The Best of Sewing with Nancy

Shop outside the big box stores and make your own gifts from new or upcycled fabric. So, gifts for kids, adults that will be appreciated and enjoyed. Mary Mulari is our guest for this series and she always amazes me with her clever approach to sewing. Mary, our first gift idea will be perfect for children, give them lots of memories. Yes, Nancy. We'd like to start with a December countdown calendar. Mark the days of December by moving vintage or contemporary buttons from the strip, to a dot on the tree. The pockets at the bottom of the hanging can be used for letters to Santa or for small notes promoting acts of kindness for others. "Sew Gifts - Make Memories" That's what's coming up next on Sewing with Nancy. Sewing with Nancy TV's longest-running sewing and quilting program with Nancy Zieman is made possible by Baby Lock, a complete line of sewing, quilting, and embroidery machines and sergers. Baby Lock, for the love of sewing. Madeira, specializing in embroidery, quilting, and special-effect threads because creativity is never black and white. Koala Studios fine sewing furniture custom-built in America. Clover, making a difference in sewing, quilting, crafting, and needle arts for over 90 years. Pellon, dedicated to providing sewing innovations in interfacings, battings, fusibles, home dec., and more. Amazing Designs and Klass needles. Almost all of Mary's projects require a straight stitch or a zigzag, and maybe, if you want, some serging. And that's certainly true with the December Countdown Calendar. Mary, you have pockets at the bottom. Those are for notes to Santa or ways that you can do kind acts for others. And buttons that work on to hook and loop tape with the hook part adhered to the button back. And then they are attached to the dots on the tree. So, this marks each day and we have the tape measure to be our numbering system. It's very, very clever. And your pattern pieces are simple. They are. This is how they appear in the reference material and they're placed on the fold. And so, you would cut complete pieces, as we have here. And then, the other detail is we are going to create folds at the bottom of our 15" by 30" piece. So, you have a 2-1/2" pocket? That's right. So, 15" by 30", 2-1/2" pockets. And the tree is placed about 2" below the top. Okay, what's 2" below? There we go. You see it measures. Right, and then, also, we have interfacing on the back. We need to give some stability to this wall hanging. Now, for the pockets, you can also stitch pockets and, if you wanted to, highlight them with ribbon, as Mary has on her calendar, just to add some elements. But simple sewing things. Tuck under that ribbon edge, and you're ready to go. Now, as far as the countdown part, clever. Very clever. Using a tape measure that's been cut and the soft part, the loop tape to zigzag the two together. We can use some tape to hold them together and then zigzag either with clear thread or colored thread. And you can see, it's very easy to do, especially since I'm stitching right now on a stabilizer. So, zigzag, zigzag, and you're done. And then you can remove it from the stabilizer and then I position it, giving a little spacing between and above the pockets. And topstitch it on. That's right. Now, the back piece has a casing for the ruler. Now, let's just show that once again, or show that just so they can see that we put a little casing in the back so that you could have a dowel or a ruler placed in there and that's what you've done on this larger piece of fabric. Right. It's 18" by 30". 18" wide. And as we're sewing on the casing, we're also inserting two ribbons underneath the edge so we can sew these on. Then, this is how we hang the wall hanging. And the other ribbon, which Mary has dropped on the floor. Oh. We'll just tuck it there, like that. How's that? And that's where it would be. And then you're going to meet right sides together. The right sides of the front, the green part, to the polka dot, and center it so that you have an extension. We'll tuck in the pockets here and then sew the sides. The sides don't really match up very well. Well, they do on one side, Nancy. But here's our little sample to show what happens when we do turn this right side out. And we have our wall hanging. You have to pretend the tree is there. And what I really like about this is how the backing, the extra backing, forms really neat sides. It does. And then we can finish the top and bottom by folding a miter. Fold it square or miter, 45-degree angle. Fold to the green, press, fold once more-- Ta-dah! And then, just stitch around. This is clever. It's relatively quick to make, but, most of all, quite enjoyable to use. So, Mary's countdown calendar with hook and loop tape and dots that can be just adhered and you're ready to go. Carrying shoes to the gym, school, and work is an everyday event. Why not make these clever bags just for that purpose? Chose new fabric or recycle a shirt. Either way, this is a useful gift to make and it offers lots of opportunities for personalization. Mary's clever bags kind of look like "shoe pants." Yes, they do. They're clever, but yet very useful. Mm-hmm. The pattern is simple. Right, it is 14" in length and 6" at the top and 4-1/2" at the bottom with a line that slants then to form. And this is the fold, and you'll cut two legs. We've added the pocket to this piece and the pockets can be of any size. Then you simply meet right sides together, and our next sample shows that the side seams have been stitched. That's right. And you