Stovetop Fabric Dyeing

 Hello Readers. I was deep into Valentine's Day colors this year. I thought if I dyed this blouse I made pink it would be even more fun. I bought some pink Rit dye. You can use this dye in the washer but let's dye it on my stove. 

 

Before and after.

I sewed up this fun blouse and it was great but I thought I could dye it pink and it would be even more fun. And pink and red are such great colors together.

The blouse had some polyester in it so I used this Rit dye for synthetics. (Not an ad!) Rit makes dye for natural fibers and it works much better if you use the right dye for the right fabric.

I added a teaspoon of dish liquid to a pan of simmering water as directed. Then I stirred in the dye. I used a big stainless steel pan. The dye can stain the container it is in but stainless steel doesn't stain. You can also heat water and pour it in a bucket or plastic tub.

I added my wet blouse to the simmering dye bath as directed. I stirred it continuously for about 10-15 minutes. The fabric rises to the top and the color won't be even if you don't keep stirring.

After stirring the blouse was looking like this. I liked the shade of pink it made. I dumped the dye water out and rinsed the shirt with cool water. 

I washed the shirt in my washing machine to remove excess dye. I used cold water and ran the washing machine as I normally do.

I dried the top in my dryer and the color was still great. 

I really liked the pink and red together so much. I am ready for Valentine's Day now. I hope you have a great day. Get yourself some chocolate.

Valentine's Day Blouse

 Hello Readers. I love making clothes for holidays. When I saw this white blouse with little red hearts on it at a clothes swap last summer I took it home and saved it for Valentine's Day. 

This blouse was perfect for Valentine's Day. 

This blouse was great but you can't try things on at a swap and it was a little too low cut. That's OK, I can fix that. 

I planned to use this Simplicity 8035 pattern for the top and reattach the sleeves to the sleeveless shirt. 

I cut the sleeves off the shirt and saved them for later. 

I cut out my front and back pieces. I also cut out a neck binding. 

I just needed to sew these pieces together. 

I sewed the front and back together first. 

I clipped the sleeves in place and sewed them in. I sewed one in inside out and had to take it out and do it again. (I always get at least one sleeve sewn in wrong.)

I sewed in the neck binding to the neckline and then threaded narrow elastic through it to gather the neckline. 

I liked how the new shirt turned out. 

I wanted to wear this for Valentine's Day. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.

Make a Valentine's Day Table Runner

 Hello Readers. Valentine's Day is coming very soon. (Get your Valentine a cards ASAP before they are all gone!) Let's whip up some quick decor for this fun holiday. A table runner is cute and also doesn't need a lot of fabric. A full table cloth can require quite a bit of fabric. Let's make something simple, quick and cute.

Valentine's Day decor!

I am using some pink cotton fabric for my table runner. This is actually a piece of a light weight duvet cover. That means it is 2 layers of fabric. I turned it inside out or right sides facing each other. I planned to sew almost all the way around the outer edge of this long skinny rectangle. It will need a small opening to turn it right side out. My fabric measures approximately 70x10. You can make any size you want.

I stitched on all 4 sides and left an opening of about 4-5 inches.

It was easy to flip right side out and smooth out. We will close this opening later.

 

I wanted to decorate this table runner and an easy decoration to add would be these iron-on heart patches. They don't need any sewing, just a hot iron. Similar here. Heart for Valentine's Day is perfect.

 

I also wanted to add this red rick rack. It's just cute. And it will look great with the red hearts. (It will require some sewing.)

 

I started by arranging the little hearts at the ends of the table runner. 

 

I used my hot iron to press the hearts onto the table runner. It only took a few minutes to iron these patches on. I didn't move the iron back and forth over the patches. That would move them around. I pressed down on the patches with the hot iron to secure them to the table runner. Follow the directions on the patches in regards to the correct temperature for the iron.

 

I wanted to add the rick rack above and below the row of hearts. This will need to be sewn onto the table runner. I can't iron this on. 

 

I used matching red thread and sewed across the rick rack to attach it to the table runner. It is almost impossible to see but my opening from earlier is under the rickrack and I am sewing it closed as I sew the edge of the rick rack. I just tucked the edges of the pink fabric in and stitched back and forth over it to finish the edges.

 

I put my table runner on this table below the quilt my grandmother made years ago. It looks pretty and fun. I hope you have a great Valentine's/Galentine's/Palentine's Day. Celebrate how ever you like. Buy yourself chocolates and flowers if you want. You deserve it.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Applique on Denim

 Hello Readers. If there is one thing I love is a theme to follow when I think of sewing projects. Is it Valentine's Day soon? Than I am definitely going to sew at least one thing with a heart on it. I can't help myself. I have to do it. So read on for a simple project you can do for Valentine's Day.

 

Before and after.

 

I had this little heart. (I did not do the needlework.) I have had it for quite a while. I wanted to do something with it for Valentine's Day. I thought I should cut out the heart shape to highlight the design.

 

 Any non-stretch fabric will do. You don't need fancy needlework. Grab some fabric with hearts or Valentine colors. Cut out a heart shape and you are ready to go.

 

I knew if I used some fusible interfacing this would be a lot easier. The directions are easy to follow. One side of the interfacing is bumpy, that side faces the back of your fabric and will stick to it when you apply the heat of the iron. Make sure you iron the interfacing as directed on the package.

 

 I used my iron to stick this interfacing on the back of the fabric heart I was using. I just ironed them together following the directions on the package. It only took a couple minutes.

The interfacing makes the fabric a little stronger and thicker. It makes it more stable and easier to cut out the heart accurately and it will be easier to sew the heart to my jacket. 

 

Here is a look at a fabric heart with and with out interfacing. You can see what a difference it can make when I compare the 2 hearts.
 

I thought the off-white and red colors would work with blue denim well. I also knew it would be easy to sew the heart and the denim together because neither fabric had any stretch to it. Both pieces would behave well while I was sewing.

I pinned and pinned and pinned so the heart wouldn't go anywhere. I didn't want it to shift around while I was sewing.

I used bright red thread and a wide zigzag stitch to sew around the heart. The red zigzag stitches would make the red needlework really pop. You could hand sew the heart onto the jacket but I wanted to use my machine.

 

You can see how the zigzag stitch crosses back and forth over the edge of the heart to hold it on to the jacket.
 

 I love the heart. It brightens the jacket up a little but it could be worn anytime, not just Valentine's Day. I hope your day is wonderful, and full of chocolates, flowers and whatever you like. 

***Year End Update- I really like adding details like this to my clothes and I still wear this jacket a lot.

The Conversation Heart Blouse

 Hello Readers. And Happy Valentine's Day! I wanted to make something for the holiday but I wanted to try something subtle, that wasn't over the top. (Some people think less is more and this project is for them.) I had this very simple red button-up shirt and red seemed like a great choice for the holiday. How could I decorate it for Valentine's Day? I decided to change out the buttons for a simple but fun way to brighten up the shirt and celebrate the day.

Change out the buttons for a fun look. 

 

This shirt was a little plain and a little boring. OK, it was very boring. Red is a fun color but this isn't fun ...yet.
 

The plain red shirt had plain red buttons but look at the little heart buttons. They were cute and colorful. 

I thought the buttons looked a lot like these conversation heart candies. I love how these candies look. (They are nothing compared to my true love, chocolate. I just love the nostalgia.)

I cut the stitches and removed the old buttons. 

I replaced the red buttons with the different colored hearts. I matched the thread color with the color of the heart button. 

I replaced all the buttons, even the cuffs. 

Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself. And I hope you get all the chocolate you want today.