sewing projects Archives - Tatertots and Jello

How to Make a T-Shirt Quilt!

Jen — Thu, 01 Jun 2023 16:00:00 +0000

How to Make a T-Shirt Quilt. Take treasured t-shirts and supplement them with thrifted shirts with meaningful places, logos or sayings for a quilt that will be treasured always. It is a fun craft to make with a teen or tween or give as a gift!

A T-Shirt Quilt is the perfect gift or project to make for a teen or tween

Do you have a teen or tween? If you do, chances are they have some special t-shirts they have saved over the years. My daughter graduated recently and I helped my mom make her a t-shirt quilt, filled with special t-shirts. We also found some t-shirts at Savers with special teams, places or saying that are special to her. It is a quilt that she take with her to college and remember all of the special events and places we visited together from her childhood!

My mom made one for my older daughter and it is one of her most treasured possessions!

Gather those shirts and turn them into a special gift!

Just for reference, this is approximately how many t-shirts you need for different sized quilts: 12 shirts will make a throw-size quilt, approx. 48″ x 64″ – 3 across x 4 down. 20 shirts will make a twin size quilt, approx. 64″ x 82″ – 4 across x 5 down 30 shirts will make a full size quilt, approx. 82″ x 96″ – 5 across x 6 down. 36 shirts will make a queen size quilt, approx. 96″ x 96″ – 6 across x 6 down. 42 shirts will make a king size quilt, approx 110″ x 96″ – 7 across x 6 down.

How to make a T-Shirt Quilt

Gather the t-shirts

See how many shirts you have and how many you would need

Head to a Thrift Store to get more shirts

My daughter had about 12 special shirts but we needed about 30 shirts. So we headed to Savers. There are so many shirts to choose from! We found some shirts to add to the quilt that had special locations like Seattle (we went on a family trip there one summer), a fox (her favorite animal), a cake saying (she works in a bakery) and other shirts to make her quilt even more special.

Find the smallest shirt

Take the smallest shirt and see how big it is. You need at least 12 inches square to make a good sized quilt square. 14 inches in width and height is ideal. If you have a shirt that is considerably smaller than 12 inches, you can take fabric from the back and add panels to the sides and top and bottom to make it larger. Once you know the size of the smallest shirt, you can make a template.

Make a Template

You want a template that is as big as the smallest shirt. So if you smallest shirt is 12 inches square, make your template 12 inches. You can cut your template out of cardboard OR you can get a plastic template. That’s what I did since I want to make a few of these t-shirt quilts. Plastic T-Shirt Template.

Cut your shirts

Cut along the seams of your shirts, so that the front of the shirt is exposed, remove the knitted cuffs and neck bands so that you can lay the front of the shirt FLAT. Then center the template on top of the design and cut the t-shirt around the template. Do this to all of the shirts.

Lay your shirts out to measure the size

Lay the shirts out and see how big your quilt looks. This is when you decide if you want to have sashing in between the shirts.

How to Make a T-Shirt Quilt

Sashing

Sashing is the material that runs between the t-shirts. It also makes the quilt bigger. If you don’t have many shirts, you can add sashing and you won’t need as many. If you have TONS or you just like the idea of the quilt being only t-shirt, you don’t need sashing in between the shirts. You will need material for the edges of the quilt and the back of the quilt. You can also find fabric at Savers too! Measure the places you will add sashing. A note – most t-shirt quilts that use sashing cut the material 2 inches wide, once it is sewn into the shirts the sashing will be 1.5 inches wide. You also need to measure sashing for the edges of the t-shirt quilt.

Fabric and Batting

Add up the sashing fabric total. You also need a back for your quilt. Factor in how big your quilt is and get enough fabric for the back of the t-shirt quilt too. Take the total you need for the back of your quilt and get enough batting to go inside the quilt.

Add Interfacing

T-shirts are so stretchy they are hard to sew. Adding interfacing will make them sturdier and easier to quilt. You can buy iron-on interfacing. Then just iron on the interfacing to the back of your t-shirts.

Lay the T-shirts out

Lay the t-shirts out in the order you want to make them for the t-shirt quilt.

Sew the t-shirts together

Then sew them by rows onto the sashing. If you aren’t using sashing you can sew the t-shirts directly together. We only used sashing vertically between the t-shirt rows. So we took the first row of t-shirt and sewed them together until they were all in a row, then sewed that row of t-shirts onto the sashing. Then we did the same thing with the next row until all of the t-shirts were sewn together with sashing in rows between the t-shirts. Then we attached the edging fabric onto all of the edges.

