Jan 3 2013

How to Make a Lion Mane Dog Costume Version 2

Posted on January 3, 2013 by Rachel

I made another version of my lion mane dog costume for Rusty because I had bought way too much fake fur and I didn’t know what to do with it. I decided to be a little more adventurous with it this time. I actually used my sewing machine on the fake fur and I sewed fleece. Two things I have never done before. I basically made a doggy ski mask and then sewed layers of pleated fake fur onto it.

I lost all of my pictures of each step :/ But I took some other pictures that will hopefully help out.

Things I used:

~ 1/2 yard fake fur, from Mendel’s website.
thread to match
a small amount of tan lycra
tiny amount of tan anti-pill fleece
fabric fusion velcro

How I did it:

1. Take a LOT of measurements the dog’s head and neck. If all else fails drape the fabric around the dog and mark the fabric.

2. Cut a ski mask out of a base material, I choose lycra. I did this in two pieces one to go around the head and one to go around the neck. I then sewed the neck piece to the head piece using a tight zig-zag stitch, since lycra is a bit stretchy. If your fabric snags, try adding tissue paper under the fabric and then tear it away after the seam is created. Also, I didn’t finish the edges of the lycra, mainly because I can be lazy.

inside of the mane

3. Fuse the velcro into the correct positions. Hopefully you can see what I did in the picture.

4. Next, cut 1 inch to 2 inch wide strips of fur (it depends on the amount of volume and work you want to do, my strips were 2 inches wide) that are about 4 inches longer than the mask.

To cut the fur mark on the back where you want to cut and then use a straight blade like a box cutter or a razor blade to prevent trimming the fur and creating a huge mess. I, unfortunately, didn’t have either one of those and used scissors. BIG MISTAKE fur everywhere! and because the scissors trimmed the fur and created a weird raw edge I needed to fold over the edge and sew it down. Something I wouldn’t have had to do if I had just went out and bought a box cutter.

5. Next step is to pleat and pin the fur to fit the mask. If you don’t know how to pleat, here is a drawing I did that might help. Pleat whichever way is most comfortable to you, I find the knife pleat to be the easiest.

Drawing of different pleats for sewing

pleats

Sew the layers, fur side down on the machine, onto the lycra mask, starting with the bottom layer first working your way up so the layers don’t get in the way. I did the layer that goes around Rusty’s face going in the opposite direction to create more volume around his face.

6. Repeat for around the neck, I only did 2 layers for that part.

7. Fold fleece into fours, to where there are 4 layers of fleece and draw out an open bottom oval and then cut along your lines.

lion ears

8. Next, combine two of the pieces and sew as close to the edge as possible, turn inside out and repeat for other ear. Pin onto mask for placement and hand stitch the ears to the mask.

Finally you have a lion mane dog costume!

Manne modeling it

Manne model shot

Dec 16 2012

Cross Stitch Chevron iPhone Case

Posted on December 16, 2012 by Rachel

Pin It

As mentioned before, I was cross stitching a chevron patterned iPhone case. It’s finished and I LOVE it! Isn’t it beautiful?

I decided to do the chevron pattern in white, turquoise and 3 different shades of grey.

I was going to do all of the grey stripes in the metallic thread but I decided it would be too much shine for me and I find metallic thread to be a pain in the you know what to work with. But I like the way there’s just a little bit of shine. I wanted to find a grey that was just the matte version of the metallic and I knew I had some in my tangled ball of thread left over from other projects. There are two shades because the lighting in my apartment is bad and I didn’t realize they were two different shades until I was in natural light and had already stitched using both colors. But I am really thrilled with how it turned out. The variations add just enough personality without being too loud. I find it to be perfect for me.

