Bella Blvd Studio Blog: Fabric Style

Today we are switching things up, and instead of featuring projects using our paper collections, we are sharing projects created with our fabric collections!

Winter Hat & Pants, by Jen Chesnick.

My daughter has been asking and asking and asking for a hat. Not what kind of hat, just a hat. So when I stumbled on the free ear flat hat pattern (found HERE), I totally knew this would be FUN! It came together pretty easily and I let her pick out which puppy from Puppy Park she wanted on the front of her hat. She loved the hat and immediately asked for "cozy pants" to wear with her hat. Cozy pants are PJ’s in my book. I actually used a boy’s pants pattern (found HERE) because I really loved the fun cuff. As you can see she loved them too!

Supplies:
Bella Blvd Puppy Park fabric by Riley Blake Designs; Fusible Fleece; fur lining; elastic & notions

Owl Tooth Fairy Pillow, by Kathy Frye.

My 5 year old granddaughter needed a Tooth Fairy Pillow and she likes Owls, so together we designed and made these little Tooth Fairy Pillows. We used the Snapshots line of fabric, and she loved the little hearts! We 'fussy cut' little flowers from the flower print fabric for the owls eyes, and used the little floating green leaves as the noses and appliqued the pieces to the pillow fronts. We also added some trim to the front of the little pockets. The back of the pillow has two pieces of fabric sewn together, with an opening in the seam for stuffing the pillow. They look pretty cute on her bed!

Supplies:
Bella Blvd Snapshots cotton fabrics by Riley Blake Designs; thread; fusible web for applique; poly fiberfill stuffing; decorative trim

Family Fabric Coasters, by Christine Ousley.

I had so much fun making these fabric coasters. I think I’m going to make a stack of them for everyone for Christmas gifts. I love that they are absorbent and if they get dirty or stained just throw them in the wash.

The method to making them is really easy. Basically you just want to cut strips of fabric that are all the same length. The widths can be different or exactly the same size. I start with strips that were 6” long. I really wanted the houses to be the center focus of the coaster, so I cut that strip first. Be sure to have a 1/4” seam allowance on the top and bottom of the strip. In my project, I didn’t want the top of the houses cut off, so I made sure that I cut carefully.

To create the other two strips of fabric I actually cut a piece of the doodles fabric into a 6" x 6” square. I cut a bunch of them at the same time with my rotary cutter. The ones that I didn’t use for the front of the coasters, I used for the back of them. So then I cut my 6” x 6” squares into strips, again making sure to leave enough for a 1/4” seam allowance. Place the top piece of fabric and the middle strip, right sides together, and sew a 1/4” seam. Iron open the seams. Then sew that piece to the remaining strip from the 6 x 6 piece, following the method described above. Once you have your strips sewn together, then cut your fabric piecing into a 6” x 6” square. You will have extra height to cut off.

Then cut 6” x 6” squares from fusible fleece. Iron the fleece to your 6 x 6” backing piece. Make sure to iron it on the wrong side of the fabric. Then stack the pieced square upside down on top of the back square with the fleece side down. Starting on the bottom and about a 1 1/2” from a corner, sew a 1/4” seam all the way around the square, pivoting at the corners. Stop stitching about 2 inches from where you started. Make sure to backstitch at the beginning and the end. Clip your corners with your scissors. Make sure not to cut your seam.

Flip your coaster inside out, pushing out the corners with a pointed too. I use a metal knitting needle. Iron it thoroughly and tuck the opening edges inside as you press. I always use a little strip of Thermoweb Heat N Bond to close the opening before sewing so I don’t need to worry about it popping open as I am top stitching. Top stitch a 1/8” from the edge all the way around the coaster. I also stitched in the ditch where my pieces were sewn together to give it a little more stability.

And there you go. A quick little project for your home or to gift. With all of the wonderful Bella Blvd fabric out there, you could make quite a variety of fun coasters.

Supplies:
Bella Blvd Snapshots fabric by Riley Blake Designs; Fusible Fleece; Thermo O Web Heat N Bond Light; Thread; Sewing Machine or Sew by Hand

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Riley Blake Designs markets our fabrics under Stephanie Hunt as the designer. When purchasing or searching the Riley Blake website it's actually easier & more efficient to find the Bella Blvd fabrics under "Stephanie Hunt" as the artist.

Comments

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These are awesome!! I love your idea of giving these as Christmas Presents which I think I will do too!!

Posted by: Melinda Wilson | November 25, 2014 at 10:29 AM

Forget the sewing machine I would purchase those in heart beat. My sewing machine doesn't work :( however the fabrisc have inspired me to ask one for Xmas.we shall see but seriously Jen should sell those owls way too cutie.

Posted by: falan loranger | November 25, 2014 at 12:05 PM