Welcome to the latest and greatest series from the fine folks at Fabric.com. Everything Old Is New Again will show you terrific and trendy ways to use some classic fabrics. In the whirlwind of today's designer quilting cottons with their amazing coordinated collections of prints and solids, it's easy to forget about the old standards of the fabric world: candy colored seersucker, delicate eyelet, rich linen, traditional toile, flirty little floral prints, crisp white cottons; as well as some of the vintage sewing techniques used to put all the pretty pieces together, like shirring and hemstitching. We looked through these "forgotten fabrics" then unleashed our imaginations to apply their old-fashioned goodness in a new way. The series kicks off this week with a set of bed linens wrapped in the Southern charm of seersucker. Today's square ruffled pillows, with their rick rack trim and button placket back closures, look best as a big, cushy, colorful pile. All that's missing is a straw boater, a bouquet of jonquils and the honey glow of a lazy afternoon (ya'll can add that as soon as you're done making the pillows).
Bucket Style Purse With Zipper Tape Trim
If a zipper doesn't zip, is it still a zipper? Certainly a question for the ages, don't you think? And we have the answer! A zipper that doesn't zip is Zipper Tape. We've used this very unique trim as a substitute for piping as well as a stand-in for ribbon on today's very clever bucket purse. This project is sure to be another instant Sew4Home classic: a smashing design, in the perfect fabrics and trim, that's easy to make! Whip it up... or should I say ZIP it up, today.
French Market Tote With Coco Chanel Style Chain Handles
High end boutique style that you make yourself! Our French Market Tote will make a bold fashion statement as you stroll the open air markets of Provence, France... or the aisles of your local farmer's market. Load it up with fresh baguettes and bouquets of spring flowers. The pièce de résistance is the great Coco Chanel style chain and leather (faux leather in our case) handles.
Elegant Tasseled Pillow Has Jute Webbing Back
$300 to $500 and up! That's the price range we found for similar pillows to this one at the fancy home décor companies in-store and online. And, we don't mind sayin'... we think ours is actually nicer and more interesting than the ones we saw for sale. This project is a great lesson in the right combination of fabric and trim. The drama of the pillow depends on a strong motif isolated with precise cutting to be the feature on one side of the pillow. The opposite side is created from, believe it or not, strips of soft jute webbing. The final touch: rich tasseled fringe. Eat your heart out Horchow!
ScrapBusters: Seat Belt Cover
Buckle up! But do it with more comfort and style with a super cute seat belt cover. Another great Scrapbusters! project, this easy wraparound cover is not only perfect for seat belts, it's also great for briefcase or suitcase straps. It even worked nicely to pad the handles of the recent heavy-duty Grocery Totes we made. Our design is reversible so you can make one side in cozy fleece for cold days and the other side in cool cotton for warm weather. Not only are seat belt covers an added comfort, they also help keep your shirt or jacket from becomming a wrinkly mess on long drives. These versatile straps would make a great gift for all the drivers your know –customize the fabric to match their moods.
Spring Flower Pins
As a little girl, I liked to watch my mother get dressed up to go someplace special. On the top shelf of her closet, she kept a round, paper-covered hatbox. Inside were a half dozen lovely millinery-quality flower pins, each carefully wrapped in tissue. The finishing touch was pinning a flower to her dress or the lapel of her jacket. My favorite was a big rose-colored peony flower made of woven fabric with several pale green, ribbon-wrapped stems.
Tomorrow is the first day of spring. Celebrate by wearing a flower on your jacket, in your hair, or pin one to your bag. Not only are they trendy, they brighten your day and help turn winter into spring.
ScrapBusters: Baby's Sleeping Door Hanger
Remember those "Baby on Board" placards that used to be so popular? They spawned an entire line of bizarre copycats; I remember seeing everything from "Mother-in-Law on Board" to "Alien on Board"! The original baby idea as a warning sign was a good one, and is similar to today's ScrapBusters project. When baby is finally asleep, gently shut the nursery door, then slip this sweet door hanger over the knob to warn the rest of your noisy family it's time to tip-toe because, "Baby's Sleeping!" This project is fast and easy to make and uses just a few tiny bits of fabric, batting and trim. It would make a wonderful shower gift.
Heather Jones' Wonky Block Modern Quilting Project
The world of Modern Quilting is a "wonky" world. If something is "wonky" it means angles, sides and points are not necessarily straight and true. For years, "wonky" was the worst thing your quilt could be. It meant all those carefully cut squares and triangles and strips were not precise. But like coloring outside the lines, this imperfection is what gives a modern quilt its free-form creativity. "Cut until it fits" is a mantra followed by many a modern quilter. One of our favorite modern quilters is Heather Jones, who was our guest yesterday with a tutorial on Straight Line Quilting. Today, Heather's back with a Guest Project from the wonky world: the wonky log cabin block. Take it away, Heather!
Cheater Quilt With Piping Detail
Cheating! Didn't Mom always say, "Cheaters never prosper?!" This is one kind of cheating she would totally approve of, possibly giving you a cookie for figuring it out. A cheater quilt is one in which the quilt top is pre-printed with a patchwork design, allowing you to skip the piecing and instead, simply layer front, batting and back, bind and add your quilting stitches. It's super fast and easy, and when the fabric is beautiful – like our amazing Rouenneries Duex by French General from Fat Quarter Shop, you have to get up close and personal before you realize the design is printed rather than pieced. We decided to cheat even more by assembling our layers with a piped edge rather than traditional quilt binding. Mom knew she raised some rebels.






Projects 


















