Riley Blake Designs Flannel Showcase Blog Tour: City Gym Shorts

We are so excited to be part of the Riley Blake Designs Flannel Showcase Blog Tour! I have been selling Riley Blake Flannel for years in my shop and can't say enough about the superior quality and fantastic designs Riley Blake Flannel has to offer.

I have had my eye on Purl Bee's City Gym Shorts free pattern for awhile and thought this Blog Tour would be a great excuse to try it out. My daughter and her 3 cousins all play soccer and spend LOTS of time running around in soccer shorts. They find them so comfortable, they often sleep in them. So I thought, why not make some flannel pajama gym shorts?

I am so glad I tried this pattern out in flannel! The shorts have a classic retro feel to them and allow for mixing and matching of fabrics. The girls absolutely LOVE them. I offered to make some up in cotton, too, but they said no way; they love the flannel!

I was surprised how easy this pattern was to sew. Once you have the fabric pre-washed and cut, the actual sewing takes about 30 minutes from start to finish.

The bias trim finishes all of your visible edges, giving the shorts a crisp, finished appearance, and a pop of contrasting color.

I made the shorts one size up because I knew these would be used for pajamas, and wanted to be sure these were roomy and comfortable. 

I chose prints ranging from vibrant primary colors to soft, muted pastel, to reflect the girls' personalities.

 You can find a huge selection of Riley Blake Flannel in my Shop.

Thank you Riley Blake for sponsoring this fabulous blog tour! I hope our readers are getting inspired and seeing all of the fantastic projects that can be made with flannel!

Here are some of the projects the other blog tour participants have come up with:

Riley Blake Designs: Jump Rope Dress in Flannel Gingham

Quiltscapes: Pajama Pants & Pillow

Fishsticks: Reversible Button Bibs

 

The Stitching Scientist: Toddler Nightgown

 

The Sassy Quilter: Patchwork Dog Bed

Simple Simon & Co: Flannel Pajamas

Fabric  Mutt: Patchwork Seat Cushion

 Just Let Me Quilt: Flannel Nightgown & Cape

Jedi Craft Girl: Easy Flannel Blanket & Burpers 

 

Rose and Odin: Christmas Pillowcase

 

Sew We Quilt: Newborn Nightgown

Haberdashery Fun: HST Baby Blanket

Leigh Laurel Studios: Personalized Pet Bed

Riley Blake Designs: DIY Chenille Baby Blanket & Pillow

and still yet to come are stops at Lucy Blaire on 10/31 

+

and a final post and giveaway from Riley Blake Designs on 11/4. Be sure to follow Riley Blake Designs on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram & Twitter for all of the latest scoop!

Riley Blake Designs Union Jack Pajama Pant Tutorial

A friend of mine mentioned she would love to see Riley Blake's Union Jack panels made up into a pair of pajama pants with each leg being a different print. I thought it was brilliant, so Miranda, this tutorial is for you!

Let's get started!

 

I decided to start with the basic Red, White and Blue panel, but Riley Blake came out with the cutest Pink, Purple and Yellow panels as well. I'm sure I'll be making more of these jammies in every color! 

Before cutting into the fabric, I decided to add a little visual interest to the solid red blogs by adding a few pintucks. To make pintucks, you need a pintuck foot and a twin needle. You can find a super easy tutorial for using your twin needle here. 

Here is what the panel looks like after adding the pintucks. It just gives the solid red a bit of texture and visual interest, but you could definitely skip this step.

Now you will want to find a pair of pajama pants or lounge pants that already fit the intended recipient. They should be loose-fitting. We are going for a very comfortable, loose pant here.

Fold your Union Jack panel in half lengthwise. Now fold the pants in half and lay them on the fabric so that the outer folded edge of the pant leg lines up with the fold of the fabric.

You are going to trace and cut around the pants, leaving extra room for your seam allowance. I left 1-2 inches around the sides and top, and 1/2" at the bottom. (My daughter's pants were already very long, so I didn't need to add additional length at the hem.)

Use your cut piece as a pattern to cut the second leg.

Stitch up the sides of your pant legs using a 1/2" seam allowance. I always serge the seam for a nice finish. You could also finish it with a zig-zag stitch. Leave the crotch-to-waist edges unstitched for now.  

Next, turn one pant leg right-side-out. You will have one pant leg wrong-side-out and one right-side-out. 

Stuff the right-side-out leg inside the wrong-side-out leg, matching up the crotch seams.

Now with your crotch seams lined up, stitch from the waist, down to crotch, and back up to the opposite waist. 

Turn the pants right-side-out. 

