Padded Head Board with Ribbon Trim Easy DIY!

I'm in the process of re-doing and organizing my daughters room. At 11 years old, she's not quite a 'teen - but she's beyond the little girl stage. She's a collector; drawings, photos, notes, you name it - they're everywhere. I'm not really hip with taping stuff to the walls, so I'm trying to come up with clutter and damage free wall solutions.

Enter the French Memo Board Head Board.

She thinks it looks cool, I didn't have to use any power tools.

I call that a win-win.

For a Full Sized head board I used

 4  22x28 artist canvases, 2 yards of  batting, 1 twin sheet and several spools of ribbon

 I know there are dozens of tutorials on how to make a memo board, and this is basically the same concept so I won't bore you with the step-by-step how to.

A few tips worth pointing out:

Start in the centers when stapling and work towards the corners to keep your fabric taut and smooth

Fold your corners like wrapping a present

Determine what pattern you want - remember you will have 4 boards to coordinate!

Use a quilters ruler to keep strips evenly spaced

Use tape to secure ribbon in place when your happy with the layout,

then you can flip the whole board over and staple the ribbon in place without worrying about any shifting!

Use Command Adhesive strips to attach to the wall -

they wont cause any damage - and they are repositionable, so if you don't get it right the first time you can tweak it!

For this size canvas, I used 4 each (a total of 16)

Start in one corner, making sure your board is level and add 1 memo board at a time working clockwise.

And Ta-Da! You are done! 

Instant headboard on the quick and cheap!

Kadence is really loving it, I have several more projects to get done in her room this week, but for now she's  happy just to have the headboard up!

She's already adding her "stuff" she's really pleased she can just loop her book over a ribbon and mark her place when she's done reading before bed!

Tell us! Have you ever used a sheet for a project instead of buying fabric?

Guest Post: Why Does Some Fabric Cost So Much?

Have you ever wondered why some fabrics in the quilt shops are so pricey when you can pick up others at Wal-Mart on the cheap? 

Well, today we have our very first guest post here on ASG in the SLC, and Maude Medlin-Brown, a member of the ASG Tucson Chapter is posting an amazing article explaining exactly why that is.

Join us in welcoming Maude to ASG in the SLC,

oh, this is gonna be good...

Why Does Some Fabric Cost So Much? 

or Processes Defined 

What makes the difference between big chain store fabric and quilt store fabric is the Greige Goods and what happens to it? (That's pronounced "gray goods".) Greige Goods is the unfinished fabric that has just been removed from a knitting machine or loom. It does not have any bleach, dye or finishing processes on it. After it is woven, fabric goes through a number of processes. 

• Scouring: A chemical wash that removes impurities (like seed fragments) and the natural wax found in cotton. This leaves even the finest cotton fibers with a yellow hue. 
• Bleaching: If a fabric is going to be dyed or printed with dark colors, only minimal bleaching is necessary. If a fabric is going to be white or a light color, much more bleaching is required. 
• Mercerising: A treatment where a caustic soda solution is applied to the fibers causing them to swell. This allows the fabric to take the dye better and makes it feel nicer. 
• Singeing: A process that burns off the surface fibers from fabric to produce smoothness. 
• Raising: In some fabrics, this is a technique that pulls fibers up off of the surfaces to create a "hairy" feeling such as in flannelette. 
• Calendering: A mechanical process where fabric is passed between heated rollers to generate different effects on the fabric (i.e. smooth versus embossed). 
• Shrinking: Pre-shrinking the fabric at this stage means there will be very little shrinking after laundering once the fabric is used in a garment or quilt. 
• Dyeing: Cotton is very absorbent so dyeing is a popular technique. To make sure the color stays colorfast, more complex chemistry is used during the processing and that makes the fabric more expensive. To keep costs down, a cheaper dye (which may not be colorfast) could be used. 
• Printing: Printing a design on fabric may be done over the dye or it may be applied directly to the white fabric. The paste or ink used also must go through colorfast procedures. 
• Finishing: Many fabrics have coatings on them to make them feel stronger or softer and to make the colors appear brighter. These finishings often include formaldehyde  which helps to preserve the cloth and keep bugs out during the storing/shipping/selling process. 
  
  

What happens with big chain stores and other companies that purchase in very large quantities is that they order the fabric without some of the finishing processes. That makes the fabric feel more coarse when you touch it. That also allows them to sell for less than the small quilt stores. The reason you spend so much more in a quilt store is that they are buying the better quality fabric (the fabric that has been through more of the processing). 

Now having said all of that, it really comes down to what you want to do with the fabric. If you want to make an heirloom quilt that will last for decades, you probably want to seek out the best quality fabric for both durability and softness of touch. 

If you are making garments, how the fabric feels is truly important. If you are making something you want to last (i.e. a baby garment that you plan to keep as a memento) then you might want to go for a better quality fabric. If you are whipping up a summer dress for your granddaughter that she will outgrow by the end of the season, then go for the less expensive and lower quality fabric. 

If you are making craft items, then I definitely would look at the big chain stores. Just be sure to test the fabric for color-fastness. Also, sew a test seam and then put a little stress on it to be sure that the fabric is going to hold up to whatever craft you are making. There would be no need to spend a lot extra to make a stuffed toy! 

The bottom line is - YOU have to decide what you can afford. The price of raw cotton has really jumped recently so even the low end big chain store fabric is going to be more expensive than it has been. 

This should give you some idea of why the Debbie Mumm® fabric you see at the quilt store may be three or four dollars (or more) higher than the Debbie Mumm® fabric at the big chain fabric store. The designer is the same but the processing isn't, allowing the big chain fabric store to sell their fabric for less. 