Sew the back of the quilt

Sew the material together for the back of the quilt.

Add batting and back of quilt

Flip your quilt over and add the batting and the quilt back. Safety pin it all together.

Add binding

3 inch strip of bias fabric material until it is long enough to go all the way around the quilt. See this tutorial on Craftsy on how to bind a quilt.

Quilt the top

Machine quilt the top. You can sew along the outlines of the t-shirts to quilt the top of your quilt. It is hard to do with a regular sewing machine. Some other ideas on finishing the quilting is to take the quilt to a machine quilter who has a long-armed machine that is made for quilting. Or you can also tie the top of your quilt with embroidery floss.

Add a personal touch

You can add a iron-on label with a hand-written note too!

Make a T-Shirt quilt for someone special in YOUR life!

Savers is also amazing for getting quality, on-trend clothes. I shop there with my girls all of the time!! Here are a couple new outfits I bought last week:

These JCrew pants are BRAND NEW and have never been worn. $2.50!!

I love these wide-legged linen pants. Perfect for Summer date night! This outfit cost $10 total!

Pin This Idea to Find Later!

And tag me on Instagram at @tatertotsandjello if you make a t-shirt quilt. I would love to share yours!

More Graduation Ideas:

Make a Graduation Money Necklace!

Make a Graduation Money Lei Necklace. Instead of giving money in an envelope for graduation, get creative and make a graduation lei necklace with MONEY leafs! After graduation the graduate can take the paper elements off and still have a cute wood necklace to wear and remember their special day!

Graduation Donut Backdrop and Dessert Bar

graduation donut backdrop. Make this donut backdrop for any type of party or event. It’s a decoration, a photo backdrop AND dessert!

Have a HAPPY day!

xoxo

The post How to Make a T-Shirt Quilt! appeared first on Tatertots and Jello.

How to Make 10-Minute Pillow Covers for Spring!

Jen — Fri, 17 Mar 2023 04:25:00 +0000

How to make 10-minute pillow covers. Pillow Covers are an EASY and inexpensive way to change your room up for different seasons and holidays!

Pillow Covers are Easy to Make

I LOVE pillows. Pillows can change the look of a room completely. And instead of buying new expensive pillows for every season and/or holiday, you can take a pillow insert and make pillow covers for that insert and then just switch the pillow covers out. This will save you so much storage room. Make 10-minute pillow covers for spring!

Pillow Covers are Easy to Switch Out

What I did was I took all of my pillow covers and put them in bins in a small closet in my house. I organized them by color. So now when I want to change the look of a room up, all I need to do is go over to my pillow cover bin and I can see all of my options! Of course I love making NEW pillow covers too. I will show you how easy it is to make your own pillow covers. In less that 10 minute you can have a pillow cover done and ready to use! Make 10-Minute Pillow Covers for Spring!

Where Do You Buy Fabric to Make Pillow Covers?

I have a lot of people ask me where I get the fabric for my pillow covers. One of my favorite places is fabric.com. But sometimes I am in a hurry and I don’t want to wait the time it takes to order something and wait for it to get to my house. JoAnn Fabric also has a great selection of fabrics, and surprisingly Hobby Lobby has a pretty decent fabric selection as well. Hobby Lobby has a lot of “duck fabric” which is a heavier, canvas-like fabric and it makes really durable pillow covers. Hobby Lobby also does a great job of keeping up with trends so I can usually find something cute when I want to make some covers.

Make 10-Minute Pillow Covers for Spring

I shared an Instagram reel that shows the easy steps to make these pillow covers – 10-Minute Pillow Covers.

Pillow Covers are Inexpensive to Make

In less than half an hour I had 3 new pillows for my couch! I use the envelope-back style pillow covers because sewing zippers in is much harder and my sewing skills are VERY basic. I actually taught myself to sew a few years ago and I think I’ve probably made close to 100 pillow covers since then. They are SO easy!

How to Make BASIC 10-Minute Pillow Covers:

Measure your pillow insert.

1. Measure Your Pillow Form and cut out the front panel of your pillow cover.

Cut out the back panels of the pillow cover.

2. Cut out the front panel of your pillow cover – add 1 inch total to the width and height for seam allowance and cut out the material.

Measure the width of the front pillow cover, divide it in half and then add three inches to the total for both panels. So if you have an 18 x18 pillow, add an inch for the seam allowance — so the width will now be 19 inches, and each back will be 12.5 inches in width. You will have ONE piece of material that is for the front of the pillow. Then TWO pieces of material for the back of the insert. The height of these TWO fabric panels will be the same as the front, but the width has a three inch overlap, this material that overlaps keeps the pillow form inside the pillow cover.

