Sewing Archives - Pretty Handy Girl

Before and After, chair re-upholster, Decorating, DIY, Furniture, Kids Room, milk paint, Painting & Antiquing Techniques, painting chair, polyurethane, re-upholster, re-upholster seat cushion, ReNew, Sewing, Trash to Treasure, Tutorial, Upcycling, Upholster Chair

How to Reupholster This End Up Chairs (a Simple DIY)

This DIY reupholster chair tutorial features a This End Up chair. You can follow the same basic steps to recover and renew similar chairs.

As a parent of two elementary school students, I always ask my kids’ teachers if they need anything for their room. Usually the answer is markers, wipes, or snacks.

But, my kindergartner’s teacher knows about my secret identity after having taught my older son for a year.

So, she didn’t hesitate to ask me if I could possibly recover a few really sad looking chairs that had seen their fair share of kindergarten butts. 😉

(I’ve included affiliate links for your convenience. I earn a small percentage from a purchase using these links. There is no additional cost to you. You can read more about affiliate links here.)

How to Reupholster This End Up Chairs (a Simple DIY)

These poor chairs were still very study and in good shape, but the fabric was nubby, pilled, stained, and not in good condition.

I love a good challenge, especially with a solid piece of furniture, so I took all three of the chairs home over the Christmas break for my next DIY project.

I knew I could give these chairs new life. The first step involved removing the seats and the old upholstery fabric.

Before I touched the seats, I flipped over the chairs and marked the front side of the chair so they would fit together perfectly when I put them back together.

Next I removed all the screws securing the chair seat to the frame of the chair (all six of them.)

turn chair upside down and look for screw locations

Because of the construction of these chairs, I found it necessary to use a longer bit on my drill to get into each hole.

upside down chair and drill removing screw from under seat cushion on a chair

I pried off the piping from the seat backs with a 5-in-1 painter’s tool and needle-nosed pliers. Then removed the old fabric and old foam.

prying old piping off a this end up chair back

After the seats were removed, each chair got a good cleaning, a little sanding and then a couple coats of Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint (colors used: tricycle and luckett’s green) and the blue one was chalk painted.

I used the bonding agent with the milk paint to make sure the paint would stick to the chairs.

three this end up style chairs with a new coat of paint in red, green, and blue

Finally, the chairs each got two coats of Minwax Polycrylic because those kindergartners are tough on furniture and this is a great way to give them a bit more protection.

adding a top coat of polycrylic over the red painted chair frame

Now on to the fun part!

How to Reupholster This End Up Style Chairs:

You can pick up the supplies at Home Depot, Lowe’s, or your local craft store.

Materials:

(I’ve included affiliate links for your convenience. I earn a small percentage from a purchase using these links. There is no additional cost to you. You can read more about affiliate links here.)

Fabric
Oil cloth tablecloth (optional for waterproofing)
Batting
Staple gun
Staple Remover
1/4″ staples
Scissors
Hot glue gun
Screwdriver
Piping (see tutorial for making your own piping)
Hammer (for any staples that don’t go in all the way)

spoonflower space themed fabric for recovering the chairs

I let my son’s teacher to pick out new fabric from one of my favorite fabric sources, Spoonflower.com.

Not only do they have loads of designs to choose from, but you can also upload your own graphics and create your own custom fabric!

You can also check out your local fabric store.

She picked out adorable space themed patterned fabric: Rocketship fabric and Space Fireworks fabric.

With a primary color palette, they are the perfect fabric choice for a kindergarten classroom.

Instructions:

Cut out fabric, oil-cloth (optional), and any additional batting a few inches larger than the bottom of the chair seat.

The great thing about this project is no sewing machine is needed for this upholstery project.

cut fabric, oil cloth, and batting to larger size than original cushion

Layer the new pieces of fabric face down on the floor. then the oil-cloth next (I put the oil-cloth face up so the fuzzy back side would be against the fabric to keep it from feeling too crinkly.)

Cut a square out of each corner about 1″ from the seat cushion corner.

cut out corners of fabric and batting before folding

Staple one staple into the center of each side. Work across form each other, gently stretching the fabric taut.

Staple fabric onto seat backing in this order. top, bottom, side, and side

Add more staples along each side.

bottom of chair with new fabric stapled to it.

