Good causes for good folks with sewing machines: Quilters Comforting Kids - Volunteer quilters committed to providing comfort to kids battling life-threatening illness or victims of abuse. Project Linus - Provides love, a sense of security, warmth and comfort to children who are seriously ill, traumatized, or otherwise in need through the gifts of new, handmade blankets and afghans, lovingly created by volunteer "blanketeers." Quilts of Valor - Mission to cover all combat service members and veterans touched by war with comforting and healing Quilts of Valor. Dress for Success - Promotes the economic independence of disadvantaged women by providing professional attire, a network of support and the career development tools to help women thrive in work and in life. Little Dresses for Africa - Provides relief to the children of Africa with simple dresses are made out of pillow cases, and distributed through the orphanages, churches and schools in Africa to plant in the hearts of little girls that they are worthy!

1 Million Pillowcase Challenge - Calling on quilters, sewers and crafters to reach the goal of donating one million pillowcases to local charities.Laptop Cpu Fan Control Software Quilter's S.O.S. (Save Our Stories) - Creates, through recorded interviews, a broadly accessible body of information concerning quiltmaking, both present-day and in living memory, for scholarship and exhibition.Prom Dress Store In GeorgiaTo me it feels homely and evokes comfort, warmth and it just has a laid back honest vibe that makes me happy! Laptop 15 Inch I5Tiny, large, pastel, bright, autumnal - whatever the type, gingham is perfect in my book. Fat Quarter Shop are kindly giving away this stunning bundle of Buffalo Check Carolina Gingham to one of you!

That is 15 fat quarters in a beautiful array of colours. This 1" wide gingham by Robert Kaufman is a brilliant stash staple. To win a Buffalo Check Carolina Gingham BundlePillowcase Dress from 3 Fat Quarters By: Caroline Critchfield for Carolina Fair Designs There are a ton of pillowcase dress patterns on the web (even some that cost money) but I, Caroline Critchfield, wanted to use up some coordinating fat quarters I had left over from a quilting project. They worked perfectly because the shape is almost like a pillowcase already! One fat quarter makes the front, one makes the back, and a third is turned into bias trim (for the arm holes and ties) and a little coordinating band at the bottom. There are almost no scraps left over at all! Of course, if you want to use more fabric, you could add a ruffle or make the dress longer. Since the top of a pillowcase dress is adjustable, this dress will fit little girls from size 2T through 6. The finished dress is 21” long and 17 ½” wide.

A size 8 child on the slender side could easily wear this as a top. If you are unsure about sizing, just measure your little girl or one of her dresses. Includes a template for cutting out armholes. 2 fat quarters of fabric in your main color 1 fat quarter in a coordinating color Scissors and/or rotary cutter Ruler and cutting mat First cut 4” off your coordinating color of fabric to make a 18” square. You will use my How To Make 4 Yards of Bias Tape From a Fat Quarter method to make bias tape out of this 18” square. Cut the 4” x 18” strip of fabric that you just made into 2 strips that are 2” x 18” each. Lay out your 2 matching fat quarters one on top of the other. Then fold them in half lengthwise. Print up the armhole template. This template will work for all sizes since the dress adjusts. Cut the template out along the solid lines. Lay it against the top and right (cut) edges, not the fold. Cut out the armhole through all four layers at once.

This is what you’ll get: Pin your two 2” x 18” pieces to the bottom of the dress pieces, right sides together. Stitch with a ¼” seam. Finish your seam with a zig-zag stitch. Press the seam toward the darker fabric. Pin the dress pieces right sides together along the side seams. Stitch from the bottom of the armhole to the hem. Now go ahead and make your bias tape using the 18” square and the How To Make 4 Yards of Bias Tape From a Fat Quarter tutorial. Pin bias tape to the right side of each armhole. Stitch in the crease, about 3/8” from the edge. Turn the binding around to the other side and pin. Put all your pins on the right side of the dress. Be sure that your trim is wrapped tightly enough around so that your stitching will catch it on the back. Top-stitch along the edge of the trim, sewing it down on the back at the same time.Fold the top (neckline) down 2” toward the inside of the dress. Open up the fold that you just made, and press the edge down about ¼”.

Then fold it back along the 2” line and press it again. Stitch the casing down on the inside, close to the edge.Cut two pieces of bias trim that are 35” long. Open up the ends of the trim, and fold the edge to the inside. Stitch close to the edges. Insert the ties through the casings using a safety pin.Press the bottom edge to the inside ¼”, and then again ¼”. Stitch a narrow hem. Tags / Related Topics Your Recently Viewed Projects Pillowcase Dress from 3 Fat Quarters Images from other crafters Be the first to upload your own image for this craft!Get MORE delivered to your Inbox – FREE Click Here! Thanks for your comment. Don't forget to share! Are you sure you would like to report this comment? It will be flagged for our moderators to take action. Thank you for taking the time to improve the content on our site.What do you do when you purchase new fabric? Do you toss it in the wash before you start quilting with it or do you sew with it as is?

A big debate in the world of quilting is whether or not fabric should be washed before it's ever used in a quilt. Garden Party fabric by Anna Maria Horner[Want to save this post? Click here to download the PDF version, PLUS get bonus tips for cleaning your quilts and preventing fabric fade — absolutely FREE!] What exactly is prewashing? It's just what it sounds like: washing fabric before use. To do this, sort fabric by colors, separating light and dark. Always wash like colors together on a cold cycle with a gentle detergent. Once finished, shake out fabrics before tossing them into the dryer. Remove fabric promptly to prevent wrinkling. The edges will fray during this process, so trim them off before folding the fabric. If the fraying bothers you, the edges can be serged or zigzag stitched to keep them tidy.That is the question! Most quilters seem to have a very definite opinion on the subject. There are many benefits to both options, so let’s take a look at them today.

It prevents vibrant dyes from spreading onto other fabric. Some bright colors, like reds and purples, can run and bleed when they are washed. This can be very devastating if it happens to a finished quilt. When fabrics are washed beforehand, the chance of this happening lessens. Fabric shrinks when it's washed and dried. When woven together, the fibers of the fabrics are pulled nice and straight, so laundering causes them to either shrink or relax back into their normal shape. This can cause some distortion in a finished quilt if the items have not been previously washed before they were cut and sewn. Any sizing or chemicals that have been used on the fabric are removed before the fabric is used. This is especially beneficial to those who have sensitive skin. Photo via the Craftsy fabric shop The amount of shrinkage really isn’t that bad. Yes, it's still there, but it creates the cozy, crinkly effect many quilters desire. With today’s quality fabrics and dye, bleeding is not much of an issue.

Most manufacturers realize that a vast amount of quilters do not prewash, so they ensure that the dyes are set completely. Brand new fabric has sizing, creating a nice crisp material. This creates ease when cutting and piecing. Once the sizing is washed out, the fabric loses that crispness. Prewashing takes too much time! Plenty of quilters prefer to spend their precious crafting time cutting and sewing, not prewashing. When creating quilts that aren’t often used, like wall hangings and heirloom quilts, prewashing is unnecessary. The fabrics remain sharp, vibrant, and smooth. Garden Party fabric by Anna Maria Horner If you decide to prewash your fabrics, here are a few tips: Always follow the manufacturers directions for laundering.The small pieces can get lost in your machines. Flannels and minky are soft additions to quilt, but and they should always be prewashed. They shrink a lot more than regular quilting cottons. If you decide not to prewash but are unsure about certain fabrics, always test them.