 For the waist, I am using 1" elastic, so I will be creating a 1.5" casing. At this point, you may want to try the pants on the intended recipient and make sure the waistband will fall where it is comfortable on him/her. My daughter wasn't worried about how baggy the pants were here because she likes to roll the waist, so I didn't make any changes to the crotch-to-waist measurement. If you don't like to roll the waist, you will need to adjust the crotch depth here.

To make the elastic casing, fold the raw edge of waistband over 1/4" and press. 

Now, because I am using 1" elastic, I folded the fabric over another 1.5" and pressed. If you are using a smaller elastic, just add an additional 3/8" to 1/2" to your elastic measurement.  For example, for 1/2" elastic, I would fold the fabric over 1".

 Stitch 1/4" from bottom edge, leaving about a 2" opening where we will slide the elastic through.

To measure your elastic, simply take the measurement of where you want the waist to fall. My daughter wanted the waist to fall between her natural waist and hips, so that is where I took my measurement from. 

Grab a large safety pin and pin it to the end of your elastic. Begin threading the elastic through your casing, leaving a few inches of the elastic exposed. 

Now take both pieces of exposed elastic and, overlapping them about 1", stitch them together.  I use a rough zig-zag stitch. 

Work the elastic into the casing and stitch the opening closed with a straight stitch. Your waistband is now finished.

 For the hem, cut the pants to the desired length + 1/2". Fold the hem over 1/4" and press. Fold over another 1/4" and sew, using a straight stitch.

 Voila! You are done! This project can be completed in 30 minutes to 1 hour!

I am absolutely in LOVE with these panels because they are so versatile. I can see teens and college students tacking them straight onto the wall, however, this Blog Tour is giving me tons of ideas for finished projects.

Here is the schedule for the Blog Tour. Be sure to follow along for more great ideas!

Schedule:

Tuesday 4/1 – Paula at The Sassy Quilter

Thursday 4/3 – Jina at Jina Barney Designz

Tuesday 4/8 – Karin at Leigh Laurel Studios

Thursday 4/10 – Marni at Haberdashery Fun

Tuesday 4/15 – Julia at My Fabric Obession

Thursday 4/17 – Molly at Rose and Odin

Tuesday 4/22 – Amanda at Jedi Craft Girl

Thursday 4/24 – Madame Samm at Sew We Quilt

Tuesday 4/29 – Julia at Riley Blake Designs

Thursday 5/1 – Ginny at Darling Adventures

NEON is BACK!

We all thought neon disappeared with the 80's, but fortunately we were like TOTALLY wrong! Neon is being paired with neutrals such as beige, tan, gray, charcoal or black in order to give a like seriously RAD  pop of color without venturing into the GAG-ME-WITH-A-SPOON spaztic-bubblegum-smacking look of the better forgotten 80's neon.

This skirt was a snap to make using Simple Simon's Vintagely Modern skirt tutorial. The only change I made was to add a 7" zipper to the back seam in addition to the button closure.

Purse to Hip Purse Re-Fashion

I have a business trip coming up that requires LOTS of walking.  I have learned from past experience that when I am on my feet for that many hours, I don't want to be carrying a purse, or anything on my shoulders and back, because they end up very sore, very quickly.

I do, however, need something to carry money, I.D., business cards, phone, etc., and I had something in mind, but couldn't find it anywhere in stores, so I made my own and I am going to show you how to do the same!  This is my very own Purse-to-Hip Purse tutorial.

 

*I apologize for the poor picture quality - I had to improvise with my cell phone today.

I started out with a small (about 6.5" x 5") cross-body bag. I found this at a major big box store retailing for about $16.99.

I took a pair of scissors and cut the straps, and the hardware holding the straps, off.

These straps are nice and wide - perfect for re-purposing into belt loops.  Simply cut 2 pieces, each about 5" long.  You won't need all 5", however it is much easier to have excess to work with, rather than not enough.

 Next, you will sew the top of the strap to the back of the purse toward the top.  I visually divided the width into thirds and placed each strap at my imaginary dividing line.  You don't want them too close together, or the purse will tip to one side when it is on your belt.  You also don't want them too far apart, or - I don't know what:) 

I have a vintage sewing machine made with all metal gears, which lets me sew through multiple layers with ease.  I was able to use this to sew the top portion of the straps down.  If you don't have such a machine, you will need to hand sew the straps to the bag, as a modern plastic machine won't be able to handle the thick layers of leather.

Next, I needed to hand sew the bottom portion of the belt loops because the purse was too tight of a squeeze for my machine.  To hand sew, I chose to use a heavy-duty Button & Carpet thread to ensure the belt loops stay on tight.  I also used a very thick needle that could handle sewing through canvas and leather layers.

