Summer rolled in so fast! Needed to make new curtains for our kitchen window. I shied away from having our curtains custom made because it's so expensive! Found out I could make my own for a small fraction of the cost. Making my own curtains also allows me to experiment on the fabric.
Found some Swissdot fabric on Lazada. I thought it was cute. The shop had 26 different colors. Settled for "oatmeal" since it would go with anything. Here's how I made the kitchen curtains. It only took me two nights to finish it.
Custom curtains are very expensive. I researched on what kind of fabric I should use to make blackout curtains since it could get scorching hot during the summer. I bought Philipps curtain fabric at PhP99 per yard and lace embroider fabric at PhP95 per yard. It just cost me PhP2,500 to make a set for our living room since labor is free.
Here's how I made it:
Step 1: Cut fabric based on the measurements. Make sure to add 16 centimeters to the length of your window.
Step 2: Fold in 3 centimeters across all sides. Iron, then sew.
Step 3: Fold in 10 centimeters from the top. Iron then sew.
*You can optionally add a "frill on top" if you wish, just add 21 centimeters to the length.
Before I left Singapore, I made a mad dash to make some lap quilts for my friends. I knew one was a Harry Potter fan, so I thought I'd make one for him. I used solid fabric colors to complement the design. I just used simple shapes to make it easier for me to finish the quilt. Managed to finish it a few days before we went home.
My friend said, Lily his pet dog, immediately commandeered the blanket as soon as she saw it. She looked so cute on it, that's why I asked permission if I could use her photos for this post. I'm glad they liked it, yay!
My doctor required me to have my own oxygen concentrator. I didn't expect it to be so big! I don't use it often, so thought it would be good to keep it covered. I took it as an opportunity to make a new quilt project.
I was raring to finish my t-shirt memory quilt at that time, so wanted to quickly finish the cover for my huge appliance. I used my favorite rainbow colored fabric and just cut it in squares for easy piecing. My measurement for the size was wrong, so I just added a black strip to make the cover a bit bigger.
Like the food processor cover I made, I decided to add pockets. In case of emergency it would be useful to have the components of the O2 concentrator accessible. It took me less than two weeks working on this project off and on. My favorite part was quilting. The difficult part was getting the measurements right and binding the whole project together. It got quite heavy.
A vinta is a traditional outrigger boat in the Philippines. They are made by people in the Sulu Archipelago, Zamboanga peninsula, and southern Mindanao. A vinta is usually made with colorful sails. I took the photo below in Mindanao.
I've always been drawn to the sea because my ancestors were involved in maritime work and traveled the world to reach the Philippines. I was inspired to make the vinta designed hand quilted throw pillow from a photo by Mohd Sarj (more about it here).
It took me three years to finally finish my t-shirt memory quilt blanket. It started when I cleared out my closet and I couldn't let go of the shirts because I love each and every one of them. They held 15 years of happy memories. Good thing I did some research before I started working on it because there's no second chances on the material I used.
Here's a step by step video on how I made it:
The materials I used:
old shirts
border fabric (I used the same fabric for the binding)
accent fabric (4 colors)
wadding
backing fabric (I used flannel)
thread
lots of pins, safety pins and clips
Here's how I made it:
Step 1: Determine first the size of the blanket you want to make. Then draw how you want it to look, best to include the size of each piece to help you know how many tshirts you need and how much fabric you need.
Step 2: Cut the shirts. I used a 12.5" x 12.5" square ruler to make my life easier. Then iron on fusible interfacing. This will make the shirt stable.
Step 3: Cut the binding.
Step 4: Sew the vertical bindings by row.
Step 5: Prepare the accent pieces.
Step 6: Piece together the horizontal border by row. Then add to the bottom of each row. Remove the excess interfacing.
Step 7: Add the horizontal border by row. You can opt to quilt the border at this point. Then piece each row together.
Step 8: Add the side borders.
Step 9: Sandwich the quilt.
Step 10: I decided to just quilt the accents to stabilize the blanket.
The past few months have been very busy because we moved countries and we moved to a new home! You can just imagine how crazy it's been! The first project I had to make was curtains! Our windows and sliding doors required customized curtains. I figured that it shouldn't be as hard as quilting. Here's the tutorial:
Here's how I made it:
Step 1. Got help from my boys to measure the windows and sliding doors. Then I shopped for fabric on Lazada. I was happy to find out that there were many options on fabric. I got pink linen like polyester fabric (normally used for suits). It cost PhP100 per yard.
Step 2. Measure and cut! Working with linen is a bit difficult though, so get help when needed.
Step 3. Ironing the border will make it faster for you to sew. I folded 3 centimeters from all the edges and double folder it to keep the border clean.
Step 4. Sew all sides.
Step 5. Fold 15 centimeters from the top.
Step 6. Sew it.
Step 7. Mark 6 to 7 centimeters from the top. Pin it and check if the rod would fit.
