New Deliveries! And A Babygrow Play-Cube Tutorial

Well a lot of things have been happening at The Eternal Maker since we last spoke, as always we've had lots of lovely new deliveries of fabric but we've also had some bigger events going on in our lives too, like planning a new roof for our shop and one very special new delivery - our first Eternal Maker baby!
Yes, we are pleased to announce that our shop manager Rachael had a baby boy shortly after Christmas last year, so in his honour, here's a simple make, for all new arrivals. It can be made with cotton jersey fabric or upcycled babygrows - a lovely way to get more use from those first favourite outfits!

You will need:

At least three babygrows or vests (we used four, first size, vests)
Or..... a selection of any other fabrics. Cotton jerseys give you a lovely soft finish and organic options are great for chewing too! (One long quarter will be enough for your cube but it will look nicer if you use a variety of fabrics) Brushed cottons or minky-type "cuddles" fabric will give you fun textures for feeling.
One long quarter of Vilene
Some toy stuffing
Needles and thread and/or sewing machine
Scraps of "Bondaweb" if doing any applique
Jingle bells and child proof pot, or teddy squeakers, are optional

1) If you are using fabric by the metre skip to next instruction.
If you are using babygrows or vests, start by cutting away any seams and poppers, leaving the largest pieces of flat fabric you can. From vests you will get one piece from the front and one from the back. From babygrows you may get two pieces from the front or back.

 

2) Measure your fabric pieces to work out the largest size square you can cut from them. We managed to get 6" squares. Cut six 6" squares (or your required size) from your Vilene and mark 1/2" seam allowance guides on all edges with a pencil on the side that ISN'T iron-on (as shown in the picture below). Iron these Vilene squares onto the reverse of your vest or fabric pieces. We have placed some diagonally because we wanted the stripes on the finished cube to be diagonal.

3) Iron the Vilene squares down on the reverse of your fabric and cut out the fabric following the edges of the Vilene. You will need 6 squares to make your cube.

4) We wanted to be a bit fancy and add some applique - if you don't want to do this skip to instruction number 8.
These vests had little animal pictures on that we wanted to use. We cut a heart shape from "bondaweb" that matched the size of the applique we wanted to attach. Then we ironed this on the reverse of the picture - making sure to centre the picture as best as possible.

5)Then we cut out the heart shape from the fabric following the edge of the ironed-on "bondaweb" heart. Removed the paper backing and then ironed on the hearts onto the centre of a couple of the cube squares.

6) So you should now have 6 Vilene-backed squares with any applique on you fancy.

7) Use a small zig-zag stitch to sew on any applique.

8) Start stitching the squares together. Lay them with right sides facing each other and stitch together, following the 1/2" seam allowance guide. Make sure you begin and finish you stitching where the two seam allowance guides cross (otherwise your cube's corners won't work).

 

 

9) Continue joining squares to form a cross shape.

 

10) When you join the squares next door to other squares make sure to stop where the seam allowance guides cross - this will give you a nice sharp corner.

 
 
 

11) Keep working - stitching all the seams together - pulling your work up into a cube as you go. Be careful to only ever sew through two layers of fabric - it's easy to catch another layer in your stitching near the corners so make sure extra layers are pulled out of the way as you go.

12) Make sure you leave a gap in the final seam you join for turning. To keep your corners sharp - leave this gap in the centre of one seam and stitch together the final corners as before.

13) Tie off any threads and turn your cube the right way out.

14) We wanted our cube to rattle so we placed jingle bells inside a child-proof pot and put this inside the cube, well surrounded by stuffing. This is entirely optional, if you are not happy using a child-proof pot you could add teddy squeakers or just stuff the cube normally. Make sure you push stuffing hard into the corners of the cube to help it keep it's shape.

15) Sew up the hole you stuffed your cube through and you're finished!

All you need now is to find a small person to enjoy it!

 

 

New shop samples!

The girls are busy making up new samples for the shop and I thought I'd write about this one on the blog quickly! This tote is so simple to make and we've got a free DIY tutorial for it here! The outer, lining and straps fabric all came from the same single 80cm cut of fabric and because the fabric used is so fantastically different across the whole width, it makes the perfect reversible bag! The fabric used is Echino Decoro 2013 Rhythm, which you can find here amongst some other great options!

Little House Playmat Sew Along - Week One

Welcome to the first instalment of our brand new sew-along series! For the next 5 weeks we will be showing you how to complete this super cool playmat - complete with front-opening panels, window pockets and felt animals to ignite your child's imagination and make playtime extra fun!!

This 100% totally cute play mat measures 80cm X 80cm when closed up, and opens out to approximately 160cm wide! Below you'll find all the requirements you will need for each week. We'll be posting each stage of making every Monday for five whole weeks and you'll have this project finished well in time for Christmas!

Each week be sure to have on hand general sewing tools and thread in a variety of colours. Outlined below I have added a list of materials you'll need each week so you can be prepared!