Corners are neatly folded and then stapled to secure them. Hammer any staples that didn’t go completely into the bottom of the seat.

fold over fabric corners on seat cushion then staple

Re-attach the seat to the chair frame by replacing all the screws.

attach the seat bottom with screws driven from the underside

Flip the chair right side up and follow these steps:

Layer batting, then fabric over the chair back. Trim the batting to fit perfectly on the back of the chair.
Cut the fabric about an inch wider on the two sides and the bottom. Fold under the raw edges of the fabric.
Secure the fabric to the chair back by stapling at the top of both sides first.

adding new batting to the chair back, cutting fabric to fit over batting, and stapling the top of the back to hold fabric in place

Next put a few staples into the bottom of the seat back (hidden from view.)

staple fabric from the underside of the chair back

Continue stapling the fabric to the chair along the sides.

Set your staples as close to the frame as possible so the piping will hide your staples later.

Hammer any staples that stick up.

Add staples to the ends of the seat back.

If you haven’t done so already, make your piping.

The easiest way to do that is to sew your piping following this tutorial. Trim the excess fabric from the piping.

Peel back the ends of the piping fabric to expose about an inch of the rope inside. Cut the rope.

Then fold the fabric back and tuck the raw edges inside. This will give you a flat section at the end of your piping.

roll back edge, cut excess rope, fold edge of piping

Staple this flat end to the underside of the chair back.
Spread some hot glue on top of the staples along the side of the chair back.
Pull the piping taut and press it into the hot glue.
Secure the end of the piping with hot glue and a staple.

staple, hot glue, and press piping onto chair back. Finish with a dab of hot glue underneath

Secure the piping to the opposite side using the same method. Follow the same tutorial for the second chair.

Refinished chair close up seat back with piping

That’s it! Check out this sweet new chair!

one red refurbished this end up style chair with red frame and space fabric

Would you know that it was the same chair if I hadn’t shown you?

BEFORE:

AFTER:

close up seat cushion of a this end up style chair

Good, let’s keep it our little secret ;-).

The next time you see an outdated chair at the thrift store, consider giving it a new look with this easy blog post tutorial.

There is no need for a professional upholsterer. Give it a try. You will be amazed at just how easy it is. Good luck!

The new chairs were such a big hit with the kids. They all rushed to be the first to sit on them.

I think their teacher was happy with the finished product too.

happy teacher posing with a refinished chair

It’s a happy trio of kindergarten chairs!

three this end up style chairs refinished with colorful frames and space themed fabric

Pin this image to save for later or share with a friend:

You might also like this chair makeover with a video tutorial on my YouTube channel:

How to Easily Reupholster Your Chairs | Pretty Handy Girl

Pin for later!

May 7, 2025/7 Comments/by Brittany Bailey

decor, garden bench, Seat Cushion, Sewing, Tutorial, Upholster Chair

How to Sew a DIY Bench Cushion with Piping

You can sew your own custom DIY bench cushion with piping. I’ll show you how to make your own bench cushion covers with this detail tutorial.

How to Sew a DIY Bench Cushion with Piping

I thought sewing a custom cushion for a was going to be a difficult project to sew.

And, I thought sewing a bench cushion with piping would be next to impossible.

However, once I figured out an easy way to create the box, it was actually very easy!

Let’s get started and I’ll show you how to make custom DIY Bench Cushions with an added detail of piping.

My Fabric Source:

Before we get started I wanted to let you in on a little secret. 🤫

The bench cushion and side table fabrics you see below are actually Target shower curtains!

That’s right, I didn’t use upholstery fabric, instead I used beautiful fabric shower curtains which are just a durable.

Remember this the next time you want to sew a bench cushion, dining bench or window seat cover.

You read that right. Fabric shower curtains are not only inexpensive, but they are durable and can stand up to moisture.

This makes them perfect for outdoor use. I bought both of these at fabric shower curtains at Target for under $20 each!

You could score cute fabric shower curtains on sale and save even more.

Materials:

(I’ve included affiliate links for your convenience. I earn a small commission from a purchase using these links. There is no additional cost to you. You can read more about affiliate links here.)