I wanted to learn quilt short-cuts. I previously made a cheese pinwheel quilt blanket for my Mom by hand. It took me almost 2 years to finish it. While scrolling through Pinterest I found some recommendations on quilt short-cuts. As a beginner quilter my mind was blown and I immediately started planning the project.
I have been eyeing a blender quilt fabric at Spotlight for awhile. I thought it would be perfect for the project. I also wanted to make gifts so instead of making a full blanket I made 4 lap quilts. I worked on this learning project on and off for two months and was surprised how easy and fast it is to make a pinwheel quilt blanket. Here's the video of how I put together the pinwheel lap quilt -
I've also been practicing using my sewing machine more. I hand quilted two of the four blankets and I used the sewing machine for the other two. If you look closely the binding isn't perfect because I used the sewing machine. That's something I need more practice on. Well, I'm writing a nice note for my friends to give them a heads up it's not a perfect quilt! Haha.
When I started quilting again a few years ago I realized I didn't really know how to finish my projects. I realized my Mom took care of finishing my projects when I was younger.
When I restarted the hobby a few years ago, I made a small pouch. It was a messy affair, but I eventually got the hang of sandwiching and adding the binding. I originally manually made the binding. This took a lot of time. I tried buying ready-made binding, but it's so expensive. I eventually discovered the bias tape maker tool and that helped immensely. You can watch how to make binding here.
So how does one go about finishing a quilt? Here's a video tutorial I made -
If you have any questions or comments, please write them down below. Happy Stitching!
Back when I was a child we didn't have access to quilting materials and accessories. Quilters nowadays enjoy a wide array of tools and equipment they can use for quilting. I live in Southeast Asia and luckily there's a Spotlight store in Singapore where I can get materials. I enjoyed visiting Australia and Japan for work because I had the chance to visit other stores like Lincraft and Tomato.
I have friends who have been curious about how to quilt so I thought I'd make a video. I went back to the time when my Mom taught me how to quilt using basic sewing materials. One of her cousins had a garment export business and she'd give Mom the scraps. That's what we used when we started quilting.
Anyway, I'm rambling, here's a short video of how to quilt :)
I stopped quilting for more than 2 decades. I picked it up again a few years ago. I did exactly the same and started with basic sewing materials. Eventually I began to buy more stuff and learned to use new tools available for quilters. It's a fun learning journey :)
Happy quilting!
P.S. I made that pincushion when I was 12 and used to sell it at our parish fiesta market for Php5 haha :)
I'm honestly clueless about designer fabric. I just got wind of it from quilting groups when they mention the name of fabric collections they use. Honestly, I'm still clueless haha. Probably because in my side of the world (in Southeast Asia), quilting isn't really a thing. Most of the quilting news I read about are Western. I've started following some influencers on IG and discovered Mister Domestic a few months ago.
I super love Matthew's energy. I also just discovered his YouTube channel where he shares some project tutorials. From his posts I came across his fabric designs. I wanted to get some. I couldn't get it from Spotlight or other local online stores. I finally found some via Amazon. It was the "Catch & Release" bundle. Here's my "unboxing video" --
I plan to use this for my summer quilt project next year. I'm planning to make a set of sea-related quilts to pay homage to the beach family trips we used to do when I was growing up. It's gonna be fun!
I have a pinwheel quilt I started a few years ago. It's not yet finished! Haha. I lost steam while making it and now I'm trying to figure out how to finish it. Before diving back into it I decided to research on an easier way to make pinwheel quilts.
To force me to learn the technique I decided to make a lap quilt. I originally designed it to be half-squares in four colors, but decided last minute to make pinwheels. The first step was to make a gazillion half-squares. I worked on it for a few days (how to here). And this week I started sewing them up to become pinwheels.
Here's how I've been making them quickly -
I made a gazillion half-squares. I'll probably be able to make four lap quilts out of this project. I'll post soon how I'll put the whole project together!
I was starting to have pain in my arms and back from using a makeshift table for my sewing machine. The table was too high so I would sew at an odd angle. I've been using my sewing machine lately since I realized it allows me to finish my quilt projects faster.
I've been eyeing the Semco Sewing Table at Spotlight for a couple of months now. I was not sure if my Brother sewing machine would fit. It took awhile for Spotlight to respond to my inquiry so I decided to research on my own. It looked like my sewing machine would fit so I ordered one. I got lucky also because Spotlight had a huge sale!
Here's my unboxing video -
I've been using it now for over a week. I told myself I should have gotten it sooner. Getting a proper table made me enjoy using my sewing machine more. I noticed also I've improved a lot in making straighter stitches (true!). I'm so glad I got a proper sewing table now. I also like the fact that it's easy to fold and store when I'm not using it.
One thing I'm trying to figure out is whether I should have an acrylic cover made to cover the hole around the sewing machine. I could have one customized, but it's expensive. I'm thinking I'll just use a chipboard for now. So far the hole doesn't bother me while I'm sewing.
