101 Home Sewing Ideas

With summer on the horizon it’s a great time to refresh your home, so we’ve gathered together our favourite décor projects from Simply Sewing magazine. Whether you’re looking to make over a whole room or just add a few handcrafted touches, there’s plenty here to inspire you. With chapters devoted to upstairs, downstairs and creative spaces (including your all-important sewing room!), we’ll give you ideas from top to bottom. Revamp the upstairs with pretty makes for the bedroom and cool blue and white style for the bathroom. Show your kitchen some love with new accessories and impress guests with elegant table linen. We’ve not forgotten the outside, either, so you’ll also find brilliant projects to help you make the most of your outdoor spaces this season. Happy sewing!…

COLOURFUL PILLOW CASES We love the way these fabric inserts look like there’s one pillowcase inside another! We’ve gone for bold brights as our main casing; for a more subtle look, use a bright accent as the insert and a softer shade for the main case. TASSEL TASTIC! Tassels make a change from bunting and are a fun way of using up fabric scraps. If you want yours to co-ordinate with a room, simply buy extras of your favourite prints to cut into strips. And try yarn tassels on pillows! LIGHT WORK! Co-ordinate your bedside table lamp with your bed linen and accessories with this simple technique for covering most lampshade shapes. Add a ribbon edging in a contrasting colour for a modern twist. HOOPS OF FUN This ingenious laundry basket uses a large embroidery hoop. It…

YOU WILL NEED Grey cotton fabric, 2 pieces 68x48cm (27x19in) for bag outer Orange cotton fabric, 2 pieces 68x48cm (27x19in) for bag lining Wooden embroidery hoop, 25cm (10in) Ribbon to hang Matching sewing thread MEASUREMENTS The finished laundry bag measures 65x45cm (26x18in) FABRICS USED Grey birds – Folk Art Holiday by Gina Martin for Moda Ref: 10021/16 Mist. www.modafabric.co.uk Orange solid – Spectrum, flame by Makower. Ref: 2000/R61 www.makoweruk.com MAKING THE LAUNDRY BAG Step one Place the two grey outer pieces of fabric right sides together. Stitch down the side, along the bottom and up the other side, using a 1.5cm seam allowance. Repeat with the two orange lining pieces, but leave a 10cm gap along the bottom for turning. 01 Step two Place the outer bag RS out inside the lining bag WS out. Right sides should now be together. Match up…

YOU WILL NEED Cotton fabric, see instructions for sizing Drum lampshade Matching sewing thread Ribbon, see instructions for size MEASUREMENTS To fit your lampshade FABRICS/LAMPSHADE USED Grey chevron – Makower Modern Folkloric Ref: 1327/S Chevron Grey. www.makoweruk.com Drum lampshade – our lampshade from www.okadirect.com measures 15cm high and 20cm in diameter, Ref: JJS020WHT-0 MAKING THE LAMPSHADE Step one You will need a plain, fabric-covered lampshade and enough fabric to wrap around it. Measure the height and circumference of your lampshade and add 3cm to both measurements. Cut out your fabric to this size. 01 Step two Wrap the fabric RS down around your lampshade and pin RS together along the side to make sure it fits. 02 Step three Keeping your fabric pinned, ease it off the lampshade and stitch together along the pinned line. 03 Step four Press the seam open. Fold the…

YOU WILL NEED Plain standard pillowcase, 50x75cm (20x30in) Yarn or stranded cotton for tassels Card, 10x10cm (4x4in) Matching sewing thread MEASUREMENTS Each finished tassel measures 5cm (2in) long MAKING EACH TASSEL Step one Fold your piece of card in half. Starting at the open side, wind your yarn around the card approx 20 times. 01 Step two Cut a piece of thread approx 15cm long. Thread it under the yarn wraps at the folded edge of the card. Knot tightly twice. 02 Step three Insert scissors between the wraps at the card’s open side. Cut the yarn. 03 Step four Slide the yarn off the card. Cut another piece of thread, approx 15cm, and knot it around the yarn, approx 1cm down from the top. Wind one end around the knot a few times, then knot again twice. 04 Step five Pull…

YOU WILL NEED Picture frame Cotton print fabric to fit frame Heavyweight interfacing to fit frame Double-sided tape FABRICS USED Small floral print – Kaffe Fassett Prints Collection, Violets Pattern, pink Ref: PWGP123. www.makeitcoats.com Orange/pink/purple flowers – Kaffe Fassett Prints Collection, Oriental Trees, red Ref: PWGP129. www.makeitcoats.com Large floral print – Floating Mums, magenta Ref: PWPJ056. www.makeitcoats.com Grey chevron with spot – Simply Color by Vanessa Christenson for Moda. Ref: 10804/13 Graphite Grey. www.modafabric.co.uk MAKING THE FRAME Step one Remove the backing and glass from your frame, then place it over your piece of fabric until you are happy with the position of the pattern inside. Draw around the outside of the picture frame onto your fabric. 01 Step two Cut out your fabric, just inside the outline you drew. Iron heavyweight interfacing to the WS of your fabric. 02 Step three Using…