Radiant Home Studio

Sew a Sunglasses Case with Scraps & Kantha Stitching

Posted by Sara
July 28, 2018
1 comment
July 31, 2018

Summertime means sunglasses! I usually have mine on my head, but sometimes I want to throw them in my bag with a layer of protection. This sunglasses case is a great way to use up scraps and practice some kantha stitching. (Kantha is just a fancy word for Indian style running stitches and they don’t even have to be perfect!)

Here’s a quick tutorial so you can sew a sunglasses case that will use up scraps and help protect your lenses. I made the pattern big enough for oversized sunglasses. If you have a slim pair or want to use it for reading glasses, you can adjust the size by trimming it down when you get partway through.

Remember that kantha stitching is meant to be quick and easy. You can thread the needle through 4-8 stitches before pulling the thread. Don’t worry about perfect spacing or alignment. The imperfections are what give it a beautiful handmade look.

This type of pouch is useful for other little items too, so be creative! If you change the size slightly, it makes a great little protective phone cover. Or you could make it bigger and use it to cover an iPad.

(This post contains affiliate links which means I make a small commission when you make a purchase. Thanks!)

How to Sew a Sunglasses Case with Scraps & Kantha Stitching

Finished size: approximately 4″ x 7″

Materials & Tools:

fabric scraps in coordinating colors (about ten 12″ x 1.5″ strips)
one larger piece of fabric about 10″ square for the lining
fusible fleece (about 10″ square)
coordinating embroidery floss (I like pearl embroidery floss for this project.)
embroidery needle (I like these Sashiko needles. They are long so you can make multiple stitches at a time.)
rotary cutter & mat (You can do without, but measuring and cutting are much faster and easier!)

Sewing Instructions:

1. Cut out several strips of fabric about 12″ long and 1-2″ wide. They can be variable widths and do not need to be perfect! If you like making improv quilt blocks, that’s exactly what you need to do here. In fact, you can be more creative and sew other shapes and designs if you like.

2. Lay out your strips in the order you want to sew them together. Place the first 2 strips right sides together and stitch with a 1/4″ seam allowance along the long edge. Press and continue to add the rest of the strips in the same manner.

3. Trim the sewn-together strips to about 10″ x 9″. Cut a piece of fusible fleece the same size and fuse it to the wrong side of the fabric. (Note: If you think the fusible fleece will be too thick to hand stitch, you can use a lightweight interfacing on this layer and add fusible fleece to the lining layer instead.)

4. Begin stitching across the vertical stripes, slightly off center with close rows of running stitches. Again, these aren’t supposed to be perfect. They are supposed to be quick! Fill in a section with about 1.5″ of stitching. Finish filling in the other sections with close rows of running stitches perpendicular to the first section.

5. Once you finish stitching, your fabric will be slightly smaller and probably not square again. Wrap it around your glasses and figure out if you need to trim the rectangle. To make it the same size as mine, it should be about 9″ x 8″ at this point. Be sure to leave about 1/2″ of seam allowance on all sides. (Below, I had already trimmed the corners…this is in the next step.)

6. Cut a solid piece of fabric to match the size of the quilted rectangle. (If you prefer a more sturdy case, you can add some medium-weight interfacing to this layer as well.)

7. Place the quilted rectangle and the lining right sides together. Fold in half. Trim off one outer corner about 1″ from each edge.

8. Stitch around the outside edge, pivoting at the corners, using a 3/8″ seam allowance, leaving a 2″ opening on one side. Trim the bulk from the corners and turn inside out. Press.

9. Fold the lining sides together. Whipstitch across the bottom and side near the edge, pulling tight as you stitch. Finish just below the angled corner with a small knot. (You can also machine topstitch, but the thickness of the fabric may be too much for some basic sewing machines.)

That’s it! Make beautiful gifts for your friends, use up scraps, and enjoy the sunshine!

Also, linking up with: Sew Can She, Saturday Sharefest, & Craftastic Monday

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Sewing

Chambray Ogden Cami

Posted by Sara
June 28, 2018
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June 20, 2018

Another Ogden Cami…this time in scraps of chambray from my Marigold Dress. I think I only had about a yard left, but I was able to cut out a size 4 with no problems. (You may have noticed it in my previous post about the wide-leg rayon pants…)

I already reviewed the pattern in my Rayon Ogden Dress Post, but it’s obviously a good pattern when you make it twice in one week!

One thing I learned from making the dress is that it is essential for moms to reinforce their straps. The first time I wore my cami dress, my 9-month-old managed to rip the strap out while struggling to get out of my arms. That and the stress of holding her on my hip all day was too much. Thankfully, I had a second layer underneath!

I went back and repaired the strap, plus I reinforced all of the strap ends with some medium weight interfacing and another row of stitching. On the second chambray cami, I just went ahead and reinforced everything the first time!

The second Ogden went together faster than the first. I don’t think I even needed to look at the instructions.

This pattern is the perfect scrap buster. I think I have a few more small pieces that will become Ogden Camis when I get a chance!

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Sewing

How to Make Wide-Leg Rayon Pants with the Parkside Shorts Pattern

Posted by Sara
June 25, 2018
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July 9, 2018

A couple of weeks ago, I tried on some black and white wide-leg rayon pants in the store and loved them. I couldn’t bring myself to pay $40 for thin, cheap fabric and less than perfect pattern matching and construction though. Don’t we all do that? How many times do we leave things behind because we can “make it better ourselves”?

