Sewing With Nancy

Start with rectangles and squares of fabric add an interesting specialty fabric or trim then use straight stitching to create attractive, usable projects. Those are the criteria I used to develop this three-part Sewing with Nancy series. Let's begin with the jewelry caddy duo which fits all the standards set for the show. The caddies use two sizes of fabric rectangles clear vinyl, along with ribbon accents and the sewing is done completely with straight stitching. Best of all, the projects are attractive and practical. "Sew Simple with Rectangles and Squares." that's what's next on Sewing with Nancy. Sewing with Nancy TV's longest-airing 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 30 years. Amazing Designs and Klass needles. Let's start by taking a close-up look at the jewelry caddy, the duo that I have. I'll show you how to make both of these. This one, of course, you can hang necklaces. The pocket below is for earrings or a bracelet. Then the four-pocket one is obviously just with zippers. Same size, comparable techniques. What I really like about this is the interesting closure this ribbon loop closure that doesn't take a lot of work. So, if you haven't sewn before this is really a great project to start with. Straight stitching, squares of fabric. We're going to talk about the specialty fabric first and that's the clear vinyl. You can buy that at a regular fabric store. It's sold with paper on it. It's a good thing, because sometimes you can't even see it when you're working with it. Here's the vinyl underneath. I usually keep it wrapped in the paper it comes with. Before using it, because if it's folded it does get wrinkled make sure your iron is set at its lowest temperature. Reduce the steam to nothing and then press it with the paper over it. Do not put your iron, for obvious reasons on the clear vinyl. If you've lost your paper, just cover it with fabric to get the wrinkles out before you do the cutting. Speaking of cutting here are the sizes of the rectangles. We're going to work with canvas fabric or cotton fabric. I've chosen a canvas. The outer size is 12" x 18". I've cut two 12" x 18" pieces in different coordinating fabrics to make the sample step-by-steps. Then our inner rectangles, instead of it being 12" x 18" it's two inches smaller, so it's 10" x 16". You see the vinyl. I've outlined the edges making it a little bit more visible where the vinyl is. I have another layer of fabric. Then, just to give it a little substance some polyester fleece. So we have three layers here, plus the larger 12" x 18". For the jewelry tote or caddy that has the necklace top cut the vinyl three inches shorter. You'll be putting some ties up here. It's really not difficult, just some rectangles of fabric. Truthfully, you can make this any size you'd like. For the four-pocket jewelry caddy you'll need zippers, these are 9" zippers. You could use, if you have it in your sewing area zippers that are on a roll, that have many, many tabs. I like to keep these at hand. You zigzag with a bar tack at the end and at the top and then cut off the zipper the length that you'd like. Then, find the next tab, pull the zipper tab down and cut another length. It's nice to have these at hand. We have found that when sewing the zippers on the vinyl, we're going to do it the easiest way possible. That's just to topstitch the zippers in place. If you look at the end and the beginning of the zipper you'll see that we have a little fabric area a fabric tab in this area. It makes it easier to get the zipper tape out of the way of the seam. To accomplish that, we've cut squares. Here comes the "square" part of the show. They're 2-1/2" square. You start at the underside of the zipper. You just wrap it around the zipper tape right sides together. After you've done the wrapping a little bit more clearly than I've shown you here you stitch across the end. Then, cut off any little extra if you'd like but then you have a tab to work with. It makes that zipper tab out of the way of seam. It looks kind of nice, too. You're going to make four zippers in this manner. If you want it for the necklace if you want a zipper in there, you can do that, too. That's how you create the zippers. Now for some marking. I'm going to get the blue fabric up here. You're going to place the zippers directly on top of the clear vinyl. But to mark the clear vinyl unless you're using a permanent marker there's no way to mark it. So this is what we like to do. It's just fast. We're going to fold this in half. Fold it in half again. Now I'm just going to go to my ironing surface and press. Press in the press marks. Let me put away my clear vinyl. And press. Press marking is something we use a lot during this series. Just put in those press marks. Then place this fabric back on the original stack just to have a reference. Place the clear vinyl over this. You can see the press marks, perhaps, through here or you could darken that on the fabric with a marking pen. Then on each zipper, on the back I have placed 1/4" wide double sided basting tape. You peel off the paper covering and center the zipper tape over the press mark. It "pins" it in place so you don't have to