I used the belt loops on my pants as a general guide for the size of these belt loops.  I didn't worry about the neatness of the stitching here because no one will see it, and let's be honest, it was brutal trying to sew through the leather!  

You can see on the right hand side, I still have excess strapping tucked underneath.  I simply took a pair of scissors when I was done sewing and snipped it off, leaving about 1/4".

Here is the finished Hip Purse.  So much better than a fashion-challenged fanny pack!

And here is one more....

This is a cute little aqua wristlet I found at the same big box store.  It doesn't have a strap I can re-purpose, so I had to improvise with ribbon.

I followed the exact same steps as shown with the first bag above, except I used this cute panda woven ribbon for the belt loops.

  

Finally, the little wrist strap was easily removed from it's latch hook and voila!  My new aqua-slightly-retro Hip Purse.

Fleece Hat, Scarf, Mittens Tutorial - Easy!

Today I'm going to teach you how to make a super cute fleece set: no-sew hat, easy-sew scarf, and easy-sew mittens. Perfect for these cold winter days.

What you will need (this is the same for a child or an adult):
Hat: 1/2 yard of fleece
Scarf: 1/3 yard of fleece
Mittens: approx. 1/4 yard of fleece. This can easily be made from scraps. You will need 4 pieces that are a few inches larger than the recipient's hand.

Note: On these projects, we are cutting two layers of fleece, and then we are tying the top and bottom pieces together. When cutting the fringe, you will get the best results if you hold the two pieces of fabric together and cut both layers at once. This makes it so they will line up nicely when you eventually tie them together. Also, try not to stretch the fleece as you cut or sew it.

MAKING THE HAT

This hat has knots all up the back of it, and a cute pom-pom on top! No sewing involved.

Step 1. Measure the recipient's head circumference, and add 6 inches. We will call this "your length". Cut a piece of fleece to be 14" wide , and "your length" long.

For example, if the head circumference is 20", the piece of fleece will be cut to be 14" x 26".

Step 2. Fold the fabric in half so the height is 14" and the fold is on the left.

Step 3. The bottom edges are raw, they will stay this way. Starting at the bottom right-hand corner, cut fringe up the side of the hat. The fringe should be about 3" long and 1/2 inch wide. Stop when you get 3" from the top. Cut a 3" square out of the corner.

Step 4. Cut 3" fringe along the top of the hat.

Step 5. Starting at the bottom right-hand corner, tie each pair of fringe together (top layer to bottom layer). Tie it twice so it's in a knot. Make the knot firm, but not super tight. Work your way up the side of the hat. Stop at the top.

 Step 6. Now gather all of the top fringe in one hand, leaving the right-most pair out.  Use the right-most pair to tie a knot around the fringe you just gathered.

Step 7. Fold the bottom of the hat up twice to make a cuff.

MAKING THE SCARF

This two-layered scarf is sewn together on each side, with fringe tied together on the ends. Very easy and cozy!

Step 1. Cut two 6" strips of fleece. They will be about 60" long.

Step 2. Cut the selvage edge off both ends of each piece.

Step 3. Lay out the two pieces, wrong sides together. If the pieces don't line up exactly, you can trim at this point.

Step 4. Pin the two pieces of fleece together. Place a pin 6" from each end. This will be your sewing starting/stopping points. Pin in a few more places. This will make sewing a lot easier, as it will keep the fleece from stretching.

Step 5. Sew a line along both long sides of the scarf, starting 6" from the end. You can use a long straight stitch for this.

Step 6. Cut fringe on each end of the scarf. The fringe should be approximately 6" long and 1/2 inch wide. Tie the fringe into knots, tying the top piece to the bottom piece.

 

 

 

MAKING THE MITTENS

Step 1. Place the recipient's hand on the wrong side of the fleece (or a piece of paper if you want to make a template). Use a marker to trace around their hand, leaving approximately 1.5" of space around the hand. Make sure the fingers are together comfortably, and the thumb is extended. Cut this piece out.

Step 2. Use this first piece as a template to cut out 3 more pieces. Make sure you cut the fleece so you end up with the front and back for both mittens.

Step 3. Lay the mittens right-side together to prepare for sewing. Use a tight zig-zag stitch. Stitch close to the edge. When you sew the curve between the thumb and fingers, try and stretch the fabric a bit to make this a nice curve.

Step 4. Fold the wrist raw edge up and sew across to make a nice hem at the wrist.
Step 5. Turn right-side out.

Now that I made a set for my daughter, my son wants some!