WEEK ONE - CUTTING OUT

For the first week we will be prepping and cutting out our fabrics ready to sew. This week you will need the following items:

• One House panel piece Or create your own! (Ours measures 60cm x 80cm approximately.) If you  do create your own you will also need two pieces of fabric for the sky measuring approximately 60cm x 12cm. And don't forget if you are making your own panel you could scale up or down if you wish.
• 25cm x 110cm dark brown fabric for inside of roof.
• 90cm x 110cm fabric for backing – we used this brick type fabric but you can use anything, you're not going to see it most of the time it's being played with as it will be facing the floor!
• 90cm x 110cm fabric for the outside of your door panels – again we used the brick type fabric.
• 45cm x 110cm of fabric for inside door panels  x 2 – these can match or be different  - it’s up to you.
• 90cm x 90cm squares x 2 of wadding – we used “insul-fleece” because it makes a nice rustling sound inside the mat but you can use any wadding you like.

General instructions – when sewing pieces together, unless otherwise stated,  always stitch with right sides facing, using a 1cm seam allowance, and then open out and iron seams flat. Keep hold of all your scraps as they will come in handy later on!

♥

OK, let's begin! First of all, cut out your house panel as shown in picture one  – removing the sky pieces from the sides and saving for later.

Picture One

Fold your cut out panel in half vertically and lay out on your cutting surface. Take your 25cm roof fabric and also fold this in half as shown in Picture two.  The folded edges of the panel and of the roof should be on the same side. Now using the top corners of the panel as a guide, cut down diagonally from the top of the folded edge of the roof piece, to the top corners of the panel - making a triangular roof shape when the fabric is opened out again.

Picture Two

Open out your roof piece and your house panel – now sew these together, joining the long bottom edge of the roof piece to the top edge of the house panel.

Now use these joined roof and panel pieces as a template to cut out your backing fabric ( we used the same brick type print that we will use for the front of the house as well.) These two stages are shown in Picture three below.

Picture Three

Take one of your inside door fabrics and lay it out on your cutting surface. Now take your house and roof panel again and fold it in half vertically down the middle from the point of the roof to the centre bottom edge. Lay this onto of your inside door panel fabric. (You will use the folded roof and house panel as a template to cut your inside door panels, and your outside door panels.) Cut your inside door panel following the line of the roof exactly, and the line of the bottom of the house exactly, BUT add  an extra 1cm to the longest vertical seam allowance – as shown with the arrow in Picture Four below – this is necessary so that the doors meet in the middle when the playmat is closed up.

Picture Four

Repeat this process to cut your other inside door panel – REMEMBER this must be the mirror image of the inside door panel you have just cut  – as shown in picture five below. (Remember to keep the scraps of  fabric you have cut off as you will need these next week.)

Picture Five

Now repeat this process again to cut out two mirror image pieces from your front door panel fabric (remembering to again add the extra 1cm to the vertical cut line) – we used the brick pattern fabric.

Now cut out your wadding pieces – you need to cut out one large piece the same size as your roof and house panel and two smaller pieces the same size as you door panels.

Now you are all cut out and ready to go.

To summarise, you should now have cut out......

• 1 x house and roof panel
• 2 x mirror image inside door panels
• 2 x mirror image outside door panels
• 1 x backing piece (the same size as the house and roof piece)
• 1 x wadding piece (the same size as the house and roof piece)
• 2 x wadding pieces (the same size as the door panels)

Make sure you save all your scraps as you will need these to complete your playmat. If you have any questions, please use the comments section or you can tweet us @eternalmaker! See you next  Monday when we begin the appliqué decoration!

♥

Here's what you'll need for the following four weeks:

WEEK TWO and THREE – APPLIQUE DECORATION
You will need:

• Fusible web “Bondaweb” or “WonderUnder” – approximately 1 metre.
• Medium iron-on interfacing – approximately 1 metre.
• Scraps of fabric for door, curtains, boxes in the roof  and other decorative appliqués in a variety of colours. The largest size piece will be for the appliqué door which is 17cm x 25cm.
• 3 x grey fabric pieces 20cm x 16cm
• 12mm bias binding in white for the sash windows – approximately 5 metres
• 25mm bias binding white for the sash windows – approximately 6 metres
• 12mm bias binding for the door appliqué in a colour of your choice – approximately 2 metres
• 12mm bias binding in brown for the beams in roof – approximately 1 metre
• 25mm bias binding in brown for the inside door – approximately 1 metre
• 25mm bias binding in beige for the boxes in the roof – approximately 2 metres
• (You will also need the fabric scraps that you saved from cutting your house panel pieces last week)
• And a removable (either wash or fade away) fabric marker would also be very useful if you have one.

WEEK FOUR - CONSTRUCTION
You will need:

• Webbing tape - 1 metre
• Sew on "Velcro" 1/2 metre

WEEK FIVE – INHABITANTS OF YOUR DOLLS HOUSE

You will need:

• Scraps of woolfelt and embroidery thread
• Toy stuffing

Felt Heart Garland - Valentine's Tutorial

I've whipped up a quick tutorial to share with you all, This garland is so easy you'll wonder why you haven't made one before! I know I've left it a bit late what with Valentine's day only two days away but I promise you, this will only take you around an hour or two at most and the result is SO PRETTY!

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