worry about it shifting. Then before doing the stitching you're going to do all three sections that are marked and then a fourth one A fourth zipper is going to be placed 1-1/2" from the top so that you have four pockets. Then, you're just going to separate again the clear vinyl and stitch. A Teflon foot is needed so that the foot does not get stuck on the clear vinyl. You can see how easy it is to topstitch on either side of the zipper tape. If you didn't have a Teflon foot, use paper toweling. Fold it in half. Here you can see that I'm placing it between the foot and the clear vinyl and then I can stitch with ease sewing through the paper towel just as a buffer zone. You can't use the zippers as they are now because obviously, the clear vinyl is on the under side. On this sample, I'm going to work from the under side slightly opening the zipper. Just use the tip of your scissors and make a slit down the middle. Then you can cut away, as I have on this one. It may be difficult to see, but there's about a 1/2" opening. You don't see the glare there. Then you topstitch that zipper into place. So now you can do some stitching placing the layers that are all the same size together. You're now going to stitch to make pockets. You stitch along the top edge of the zippers. You can see how that's done, and presto, you have that done. If you'd like to do a divider in the pockets, on the finished pocket, we have a divider. We just stitched down on the three layers below the zipper tape and above the zipper tape so that I have two pockets within that section. If you're going to make the necklace divider I need to show you how that works. It's very simple. As I mentioned, you're going to cut that vinyl a little bit shorter. I placed one pocket in the lower edge and turned under the top pocket by an inch. Then topstitch some ribbon. You're not going to have this black mark. I'm just showing you that that's an inch turned under. This ribbon at the top is 10". You're going to cut three sections that are 10" or so long. Fold them in half. I found the center and just kind of eyeballed, maybe or divide it by fourths again so that you place the ribbon on either edge. You can baste it across the top. That's how you do it. After you have done this, it's time to add the ribbon to the back. Honestly, this takes the most thought of this whole program. I didn't want to make it difficult for you so here's how you do it. We'll see how we can describe this. To make the ribbon across the back you're going to need a yard of ribbon. I measured placed a mark on the fabric four inches from one end. Then I also press marked the fabric. Press mark the fabric in half and in half again. Press mark this. Start placing the ribbon at the middle at the middle press mark, and on either side of it. You can start on the middle and then you stop at that marking. Stop at that four-inch mark. If you're wondering where all these markings are you'll find them in the book that accompanies the program. If you didn't get all the notes down. You'll wrap it around. Then you extend the ribbon three inches from the top. As you get to the middle, that one yard of ribbon will fit right in here. I turned under the edge and would zigzag. We can't zigzag the whole thing down so we've left 1-1/2" free in this area and measured about 2" from the end so that we have this section complete. Now the binding. A foolproof binding way of putting all the layers together. Let me get my sections together here. You would place the middle section center it so that you have one inch on either side. Working with the long ends I'm going to fold once, fold twice and topstitch all the way around the edge. That's a fold binding it's not a binding that's been added. Then on this small sample you've seen the long edges stitched. Then miter the corner by folding it in half so that you have a miter. With the tip of your iron, catch that fold. Then do the double fold. Fold once, fold twice. At the corner, ah-ha you've got a picture frame miter. Stitch all around the edges. When you're finished, you have this caddy that holds your precious jewelry for travel. Using the same dimensions and many of the same fabrics as the jewelry caddy make a portable mini ironing blanket. Use it next to your sewing machine for quick presses. Or, create a larger blanket that easily transports. You can use it as an ironing board substitute or for travel. Once you know how to make this caddy you can make the interior with a quilted ironing board fabric. Or if you didn't have the quilted you can just purchase the replacement ironing board fabric and use two layers of polyester fleece for the smaller rectangular sizes. The outer rectangle is cut two inches longer and two inches wider. To make something larger for travel or for replacement for an ironing board it's very handy to have on top of your washing machine or on the kitchen counter for some quick presses. One of the interesting things about these caddies is the way they close. It took a little bit to figure out how to measure and determine what to place. You can make this closure on any size of rectangle that you'd like. I'd like to show you how. You cut the outer fabric two inches wider