Sewing projects for beginners

I am qualified to write this blog post as I am very much a beginner sewer!
I have done some hand sewing in the past (mostly mending, sewing on buttons etc) but this weekend I got to grips with a mini sewing machine and really enjoyed it. I bought some pretty patterned fabric from Birmingham's RAG market (£2 a meter!) and had a go at some bunting and homemade cards. I was amazed by how quick it is to make projects compared to knitting, but then, they were very simple projects.

Homemade fabric cards

Kitchen bunting

Simple bunting

The first project I tried was simple bunting. You can incorporate a lot more sewing into bunting but as it was my first go I thought I would keep it simple. I won't include instructions for setting up a sewing machine here as it should be included in the manual. I would recommend doing a few practice runs on some scrap fabric or thick paper first though!

You need:

Pinking shears (scissors that cut the fabric in a zigzag so it doesn't fray)

1/4 meter fabric in 2 or more patterns / colours

2 meters bias binding in a pretty colour

Sewing machine threaded up with colour of your choice (contrasting with fabric could be nice or if you want to hide uneven stitches choose the same colour for now!)

My friend gave me her mini sewing machine after upgrading to a proper one. Using the mini was no problem for these projects and she said it cost about £30 so definitely worth it so far!

Instructions

1. Cut out fabric triangles, about 4 inches long. Make sure they look the same. Cut out enough to fill your 2m bais binding with a good length left over at each end for tying (I did 8). 
2. Fold your bias binding with an edge of the triangle trapped between and as far in as it will go, so the finished bunting will have triangles hanging straight all to the same length
3. Use your sewing machine (I used straight stitch as my mini one only does that!) to sew all along the length of the bias binding, trapping the fabric triangles in as you go. Voila!

Finished bunting

Handmade cards

For these cards I cut out little bits of fabric and used the sewing machine to stitch them onto plain cards, much like in my other homemade cards posts. I think these are my favourite though and by far the quickest to make. I'll be looking through Pinterest for some more inspiration for my next batch!

Little heart with balloon string

Bird - two different types of fabric

My bunting in miniture!

Letter card for my friend Isobel

Customised t-shirt

Just a quick post on something 'craft-y' as I've been veering towards the food and drink theme lately.
This is a quick way to cutomise a plain t-shirt to make something personalised and original...

'Boyfriend fit' grey t-shirt

What you need

A plain t-shirt
Some pretty material
Some cardboard (e.g. cereal packet)
Some thread which matches the colour of the material
A needle
An iron
Some scissors (pinking sheers if you have them)
Sewing machine (optional)

This could also be a clever way to cover a stain or hole in an old t-shirt or you could buy a cheap t-shirt like I did. A loose fitting t-shirt looks better for this laid back look.
The material I used was from an old summer dress that I don't wear any more. You could go for this approach or buy some really nice fabric you like the look of. You will only need a 'fat quarter' or 250cm material if that so even luxurious fabric won't be breaking the bank.

Instructions

Step 3

1. Draw the shape you want your pocket to be on the back of the cardboard and cut it out to make a template
2. Iron your material (or a section of it)
3. Draw round the cardboard template on the back of your material with a biro pen (you don't want the ink to show through it)
4. Cut around the shape with an extra cm or so around the edge
5. Iron the pocket shape with the extra cm of fabric folded under so there is a sharp crease
6. Sew along the top line of the pocket (with a sewing machine if you have one)
7. Pin the fabric to the t-shirt in the desired place (a tape measure or ruler may be useful here)

   

   Step 7

8. Sew carefully round the edge of the pocket, leaving the top of the pocket open. Take care not to sew through the back of the t-shirt! You can use a sewing machine here as well if you prefer.

And there you have it! A half hour project that you can wear with pride!