• Use bright, colorful fabrics in cotton or flannel. One of the best collections of kid’s prints that Sewfie has found on line is BugFabric.com… they have all kinds of adorable prints featuring animals, fairies, space, robots, dinosaurs and, of course, BUGS!
• Although juvenile prints are always bright and fun, don’t forget there are a lot of children suffering from cancer who are teens so keep them in mind when choosing your fabrics. How about sports logo fabrics or Patty Young’s new collection, Flora & Fauna?
• Wash fabric with unscented detergent before and after sewing to prevent the spread of allergens and germs. And, of course, always maintain a smoking-free environment when creating the pillowcases
• Package each finished pillowcase in a quart or gallon sized Ziploc bag
• Contact a local ConKerr Cancer chapter coordinator to find out where you can make your donation. There are coordinators in just about every state as well as Canada and South Africa. See the ConKerr Regional Directory for a list of coordinators and drop-off locations. Many drop-off locations are local fabric and quilt shops which you are probably visiting on a regular basis already!

FREE Slumber Party Pillowcase pattern

Dear Sewfie,
I’m just sewing your Grab ‘n’ Go Diaper clutch, & wondered how you were able to line up the diagonal lines so well on the main picture of the pattern cover? Is it difficult to do?
- Julia

How to line up your stripes or other design perfectly on your Grab 'n' Go Diaper Clutch.... read on!

Dear Julia,
The key to success in lining up the diagonal stripes (or any design) so well is to line up where the magnetic snap goes FIRST and THEN cut the fabric out… but how do you do THAT? Well, it’s REALLY easy. Here’s what you do:

• Cut out the Flap piece first. Don’t cut out the Body (yet). Cut out your Flap such that you have your stripes in a nice place. In my case (for the cover model), I wanted a red stripe right near the edge. I just thought it looked cool and I knew I had this awesome red vintage button that I wanted to use.
• Next, transfer the snap placement mark from the pattern onto the Flap. You can mark it with a pin or some chalk. I like to use pins because they are very precise.


Cut out Flap (1) and mark snap placement

• Next comes the part where we line up the Flap with the Body. Remember we didn’t cut the Body part out yet. Lay the rest of your (uncut) fabric out on the table. It helps to iron it so it lays nice and flat. Find some area of the fabric which matches up with the Flap, and lay the Flap exactly over that area. You might want to hold it down with a pin or two so it doesn’t wiggle around in the next step.


Line up Flap (1) with fabric underneath, matching stripes or design

• Finally, position Body pattern piece (2) under Flap (1). Line up the snap placement marks from the Body and the Flap. Ensure the straight edges are parallel. Now you can move the Flap out of the way and cut out Body (2).


Position Body pattern piece (2) under Flap (1)

Your stripes or other design will now be perfectly aligned!

Warm Stitches,

Dear Sewfie,
I like to sew, but I am having trouble basting. It takes longer than I think it should. Should I skip it or do you have any tips?
Thanks!

-Izzi

Dear Izzi,
If the pattern is recommending it, you definitely shouldn’t skip it. Basting is usually recommended for seams that are long (such as a skirt hem) or for areas that are too complicated or bulky to easily use pins (such as the bottom seam of our Grab ‘n’ Go Diaper Clutch, see photo below). Also, basting is often called for because it is easier to stitch over with your sewing machine than pins.

Here are Sewfie’s tips for making basting less painful:

• Use long stitches. Basting doesn’t have to be tiny and accurate like your hand sewing stitches. For basting, use a big, long running stitch. ½” stitches (or longer) are perfectly OK and help to get the job done faster.
• Baste slightly inside your seam allowance. For example if you have a 5/8” seam allowance for a garment, baste at ½” from the edge of your fabric. This way, after you machine stitch your seam, you won’t even see the basting stitches and you won’t have to take them out! Not having to pick out all those stitches later will save you some time.
• Lay your work on a flat surface like a table or a floor (not your lap). Make several stitches at a time with your needle (see photo below) and then pull the thread through. Its like getting two stitches for the price of one! This will make it go faster, too.



• Finally, instead of using a single strand of thread like many sewing instructions recommend, use a double strand of thread, knotted at the end. This will keep your needle from falling off the thread all the time, which is what always happens to me. Not having to re-thread your needle 10 times will save you time as well.

In the end, basting seems like a hassle but it really does help you get good results the first time. And after all the hard work you put into your wonderful handmade creation, isn’t it worth it?

Warm Stitches,

Basting takes extra time...

... but it helps you get great results!

Dear Sewfie,
I’m an avid quilter and I’d love to make something for my boyfriend but my friend warned me about the “Boyfriend Curse”…. if you sew something for a guy he’ll break up with you. Is that true?