and longer. Fold it in half and fold it in half again and press mark it. Then fold it in half meeting the lengthwise edges so you have these press marks a long mark and then the quarter mark. I've darkened them, the center mark and the quarter marks. To have that little loop from one of the quarter marks you're going to measure 1-1/2". That will be the extension of the loop. We do some stitching to secure it down at the quarter mark. Then to have the extension of the loop measure 3" beyond the opposite end. I said regardless of the size that you're working with whether it's small or large you can use these same measurements a quarter mark, add 1/2". You can extend it by 3" if it's smaller or larger. On this piece I have the fabric quarter marked and I have that 1-1/2" extension. And on the opposite end, I've extended the ribbon 3". I'd stitch it down, leaving a little extension at the end and that 1-1/2" at the opposite end. So, big or small quilted, or for a jewelry roll-up you can add this extension, stitch it down then roll it up and use it for travel or storage in your house. It's easy to do and great with that specialty fabric. How about adding extra storage to your home without assembling knockdown furniture or remodeling a closet. Create portable, compact closet organizers with double-sided quilted fabric, clear vinyl and ribbon trim. It's another straight stitching technique that can hang in full view or behind a closet door. When you take a look at the organizer you'll see the double-sided fabric the grommets at the top and then the clear vinyl pockets with ribbon trim just to make those edges secure. Simple stitching, again and we're cutting the quilted fabric 45" x 15". I'm going to work with it on the crosswise on my table. Press under 4" at the top. I'm going to set my gauge at 4". You'd finger press and pin 4" from the top and stitch down this edge. All the remaining edges are going to be pressed under 1" and topstitched. Don't spend a lot of time on this. This is the back of the fabric. It's going to face the closet door so just get it nicely stitched as this sample has been. So, here's the header with the four inches that has been turned under on the top. Now get out your tape measure and remember your times tables from third grade about working with the number seven. I'm going to place my tape measure at the stitching which I have darkened at 4" from the top. From that measurement, mark at 7", 14", 21", 28" and you got it, 35". Do the same marking on the opposite side, 7", 14", 21" 28", and 35". Then you can see that I have markings across the area just connecting those dots. That's going to be the stitching line for the pockets. So the backing is pretty much set. Then for the vinyl, same width, 15". This time, the length is going to be 50", so 15" x 50". It's been precut and we've highlighted the ends. You don't have to highlight the edges, as I have. This is just done so you can see a little bit better. It's kind of hard to see, actually. Then to attach the ribbon all you do is press under one inch and then cover the edge with ribbon and stitch. Here's a close up of again using that Teflon foot stitching along both sides of the ribbon so that you finish both the long edges of the vinyl. You do your multiples of seven now we're going to go to multiples of ten. The size of the vinyl is 15" x 50". You've got a lot of measurements but it makes it easy if you divide things out. To do this, I have pins. This time, it's 10" every 10" I have a pin, 10", 20", 30", 40", and 50". On the opposite end I have the same pins at the edge, 10", 20", 30", 40", and the end is 50". I think you kind of know where I'm going with this. So, I'm going to meet the pockets, the 10" to the 7". I'm going to clip and the clips work so well because it's hard to pin through vinyl. So, we're going to just clip his into place. Do this along each pocket section. I'm just going to do it for you on the opposite end. Clip and clip, marking those 0" to meet the 7". You can see the stitching line through the vinyl. After you get them all clipped and into place then you're going to do some stitching. As you can see, I'm stitching right down the middle following that line, that 7" line that I've marked. Now to complete this, to hang it you need some grommets. Earlier in this program, we worked with grommets. I always like to make a sample grommet before placing it into my project. You're going to have the template that was used in the packaging. Mark it on your fabric. Cut out the circle shapes. Place a grommet on the back and one on the front. Work on a hard surface. Using my pressing tool, and then pound it down. You can always pop these out for practice. There you have your grommet in place. Hang it up behind a closet door and you have storage. Most of us have cuddly comforters on our beds but what about our four-legged friends? Laura Nigbur is here via Skype to encourage us to make Cage Comforters for dogs and cats that are currently living at animal shelters. Laura, welcome to Sewing with Nancy. Thank you so much for having me. The Milwaukee Area Domestic Animal Control Commission has a great program about the Cage Comforters. Tell us about that