A fun apron for the smaller chefs in your kitchen – boys and girls. It’s modeled on a classic French Chef’s apron – nice and long with full coverage + a generous front pocket. Make it in your favorite kid-happy quilting cottons.
Tissue boxes are much prettier these days, but still may not be right for your décor. Personalize the look with your own cover, featuring our pop-from-the-top grommet! The free pattern download fits a standard square-style box.
A jar wrap helps absorb condensation, makes the jar easier to handle, and looks super cute. We show you how to create pretty accent bands from a few fave strips of leftover fabric. It’s a fun ScrapBusters project.
The Janome Circular Sewing Attachment, Aurifil Thread, and multiple rows of decorative stitching work together to create a “round-tastic” set of hot pads. Add a special recipe or unique seasoning for an excellent gourmet gift.
Garment sewing is not necessarily one of our focuses here at S4H, so we turned to expert, Carla Crim for some pattern-making secrets. We found her techniques fascinating, and it certainly inspired us to give it a try.
Back-to-school means back to the books, which also means carrying those books from class to class. It's supposed to be a digital world, yet we still have an awful lot of stuff to haul around! Use this classic messenger style brief to carry it all with both good looks and smart functionality. We used mid-weight cotton duck
On the “Easy Quilting Scale,” the rag quilt ranks right at the top. It’s sewn with the seams exposed, and the whole idea is to create a softly rumpled, very cuddly, wrap-me-up-now result. It’s a great gift idea in fall-tone batiks.
A plush baby blanket with a lush satin ruffle!! This is an absolutely beautiful blend of soft and smooth textures and a perfect idea for the next new baby on your 2026 gift list.
It’s a proven fact a festive apron will make your cooking go more smoothly (we are not obligated to tell you who proved this). Our vibrant design has decorative stitching accents plus a clever towel loop. And – it’s reversible!
Add a little sparkle with metallic cottons. This is a fast and fun project that would be great for someone new to sewing. The waistband and ties are surprisingly easy to make, but give the apron a very professional look.
We call this a “jewel box pillow” because of its rows of diamonds. But a diamond is just a square turned on point. So the front is really just six simple rows stitched on the diagonal. Piping and covered buttons soften the angles.
Sweatshirts and jeans may be daily wear for most college kids, but they need at least a few nice items for events, awards, even a job interview (wouldn’t that be great!). Make our soft-sided garment bag in bright school colors.
Birthday party treat bags are usually flimsy plastic things filled with candy and trinkets. Forget that! Instead, bestow these mini backpacks on your party guests. They are oh-so cute, actually useful, reusable, and fun to make!
These days, when young adults seem to be devoted nearly full-time to social media, it’s easy to think none of them could possibly be interested in something so archaic as sewing. But, while you weren’t looking, sewing became cool.
This dramatic pillow is what is traditionally called a “statement” pillow, the member of the pillowscape with the strongest flair, the one that anchors the collection. Our striking fleur-de-lis appliqué is a free download.
A quilter extraordinaire, our friend Kim Niedzwiecki (aka Go-Go Kim) recently entered the world of garment sewing. She’s alive to tell the tale, and offers up her experiences, pearls of wisdom, and encouragement for you to do the same.
A zippered pouch is our favorite carryall when small items need to travel. For this clever little critter, we mixed fold-over elastic with cotton fabric and pet screen to create a sporty pouch you can take across the country on vacation or across town to the gym. The open mesh of the pet screen allows
A pretty option for dining indoors or out. Cut, layer, stitch, serve (shaken not stirred). It’s just that easy, and as cute and colorful as can be. Super fast and a great option for scraps – especially leftover charm squares.
Tufting are those depressions made at regular intervals in a cushion by passing a thread through and pulling it taut. Simple, right? It can be. Start with the right tools and make sure you measure and mark with precision.
Our innovative Outdoor Shade Panel is a flexible solution for patios and porches that sometimes battle the sun. The center screen filters in light while blocking out the worst of the blinding rays – without destroying your view.
Thermal fabrics are the added layer in projects designed to keep hot stuff hot and cold stuff cold, such as oven mitts, lunch bags, shopping totes, etc. We take a look at options for thermal batting, fabric, and interfacing.
