Category Archives: Free Tutorials

Freezer Paper Stencils: VW Bus Pillowcases

Posted in Fabric printing, Free Tutorials, Recycled materials, Sewing, Stuff to make by

Punch buggy. (Or in this case, Punch bus.) Spring is here & so is the VW bus parked outside my house. (The sign in the window says: Hippies Use Backdoor.)

So in honor of the reappearance of spring and VW buses, I decided to give some old white pillowcases new life. Plus I wanted to make something for my 11-year-old who is easily embarrassed by T-shirts proclaiming anything, let alone T-shirts homemade by his mother, so I figured pillowcases were a safe zone, free from 5th grade peer review.

I cut a stencil on freezer paper from an image of a VW bus that I downloaded online. As I’ve mentioned before, freezer paper stencils are wicked easy & satisfying. Here is the complete how-to. To trim the pillowcases, I bought a half a yard of Happy Camper fabric from the Monaluna Circa 60 Beach Mod line for Birch Fabrics (available at Fabricworm). I should’ve bought a yard, but I was too cheap ($8.25 for half a yard!). It’s organic, alas.

 (The print is darker than how it appears on Fabricworm.)

No room for error. The pressure was on! I sewed the fabric directly onto the existing pillow trim (I split the seam for the trim–but not the rest of the pillowcase–to make it easier to sew). For the edge that you see on the outside of the pillowcase, I folded 1/4″ of the fabric, ironed, and sewed as close to the edge as I could. For the hem inside of the pillowcase, I folded 1/4″ over twice to completely encase the raw edge. Not sure if this is the best way to add trim, but it looks decent and adds a pleasing weight to the end of the pillow.

Freezer Paper Stencils: Robot Tees

Posted in Fabric printing, Free Tutorials, Stuff to make by

Handsman, this silver-painted robot with the high-tech egg-carton control panel, was constructed by my five-year-old’s preschool classmates, who are studying robots this month.  Handsman looms at over 4′ (taller than your average preschooler) and sports zippy yellow rubber gloves–hence, his handy name.

[photo thanks to Pauline & Amanda!]

To show my full support for robot curriculum everywhere, I decided to make some robot tees for my little guy with freezer paper stencils. Freezer paper stencils have a high fun factor: big on reward, low on effort. Here is the complete how-to. If you fret about drawing your own robot stencil, then download an image, print, and trace. To avert laundry tragedies, don’t forget to heat-set the paint after it dries.

Robot tees!

DIY Cookbook

Posted in Free Tutorials, Paper, Recycled materials, Stuff to make by

I’m an ambivalent cook, and not a very intuitive one. So when I come across a good recipe, I hold onto it for dear life. Over the years, I’ve collected a hodgepodge of scribbled sticky notes and magazine tear sheets with favorite recipes.

The mess needed a home. So, I ordered a Rebinder (which is a binder made from recycled corrugated cardboard) and a box of sheet protectors for my recipes. The Rebinder was terrific, but not so great at repelling cooking drips & spills.

I bought a yard of green gingham oil cloth, and relying on my ancient memories of covering books in high school, I winged it. Here are my step-by-step instructions for making an oilcloth cover, written after the fact. I’m pleased with the results. I sewed the last steps while the cover was actually on the binder–it’s sewed on forever–which might be why it doesn’t buckle & lies nice and flat.

Pajamas recycled into soft blocks

Posted in Free Tutorials, Kids, Recycled materials, Sewing, Stuff to make by

You may be able to throw away your old, favorite polka-dot p.j.s. Or use them as a dust rag. But I don’t have that kind of resolve. Plus, I don’t dust that often. So, I stashed them away.

Conveniently, my friend Megan decided to get pregnant. Babies are the best excuse for making things that are not really useful but are pleasing. Like soft blocks. And old p.j.s offer the perfect fabric for them: cotton softened by sleep.

For complete instructions on how to make soft blocks, a downloadable pdf is available here: How to Make Soft Blocks

Here is the end result: chubby cotton blocks!