One Yard Wonders Sew Along – Week 2 Finished Projects

Week 2 – Project 3
Folding Chair Pinafore Slipcover – Designed by Angie Knowles – Page 26

Kathy chose Trailing Orchid Blue Velvet from Amy Butler’s Soul Blossoms Home Dec Collection.

We all loved the depth and detail of the fabric design. Amy’s color palette is mesmerizing.  The fluid motion of the print reminded Kathy of sitting on the beach looking out at the sea.

Notes from Kathy

I had mixed results with my first sew along project. The seat cover fit perfectly and is beautifully designed! The top ended up being too small which is disappointing whether you’re making clothes for yourself or a chair. The pattern indicates the use of a standard folding card-table chair.

In retrospect, measurements of the chair should have been taken before cutting out the fabric and sewing the top. To make the top fit, the side seams were both let out 1/4” which provided an extra inch in the circumference. The top could then be pulled over the chair back. It’s a very tight fit and could probably use at least another inch. This would also require expanding the pleat length.

Side view of seat cover with tie detail (dab ends of ribbon with clear nail polish to prevent unraveling).

Kathy’s tips on construction in step 2 & 5:

Step 2 – Make the Pinafore Ruffle. The fabric was marked every 1” with a Hera marker. After folding the pleats, the length was longer then the 18” the pattern specifies it should be.  Time to do it again! Here’s a picture of the final pleated edge (folded correctly) along with another way to diagram the pleat placement, the dashed line represents the inside crease. (We don’t want to say the diagram in the pattern is incorrect without contacting the designer first, we’ll find out for sure):

Step 5 – Make the Skirt. A quick sewing tip on navigating around the corners. It’s a technique that can be used any time you need to sew a straight strip of fabric to a square piece of fabric. The key is marking and clipping the corners as you go. It’s too difficult to accurately calculate the placement of all the corners in advance. Here’s how to do it:

• First determine placement of the strip against the seat fabric. Fold both the fabric strip and the seat cover in half. Finger press the fold. Right sides together, match up center creases. Walk back to the beginning of one end of the strip. This is the starting point for sewing the two pieces together.
• Sew with the fabric strip on top. Mark the first corner point with a pencil (along the 1/2″ seam allowance). Stop sewing 3” before reaching the corner. Clip the strip fabric to the marked corner point just short of the seam line. Sew to the marked corner point. With needle down, lift the presser foot and pivot the project.
• Sew to the next corner point in the same manner, stopping 3″ short. Now you’re close enough to the next corner to accurately mark the corner point. Clip, sew to the corner, and pivot. This project only has two corners so you’re done! For a traditional cushion project there would be 4 corners sewn in this manner.

Week 2 – Project 4
Dresser Organizer and Charging Station – Designed by Elizabeth Hartman – Page 29

Carrie chose Preservation Peony and Ladies League in Blueberry from Greenfield Hill by Denyse Schmidt.

Carrie’s Tips & Thoughts

• The inside of the charging station is quilted. A fun detail!
• She followed the grid pattern in the book for quilting.
• In step 5, when stitching the exterior into a box shape, she found it worked well to pin the right sides together and fold the fabric flat against the Peltex center using it as a guide. Stitch on the blue line as shown in the photo.

Carrie enjoyed making this project. She has already started one for her daughter’s dorm room.

How to participate: One Yard Wonders Sew Along Details

pink chalk fabrics ~*~ new arrivals ~*~ free patterns ~*~ on sale