Ah, yes, “The Boyfriend Curse”. Actually, this storied curse applies to knitting. The curse purports that if you knit a sweater for a guy, he’ll break up with you. As it turns out, there is even a book about it called “Never Knit Your Man a Sweater (Unless You’ve Got the Ring)” by Judith Durant, see here:

It suggests a variety of knitting projects for men where the level of complexity is proportional to the level of commitment, i.e. a set of coasters of the guy you just started seeing, a scarf once you’ve been dating a bit… you get the idea. The sweater doesn’t come until you’ve got some bling in your top drawer.

But, back to your question, can you sew for a guy without him breaking up with you? This has not been studied as extensively as the Sweater Curse, which has some real science behind it… a poll conducted by the online magazine Knitter’s Review indicated that 15% of active knitters say they have experienced the Sweater Curse firsthand and a whopping 41% consider it a serious enough threat that they’re not going to mess with it.

Sewfie’s suggestion is to not take any chances. If you really must sew for your man, start out with something simple, like a shoe bag. And see how it goes. Work your way up to a pillow and maybe eventually some fun boxer shorts or pajama pants if you are feeling really playful. Don’t even go near something like a quilt until you’ve been married for at least 10 years.

Warm Stitches,

Dear Sewfie,

I wanted to have the perfect Handmade Christmas this year, but the problem is, I didn’t finish all of the gifts I had planned. Now that the holidays are over, should I finish sewing the gifts anyway and give them to people late or just give up and try to make good next year? I feel bad about not giving some people their gifts. What should I do?
-Unfinished

Dear Unfinished,

Let’s face it: you nobly (and perhaps all too ambitiously) tried to have the Best Most Crafty Handmade Christmas EVER – but you fell upon your proverbial rotary cutters. The best thing you can do at this point is give a Dunkin Donuts gift certificate to the people on your list whose gifts are still all over your sewing room floor and finish those gifts next fall… after the kidlets go back to school and before you get distracted with making Halloween costumes. You will already be ahead of the game because all the pieces are already cut out, right?

You could try to plow ahead anyway and finish your gifts now under the auspices of “better late than never”, but you’ve already lost the moment (Christmas is officially over… the curbs are already littered with discarded trees!) and the time you spend will just get you further and further behind in all your other projects that you were going to finish “as soon as Christmas is over”, remember? Projects such as: curtains for the Baby’s room… he is more than a year old now, you know!

Warm Stitches,

Amy Butler's Frenchy Bag was Sewfie's go-to holiday gift this year, seen here in Alexander Henry's Sew Now Sew Wow fabric

The final gift Sewfie finished this holiday season - the Sweet Slice pincushion by designer Cindy Taylor Oates... for a very special Christmas Birthday Girl!

Dear Sewfie,
Why are so many pin cushions shaped like tomatos?
- Kat

Dear Kat,
In many Renaissance households, people believed that placing a ripe tomato on the mantel when first entering a new home guaranteed future prosperity. Since tomatoes were not available year-round until recently, families moving into new homes often substituted round balls of red fabric stuffed with sawdust or sand. As the traditional held, these little red balls made a nice parking place for metal pins which were very expensive at the time and thus worthy of protecting. The tomato pin cushion is still in use today and has become iconic of the entire sewing community.

Warm Stitches,

The tomato pin cushion motif has made its way into many fabric designs, such as this Alexander Henry print - Sew Now, Sew Wow!

Now THAT'S dedication to your craft...

Dear Sewfie,
Can you show me an easy way to make a fabric cube? I want to make some soft fabric blocks for my son.
- Marcia

Dear Marcia,
You can make cute fabric baby blocks from a foam cube and six fabric squares. We used 4″ foam and an adorable fabric panel called “Baby Geniuses Grown Up!” by Linda Carlson & Diana Henage from Benartex.

You can make these cute fabric baby blocks!

One 5/8 yard panel has 30 colorful squares (enough to make 5 blocks) featuring letters of the alphabet and adorable cartoon animals. You could also use the 3″ number squares to make smaller number blocks.

Baby Geniuses Grow Up! 5/8 yard panel

You can use any size foam, simply cut your fabric squares 1/2″ wider than your foam. You can cut your foam block to shape using any sharp kitchen knife.

Materials: 4" foam cube and six 4.5" fabric squares

Note: To make nice square corners, do not stitch all the way to the edge of the fabric. Be sure to start and stop stitching 1/4″ from all edges.

Sew in 1/4" seam allowances

Sew six squares into cross shape

So far... so good!

Fold the bottom square on a diagonal angle, then sew the side seam (where scissors are pointing). Repeat for each of the four side seams

Now you have a box with a flap top

Sew two sides of the top flap, leave one side open

Turn right side out and square corners gently with chopstick

Squeeze foam cube through opening

Stitch opening shut

Finished!

Baby approves!

Warm Stitches,

For more baby toy fun, see our Brainy Baby Ball pattern!