Materials:

96 2.5" x 2.5" various fabric from black to white

lining

fusible interfacing

batting

thread

iron

Size:

12" x 16"

Quilted Heart Tote Bag

I definitely made a lot of hearts! I decided to make a heart themed tote bag for a friend during pride month. He loved it and has been using the tote bag to carry around gadgets. 

Having ready-made hearts makes it easy to create other projects. For this tote bag project, I just added fabric to the top and bottom. Ironed it on interfacing and sandwiched it with batting. After stitching in the ditch, I added the straps and the lining. Easy peasy :)

Here's how I made it:

Materials:

11 fabric colors (I love making rainbows!)

black fabric

thread

iron

Size:

15.5" x 12"

Make Multiple Heart Quilts

I love making heart themed quilts. I had an idea to make a smaller one to make several projects, so I thought I'd make multiple hearts to save me time from cutting fabric. I was inspired to make this from Pinterest. I saw it a couple of years ago and worked on figuring out the measurements. That's one thing I enjoy about quilting... the math! And that's why I usually work things out on a math notebook so I know how best to cut fabric. 

Here's how I make multiple heart quilts:

Materials:

11 fabric colors (I love making rainbows!)

black fabric

thread

iron

Measurements:

Star Wars Themed Quilt Cover for a Bench

This quilt cover project has been on my to-do list since 2022! I decided to just bite the bullet and start it last January. I thought I could finish it in two to three weeks, but no, it stretched to almost six weeks. I got busy doing other home projects. 

The design is quite simple, but making twelve pieces of 4x4 squares took awhile to make. I also decided to use the QAYG technique since the main quilt cover measures 58" x 44". I basically made a blanket with flaps. I left the flap open since the bench doubles as storage space. It's where I keep things that need to be further sorted (haha). 

Here's how I made the quilted cover:

Materials:

fabric with design (I used a Star Wars themed fabric which I got from Spotlight in Singapore)

four solid colors fabric (orange, yellow, blue, green)

black fabric (for sashing and binding)

backing fabric 

Design:

Size:

Main Cover - 58" x 44" 

Flaps: 20" x 12"

Wonder Woman Tote Bag

I decided to start the year by making something useful and cute. I also wanted the satisfaction of finishing a project in a few days, so I made a tote bag. It was inspired from a jute bag given to me. It's the perfect size to carry stuff at home (I don't like putting stuff in my pocket). I'm now using the one I just made to house my portable air purifier and fan which I bring whenever we go out. I love it. 

For this project I wanted to start strong so I chose to use the Wonder Woman fabric I got from Spotlight. I matched it with pseudo demin fabric to bring out the colors. Figuring out the size of the pieces and piecing them together was easy. I couldn't find my stash of bag straps, so I ended up learning how to make bag straps for this project. You can also watch the video here.

Here's how I made the tote bag:

Materials:

fabric with design

solid color fabric (I used pseudo jeans)

fusible interfacing

wadding

backing fabric

thread

If making the strap:

solid color fabric

1.5" fusible interfacing (the thicker one for straps)

thread

Size: 8.5" x 4" x 9.5" (bag); 16" x 1.5" (strap)

Steps:

1. Measure and cut pieces of fabric.

2. Piece together fabric of main bag (top + middle + bottom + base). 

3. Iron the main bag and then add on fusible interfacing. Do the same for the sides of the bag. 

4. Sandwich with wadding and backing fabric. 

5. Stitch in the ditch the main bag. I used parallel lines for the sides. 

6. Assemble the main bag and the sides.

7. Bind the exposed parts. Start with the sides of the bag and then the top. 

8. Add the straps.

How to Make a Bag Strap

I wanted to start the year with a fun project. I decided to make a bag inspired by a jute bag a friend gave me. I love the shape and size of the bag. I use one daily at home to carry stuff from room to room. While making the bag, I discovered I couldn't find the straps I've collected over the years! I didn't want to waste time looking for the straps, so I decided to just DIY it. 

Here's the tutorial:

Luckily, I had all the materials on hand. Here's what you need:

fabric

1.5" interfacing 

thread

iron

Here are the steps to make it:

1. Cut fabric, two 3.5" x 16.5" strips

2. Fold the fabric in half.

3. Position the interfacing in the middle.

4. Fold in the sides. 

5. Sew all the sides.

Santa Potholder

I love Santa and I just had to make a Santa-inspired potholder. One can never have enough potholders, so why not have one just for the holiday season! I honestly started making this last September, but I got distracted with other projects. I set it aside in my scrap fabric stash and forgot about it. Found it the other day while organizing stuff and decided to finish it. Easy peasy. It just took one session to finish the project.

Here's the tutorial:

Materials:

red fabric with Christmas design

black fabric 

red fabric for wadding and backside of the potholder

backing fabric

insulation wadding

regular wadding (I like my potholders a bit thick)

gold thread

red thread

Size:

8.5" x 7"

Pattern:

Holiday Pinwheel Potholder

I finished this project in a few hours. I rushed to finish it for a friend who was visiting. I used red and green a layer cake (10" square pre-cut fabric) to make the process faster. It's a good idea to make this also for Christmas/holiday gifts since it's pretty easy to make. I made 2 variations since I couldn't decide whether I liked green or red binding for it, haha. 

Here's the tutorial:

Materials:

2 layer cakes (green and red)

fabric for binding

wadding

insulation wadding

backing fabric

thread

Size:

10" x 10"

Line Pattern:

 

Red line: sewing line

Black line: cutting line

Pinwheel Baby Quilt

I rushed to make this pinwheel baby quilt for my grand niece. I was after a free ride to Australia for the blanket since my brother is heading there. Well, it's currently stuck in Indonesia and will hopefully reach my grand niece by New Year. 

I finally busted out the fabric I got in Ginza, Japan a few years ago. I wanted to use it for a special baby, so I was ecstatic when my nephew and his wife had a baby girl. The sashing and binding fabric is from Singapore and the wadding from Australia (yes, I used to hoard stuff from abroad whenever I got to travel). I thought about my Mom while I was choosing the color for the sashing and eventually asked for my son's opinion. Sweetie said it looked like a quilt my Mom would put together. 

Here's the tutorial:

Materials:

floral fabric

white blender fabric (with vines)

apricot solid fabric (for sashing and binding)

wadding

backing fabric

thread

pins

Size:

36" x 52"

pinwheel is 8" x 8"

Scrap Fabric Project: DIY Tablet Case

Just realized I need to catch up writing about the other scrap fabric projects I did. Most of the time I have so much fun sewing I forget about the documentation part. I've been documenting and filming my projects so in case I want to do it again I can take note of points I can improve on. Quilting and sewing is a continuous learning journey for me. It's also been helping me heal from losing my Mom. 

I unearthed all my scrap fabric a few weeks ago. Gathered them up and sorted them. It was actually harder to plan scrap fabric projects. The challenge lay in the sizes of the scrap fabric and how it could fit what I wanted to do. For this project, I got some inspiration from a quilting magazine on bags. I just wanted a simple design that would work on the scrap fabric I had on hand. 

Here's the tutorial:

Materials:

scrap fabric and scrap binding

thick wadding

backing fabric

thread

pins and clips 

Size:

9" x 11"