Sew the seams of the back panels.

3. Take the length of each of the panels that will be overlapping and fold the seam twice to create a smooth seam. Sew the seam on both back panels.

Sew the front and back panels together.

4. Pin the back panels to the front panels with the right sides facing inward. Then sew around the entire pillow cover. I back stitched over each of the seams for durability. Turn it right side out and put the pillow insert inside.

Note — if you want even crisper edges, you can sew a stitch around the entire outside of the pillow once it’s turned right-side out. Like this:

I made these GIANT buffalo check pillow covers for $4 each. WOW!!

Make 10-Minute Pillow Covers for Spring!

Easy DIY Valentine Porch

Jen — Thu, 26 Jan 2023 03:47:30 +0000

Easy DIY Valentine’s Day Porch. Create a lovely Valentine porch with a homemade garland, painted signs, pillows and an easy DIY wreath.

Easy DIY Valentine Porch

Hi friends!! Do you decorate for Valentine’s Day? It’s one of my favorite holidays. I love adding happy pink and red colors to our home. It really brightens up the winter days. One of the spaces I always decorate for is our front porch. This year I kept it pretty simple with a felt heart garland, some DIY painted signs, my favorite handmade Valentine’s Day Pillows and a sweet felted ball wreath. I am going to show you how to make these easy projects!

9 DIY Valentine’s Day Projects

I’m sharing my Valentine’s Day porch and I am joining 8 friends who are sharing the most creative DIY Valentine’s Day projects you can make! Be sure to scroll down and click over to see their creative tutorials!

Five Easy Ways to Create the Prettiest Valentine’s Day Porch

Here are 5 ways I create a beautiful Valentine’s Day porch!

Valentine Garland

I love draping a pretty garland over our door. This felted garland is my favorite. I bought the felted hearts from Dollar Tree but I haven’t been able to find them this year. I did find some similar ones on amazon – Pack of 30 Dark Red, Red and Pink Hearts. Use colorful ribbon to string the hearts together and hang over your door. This is also cute to use on a mantel. See the picture below!

Hang Up A Valentine’s Day Wreath

Over the years I have made dozens of Valentine’s Day wreaths! This one is a round wreath form and then I added felt balls and tied it with a bow! You can buy a felted ball wreath already done, like this one – Felted Ball Wreath, or make your own! Here are a few other Valentine’s Day Wreaths I have made with links to their tutorials:

Heart Felted Ball Wreath Using Dollar Tree Heart Form

Christmas Garland to Valentine Wreath! Upcycle a Christmas garland and turn it into a fun and festive Valentine decoration!

DIY Yarn Pom Pom Wreath

How to Make a Valentine Heart Pom Pom Yarn Wreath. Brighten up your door this winter with a textured pom pom wreath for valentine’s Day!

Heart Greenery Wreath

How to Make a Greenery Heart Wreath. Start the year off fresh with a gorgeous faux greenery heart wreath!

Valentine Signs

Signs are also a great way to decorate a Valentine’s Day porch. I made these DIY Valentine’s Day signs last year. I found some signs on clearance for a few dollars and I painted over them and added V’s and O’s. Super simple! Here are a few Valentine’s Day signs I’ve made:

Be Mine Signs

I also used clearance signs to create BE MINE signs. I found the metal letters at Hobby Lobby and added them to the whited out signs. Which is also a simple idea.

XOXO Reversible Sign

Paper mache letters are inexpensive and are large to make a statement. One side says “MERRY” and the other side can be flipped and says “XOXO”.

Add Valentine Pillows

I also love making pillow covers! But you can buy them too. For the porch this year I added my favorite heart pillows. They’re 3 dimensional. I made them 10 years ago and still love them and use them in some way evry year!

DIY Valentine Pillows

10-Minute Valentine Pillows

Sprinkle In Some Hearts

This year I added these paper hearts to the door and attached them with glue dots. The hearts were originally part of a garland that I’ve used before on my Valentine mantel. I repurposed them by cutting the string and attaching them individually to the door. I think they look so festive!

Other Valentine Porch Items

Valentine’s Day Porch with DIY Heart Doormat

Those are the main items, but another item that I bring in is a Valentine doormat like the one above!