3″ thick foam cushion or upholstery foam
Electric carving knife (essential for cutting foam)
Batting to cover foam
Thread to match cushion
Fabric – make sure you have enough fabric to cover all six sides of your cushion; can also use outdoor fabric (or inexpensive shower curtain)
Sew-in velcro strips
Sharpie marker
Pins
Piping trim (tutorial for making your own less expensive piping with extra fabric)
Sewing machine
Zipper Foot
Iron
Fabric Scissors
Batting (if you are cutting your own foam piece)
*Optional spray adhesive

Once you have all your materials, let’s get sewing.

DIY Bench Cushion Tutorial

Follow these detailed steps to make your own bench seat cushion.

Preparing the Foam Cushion

Measure or lay your foam on top of the bench. Mark line(s) where you need to trim the cushion to fit the length of your bench.

The next step is to use an electric knife to cut through your piece of foam on the long side of the edges of the foam.

Wrap batting around your foam. Then trim the edges down to size.

I had enough to put two layers on top of the foam and one layer on the bottom of the cushion.

This will make for a cushier and less sharp-edged cushion.

Cutting out the pieces

1. Fold your bench fabric in half and lay it out. Place your cushion on top.

Trace around the cushion about 3/4″ wider on each side of the foam to determine the length of the fabric needed.

Cut through the two layers. This will give you a top and bottom panel for your cover.

2. Next let’s cut out four strips of fabric for the sides. First, plan on cutting your lengths 2″ longer than your cushion.

If your foam is 3″ and you use 1-2 layers of batting, you can use these measurements for your strips:

Front: 4.25″ wide by length + 2″
Sides (left and right): 4.25″ wide by length + 2″
*Back: 5.5″ wide by length + 2″
*Back Fold Over Flap: 3.5″ wide by length + 2″

*You may have noticed the back measurement is wider and has two strips. This is because we need to sew an overlapping flap and velcro to allow for the cover to be removable for washing.

Assembling the sides of the DIY bench cushion cover

1. Wrap the 4 strips around your cushion right sides facing in. (Reserve the back fold over piece for later.)

Pin the edges where they meet at your cushion corners. The back strip should line up with the sides on the one edge.

But, the other outside edge will extend 1.25″ taller than the rest.

2. Remove the sides and stitch where the pins are.

When you get to the back strip, fold over the excess so it matches the same height as the rest of the strips.

Then stitch along the back strip’s folded over your piece of fabric to secure it.

Set your sides aside for now. It is time to pin the piping to your cushion top.

Adding the Piping

(Tutorial for Making Your Own Piping) in this blog post.

1. Lay the top panel right side up on top of the cushion. Pin the long strip of piping on top of the fabric.

Line up the piping with the edges of the cushion. Be sure the raw edge of your piping is facing the raw edge of the fabric.

When you reach a corner, snip into the raw edge of the piping all the way (but not through) the rope piping.

Then turn your piping creating a 90 degree angle and continue pinning.

When you reach the start of your pinned piping, simply overlap the two a little bit about 2″ and cut off the excess.

Your bench cushion top should look like this:

2. Set the top panel on your sewing machine and sew the piping into place.

Your needle will be very close to the piping, but it shouldn’t stitch into the rope.

This is where a zipper foot really helps get close to the piping and give you professional looking results, especially around the corners of your cushion.

Carefully sew and backstitch over the place where your piping overlaps.

Connecting the top and sides for the DIY bench cushion

1. Lay your top panel onto the cushion. Pick up your sides and begin pinning them to the top of the cushion.

(Note, the raw edge of your back panel should be lined up next to the piping and the hem on the back side should be facing up and away from the piping.)

Position your pins close to the piping but not on top of it. Try to line up the corners of your sides with the 90 degree corners of your piping.

2. Stitch the sides onto the top piece. Again, your needle will be very close to the piping but not over it.

This is a little trickier because you can’t see the piping, but you can feel it.

Just use your fingers to guide you. (Piping shown by the red arrowed line below.)

3. Remove the cushion cover from your sewing machine. Turn your top cover right sides out and test the fit on your cushion.

Hopefully at this point you don’t need a tighter fit and everything is looking good. You see it’s a fairly easy sewing project.

4. Repeat the steps above for “adding the piping” to sew piping onto your bottom cover.

Sewing a Bench Cushion with Piping bottom cover

Sewing the cushion back flap

1. Now you can pick up that back fold over strip that has been sitting all by its lonesome.

Fold the edges over twice on three sides (2 short and 1 long) to hem your flap. Press the hem with a hot iron.