can then open this up and then it really does kind of look like a little pair of pants. We have one more seam to stitch to form the two pockets. Which forms the inseam. Mm-hmm. And here in our sample, we have that seam stitched, and then we turn back the top edge. You see I've serged the edge and I've sewn a casing in that top edge. So, you've turned it back 1". Right. And then, if you want to, you can have this be a casing for a piece of ribbon, as we have in our sample. So, we would thread that through all the way to the edge. Now, Mary always opens the seam after she sews the casing. It's kind of a little cheat, but, you know, it works. And then to get the bottom of the shoe bag to stay closed, that would be an important thing. That's right. And we're going to form what would be like a crease in the pants and we're going to bring the seam this way, and sew across. Right in the center of that seam. Just as we've done over here. And then we turn this right side out and we have a two-pocket shoe bag. And you can also make one from dad's shirt and tie. I would advise asking him first, but we've used the short end of the tie here for our handle, which is another important addition to the shoe bag. And on the sample that we showed you earlier, it's a handle made from your favorite way of making a strap. Right. And, it's about a 30-minute project. Very quick, yes. So,

the two-pocket shoe bag

perfect for travel, work, and play. Our next gift idea is a noodle lounge. Use mesh fabric and grosgrain ribbon to create a lounge style seat that fits over a swimming noodle. Make one for yourself and another for a friend and then share lazy summer afternoons seated and relaxed in the water making more memories. You just saw how that noodle lounge looks when you're seated in it, but here's how it looks when it's out of the water. It's like a sling chair in many ways. And the fabrics you've used, as you mentioned, are mesh fabric and grosgrain ribbon and pretty simple sewing. It is. We'll cut out from fabric, first a 20" by 40" length of mesh. Nylon mesh. It's very sturdy and easy to work with. And great for pools. And then we need to press our 1" wide ribbon in half. So, you can see it's been folded and pressed. And then we'll begin sewing this around three of the edges of our fabric. One short edge and two of the long edges. So, just topstitch that in place. And then, we need to make the casing for the lounger. And what that will be, here at the top edge, is turning this under 5" and then sewing. It's important to make at least two rows of stitching because we want this very secure, all of our seams. So, that has been sewn twice, or would be sewn twice, along the top. A lot of the shaping then comes at the lower edge. That's right. So, we have this partially done. We need to cut out two 18" lengths of ribbon, and here, the pin indicates we make a seam here, about 5" from the fold and we bring each strap over to the edge. And we're going to anchor that. And you can see it on the noodle lounger here. 5" in the loop, and it's anchored to that area. And then we add two strips of 1" ribbon as a really nice, secure base for our noodle lounge. And those are sewn on at the same time. And it really-- then we anchor them over our strap ends, we turn under the edges, and get this into position. And you can see a close-up of me stitching the mesh and the ribbons together. Many times, if you haven't sewn with a fabric, you may think, "Ugh. Is it difficult to sew with?" No, not in the least. No. And then, we have our final addition, which is our storage pocket. So, you can take this on vacation, Nancy, in your suitcase. Okay! You would add the pocket. You can see our, you know, ponytail elastic-- it just is what I use-- and a button, and then we roll this up. And what I'm trying to do is take this apart, but it's too noisy. So, here you can see the pocket is complete and it really stores compact in this area. And a great gift idea. Thank you. In fact, Mary gave me this gift a while ago and I've used it for many years. Mine's at home, but it is a gift that has made memories. So, a noodle lounger next for your next sewing project. Add comfort to a child's car seat with plush wraps that pad the straps near the neck. A little bit of stitching, small strips of hook and loop tape, a touch of ribbon and lightweight quilt batting are all you'll need. You just saw our cute little model wearing these close to the neckline area and when you open these up, they're plush on inside and out. Hook and loop tape, ribbon, parallelogram shape. And, Mary, you've chosen a microfiber plush. I have, just for the softness and comfort. And you'd cut two pieces that are 5" by 15". And I've added the fusible type of fleece to the back of the fabric. So, here's the fusible adhered to the wrong side of the fleece-- or the plush, I should say-- and you fold it in half and cut out four pieces. That's right. And this is our pattern piece. Mm-hmm. And you cut those out. And, then, I lay them out, Nancy, on a table. This, to me, is so helpful because I want to make sure I get the hook and loop tape in the correct places. This is the hooks and these are loops. So, make a butterfly. That's right. And then we are going to add some ribbon tabs. And the ribbon tabs, after sewing on the hook and loop tape are stitched right over the top of that just on the edge of the fabric. And then, each pair will have its own set of ribbons. That way, since it's reversible, you can change it off. You know, it can be washable, but then the wear is... Now we're