9 DIY Valentine’s Day Tutorials

Blogger’s Best Valentine’s Day DIYs

DIY Valentine’s Day Porch | Tatertots and Jello
DIY Heart Wreath | Eleanor Rose Home
Boho Valentine’s Day Wreath | Modern Glam
DIY Wrapping Paper + FREE Printable Gift Tags | My Sweet Savannah
Valentine Hearts DIY | My 100 Year Old Home
How to Make a Twig Tree for Valentine’s Day | Most Lovely Things
Hand Painted Valentine’s Day Candles | Craftberry Bush
Paper Wreath DIY | Happy Happy Nester
Valentine’s Day Shell Heart DIY | Zevy Joy

Have a Creative Day!

xoxo

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Early Fall Home Ideas

Jen — Sun, 14 Aug 2022 02:03:35 +0000

Early Fall Home Ideas! Get ready for Autumn with these easy ways to transition your home from summer to fall!

Early Fall Home Ideas

Hi friends! How was your week? I took last weekend off because Ella and I were in California visiting our family. We had such a fun time! Did a little back to school shopping, ate yummy food and enjoyed being with our extended family! We only have a couple weeks until school starts. When do your kids go back??

New Ideas

Even though we were gone half of the week, I still shared some fun early fall ideas!

9 Fall DIY Projects

I shared some really awesome fall DIY projects. Be sure to check these out and pin them to make when you are ready!

DIY Sweater Pumpkins

I also updated one of my favorite fall projects. Turn sweater sleeves into the prettiest pumpkins. Hannah and I are going to the Goodwill Bins on Monday and I am going to be on the lookout for some sweaters to upcycle into pumpkins! I’m thinking PINK sweater pumpkins would be so cute!!

Early Fall Home DIY’s

Here are a few ways to bring some cozy early fall vibes to your home!

8 Easy Ways to Bring Cozy Charm to Your Home

I wrote a post with eight easy ways to make your home cozy for fall! Check them out!

Four Ways to Create a Cozy Fall Porch

I had so much fun decorating our porch last year. I shared four easy ways to add some cozy charm to your porch!

Dollar Store Pumpkin Wreath

This is an easy way to dress up dollar store pumpkins. You can put them in a bowl to display them or glue them onto a wreath like I did! There are so many ways you can use them in your home. I used fabric to wrap the pumpkins and I love that they are non-traditional fall colors which blended in with my home so much better. I also made a runner and pillows out of the same material so they all matched!

DIY Painted Fall Chalkboard

Turned a large piece of wood into a chalkboard. You can paint your lines ANY color. I chose colorful lines that match the pink in our family room. I used chalkboard paint to draw the saying and I plan to use it again this year with a different saying! You can use it in the fall but also the colors are so neutral that I can use it all year round!

Easy to Sew Black and White Fall Pillow Covers

One of my favorite ways to change up a room for fall is by sewing PILLOW COVERS! I keep the inserts and then switch out the pillow covers for different seasons and holidays. I keep the pillow covers folded up in a bin and sort them according to color so it is super easy to find the pillow cover I need. It only takes 10 minutes to make an envelope-back pillow cover!

Welcome Melanie from Southern Crush at Home

This week we welcome back the amazing Melanie from Southern Crush at Home! Melanie is so cute and full of talent!

How fun are these Dollar Store Black and White Pumpkins that Melanie made? Click on the tutorial and make some for your home now!

And how adorable is this pumpkin filled with succulents? This is the perfect project to get your home ready for fall! Be sure to follow along with Melanie on Instagram at @southerncrushathome!

Welcome Home Saturday

The Tattered Pew / The Secret Tip for Drying Hydrangeas

She Gave It a Go / 7 Fall Outdoor Doormats to Refresh Your Front Porch This Season

Crisp Collective / Back to School 2022

White Arrows Home / Blackberry Recipe Bursting with Flavor

tatertots & jello / How to Make Easy Fall Sweater Pumpkins

Southern Crush at Home / How to Turn An Old Mirror Into a Modern Gold Mirror

What ideas are YOU loving for Fall?

Let us know in the comments!

xoxo

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16 Jubilant Handmade Ornament DIY’s – create these for your home this holiday!

Jen — Tue, 07 Nov 2017 16:07:40 +0000

I LOVE this time of the year!

Thinking of handmade ways to decorate our home for the holidays. One of my favorite things to do is create ornaments. It’s also something festive to do with our kids! I’ve always thought having an ornament-making party would be such fun. Maybe I will organize one this year.

Here are 16 JUBILANT ornaments to get us in a festive spirit!

16 Handmade Ornament Ideas!!

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This Snow Globe Ornaments are so easy to make. All you need are a few supplies and a plastic cup!

Handmade Fingerprint Ornaments are the perfect gift to help your kids make for their grandparents this holiday season!

an Ornament Mini Album is fun to personalize and also wonderful to put on top of a gift this holiday season!