This time I actually did it. I ordered this black and white rayon crepe from Style Maker Fabrics. I know many bloggers regularly shop there and always highly recommend the shop. I actually emailed the owner to make sure this fabric would be heavy enough for pants before ordering. She emailed back a couple of options that would work well, including the one I had my eye on.

I looked at several patterns but in the end, I decided to hack a pattern I already own. I just needed a simple elastic waist pant pattern with a wide leg. I was wearing a pair of my linen Parkside Shorts earlier this week and realized that I could definitely hack the Parkside Shorts pattern. I already knew it fit and I could easily extend the length!

I did some quick calculations and ordered 2 1/2 yds. of fabric. If you are considering ordering rayon crepe, be aware that it shrinks a lot! I lost 12″ in length and 8″ in width. I expected some shrinkage. I always wash rayon, even though it’s prone to shrinking. I don’t have time to hand wash all of my clothes, so I just wash them on delicate and tumble dry on low. This material really crinkles up a lot though.

After washing, I wasn’t sure how I was going to fit my pattern pieces on the fabric anymore. I had planned to place the pant legs side by side, but losing the width made that impossible. I bought enough extra to stagger the legs, placing the wide part next to a narrower part but that wasn’t working either. And I didn’t have enough to place them end to end.

Then I remembered a top I made earlier this year with rayon crepe. I left it crinkled and cut the pattern pieces like that. The top ended up being much too big.

So I decided to try ironing the fabric to see if I could stretch it back out. I gained 4″ in width, which was almost enough to squeeze my pieces across. To save a little more fabric, I taped the front and back pant leg pieces together overlapping the seam allowances to create one seamless pant leg piece. That gave me the last inch I needed to make it fit on the fabric! (I made a medium, so if you are a small or x-small you should be able to get away with 2 yds. of fabric.) – See the end of the post for an update about what happened after washing…

I definitely appreciated not having to match stripes on the outer leg seams, but I did lose the pockets I was planning to add. I think pockets may have been too heavy anyway, so the trade-off worked out. Plus, ironing out the crinkles was a good call for a better fit.

Other than creating one pattern piece and eliminating the side seam and pocket, the other change I made was to add length. I measured a 34″ inseam and cut straight down from the existing side seams on the shorts. That’s it! I had more than enough length to create a 2″ hem at the end.

I constructed the pants with french seams to keep the rayon from fraying everywhere. Without pockets, it’s really just sewing the crotch seams, the inside leg seams, and the waistband. It didn’t take very long to sew these together.

The only thing I would do differently is straighten out the back waist seam. It’s drafted at an angle, which is fine for solid fabric. On the striped fabric, it creates little chevrons across the backside instead of straight horizontal stripes like the rest of the pants. I don’t think it’s too noticeable now, but I did alter the back seam slightly after sewing it to make the effect more subtle.

The pants are super comfortable, but taking photos made me feel like they might not be that flattering. I’m used to wearing more fitted clothes. These make me feel very conspicuous….like I’m wearing pajamas. I’m sure I’ll still wear them. I just need to work out the best way to style them…

UPDATE: So…ironing the fabric was not the right call. One wash and the pants are at least two sizes smaller. The waist still fits, but the pants are a few inches too short and way too clingy now. I think I will save them for my preteen daughter. They should fit her next year, so it’s not a total loss!

Tips for rayon crepe anyone? The time I didn’t iron, the garment was too big. When I did iron, it was too small. How do you prep your fabric?

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Striped Knit Dance Dresses

Posted by Sara
June 20, 2018
2 comments
June 19, 2018

This year, my oldest daughter started taking ballet lessons. As with most girls their age, our daughters love to put on “shows” and regularly choreograph dances for us. They’ve been practicing a dance for our family reunion talent show for weeks and requested matching dance dresses. I used a striped rayon jersey knit to make them matching dance dresses.

I could have bought them something, but I thought quick, knit tank dresses would be easy enough. I ended up just creating patterns for them myself by tracing a store-bought tank they already had and adding some length. (I probably could have used the top of another pattern like I did with the knit Southport Dress here…but I didn’t think of it then.)

I cut the front and back of the tank plus some 1 1/2″ wide strips for the bindings. I folded those strips in half horizontally, wrong sides together. In order to attach the binding flat (and to avoid figuring out exact measurements for sewing them on in the round…), I sewed one shoulder seam, then added the neck binding. Then I sewed the other shoulder seam and added the sleeve bindings. If you’ve made almost any t-shirt pattern, the method is the same. Just stretch the binding slightly as you sew.

For the most part that worked well. At that point, I tried the dresses on the girls and discovered there was too much ease under the arms. That was an easy fix because I hadn’t sewed the side seams yet. I just took in the side seams under the arms and graded out to the original line.

I left the bottom edge raw and cut it with an uneven hem. My daughter had a unique hemline on a top that she liked so we copied that hemline. It has a rounded front and back with squared off sides.

For dancing, a turned-up hem would have weighed down the “twirliness” of the skirt. The shape of the dresses is an A-line shape, so they don’t spin out as much as a circle skirt would but they still have pretty movement.