Sewing a Bench Cushion with Piping back flap

Stitch along the folded hem to secure it.

Sewing a Bench Cushion with Piping back flap sew

2. Center and pin the flap along the back edge of the bottom panel (right sides together) as shown.

The raw edges should be facing out.

Sewing a Bench Cushion with Piping sewing corners

3. Stitch the back flap onto the bottom panel next to the piping. An inch or more of the panel will extend on both ends.

That’s perfectly fine, you want to leave it loose so it can tuck inside the cushion.

Sewing a Bench Cushion with Piping stitch edges

3. Turn your top panel and sides wrong sides out and put your cushion inside it. Then lay your bottom panel on top as shown.

Sewing a Bench Cushion with Piping top panel

Pin the bottom panel to the sides just like you did for the top panel. This time leave the back side unpinned (where your two flaps overlap.)

4. Now is a good time to trim any excess from your previously stitched seams of the entire bench.

(There will be a lot of fabric on the sewing machine, and this is just one less piece that could get caught while stitching.)

Sewing a Bench Cushion with Piping cut excess

Trim off the corners at an angle.

Sewing a Bench Cushion with Piping trim edges

Carefully peel the pinned cover off the cushion.

Sewing a Bench Cushion with Piping top cushion

5. Stitch along the two sides and front of your cover. Leave the back length of the cover open.

Remember, use your fingers to feel for the piping.

Sewing a Bench Cushion with Piping sew piping

6. Turn the cover right side out and slide the cushion into the cover.

Check the fit and make sure you don’t have any stray fabric that might have gotten caught while sewing.

You should have an opening in the back like this.

Adding the velcro closure to the back of the cover

1. Take out your coordinating velcro tape.

Sewing a Bench Cushion with Piping adding velcro

Pin the hook and loop velcro tape onto the backside and the back fold over flap.

To save money, I used 4 strips of 3″ velcro evenly spaced along the length of the opening.

But, you can certainly use one long piece of velcro if you wish.

Sewing a Bench Cushion with Piping velcro

2. Stitch the velcro onto the cushion. You can use a zig-zag stitch for extra strength (if you have destructive little boys like I do!)

Sewing a Bench Cushion with Piping sew velcro

Check the fit of the velcro.

Sewing a Bench Cushion with Piping fit velcro

3. If everything looks good, you can turn the cover inside out and trim off any excess raw edges.

Then turn the cover right side out and insert your cushion.

Sewing a Bench Cushion with Piping trim raw edges

And that’s it! You are done and you have a professional-looking bench cushion with piping!

The best part is now you know how easy Sewing a DIY Bench Cushion with Piping can be!

Sewing a Bench Cushion with Piping finished

This is such a versatile piece of furniture. It would make a great addition to a living room for extra seating or to use as entryway bench.

Add some pretty throw pillows and the only thing you need to do now is enjoy your beautiful easy sew bench cushion.

Want to see the rest of my screen porch makeover? I spent less than $125, that’s what I call an extreme budget!

Now that you knocked out a custom diy cushion, why not sew one of these 25 easy sewing projects next!

diy sewing projects to help you learn to sew social media image

Pin this tutorial to refer to later:

blue and white patterned bench cushion with white piping

March 10, 2025/116 Comments/by Brittany Bailey

Sewing

Most Comfortable Best Fit Face Mask

Behind the scenes, I’ve been working on improvements for the Best Fit Face Mask and am thrilled to finally share with you the Most Comfortable Best Fit Face Mask.

Most Comfortable Best Fit Face Mask

I’ve heard from thousands of you who have emailed me, or commented and told me how much you love the Best Fit Face Mask. So many have remarked how easy it was to sew and how it truly is the best fitting face mask available. In an effort to provide better comfort and ease of wearing, I’ve changed the mask slightly to be the Most Comfortable Best Fit Face Mask!

You heard me right, this is by far the most comfortable, not to mention best fitting face mask. This new design uses the same Best Fit Face Mask pattern but I’ve changed the straps slightly so they don’t go behind the ears.