Kids will love creating these Paper Ornaments and hiding candy inside for a festive surprise!

Aren’t these handmade Felt Heart Ornaments so adorable?? They will look amazing on your tree, but you can also add a name and use them as a gift tag or in a little bowl to display!

Grandparents would love these Photo Plate Ornaments!

Create a beautiful winter scene by making Shadowbox Ornaments !

I love the idea of making a little tree filled with Teapot Ornaments!

Who wouldn’t love making one of these whimsical Pom Pom Gnome Ornaments?

Fill your tree with memories by making DIY Photo Frame Ornaments!

Whimsical Owl Ornaments make the perfect kids craft for holiday parties!

Wood Plaque Ornaments are so modern and fresh!

Photo Transfer Ornaments are easy to make and beautiful to display or give as gifts this year!

Wood Block Ornaments are easy to make and fun to create!

Your kids will love making these whimsical North Pole Ornaments

II turned plain glass ornaments into snowy snow balls ornaments.

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Grab some supplies and make a few ornaments to get in the spirit of the season!

Have a Merry Day!

xoxo

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10 Must-Have Supplies When You’re Learning to Sew

Jen — Fri, 04 Aug 2017 05:07:33 +0000

So many fun projects and crafts include using a sewing machine. This is something that many people are scared of, but you don’t need to be. It is easy and actually really fun. I know kids by age 8 are making skirts, aprons, pillowcases, pajama pants and even shoulder bags. These supplies are great gift ideas for friends, family, and any child 8 years or older.

Here are 10 Must-Have Supplies for Learning to Sew!

* * * * *

A Sewing Machine

As far as sewing machines, it depends on what you’re using it for. For a basic straight stitch, a $60-$90 machine works great. I have a Singer machine that was $160 and it’s awesome.

A Spool of White Thread

For beginners, basic, white sewing thread is all you need. These are cheap and easy to find. Make sure you have the All Purpose Sewing Thread on hand and a few extra spools in the drawer. There is nothing worse than being in the middle of a project and running out of thread.

A Seam Ripper

With every sewing project, even if you are a professional, the Seam Ripper is an essential tool to have when sewing. These handy tools save you so much time but they are truly the best thing for needing to unpick an area where you’ve made a mistake.

10 Must-Have Supplies When You’re Learning to Sew

A Pair of Sewing Scissors

Many think that scissors are scissors and you can use your everyday scissors when sewing. However, let me tell you that you will need a good pair of Sewing Scissors that are better for fabric. Trust me, it makes all the difference in the world.

A Rotary Cutter is a Must Have

Scissors are wonderful but a Rotary Cutter is so handy and helpful. It allows you to cut with ease and it can cut curves much nicer while fabric is laying flat rather than lifted it up in air with a pair of scissors.

10 Must-Have Supplies When You’re Learning to Sew

A Rotary Mat

To go along with the rotary cutter you will definitely need a Rotary Mat to cut on. I like the big size mats with the circle curves printed on it as well as the measuring grid.

A Rotary Ruler

You will not regret having a Rotary Ruler to use with the mat and cutter. They are clear, acrylic rulers that guide your cutting to perfection. I have a large rectangle one for straight cutting and I have a triangle one for square and angle cuts.

10 Must-Have Supplies When You’re Learning to Sew

Fray Check

I love Fray Check! It is a clear liquid glue that make fabrics not fray. Usually upon washing any material it will start to fray on the edges and this stuff helps to leave your edges clean and perfect without the fraying.

Wonder Under

Wonder Under is a paper backed fusible web. It fuses in just a few seconds and it is 100% machine stitchable. It is used for apparel, home decor or craft projects. It bonds fabric to fabric or any other surface like wood or cardboard. I use this all the time when I do craft projects with fabric.

Straight Pins

You will not be sewing without Sewing Pins. Just about every project I have done I use my sewing pins and I recommended you get several to have on hand. Also grab yourself a pin cushion to make finding a pin easier.

* * * * *

Let me know how your first sewing projects turn out!

If you are looking for east sewing projects to make, here are a few easy ones to try:

How to Make Corded Pillows

Easy Envelope Pillows

Turn a Napkin into a Pillow Cover

10-Minute Pillow Covers

xoxo

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Make 10-Minute Spring Pillow Covers

Jen — Wed, 22 Feb 2017 10:11:53 +0000

Make 10-Minute Spring Pillow Covers

I love making pillow covers. I know I’ve talked about it before, but making your own pillow covers is so much better than buying pre-made pillows. You can use the same insert over and over which is economical. PLUS you have so much freedom in terms of the patterns and colors of covers you can make. I’ve teamed up with fabric.com to show you how easy it is to change your look up with pillow covers! Here was the same room in the fall:

Make 10-minute Spring pillow covers

This project requires MINIMAL sewing skills. All you need is a basic sewing machine and the ability to sew a fairly straight line.

