Saying goodbye to summer

Last Sunday was the last day of summer :(



Here are some shoots taken last week...we were enjoying lots of yummy food and flowers, we watched weather changing often and I was trying to get some things done in time....I will soon inform you about that progress;)

















Bye, buy summer!!!You was great!:)
Looking forward to fall projects!:)
Katarina

Mc Donalds commercial

So proud of my son for taking the main role in this sweet commercial!
I think that he totally nailed it! ;)



I just love how the crew behind the video awesomely did theirs job.
It was a very long filming day and starting the scenes very early (5 a.m.) and working till 6 p.m. was something that required a lot of patience and engagement!











You may noticed that my sweet owl plushie had it's role too!:)
They did that scene with the Dinosaur plushie too, as the Brontosaur is his favourite sleeping companion, but papa owl was a great fit (regarding the size).



Have a wonderful day!
xx, Katarina

Kitchen mitt set: mitt and heart hotpads or pot holders tutorial

Time for another tutorial!

With Holidays season approaching so fast, this kitchen set can make a great Holiday gift!
It don't requires a lot of fabric and time, so I hope that you will like it!

 *TIP:  use of scraps and remnants will make some nice patchwork design.

 This set consist of 1 mitt and 2 heart shaped pot holders.
There are 2 PDF printable templates linked and if you will have any problem with printing please check this useful info.
They both fit one US letter document (8.5x11). Note that you can easily add 1-2" to the mitt in case you want it to be a bit deeper (longer).


This kitchen mitt set features gorgeous Nordika collection by Jeni Baker's for Art Gallery fabrics.
Nordika is Jeni's latest collection inspired by the Scandinavian countryside and I wrote something about that here .

It was also shown in the Nordika video.

Needed supplies: 

- sewing machine
Please note that I used mostly serger to assemble these (as it is faster), but sewing machine is more than enough:)
- thread (100% cotton thread, like Aurifill Cotton Mako), needle, scissors and pins
- iron
- paper templates
download the: heart pot handlers HERE  and oven mitt HERE
- cotton fabrics: 2 fat quarter for the mitt (1 for the top and 1 for the lining)
1 fat quarter for 2 pot holders
- batting - (I suggest using something like Insul-Bright) 1/4 yard
- double fold bias cotton binding - 2 yds total  (OR you can make it yourself with the matching fabrics too, like I did and  1 fat quarter will be enough for the binding tape in that case)

To start, you need to download the templates:  
heart pot handlers: HERE  and  
oven mitt: HERE
print and cut them.



Lets start with the oven mitt first :



Usually the oven mitt patterns use 2 separate pieces for 2 sides of the mitt, but I thought to simplify that with having one unique piece. So, once you' ll have the template cut, you'll need to fold the fabric on one side (it's marked on the template) and cut it, in way to obtain one large piece, like on the picture above.
So we have: one piece for the top, one for the lining and one as the sandwich-batting(the black one).



Pin the batting to the top fabric and sew using any kind of the quilting designs. If you don't have the quilting foot, you can sew just straight or curved parallel lines.



 Now that you have batting attached-sewn to the top fabric piece, you can fold it right sides together and sew all over.



Do the same with the lining piece.



What is very important here is to snip the thumb curve to prevent scrunching.



Turn the top piece inside out and check the seams.



Insert lining piece inside, wrong sides together, with your hand.



Pin and sew the edges together.





Now we only need to finish the edge with the binding tape.
You can easily make one yourself with the fabric cut on bias and binding tool, here is how tutorial



Once you have the tape ready to go, make 3 loops.
Iron the bias tape in half lengthwise. Cut one 15" strip and sew close to the end to create a bind strip. Split it in 3 x 5" pieces and sew the ends together to create loops.



Pin one loop to the outer seam(opposite thumb side). Fold the beginning of the binding inside and pin all around carefully. Place the end of the binding tape over the beginning point (start of the binding).



 Sew all over.



Now just flip the tape over the edge, to the lining side and sew.



You can sew with the machine or by your hand, like I did.


You are done!
Now lets create the pot holders :



Cut the template and the fabrics with it. There are 2 pot holders in this set and to make each you'll need: one piece for the top, one for the lining and one as the sandwich-batting(the black one). So you will have in total for 2 pot holders: 2 top pieces, 2 batting pieces and 2 back pieces.



Make a sandwich with these 3 fabric layers, just like when making the quilt: top, binding and back of the pot holder. Pin them together and quilt over.



Trim the fabric excesses.



Start with attaching loops in the center of the hearts and pining the bias tape all over, just like we did with the mitt.










It's very important to fold the beginning of the binding inside when starting and pin all around carefully. Place the end of the binding tape inside that beginning point (start of the binding).



When you’re done with one side, flip the pot holder over and fold the bias tape over to that side.



Pin and sew all around close to the edge.



Again, you can do it with machine or by hand, depending how you prefer them to be;)



And you are done!





Hope that you will try making some and have fun!