The Most Comfortable Best Fit Face Mask is super popular with:

Children
People who wear glasses
People who wear hearing aids
People with sensitivity issues
Workers who see people on and off during the day
Medical professionals who don’t want anything on their ears
People who want to wear the mask around their neck when not needed

This mask design will be invaluable for children who are heading back to school or people going back to work. It allows the wearer to pull it on and off quickly with ease and without the risk of misplacing their mask! Then when wearing the mask is no longer necessary, they can simply pull it down and let it hang around the neck until needed again.

You’ll use the same pattern and instructions to make the mask as the Best Fit Face Mask. When you get to the final sewing step in my tutorial, you are NOT going to add the ear straps. Instead, just sew the sides and I’ll show you how to thread the straps next.

Go ahead over to the tutorial, download your choice of five size patterns and start making your mask.

Then watch this video to see how to turn that Best Fit Face Mask into the Most Comfortable Face Mask:

Most Comfortable Face Mask Materials:

I found that the ⅝” flat foldover elastic hairband material is the most comfortable strap material for over the head wearing. It is super soft, stretches easily, and doesn’t pull on your hair or face. For this strap design, cut the elastic at 36”. You may trim a little off the length later if you find it too long (especially for a child-size mask.)

My Source for Flat Foldover Elastic: Amazon or Etsy

Don’t have foldover elastic? Not a big deal, you can also use any cording you like for this mask, but it may not fit through the adjustment bead. You can simply tie the tails instead. Not using elastic straps means it might not be as comfortable or as easy to slip on and off, but it’s still desirable if you want to move away from ear straps.

How to Feed the Straps Through the Most Comfortable Best Fit Face Mask:

Pin a safety pin to the end of your elastic. Starting from the chin side of your mask, feed the elastic up through one side, then down through the other side leaving the ends on the chin side.

Adding an adjustment bead helps make this mask easy to adjust. To feed the straps through the bead, fold some fishing line in half. Feed the loop end through the bead. Slip both strap ends through the fishing line and pull back through the bead.

Pull the strap ends through the bead completely. Tie the ends of the ribbon elastic and singe the ends to keep them from fraying.

Ways to Wear the Most Comfortable Best Fit Face Mask:

1. Straight Forward:

To put the mask on, make sure the nose clip is facing up. Put the bottom strap (or the tail end side) over your head first and rest it around your neck. Then pull the top strap over your head and let it rest on or slightly below the crown of your head. Pinch the nose clip against your nose. Then pull on the tails to tighten the strap to your comfort level. To loosen the straps, move the bead away from your neck.

2. The Good Hair Day:

One thing I love about the straps on this design, is the versatility. If you are having a good hair day, congratulations. You can simply put the top strap over your ears and behind the base of your skull. Now tug on the tails of the strap until it’s comfortable. Adjust your hair over the straps. Now you go rock that great hair today!

3. Both on Top:

If you don’t want the straps on your neck, or want a very secure fit under the chin, pull both straps to the crown of your head.

I’d love to hear from you in the comments if you find other ways to wear the mask. I know you’ll love how comfortable it is and how lightweight it is when hanging around your neck. I also know that kids are going to love this design change!

Please share this tutorial with friends and family. I see so many disposable and poor-fitting masks out in public. This is a much better solution, but I need your help to spread the word. In the meantime, thank you all for doing your part to stay safe and stay kind.

Pin this image to share:

Don’t forget to see my Time Saver tips when sewing the Best Fit Face Mask:

Finally, if you are looking for the original Best Fit Face Mask tutorial, here it is:

July 13, 2020/27 Comments/by Brittany Bailey

Sewing

Best Fit Face Mask – Time Savers and Sizes to Fit Everyone

Two months have passed since I designed the Best Fit Face Mask. By popular demand, I’m putting out three new sizes (child, small, and x-large) to fit everyone! I’ve also developed some time-saving tips to help you sew masks faster.

Best Fit Face Mask – Time Savers and Sizes to Fit Everyone

Before I get started with today’s post, I have to thank you all. I received thousands of comments from people saying how much they loved the Best Fit Face Mask design. If you haven’t seen that video, you can see the video here.

For those of you that have watched that, I have to say you blew me away, because there were over 4 million people who watch the video. I hope that has translated into each and everyone of them making at least one mask if not multiples to protect everyone around the world from the coronavirus! Thank you to those that sent me pictures of your masks. This makes me happy to see so many different people and different masks!