I had some fabric left over from my closet makeovers I did this month:

Make Over Your Closets With Fabric Wallpaper

Make Over Your Closet With Fabric

So I thought – the color of the fabric I used for my closets is exactly the right shade as my family room couch. Why not make some easy 10-minute pillow covers?? It really was a no-brainer.

Make 10-minute Spring pillow covers

You can get more information on how to make a pocket pillow cover at this post. But basically all you do is measure out the size of the insert; my inserts were 20-inches square. Then I added an inch all the way around for seam allowance. For the envelop backs you just measure the same as the front and add 6 inches on to the width so there is an overlap in the back which holds the pillow inside the pillow cover. Then sew a seam along the length of the two envelope pieces. You face the fabric inside, so the right side of the fabric faces each other. Pin it in place and sew along the outside of the pillow cover. Then pop the pillow cover inside out, which is really the right side. And put your insert inside.

The fabric I used is Anderson Check Snowy Fabric.

The other fabric is Anderson Canopy Snowy Fabric

I used the two coordinating prints – one with buffalo checks and the other striped.

Make 10-minute Spring pillow covers

I love the clean and simple look it gives my family room for SPRING!!

Be sure to check out fabric.com – it is such a great resource for quality, on-trend fabric at amazing prices. PLUS it comes right to your door.

Be sure to check out fabric.com for thousands of beautiful fabrics.

What could be better than that??

What projects are YOU working on for Spring??

Let us know in the comments!!

Have a Beautiful Day!

xoxo

This project was sponsored by fabric.com. I only partner with brands I love. All opinions are mine

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Thanksgiving Placemat to Pillow Cover in 10 Minutes

Jen — Tue, 18 Oct 2016 09:43:27 +0000

Thanksgiving Placemat Pillow Cover

I love a quick project. And I love pillow covers. They are such an easy way to change up your decor easily and inexpensively. Plus, it is so much easier to store a pillow cover than a pillow with an insert. All you have to do is take the pillow cover off and change it out for a new one.

A few years ago I discovered that a really easy way to make a pillow cover is with a cloth napkin or placemat.

So when I saw this GRATEFUL gold placemat at Target’s Dollar Spot a couple of weeks ago I knew it would be so cute as a pillow!

Thanksgiving Placemat Pillow Cover

Here’s how you can turn a placemat into a pillow cover in 10 minutes:

Supplies:

Placemat

Fabric – You will need about twice as much fabric as the size of the pillow cover.

Sewing machine, or needle and thread.

Thanksgiving Placemat Pillow Cover

Directions:

Measure the placemat you are going to use. You will need two pieces of fabric that are the same height as the placemat and about 4 inches less in length than your placemat. So if your placemat is 19 inches in length and 14 inches in height, you need two pieces of material that are 15 inches in length and 14 inches in height.

Once your backs are cut out, sew a seam down one side the height of each of the pieces of material.

Then lay your placemat on your cutting surface with the right side toward you. Lay each of the two pieces of backing material on top of the placemat with their right sides facing inside toward the right side of your placemat. You want the sewn edges of the material to overlap in the middle of the pillow cover, with the outside edges facing inward. You are going to turn the whole thing inside out once you sew it.

Then sew along the edges of the placemat, sewing the two pieces of backing fabric onto the pillow cover.

Turn the pillow cover inside out, which exposes the outside of the pillow cover.

Insert your pillow form.

Enjoy your new pillow cover!

Easy peasy!!

Here are a couple other tutorials I have done on making pillow covers:

Six Tips to Create Easy Pillow Covers

Easy Spring Pillow Cover Ideas

How to Make Corded Pillow Covers

How to make a Stenciled Pillow Cover

How to make a Heat Transfer Pillow Cover

How to make a Valentine’s Day Pillow Cover

How to make a Painted Pillow Cover

How to make a pillow cover out of napkin

How to make a Geometric Cut Pillow Cover

Have you ever made a pillow cover?

Share your ideas with us in the comments!

xoxo

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Trick or Treat Halloween Banner

Jen — Mon, 12 Sep 2016 11:00:00 +0000

Hi there Tatertots & Jello Readers! It’s Melissa from the Polka Dot Chair and I’m so excited to be back with you today sharing a tutorial for a simple Halloween Craft.