A full-coverage apron is a true vintage classic. The longer skirt and over-the-head bib are serious about keeping you clean top to bottom. Our version is completely reversible — even the ties are double-sided. We originally used the very pretty kitty fabric from the Meow or Never collection by Erin Michael for Moda Fabrics. It's
We are thrilled and pretty dang proud to be featured in the Handmade for the Home Kitchen column of the Summer 2016 issue of Where Women Cook! Yes, you read that correctly: Cook. Not necessarily what you’re used to seeing here at the site, right?! But this beautiful magazine is a sister publication from our
Because of their smaller size, half aprons are inherently more adorable. This one, with 10 generous pockets, is as hardworking as it is cute. Tie it on, load it up with favorite notions, and get ready for your next project.
Organize your stuff with a multi-pocket caddy that straps around the seat’s headrest, so you can attach it to the front or the back. Hanging off the back, you can fill it up with little games and snacks to help keep the kids occupied.
Tossing your sunglasses directly into a bag or tote is asking for scratches to the lenses. This extra-wide, extra-soft case is a great way to protect them and make them easier to spot in the jumble of a bag’s contents.
It has a clean, modern design with double tuck locks as the flap’s closure. Our detailed tutorial shows how easy it is to add this cool hardware finish. The bag’s slim structure comes from a hidden layer of foam.
Often, the most exciting notions look rather nondescript inside their cardboard boxes and cellophane wrappers. Our goal with the Products We Love series is to break open the packaging, show you how to use these cool tools, and inspire you to add one or more to your own sewing basket. The Clover Hot Hemmer is one of the
New project – new needle! It’s an important part of the process because a good needle in your sewing room is like a good knife in your kitchen. Learn the basics about sizes, styles, types, even the anatomy of a needle.
Creating beautiful handmade projects is what we all love to do. However, we probably don’t put in quite as much effort thinking about how to keep them looking beautiful. So we spent some time with our clever friends at Dritz to explore their Clothing Care category, coming away with nine products that help smooth, dry, repair,
Tightly spaced, straight line quilting goes right across the appliqué for an unbroken pattern that wraps from front to back. We designed the modern “skyscraper” appliqué on the front and back to feature jelly roll strips.
Our Blooming Florals Quilt is a throw size with an expanding half square triangle design that is echoed in the throw’s unique angled corners. We selected and sorted delicate floral colors and motifs, perfectly positioning them from the center out to simulate a flower opening up to the sun. We used 10” layer cake squares
Ribbons and bows… is there anything happier?! Our friends at The Ribbon Retreat put together this fun Guest Tutorial showing you how to make bright and colorful bow tie bows in several styles, layers, and colors.
As we rush from activity to activity, what is one the thing we want most? A nap! With work and home commitments, sleep can fall by the wayside. Make your precious hours of shut-eye as beautiful as possible with our lovely pillowcase pair.
When you walk into a fabric store, you'll notice most fabric is wrapped around cardboard bolts that stand upright on shelves or racks. What you may not notice is that at the end each bolt is a label that provides important information about the fabric. If you want 100% cotton, read the label so you
We provide complete step-by-step instructions for our own woven braid design plus two alternative ideas. The pattern works best in fabric with a variety of smaller motifs in distinct colors to achieve the pretty braided effect.
Fresh blooms from your favorite flowers are always an inspiration. Celebrate by creating your own custom flower to wear on a jacket, in your hair, or pinned to a bag. Go bold and showy or soft and subtle – just like nature itself.
This panel-style apron (with a bonus matching hot pad) lets you play with a bold print to improve your fussy cutting skills. The wraparound pocket is a perfect match against the skirt, and a solid color frames both the bib and skirt.
If you want a flat, stable base, an inset base panel is the go-to option. It’s easy, but you do need to carefully measure and mark, then sew each side independently during construction. Follow our steps to achieve an expert finish.
Bring some beauty into the backyard with our cheery chair cushions complete with brightly colored poms on the ties that bounce in the warm breeze. The cushions are one-piece, folding at the center to form the back + seat.
Picking out buttons is fun! Sewing on buttons, not quite so fun. The up-side of button sewing is that it’s relatively quick and easy, and by following our tutorial basics, yours will stay put stronger and longer.