program. Absolutely. Well, we hope that the pets that come in here have a very short stay with us. We do want that stay to be as comfortable and as welcoming for them as possible. So what we do, is we ask individuals to use their talents to make cage comforters. It's for the cats, for the dogs. It goes into cat condos and the dog kennels. It gives them a little extra warmth in those winter months but also gives them that extra padding for a nice comfortable rest. Just like you mentioned, we have our comforters it allows them to have some of that as well. You've encouraged people in your area to make the cage comforters. When we were talking about this earlier it can be a beginner sewer. You can use remnants. Tell us about some of the specifications. Absolutely, we're looking for two specifications one for the dogs and one for the cats. The cats is a 10" x 15", with a 3-1/2" thickness. The dogs is 24" x 34" again also with more of like a 3-1/2" thickness just to give them a little extra padding for them to be more comfortable. But again, it can be beginner sewers. Lots of the volunteers will use remnants or the threads don't match. The animals don't care about how good it looks. They just want it to be comfortable. You do have one suggestion though. The fabrics shouldn't have a loop or something where their nails can get caught. Absolutely, so it shouldn't be chenille or any of the burlap. The thickness is very important because we may not have our comforters that thick. So, make sure that they're thick so you don't have to put two together. Correct, that's very helpful for us. Even though you're at the Milwaukee Area Domestic Animal Control Center you don't want everyone to send cage comforters to you. You have some suggestions for someone say, living in Kentucky or Arizona. Absolutely. So, while we love that our volunteers locally send us our comforters shelters across America are looking for cage comforters as well. I encourage you to look on the website or call your local shelter and see what they need. Their sizes are probably a bit different than ours so it's good to call ahead first. Yes, because you mentioned that there are 20 different universal sizes of cages or condos for the animals. So making them 10" x 15" or 24" x 24" may not fit your local area. Correct. You have how many animals a year that you service? We take in about 13,000 animals out of Milwaukee County the largest animal control facility in Wisconsin. If they are moved to a different center this is like a comfy blanket that a little kid has their comforter goes with them. Yeah, it's like their little blankie. Because especially with the cats when the scents when they've already had their particular scent on one of the comforters it's more comforting for them if they can have something with their scent already on it. Then when they go to their permanent home it's another comfort blanket to follow them through their life. Absolutely. So you have 13,000 animals that you work with. Then you like about 1,000 comforters a year. Yes. That's a lot. Yeah, they go through a lot of wear and tear. As much as we try to save them and we have volunteers who will fix them after they've been used a lot we do have to replace them often. I think this is a great project even if you're teaching a young person to sew or working with someone who hasn't sewn before this would be a perfect project because the animal will enjoy the comfort but things don't have to match. Exactly. Well, Laura, I thank you for joining us. This great program of cage comforters is an easy project. I think those of us who have animals at home my dog Lucas came from a shelter. I'd gladly make them, I'm sure viewers will, too. Thank you for joining us. Thank you for having me. If you'd like more information on the Cage Comforters you can go to all things Sewing with Nancy which is at our website, nancyzieman.com. You can watch the latest of shows about 70 shows are online. You can re-watch this program, if you'd like and then click on Nancy's Corner to find more information about the Cage Comforters. Well, this wraps up our three-part series on "Sew Simple with Rectangles and Squares." I've had a lot of fun working with these projects and I hope that you will pick one or two and make a Sew Simple project to decorate your home or office. Thanks for joining us. Bye for now. Nancy has written a fully-illustrated book entitled "Sew Simple with Rectangles and Squares" that includes all the information from this three-part series. It's $14.99, plus shipping and handling. To order the book, call 1-800-336-8373

or visit our website at

sewingwithnancy.com/2801. Order Item Number BK2801 "Sew Simple with Rectangles and Squares." To pay by check or money order call the number on the screen for details. Visit Nancy's website at nancyzieman.com to see additional episodes, Nancy's blog, and more. Sewing with Nancy TV's longest airing sewing and quilting program with Nancy Zieman has been brought to you by Baby Lock; Madeira Threads; Koala Studios; Clover; Amazing Designs and Klass Needles. Closed captioning funding provided by Pellon. Sewing with Nancy is a co-production of Nancy Zieman Productions and Wisconsin Public Television.