I have a really BIG collection of Halloween fabrics and I’m always looking for more ways to use up my stash. I was rummaging through the scraps last week and got the idea to use some of them to make this Halloween Banner.

Want to make one too? It’s really easy and there is only ONE seam you have to sew, and you could skip that if you wanted to.

Here’s what you need:

18″ x 24″ piece of white canvas or twill or home decor fabric

Scraps of Halloween fabric

Piece of paper backed fusible web

20″ dowel rod

1/4″ Steam a Seam

Ribbon

Iron

“Trick or Treat” Template – download for free on my site

Spider Buttons

Print out the template and trace the letters onto a piece of paper backed fusible web. Yes they are backwards on purpose.

Trace the “T” 3 times and the “R” 3 times (so you have the correct letters to spell TRICK OR TREAT)

Cut out letters loosley and press onto the wrong side of your fabric scraps

Cut out again this time precisely.

Measure the center of the 18″ side of your 18″ x 24″ piece of fabric. Mark it.

Measure down 18″ on each 24″ side of fabric. Mark each spot.

Draw a line from the 18″ mark to the center of the fabric. Do the same for the other side of the fabric.

Cut fabric along these lines so that you have the banner shape.

Fold under the raw edges of all sides except the top 3/8″ and press. Use a piece of steam a seam to hold the hem in place.

On the top of the banner fold down 1″ and stitch along the raw edge a straight line- this will make the pocket to hold the dowel rod.

Lay the cut letters out where you’d like them. Peel off the paper backing and iron in place.

Embellish with spider buttons as you like!

Now you’ve got a cute banner that you can hang on your front door, above your fire place mantle or on your wall. Enjoy!!

****

Thanks Melissa! What a cute banner! I love it. Melissa has tons of adorable ideas on her blog. Here are a few I know you’ll love:

These DIY Halloween Treat Bags are so perfect for a party!

And, I just love these Floating Witch Hat Luminaries!

And this Printable Autumn Bucket List is just darling to display in your home!

Visit Polka Dot Chair and

Follow Polka Dot Chair on Pinterest

Follow Polka Dot Chair on Instagram

Follow Polka Dot Chair on Facebook

Follow Polka Dot Chair on Twitter

xoxo

The post Trick or Treat Halloween Banner appeared first on Tatertots and Jello.

Make a PVC Summer Cabana!

Jen — Wed, 20 Jul 2016 10:00:25 +0000

Hello Tatertots and Jello Readers! We are Elizabeth and liZ from over at Simple Simon and Company. We are two girls who married brothers and ended up with the exact same names! We also are both former school teachers, have the same number of children, drive the same kind of mini vans, and live 5 minutes away from each other. (We know…it’s weird…just ask our mother-in-law

Over at Simple Simon and Company we blog daily about our sewing, crafting, and homemaking adventures. And today we are excited to be here sharing our latest PVC creation for the upcoming summer season.

The PVC Summer Cabana!

We love to build with PVC pipe. It’s lightweight, easy to put together, easy to store, and…when it comes down to it…it’s just a lot of fun to build with. (It’s like a giant set of Tinker Toys for adults!) And, this year we wanted to make something to use during our almost daily, non-stop Slip and Slide, running through the sprinklers, water parties…so a PVC cabana seemed like a perfect choice!

Not only will it give the kids a shady place to cool off with drinks and Popsicles but it also gives them a private place to change in and out of swimsuits (with parental supervision nearby of course!) that doesn’t require running in and out of the house a million times. It’s perfect!

The cabana was really easy to construct.

Here’s what the cabana looks like without the covering:

It’s simply 4 legs with a roof!

Not to bad, right? (Remember…think giant Tinker Toys!)

Here is the cabana again but this time broken down into the individual pieces that we used to build it:

Here is the breakdown of what each of these pieces are and where they were used:

4 PVC Pipes (for the 4 wall corners) measuring 53 inches long

3 PVC Pipes (to connect 3 of the wall corners on the ground) measuring 28 inches long

2 PVC Pipes (to connect the wall corners on the right and left side of the cabana at the top) measuring 24 and 1/2 inches long

2 PVC Pipes (to connect the wall corners on the front side and the back side at the top) measuring 21 inches long

4 PVC Pipes (to connect to the wall corners on top and form the roof) measuring 23 inches long

14 Pieces of PVC Pipe cut at 2 inches long to join joint pieces to each other (used on corners and the top of the roof)

1 PVC Cross T Joint (for the top of the roof)

10 PVC T Joints (for top corners and cross bars)

12 PVC Elbow Joints (for the roof and bottom corners)

As for the covering we simply measured each flat side of the cabana, then took that measurement and added one fourth of an inch to each side for seam allowance. After that we cut each piece out and sewed them together.