just going to flip these over so our pairs are all ready and then we're going to turn this right side out after stitching and leaving an opening in the seam. So, small 1/4" seam using short seam allowances. About a 2" opening, and you turn it over and I'll let you turn it, Mary. Okay. While I undo the-- I'll give you the hard part. Oh, thank you, Nancy. You're welcome. And you'll have to turn under that little 2" edge and do some hand stitching or just machine stitching, actually. Topstitching will work just fine, too. And Mary's getting that to work out just fine. There you go. A quick project, but, wow, a useful one. And then, it wraps over the seat belt or the neck belt and there is a terrific little gift to give at a baby shower, a birth of a baby, any, really, time of year. So, nice job, Mary. Thank you. Turn a beach towel into two hooded bath towels for babies or toddlers. This practical, quick-to-sew gift wrap around little ones works with ease. It's sure to be a welcomed gift and a wonderful surprise. You just saw the bath towel or beach towel being demonstrated, worn, but here it is flat and it's got a great shape. It does. And we build a hood into it with ease, because we're going to add a little bit of an extra piece, a wedge in the top. Two pieces come from one bath towel. Cut it in half horizontally and this is the shape you're going to create. Here's the other half of the towel and you have a cut edge. And, Mary, you have a pattern which will help shape the hood. We're going to place this about 8" from the fold and towels vary in width. So, scoot that down a little bit. There you go. That way, we follow the curve and cut it. And then, if you have a serger, this is a great time to put it to use. Terrycloth being kind of a messy fabric when you start to cut it. Sure. Here, this is a wider towel, so it has a longer wrap. And Mary serged the edges and it unfolds. And we showed you that little wedge earlier. A wedge is needed to make it shape around the hood. And we get that fabric from what we cut away from the towel. This is from another towel, but you'd stitch it to one side. Stitch it to the other side, so there is a wedge. And a serger would work here fine. We do some additional stitching to form that hood. We're going to stitch 2" from the fold, start a curve down to about 4-1/2" and that will form that nice rounded hood shape. And we have to trim that away, but you can see how that's getting to be a nice shape of the hood. Then, that plush, the microfiber plush that you saw earlier, Mary, you might want to show on your finished sample, but this is high contrast. Cut about 1-1/2" width. Stitch right sides together and wrap it around to the other side and stitch in the ditch. Sewing and attaching it. Now, if you have a little extra left on the underside...

Both

Easily trim it away. This is not going to ravel. So, on the inside, we have a raw edge of the towel, and with just a little shaping, you have two gifts from one towel. So, another idea that will make memories. Celebrate friendship by making a purse for your girlfriend or sister. These bags are perfectly sized for a day of shopping, lunch, or travel. All the essentials, phone, keys, credit cards, cash, and tissues, fit in the compact and lightweight bag. You can use scraps of fabric, fat quarters and, Mary, this is a great size. It is. It holds phones and then to close it, if you don't want to have your phone escape, we have, of course, a ponytail holder, my favorite. Your signature technique. And then, the handle on this bag is a glittery shoelace. Very clever. There's a base fabric, and you can see it's a long rectangle. It's 7" by 16". And we've marked the center of the bag, and then we would also fuse interfacing, stiff weight interfacing, to this piece. And then the pocket that's on the outside of the bag is 7" by 12", and then the lining for that is 7" by 14". Like making the "December Countdown," you're going to sew the pieces together at this time, the bottom and the top edges. And we happen to have a sample just like that. And that's going to be turned right side out. You're doing a great job, Nancy. Oh, thank you. And then, we have the middles marked. You can see it's already finished. Yeah, we have a nice edge. Here, I have the middle. And then we're going to line up our centers and these now will be sewn down. We're going to change fabrics a little bit, but you'll see that we have pockets now edge-stitched just along that straight edge. And also in the center just to divide the two pockets. Now we kind of create this all together. This is very cleverly put together. First, let's start at the top of this bag because here you have your button loop. And the handle ends are also sewn onto the sides of the bag. And so, we prepared this. And we'll tuck those inside right now. And then, we have lining pieces that are 7" by 9". So the lining pieces are sewn to each end of the bag. Here, I'm going to borrow this. So, we're going to quickly sew this end and we'll show you what happens. It's the lining. So, you meet the lining together and fold it right sides together and sew the side seams. Two long, straight seams, and our next sample shows we've also stitched the corners. So, the bag has a shaping to it. So, you just center the seam and then sew a triangle shape about 1" deep. That's right, Mm-hmm. Now, what takes the longest time, Mary, is turning this right side out. But first, I'm going to reach through the pockets so I'm not-- Oh, I did it again. Last time I did this, I did the same thing. Here we