Pocket Wall Hanging Tutorial

 Hi! Wow, I haven't blogged in over a week. That would be the week before school starts so I got very little done much less any sewing. But here I am with a tutorial for pocket wall hangings. This is not complicated stuff. It's also not completely original either. There are other tutorials and patterns out there for similar things but I want to show you how easy it is to make these things and to customize them to your needs. This is where you say, "Who needs Pottery Barn?"

It all started with baby slings I was making for my two expectant cousins. Click here  for that great tutorial from My Karma Baby.com. I had leftover fabric and decided to make a few more things to go along. This is my knock-off Taggies bitty-blanky.

So simple. Two pieces of fabric with ribbon loops sandwiched in between. Stitch, turn right side out and top stitch. Done.








The Pocket Wall Hanging is just as simple, it just takes a little more work. I designed mine as a quilt because my left-over fabric was in smaller pieces. Cut fabric squares to equal size and lay them out in a pattern that you like. Stitch the squares of each row together and press seams open. You could opt for larger pieces or strips instead of squares or even one large piece.

Now we are ready to make pockets. Decide how many you want and how big. My pockets are simple slip pockets but you can provide more space by cutting the pocket larger, pleating the bottom and adding elastic in a casing to the top. I like my pockets lined so I stitched two layers right-side together, turned and pressed. If I had been thinking at the time I would have laid the raw edges of the pocket along the raw bottom edges of the square and stitched them into the seam. But you can also fold the raw edge to the inside 1/2" and once more to make a smooth hem and then top-stitch the pocket to the square. You can add as many pockets as you like. I choose to just make four.

Next stitch your rows together and press seams open. Now you need to decide how this wall hanging will hang. I made loops out of the remaining fabric. You could use grommets or ribbon or make a rod pocket like for a curtain. Baste your hanging apparatus to the right side of the front piece. Lay your backing piece (cut to the same size as your assembled front piece) right sides together and stitch across the top.

Turn and press.

Finally, baste the raw edges together and bind. Make your own matching or coordinating binding if you have enough fabric or use store bought. 



Let me know if you have any questions.

This project has so much potential. I'd love to see pics of your finished projects.

Easiest Pillow Slipcover, Pillow Sham Tutorial Ever!

I found this great fabric that my girls just love. It's fuzzy and stretchy. Why do little girls love fuzzy so much? It makes me sneeze. But this is what we do for those we love.


 Anyway, most home dec fabrics come 54" wide which is plenty to wrap around a standard or queen size bed pillow. For a standard pillow, using this stretchy fabric, 1/2 yard of the fabric works perfect. For woven fabrics maybe get 3/4 to 1 yard and trim it back to fit.

Since we didn't cut off the selvage edges, we don't have to sew them but feel free if you want a more finished edge.

 With pillow laying on fabric, overlap long ends creating the envelope you need for a slipcover. Pin one side along the edges and pull out your model pillow from the other side. Now finish pinning the remaining side.















 

Simply stitch down the long raw edges. If you are using a fabric that frays easily or is fuzzy as in this case, you can finish the edges with a serger or zig-zag stitch.








Turn the cover inside out and stuff with pillow. You're done! Easy peasy.

And two very happy daughters!