Video on Best Fit Face Mask Time Savers + Updates and New Sizes:

I’ve covered the majority of today’s post in this video. I know it goes fast, so feel free to watch and/or read the rest of this post.

New Sizes – Child, Small, and X-Large Mask Patterns:

Today I’m back because so many people had asked for different sizes and I can appreciate that there are many different size faces. I appreciate your patience with me as I finally developed a child size, a small size, and an extra-large size (in addition to the previous medium and large sizes.) Patterns for all five sizes can be downloaded here (look under Face Mask Template subheading).

Although I had to stop resizing at some point, I decided to show you an easy way to resize your pattern!

How to Resize Your Face Mask Pattern:

Just a quick note before you rush to resize your pattern. Make sure to pre-shrink your fabric. You’ll also want to wash the mask after sewing because oftentimes the mask will shrink a little more.

To resize your pattern, simply print out the size closest to what you need. To reduce, use a ruler to mark points inside the template at each corner. I suggest reducing by ¼” increments. Then use the ruler as a straight edge to connect the dots. To enlarge, repeat, but add your points outside the template. Simple, right?!

More Alternate Ear Strap Materials:

(I’ve included affiliate links for your convenience. I earn a small percentage from a purchase using these links. There is no additional cost to you. You can read more about affiliate links here.)

Over the past two months I’ve learned a lot by testing several different strap materials. In the first mask, I used elastic paracord. Although this worked great, it was hard to find and hard to thread the bead through. Here are some alternatives to the elastic paracord.

The old t-shirts, are so comfortable and soft (and most likely FREE! Especially if you have stained shirts or ones your kids have outgrown.) Cut them into one-inch strips and pull them to make them curl. These should feed through the craft beads easily.

Regular paracord (non- elastic) works well too. This is like hiking boot laces. I found the 550 series (7 strand core) is the perfect size to still fit through the craft beads.

Elastic shoelaces are a great alternative to the flat elastic most people want for face masks. In full disclosure, Xpand sent me some elastic shoelaces to try out. I’m happy to say they work great. They are stretchy and you can feed a craft bead onto it.

Slip Knot instead of Craft Beads (or Cord Locks)

No Craft Beads, No Problem! Many people have struggled with the craft beads. Sometimes the strap material doesn’t feed through easily. For this reason, I have the solution if you are ready to ditch the bead! It’s simple, tie a slip knot!

How to Make a Slip Knot:

A slip knot is a knot that slides up and down along one strand. It’s perfect for adjusting the length of the ear straps, yet still holding it in position.

Watch my video (already forwarded to the slip knot tutorial section) to see how to make a slip knot. It’s easy and a great knot with many uses.

Cut your straps about 12 – 15 inches long. (You can trim the excess afterward.) Fold the strap in half. I’ve knotted one end to help clarify this demonstration.) Position the knotted end on the bottom. Take the knot and wrap it over the other end one time. Now reach your fingers through the loop you made and grasp the non-knotted end and pull it through the loop while holding the other two ends. Tighten the knot and now test to see if you can slide the knot up and down your strap. Easy, right?!

Nose Clip Update – Answer to the Question: Do they hold up in the wash?

First, there many people who said they like using pipe cleaners. Frankly, I’ve never been a fan of these because they just don’t have the hold or the memory to do great as a nose clip. Plus, several people have been reporting that pipe cleaners are rusting in the wash and breaking.

There were a lot of people who were concerned about the coffee tabs and how they hold up in the wash and dryer! My own original mask has been washed probably fifteen times now. There is no rust showing. The coffee tabs are coated in plastic, so I don’t think this will be an issue. Some have asked about drying the masks on a lower heat setting in the dryer. I’ve dried mine on high heat, but have switched to a medium heat just to prolong the life of the coffee tab. The beads have been fine in the high heat, but again, why not play it safe?

Time Savers when Sewing the Best Fit Face Mask:

If you’re like me, you likely make a few masks at a time. Typically I like to knock out a dozen when I have time. They usually take a few hours to make, but when you break it down, the masks take me about 15-20 minutes each. To get the full tutorial for the Best Fit Face Mask, download the instructions and templates from my Best Fit Face Mask tutorial post.