go. Now, we're going to get it turned the right way. It's a little bit of pushing. Yes. And then, you'll see that the lining comes out here. We're going to topstitch that together and then tuck it inside the bag. And we'll just tuck. Tuck, tuck, tuck. Yeah, we'll get there. And, because of the size, there's a little lip or a little binding and you add a button, and Presto! A little pressing and you have a great gift to give. Today on Sewing with Nancy during the "Nancy's Corner" segment, we're going to revisit fashion through the great designs and costumes of Downton Abbey. Today, I have with me Laura Fiser, who's a curator at Paine Art Museum. And, Laura, you have the opportunity of having 36 of the great fashions and costumes here on display. We're going to show the day wear. Yes, it's a special treat to have the costumes of Downton Abbey here at the Paine and they are just beautiful and really trace the evolution of fashion from the Edwardian period of the 1910's through the early Jazz Age of the 1920's. Now, we're going to start with a garment that I think kind of sets the stage from Violet Crawley, the Dowager. Yes. We have her terrific two-piece silk lilac day dress. And it really sets the tone, and it shows how the costume house that works with the designers of Downton Abbey. It's called "Cosprop" in London, how they use costume to set the tone of the character. And we see Violet wearing a really high piece, high Edwardian dress. It's a day dress, if you can believe that, even though it's so formal. Yes. But it shows how she was staying true to the corset. It has the small bustle in the back and you see the S-curve of the design and a fantastic little bolero jacket. And she's worn it a lot on the four seasons that I've seen. Yes, and throughout Season One, you see her wearing it often. And, interestingly, it's a completely remade design based on 1910's examples. So, the costume house of Cosprop made the fabric based on an Edwardian pattern. Wow. They made the dress based on the little pattern for that silk bolero jacket, and everything is authentic, hand crafted, and true to the period. Oh, it's phenomenal. And, then, her daughter-in-law, Cora is wearing a beautiful cream, accented with black. Yes, and that is a beautiful example of another silhouette that was popular for day wear, in particular, during the Edwardian period. And it's called-- it has an underdress-- and then an overcoat called a "lampshade silhouette." So, it's sort of introducing us to the A-line silhouette that would become so popular, even today, and it has incredible hand-worked black frogging embroidery. That is incredible. Then, her husband, the garment standing next to her, played-- Robert Crawley, has this linen suit. Right, and that also dates from Season One. He and Cora wore that ensemble at the flower show at Downton Abbey and it's a great linen day suit and shows a carefree period. We're looking at about 1912, 1913, into the 1914 period and the outbreak of World War I. So you don't see any signs of the turmoil of what would be the war years. Sure. It's all carefree and light and breezy. Now we're going to look at some of the Crawley daughters' garments and we have a red coat and it's military-style or war-like era and that was worn by Mary Crawley. Right, that's a fantastic example of how suits became very popular during the war years. So, this dates from the World War I period and it's a two-piece dress with a very tailored look that was inspired by men's military uniforms. And it's all wool and then with velvet trim, and it's a full ensemble. You see the hat and the handbag and handbags were starting to be used by women during the war years, in particular, because they had greater roles outside of the home. Then, Edith Crawley, this was one of her garments and this coat, I can't believe the embroidery. This is an antique. It's vintage. Yes, it is. Nearly a hundred years old. It dates from Season Three. So, right at 1920. Sure. Edith wears it into London for a meeting with Michael Gregson and it shows the influence of the Arts and Crafts movement. It's all original silk embroidery, silk chenilleembroidery and shows a return to handcraftsmanship during that period. It was sort of anti-industrialization and a return to kind of medieval or folk style embroidery. Then, the last garment we're going to look at for this segment is a statement made by the mother-in-law. Yes, Martha Levinson, played wonderfully by Shirley MacLaine and she's the flamboyant American. Very wealthy woman, and you can see all of that in this fantastic fox-trimmed coat that she wears at her arrival at Downton Abbey. Well, how fascinating. Well, we have more from "Dressing Downton," which we're going to have in our next program of Sewing with Nancy, focusing on evening wear. Laura, thank you for being with us during this segment. We'll look forward to your return. If you'd like to rewatch this segment, go to NancyZieman.com. You can click on "Nancy's Corner" or watch any of the Sewing with Nancy programs that you would like to watch online. Thank you for joining us. Bye for now. Mary Mulari has written a fully-illustrated book that can be used to make the projects featured in this two-part series. The book is $14.99 plus shipping and handling. To order this book, call 800-336-8373 or visit our website at SewingwithNancy.com/2913. Order item number MP45, "Sew Gifts, Make Memories." Credit card orders only. To pay by check or money order, call the number on the screen for details.

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