Maude Medlin-Brown, a member of the ASG Tucson Chapter since 1978 and Editor of their newsletter, the Cactus Needle News, since 2010. 

"My mother taught me how to sew by hand around age six. Then I graduated to the Singer treadle sewing machine and was making all my own clothes by age 13. How to conserve fabric during pattern layout was one of the valuable lessons my mother taught. However her methods caused me problems in high school when my Home Economics teacher did not agree with my cutting layouts! Another valuable lesson I learned was how to restyle clothes from two older sisters for my own wardrobe. This came in really handy for prom dresses, but of course the real challenge was the bust size reduction required for the proper fit!"

"A Kenmore sewing machine was a great high school graduation gift and saw many years of use. One of the first Baby Lock sergers and lessons from Stretch & Sew were highlights of my 20’s. A class in pattern drafting in the late 1980’s was the next big step in clothing construction for me. Tackling three successive Viking embroidery machines plus aHuskylock 936 serger evolved my sewing skills even further."

"After retiring in 2007 from my engineering job, I fill my time with making clothing, purses, decorator items, jazzing up purchased items with embroidery, crocheting and making gifts for others. Also attending two Neighborhood Groups and all the great ASG Chapter events we hold. Plus I also like to read and enjoy traveling world wide with my husband."

18 inch doll clothes made by Maude

matching doll and dress made by Maude

Thanks so much for posting here today and sharing your expertise with all our readers, I guess when it comes to fabric - you really do get what you pay for!

Don't forget to check out the ASG Tucson Chapter (Neighborhood Group information, photos, their newsletters, information on future events and local Retail Discounts) 

Tell us! What's the most you've ever spent on a piece of fabric?

5 Tips for Tangle-Free Pre-Washing

Do you ever put your beautiful , freshly cut fabric into the washer and pull out a tangled knot of threads and yardage? Ugh!  It's so frustrating trying to uncut and unwind that mess!

Here are 5 simple methods to help you avoid those tangles:

Serge or Zig-Zag over the raw edges

OR Use pinking shears to pink the edges

OR Clip the corners

 Wash smaller cuts in a lingerie bag

  Use a delicate or hand wash cycle,

and use smaller loads of yardage 

There you have it - using just one, or a few of these tips together, should make your pre-washing go much smoother!

Tell us! Do you pre-wash your fabrics before you put them away, or as you use them?

5 ways to Organize Fabric Scraps

Today's Pinterest Round Up is all about organizing scraps! Check out all these lovely ways to sort and store all those tiny pieces of fabric that we can't bear to part with!

I like Orange has a simple tutorial for storing scraps in mason jars, complete with coordinated lids!

Have too many scraps to stuff into a jar? Pleasant Home uses these baskets and cubbies from Target to keep her large scrap stash under control!

Pioneer Valley Girl uses a clear over the door shoe holder to sort her scraps by color!

Rachel Hauser from Stitched In Color may have the most organized scraps on the planet! She uses bins from Ikea to sort her scraps by size and then uses a separate drawer to house each color! WOW!

And maybe the most original way to stash scraps - Film in the Fridge, utilizes her love of  enamel wear. What an awesome way to showcase a collection and get organized at the same time!

Tell us! What is the smallest size scrap you keep in your stash?

Fabric Folding Tutorial {Cheap & Simple}

Think of your favorite quilt shop, doesn't the image of all those neatly folded and stored bolts of fabric make you dreamy? Get that look for yourself!

But hey, folding your fabric in a uniform and consistent manner does more than just look pretty! It tends to store easier - and when folded with the technique shown below you can even tell approximately how much yardage you may have at a glance.

There are several ways you can fold your fabrics, I'm going to show you the 2 ways I've used. (Actually, they are just 2 variations of the same method) They both have their benefits, hopefully one way will work for you too!

Using the Comic book backing boards is the method I currently use in my own studio. 

I prefer the fabric stacked vertically - it does take up more space, but I feel like I can see each print easier.

Backer boards are a cheap alternative to specific fabric boards - I mean like 10 bucks for a pack of 100 at my local shop! (Wondering where you can find some near you? Check out the Comic Book Shop Locator. NAYY) And hey, I figure  if they're good enough for die-hard comic book collectors they're good enough for me.

The alternative method is using the same basic technique, but using a 6 inch quilting ruler (or any size, really) to fold your fabric around. When you reach the end, simply slide your ruler out. Then you can stack your fabrics on you shelves. The benefit here is you can fit more fabric on your shelves this way.

   

 Just a note before you start: When squaring up your fabric, align the selvedge edges as pictured below, don't worry if your cut edges do not match.

Do not try to square up your fabric by lining up the cut edges - chances are your fabric was not cut on grain and it will lay wonky like pictured below.

Okay, lets start!

Fold your fabric in half selvedge edges together - I like to do this with the manufacturers info facing down.

And then fold in half again, bringing the folded edge to meet the selvedge edges.

Next, using a comic book backing board, fold the edge of the fabric over the board.

Continue folding the fabric around the board until you reach the end.

You can pin the loose edge if you like (and if you began with the manufacturer info face down you can now see it without having to unfold your fabric) 

Okay, so you may be wondering how all this helps you know how much yardage you have?

Simple! Just count the folded layers on the edge, and multiply by 6 (or what ever size ruler/board you folded with) So, if you used a 6 inch ruler and had 6  folded layers, you'd know you have about 1 yard. 

*This isn't an exact science, and the more yardage you have the more you'll be "off"

Tell us! Do you bother to refold your fabric when you bring it home from the quilt shop, or do you just toss it on the shelf how ever the girl at the cutting counter gave it to you?