Dec 12 2012

How to sew a quick Tree Skirt

Posted on December 12, 2012 by Rachel

Pin It

We have a Christmas tree at work and it was looking bare to me because it didn’t have a tree skirt. So, I decided to make one. Here is my very professional pattern that I drew at work.

my make shift pattern

I have this fabric from curtains that I made and am no longer using. I thought it would make a beautiful tree skirt.

fabric

Since I had a long panel, I folded it in half and then in half again so it is folded into fours.

folded in half and half again

Next is time to measure. I divided the diameter in 4 because I folded it so it needs to be 3 inches from the point. I did the semi-circle by just measuring out 3 inches from the point in different spots on the fabric.

measure with a fabric marker

I did the same thing with the outer measurement but went with 22.5 inches instead of the 16 inches I originally wrote down on my professional pattern. The I cut along the lines I drew.

cut the along the lines

a few steps left

This is what is looks like unfolded and of course Rusty needed to help me out.

Next I cut a line down the fabric.

cut down to be able to wrap around the tree

The last, and time-consuming thing to do is finish it to hide the raw edges. This can be done in three ways.

folding edge over and folding it again and hem to encase the raw edge
add binding to the edges to encase the raw edge
zigzag stitch around the edge to prevent fraying and then folding over and sew a hem

Although the first two options are probably the better options, I went with the zig zag stitch and press seam and sew a hem because the first two requires more time at the ironing board and pinning. I hate ironing so I went with the zig zag stitch.

all finished!

Dec 10 2012

Chevron Cross Stitch Case Iphone 4 Pattern

Posted on December 10, 2012 by Rachel

Pin It

I ordered a cross stitch cover from ThinkGeek! I am so excited to have a chevron cross stitched phone case. The case actually came with three colors of thread, needle and some patterns and the company has more case patterns at Leese Design. Just go to the bottom right of the page and click the red “chart” box. There are a lot of patterns to choose from but most were of certain themes/holidays and I wanted something to that didn’t look out of place throughout the year. I decided to create a chevron stripe pattern because I’m kind of obsessed with them at the moment. I didn’t know which way I wanted the stripes to go so I found some blank graph paper at Better Cross Stitch Patterns website, and started coloring. These are the two I made.

Black and white versions

I don’t have the little camera hole in the upper left corner on the patterns because I figured it’d be pretty simple to omit it. Now I need to decide which pattern to use!

Nov 26 2012

Rock Climbing Cross Stitch

Posted on November 26, 2012 by Rachel

Pin It

Over the weekend I cross stitched Joshua’s rock climbing ornament. I made a few adjustments to the rock climbing man/pattern. Here is my rock climbing cross stitch.

naked rock climbing man?

I asked Joshua what color he wanted his rope and belt to be, and his response was “I want to rock climb naked” :/ So the little guy is naked and without equipment. I guess that means he’s bouldering and not rock climbing.

background done

At this point it looks like a “It’s a Boy!” announcement to me.

I put a border to help curb that look.

One last step, I backstitched around the rock climbing man the same color as the border.

finished

Joshua’s guy is complete! Well, the stitching part anyways.

Nov 5 2012

How to Sew in a Zipper

Posted on November 5, 2012 by Rachel

Pin It

Yesterday I showed how to create a bed for a dog kennel. Today I’ll show you how to sew in a zipper. I cut some pieces of fabric and drew on them to better show how to sew the central zipper in.

-To start, mark where the zipper will go because before and after the zipper a seam stitch will be sewn and where the zipper will go, I’ll do a basting stitch, or the longest stitch on my machine.

-Use pins or fabric chalk to mark the fabric. Don’t use a marker like I did, I just wanted to clearly show where to mark.

mark fabric

where to baste

– Pin the fabric together and baste where the zipper goes and continue with the seam stitch before and after the zipper, backstitching when I stitch the stitch length, I’m using a 5/8inch seam.

differences in stitches

-Then iron the seam open.

iron seam

– Then pin the zipper, face down, teeth to the seam. I placed the pins in the wrong direction. So I had to switch them so I could easily remove them as I was stitching.

pin zipper over seam

– Using a basting stitch, longest stitch on my machine, I place the edge of my zipper foot directly in the middle of the teeth and stitch, when I need to turn, I leave the needle in the fabric, lift the foot, and turn the fabric to the direction, put the foot down and begin to stitch again. I use a basting stitch to tack the zipper to the fabric and I don’t have to worry about removing pins as I sew.