After you’ve cut out your fabric, fold the fabric so the printed sides are facing in. Mark the locations for your nose and chin folds. Now, position the liner on top of the outside mask fabric. Line up the nose and chin stitching marks.

Stitch through both pieces of fabric along the fold lines.

To save time while sewing multiple masks, chain stitch all the masks one after the other. Below you can see after sewing through the chin seam on Mask 1, I have Mask 2 lined up to sew through the nose seam.

After sewing and cutting the excess material off your masks, you simply open the masks so the outside fabric is on the outside and the liner is right sides facing out.

As you stitch the sides, you can continue to save time by chain stitching all the nose hems together. Then rotate your chain of masks and stitch the chin hems (effectively chain stitching multiple masks together. After separating and folding the side ear strap folds, you can chain stitch all the sides of the masks. Here’s a funny picture of me with six chain-stitched masks.

How to Simplify Threading the Craft Bead Through the Straps:

Time to show you how I feed my straps through the bead. This is a tip my father-in-law showed me and I’m eternally grateful for his idea! I’ve forwarded the video to show this process below:

Grab a length of fishing line and fold it in half. Stick the loop end through the bead. Feed half your strap through the fishing line loop. Then pull the fishing line and strap back through the bead.

That’s all the time-savers I have for you today. I am working on one new addition to the Best Fit Face Mask, so be sure you are subscribed to my email newsletter. You’ll also get access to my Free Mini Course: 6 Simple Steps to DIY Anything!

June 22, 2020/18 Comments/by Brittany Bailey

accomplishment, arts and craft, Crafts, kids art, Sewing

Make Your Own Monster Dolls

Teaching children to sew can be a fun and rewarding lesson if you let them take the lead and design their own monster dolls.

Make Your Own Monster Dolls

Aren’t they cute?! Okay, they may have a few imperfections, but I don’t want to hear about it because my boys made them! That’s right my 4 and 7-year-old sons made their own Monster Dolls (with a little help from me). It was a perfect way to spend a summer afternoon together. And as a bonus they learned some basic sewing skills.

My 7 year old really dove in and enjoyed every aspect of making his monster. He used the sewing machine with my help. My 4 year old needed a bit more guidance and help. He was very tentative about the sewing machine, but I convinced him to push the pedal. After one time pushing it, he was LOVING puttin’ the pedal to the metal! LOL!

Materials:

Instructions:

Let your child draw their monster on a piece of paper.

Help your child draw the outline of the monster onto the backside of the fleece. Explain that you might need to fatten up any skinny appendages so you can turn the monster right side out and stuff (him or her) after sewing.

Pin two pieces of fleece together (right sides together.) Help your child cut out around the outline of the monster’s body. This will give you two identical pieces for the monster doll body.

Cut eyes, nose, and mouthparts out of colored felt. Pin the facial features to the right side of one of the body cut-outs. Let your child use the vanishing marker to mark other facial features that will be stitched.

Using the sewing machine, stitch the facial features and attach the felt pieces.

Helping Children Learn to Use a Sewing Machine:

To help my boys learn to sew, I let them depress the pedal on the sewing machine. We focus on light pressure, slowing down, and stopping. Meanwhile, I guide the fabric through the foot.

To emphasize the features we drew over the stitching with the Sharpie marker.

Use buttons or the Sharpie to create pupils for your monster doll.

Pin the right sides together (facial features inside) of the doll. Stitch around the edge, leaving a small three-inch opening for stuffing.

Trim any excess fabric away from the edges before turning the doll right sides out.

Turn the monster doll right sides out. Use a pencil’s eraser side to poke out any corners and turns. Stuff the monster with polyfill stuffing. Use the pencil to push filling into small areas.

Whipstitch the opening closed after the doll has been fully stuffed.

Your child’s monster doll is complete!

Ugly Monsters or Adorable Monsters? What do you think?

Your child will surely love his creation and will definitely feel a huge sense of pride that he (or she) designed it themselves!

I let my boys do as much as possible so they could feel a HUGE sense of accomplishment when they were done. They both were so proud of their monsters. They tote their monster dolls everywhere and tell friends and family, “I made it!”

Pin for later!

May 26, 2020/16 Comments/by Brittany Bailey