We used some of Riley Blake Designs fun striped and solid fabrics for the covering and then added a little pop of yellow with a polka dot scallop across the front. And to finish the whole thing off we added a bird to the roof and ribbon ties to the curtains.

We look forward to this cabana getting lots and lots of use in the summer months ahead.

Thank you Jen for having us here today!

And to see more of our PVC (and sewing) projects…

… come visit us over at Simple Simon and Company!

Oh my goodness – that is soooo amazing.

Thanks for sharing it with us!!!

Here are some other mind-blowing ideas from Simple Simon and Company:

Daddy Daughter Dress

Easy Banner Skirt Tutorial

And not only do they create amazing sewing projects, they also tackle DIY ideas, like this under the counter magnet board.

Awesome!!

Be sure to head over to Simple Simon and Company and get inspired – you will love it!!

Happy Friday!!

xoxo

The post Make a PVC Summer Cabana! appeared first on Tatertots and Jello.

sewing projects Archives - Tatertots and Jello

How to Make a T-Shirt Quilt!

A T-Shirt Quilt is the perfect gift or project to make for a teen or tween

My mom made one for my older daughter and it is one of her most treasured possessions!

Gather those shirts and turn them into a special gift!

How to make a T-Shirt Quilt

Gather the t-shirts

Head to a Thrift Store to get more shirts

Find the smallest shirt

Make a Template

Cut your shirts

Lay your shirts out to measure the size

How to Make a T-Shirt Quilt

Sashing

Fabric and Batting

Add Interfacing

Lay the T-shirts out

Sew the t-shirts together

Sew the back of the quilt

Add batting and back of quilt

Add binding

Quilt the top

Add a personal touch

Make a T-Shirt quilt for someone special in YOUR life!

Pin This Idea to Find Later!

And tag me on Instagram at @tatertotsandjello if you make a t-shirt quilt. I would love to share yours!

More Graduation Ideas:

How to Make 10-Minute Pillow Covers for Spring!

Pillow Covers are Easy to Make

Pillow Covers are Easy to Switch Out

Where Do You Buy Fabric to Make Pillow Covers?

Make 10-Minute Pillow Covers for Spring

Pillow Covers are Inexpensive to Make

How to Make BASIC 10-Minute Pillow Covers:

Measure your pillow insert.

1. Measure Your Pillow Form and cut out the front panel of your pillow cover.

Cut out the back panels of the pillow cover.

2. Cut out the front panel of your pillow cover – add 1 inch total to the width and height for seam allowance and cut out the material.

Sew the seams of the back panels.

3. Take the length of each of the panels that will be overlapping and fold the seam twice to create a smooth seam. Sew the seam on both back panels.

Sew the front and back panels together.

4. Pin the back panels to the front panels with the right sides facing inward. Then sew around the entire pillow cover. I back stitched over each of the seams for durability. Turn it right side out and put the pillow insert inside.

Note — if you want even crisper edges, you can sew a stitch around the entire outside of the pillow once it’s turned right-side out. Like this:

I made these GIANT buffalo check pillow covers for $4 each. WOW!!

Make 10-Minute Pillow Covers for Spring!

More DIY Pillow Cover Tutorials

Easy DIY Valentine Porch

Easy DIY Valentine Porch

9 DIY Valentine’s Day Projects

Five Easy Ways to Create the Prettiest Valentine’s Day Porch

Valentine Garland

Hang Up A Valentine’s Day Wreath

Valentine Signs

Add Valentine Pillows

Sprinkle In Some Hearts

Other Valentine Porch Items

9 DIY Valentine’s Day Tutorials

Early Fall Home Ideas

Early Fall Home Ideas

New Ideas

Early Fall Home DIY’s

Welcome Melanie from Southern Crush at Home

Welcome Home Saturday

16 Jubilant Handmade Ornament DIY’s – create these for your home this holiday!

10 Must-Have Supplies When You’re Learning to Sew

10 Must-Have Supplies When You’re Learning to Sew

10 Must-Have Supplies When You’re Learning to Sew

10 Must-Have Supplies When You’re Learning to Sew

Make 10-Minute Spring Pillow Covers

Make 10-Minute Spring Pillow Covers

Make 10-minute Spring pillow covers

Make 10-minute Spring pillow covers

Make 10-minute Spring pillow covers

Thanksgiving Placemat to Pillow Cover in 10 Minutes

Trick or Treat Halloween Banner

Make a PVC Summer Cabana!