– When I get to the zipper head, I make sure the needle is in the fabric, lift the zipper foot and push the zipper head past the foot.

zipper foot up, and push the zipper head past the foot

– Once the zipper head is out of the way, put the foot down, and continue stitching.

zipper foot down and continue stitching

-After the basting, stitch around the zipper with a smaller stitch size, just outside the basting stitch. Using the same technique at the corners and the zipper head.

-Once the stitching is complete, remove the basting stitch around the zipper and in the middle of the zipper.

remove basting stitch

– The zipper is complete! The zipper has been successfully installed. It does take practice but it’s not as intimidating as it first appears.

zipper complete

finished

Happy Sewing!

Nov 4 2012

How to Sew a Dog Bed for a Crate

Posted on November 4, 2012 by Rachel

Pin It

When Rusty has to go into his crate all he does is sleep. I decided to make him a bed for his kennel so he is a little more comfortable while I am away. First I gathered supplies. You’ll see that I actually bought a dog bed foam kit. I did this because I had a coupon and that made it cheaper to buy the kit than it was to get the 1.5inch foam cut to my specifications since a coupon wasn’t available for the foam you get by the yard. Then bed is an oval which is why in later pictures you’ll see that the bed has rounded corners and doesn’t extend to the corners of the kennel. Also, I put a zipper on the bed so I can wash the fabric.

Bed Supplies

fabric
sewing machine
ruler and measuring tape
scissors
thread to match
marking chalk/pencil
pins
foam
kennel
long center zipper for end of bed

First thing I did was measure the kennel floor. Then I went and bought the foam and fabric to fit the bed, so I added a few inches in length to cover all sides of the bed.Then I remeasured the kennel floor and cut the foam to fit it.

measure kennel

Next I placed the fabric down, put the foam on the fabric and folded the fabric over the foam, connecting the right side edges of the fabric. I could measure, draw and cut, but this way seemed easier to me. I did make a faint line on the fabric around the edges where I wanted to cut giving myself and extra inch to sew the seam.

measure the fabric

Then I cut the fabric.

Cut and Sew

Next I remove the foam, pin the fabric together, get out my machine, and sew a 5/8 inch seam along two sides of the bed. The long side is a fold in the fabric and the other shorter side is where I’ll sew a zipper.

Next I get my long center zipper out, I think it was 22 inches. I pin it to the right side of the fabric.

Pin and Sew zipper

I change to a zipper foot on my machine and sew it in.

Zipper

Then I place the foam in the giant pillow/bed case, zip it closed, and it’s ready to go into the kennel giving Rusty a comfy bed to sleep on while I’m away.

Trying out his bed

I think he likes it!

Nov 2 2012

How to Sew the Whip Stitch

Posted on November 2, 2012 by Rachel

Pin It

Here is my awesome drawing again! 🙂 Alright yesterday was the running stitch, and today I’ll be going over the whip stitch. It is a very versatile stitch and it is just a loop stitch. I have used it to repair holes in fabric that are not on the seam, to edge a button hole to give it strength, to combine different fabrics for sewing and knitting, and I’ve used to to combine my plastic canvas pieces for the doll workout equipment.

Reminders:

– On my fabric you’ll see a R and W written on it, this is for Right side of the fabric or the side everyone sees when the project is finished and Wrong side of fabric or the underneath part people don’t see.

– Another side note, I found out the hard way that this wasn’t the greatest fabric to do my tutorial with, it breaks and pills very easily. It’s an old pillowcase.

– For all hand stitches, use two of string only about forearm length so you aren’t tangling or doing extra unnecessary movements. Also, tie a knot at the end of the thread, sometimes more than one knot in the same place is needed so the knot doesn’t go through the fabric.

I’ll show two different types of whip stitches today, first one will be to close a rip in fabric that is not near a seam. It’s a little messy, so try to find thread that best matches the fabric.

repairing a rip

Start on the wrong side of the fabric just below the beginning of the rip.

start on wrong side of fabric

Go over the rip to the top of it.

go over rip

looping it around, wrong side of the fabric

I’m creating a circle with the thread and come through the right side of the fabric below the rip again.

Go to the top over the rip

Closing the rip

The whip stitch is used to close the rip and to prevent it from getting bigger.

front view

back view

This is a little bit of a messy stitch job, but my point is made. You want to get your stitches as close to each other as possible to create a lot of strength and try to keep the stitches even. When the stitching is complete tie a double knot in the thread like I did for the running stitch.

Whip Stitch number two: button hole

hole for whip stitch number two

After I tie the knot I go through the wrong side so the needle comes out on the right side.

Loop around the edge

Creating a loop or circle around the hole

For this whip stitch, I only bring the needle from the wrong side to the right side because I am edging or finishing around the hole. So I am just making a circle with my thread enclosing the edges with thread.

front view

back

Once you have gone all around the hole, tie a knot.

same whip stitch from Rusty’s Lion Mane Costume

All Stitches Front View

All Stiches Back View

It’s a great idea to practice these stitches before using them on a project. Also, it might be helpful to have a swatch of fabric like the one above with the labeled stitches. It is a good reminder of how to do the stitches. I like to have one anyways.

Nov 1 2012

How to Sew the Running or Basting Stitch

Posted on November 1, 2012 by Rachel

Pin It

The past couple of projects I have used a couple of hand stitches. One is the running stitch and the other is the whip stitch. I tried my best to draw it but here are a couple of pictures as well.

– Another side note, I found out the hard way that this wasn’t the greatest fabric to do my tutorial with, it breaks and pills very easily. It’s an old pillowcase.

The first stitch is a running stitch. Also called a basting stitch because you can increase the length of this stitch and use it to mark/baste fabric and then easily remove the stitch.

Tie a Knot

For all hand stitches, use two of string only about forearm length so you aren’t tangling or doing extra unnecessary movements. Also, tie a knot at the end of the thread, sometimes more than one knot in the same place is needed so the knot doesn’t go through the fabric.

Take needle from wrong side of the fabric through to the right side of the fabric

from right side to wrong side

This is where I need to decide how long I want the stitch to be, because I need even straight stitches, which takes practice but even length stitches should always be the goal.

So you go just as far on the wrong side of the fabric as you do on the right side of the fabric.

equal stitch lengths

Continue with even stitches until you’ve reached the end.

finished, front view

back view

The wrong side of the fabric should look like the right view of the fabric.

tie off the stitches

After the stitches are complete, I need to tie it off so the stitches don’t come out, unless I’m basting, I take the needle underneath the last stitch and into the loop it creates to create a knot. I then tie another knot to make sure it is secure.

make a knot with the thread

finished

Tomorrow I’ll go over how to do two different variations of the whip stitch.

Oct 31 2012

Lion Mane Dog Costume

Posted on October 31, 2012 by Rachel

Pin It

Happy Halloween! Yesterday I showed how I made Rusty’s lion mane dog costume. Here is the finished result!

Top View

Give me treat!

He is a very scary lion! Or an adorable one!

Ready for the day!

I love how his ears turned out in this costume!

Hope you all have a safe and fun Halloween!

Check out a second version of a lion mane dog costume here!

Needles and Know How

Putting my Needles to Work

Tag Archives: sewing

How to Make a Lion Mane Dog Costume Version 2

Cross Stitch Chevron iPhone Case

How to sew a quick Tree Skirt

Chevron Cross Stitch Case Iphone 4 Pattern

Rock Climbing Cross Stitch

How to Sew in a Zipper

How to Sew a Dog Bed for a Crate

How to Sew the Whip Stitch

How to Sew the Running or Basting Stitch

Lion Mane Dog Costume

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: