Is there anything cuter than a bunny mermaid?!? Yes there is! It’s a bunny mermaid whose tail looks like a carrot! After designing my purrmaid cross stitch pattern I thought it would be fun to design some other mer-animals. The first one that came to mind was a bunny. I couldn’t seem to get the tail design right at first. It was lacking something, then I got the idea of taking inspiration from a carrot for the tail design and that was exactly what it needed!
I stitched the merrabbit up and absolutely love it! I finished it on a carrot shape made from fabric covered foam board (finishing video coming soon on my cross stitch channel).
I recently sat down in my garden to chat a little about this design. You can watch that video HERE!
The full color cross stitch pattern is now available in my etsy shop.
What other animals would you like to see transformed into mer-friends?!?
If you stitch this or any of my other designs I would LOVE to see them! Please share pics using #StitchedWithWhitney
Hello everyone! Today I’m showinig how I made an easy quilted drawstring bag. A little while back my mom gifted me with a nice stitching lamp to use while I’m cross stitching. I wanted to make a bag to store the lamp in to keep it safe and protected, so that is what I’m sharing today.
I took a few measurements and sketched out a quick design then went to my fabric stash to see what I had to use. I found some leftover pieces from a jelly roll I had been gifted (a jelly roll is precut fabrics that are 2.5 inches by the width of the fabric). I sewed the pieces together until they were a bit larger than I needed for the bag. Anytime I’m quilting something I start a little bigger and trim it down later after it has been quilted.
This project was really about using what I had on hand. Instead of a traditional quilt batting, I used fusible fleece. It’s what I had on hand and it worked just fine. I cut the fusible fleece and a lining fabric the same size as each outer piece, about 20 x 14 inches. I ironed the fusible fleece to the back side of the outer fabric then got ready for quilting. After quilting I used a couple of rulers to trim the pieces down to 17 x 12 inches.
You can find all my favorite sewing supplies HERE on Amazon!
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My bag will finish 16.5 x 11.5 inches (not including the casings). If you want to make your bag in a different size you can do so by deciding the size you want/need (don’t forget to add some ease if you are making it to fit a certain item) then adding a half inch to the height and width for seam allowances. Then resize the casings to fit your bag.
Speaking of the casings, I cut 4 pieces 11.5 x 3 inches. The trick I’ve learned over the years is to cut my casing pieces the same width as the bag will finish. Then after the casing pieces are sewn together they will be a half inch smaller. This leaves a little gap on each side of the casings at the top of the bag. It’s just enough room to feed the drawstrings in and look really nice.
You can also see in the photo that I have bound seam allowances. When a project is quilted the outer and lining layers are treated as one unit, instead of having a separate lining that can be inserted to hide seam allowances. So the seam allowances need to be treated differently. I wanted to bind mine so they look nice and the bag will last longer. I cut two pieces from my lining fabric measuring 1.5 inches by the width of the fabric. I was a little unsure about using pieces cut on the straight of grain instead of on the bias, but it actually worked out perfectly!
You can watch the step by step tutorial HERE to make your own quilted drawstring bag!
If you make a bag using this tutorial (or any of my tutorials!) I would love to see pics! Please share them with me on my Facebook page or tag me on Instagram!
Hello everyone! It’s time for another flosstube video! This week I have lots of things to share – my new cross stitch pattern, a freebie I stitched in about 45 minutes, the project bags I’ve been making, my new youTube channel, a giveaway and MORE!
You can see all these fun things in my video HERE!
https://youtu.be/bqL15LRT-ag
I hope you love seeing my stitching! I would love to see pics of what you are working on, so please tag me on Instagram. Until next time, Happy Stitching!
Join me today as I show how to make a vinyl zipper bag. The large vinyl window on the front is perfect for seeing what project you have inside. The edges are all self binding, so no separate binding is needed. Grab your fabrics, a zipper, some interfacing, and the PDF and you are ready to make your own vinyl project bag!
So, what sets this vinyl project bag apart? It’s the self binding edges. This means the back fabric wraps around to the front for a nice bound edge instead of needing to use a separate bias binding. I’ve also added a fusible fleece between the back layers. This offers extra structure and the opportunity to sew some quilting lines.
I say cross stitch bag because that’s what I use my bags for, but feel free to use the bags for any use you have.
I’m so excited to finally be able to share the first pattern in my new Crop of Characters cross stitch series! I have been working on this series the past few months and the first pattern was released today.
Each design in the series features a character or animal and the crop they are growing. At this point I have four designs planned, one for each season, but I may add to the series in the future.
You can find the PDF pattern in my etsy store – Stitched With Whitney If you want to keep up to date with my pattern releases and what I’m stitching check out my new youTube channel and Instagram that are both dedicated completely to cross stitching.
If you stitch up one of my pieces please share pics with me using #StitchedWithWhitney and #CropOfCharacters
Three years ago I started my Sampler Sew Along series. Throughout the series I shared tutorials for 12 different historical quilt blocks and today I’m going to talk about finishing the sampler quilt. You can find the playlist with each tutorial HERE.
If you’re unfamiliar with sampler quilts, they became popular in the 1840s when block style quilts were still fairly new. Typical quilts repeat one or two blocks over and over to create an overall design, but sampler quilts are a combination of several different quilt blocks with no real correlation to them. The quilts were often a way to practice or experiment with different types of blocks. Other times friends or quilting guild members would make blocks separately and combine them later to make a quilt.
But back to this quilt, or rather the 12 quilt blocks. The blocks measure 12.5 inches square as is and will be 12 inches square when sewn into the finished quilt. You can sew the blocks directly together and have a finished quilt top measuring 36 X 48 inches. Then add a backing and batting, sew some quilting, trim and bind and you have a beautiful sampler style baby quilt.
Or you can add other elements to make your quilt larger. My quilt includes sashing, cornerstones, and borders so it measures 50 X 64 inches – a good lap quilt or throw quilt size.
You can finish your quilt however you want, but if you want to make yours similar to mine I will have the measurements of each piece listed below as well as the notes my mom wrote down while she was finishing the quilt. Yep, you read that right, I asked my mom to help me after I had sewn the individual blocks. She’s better at finishing quilts than I am and had more time to work on it. Huge thanks to my Mom!
In my video HERE I go over what cornerstones, sashing, and borders are along with LOTS of other details about this quilt. You will need to know what each of those terms mean for any of the information below to make sense.
The cornerstones were cut from six different fabrics to a size of 2.5 x 2.5 inches. They will measure 2 inches square in the finished quilt. The sashing is 2.5 inches wide cut and finishes 2 inches wide in the finished quilt. The sashing was cut 2.5 inch wide by the width of the bolt of fabric then cut down into 12.5 inch lengths. It took three width of fabric strips to create the seventeen sashing pieces in my quilt.
With the blocks laid out in their final layout, one sashing piece was sewn to bottom of nine of the blocks (each block in the top three rows). Then a cornerstone was sewn to six of the remaining sashing pieces. Those units were then sewn to the right side of the blocks (excluding the three blocks on the far right of the quilt). The last two sashing pieces were sewn between the blocks in the bottom row. After all the sashing and cornerstones were attached the larger block units were pieced together.
Then the borders were added on to the outer edges. The skinny, multicolored border was cut to 1.5 inches by the width of fabric and finishes 1 inch wide. I believe it took 5 strips to make up the border. One strip for each short end and one and a half strips (pieced together) for each long side. And finally, the white border cut to 4.5 inches, finishing 4 inches wide. I’m not sure how many strips that one took – it’s not in mom’s notes.
After the entire quilt top is together it needs a backing, batting, quilting and binding. I talk more about this in the video HERE. The batting in my quilt is a warm and bright polyester batting that can have up to 10 inches between quilting lines. My mom quilted it using a stitch in the ditch method. This is where quilting lines are sewn following the piecing lines of the quilt blocks. My quilt will be displayed on my quilt ladder and not used or washed often so it doesn’t need a lot of dense quilting. Feel free to quilt yours however you like!
And finally, trim up all the edges and add a binding. I have a step by step binding tutorial HERE. Then step back and admire your beautiful quilt!
I LOVE how my quilt turned out and can’t wait to see everyone else’s finished quilts! Please share pics of your blocks and quilts with #SamperSewAlong and don’t forget to tag me. Until next time, Happy Sewing!
It’s time for me to FINALLY share some of the projects I’ve been working on behind the scenes! I’ve had several cross stitching projects in the works, but had to wait until my etsy store relaunch to really talk about them. Now that I have launched my etsy store with my first cross stitch PDF pattern I can start to share some of the other things that will be coming in the future.
You can see all the fun things I’ve been working on in my video HERE! Make sure to watch all the way to the end *wink*
I know I’ve been sharing a lot of cross stitch content recently and not much sewing, BUT I have sewing videos coming up next that I know you will enjoy! Until next time, Happy Sewing!
After getting back into cross stitch at Christmas, I quickly realized I LOVE designing my own patterns! I started with a rainbow purrmaid (cat mermaid) inspired by a book I read to my kids. Than the creativity floodgates burst wide open! I have now designed several other pieces (including a replica of my parents’ home) and LOVE stitching my own creations!
I’m obviously designing things I think are cute and I really enjoy, but I know I’m not the only one who will love them! So I have decided to relaunch my long neglected etsy shop. I haven’t sold on etsy in the past 4 years, but just yesterday I relaunched it with a new name! It is called Stitched With Whitney and my first cross stitch pattern is available for sale!
The Rainbow Purrmaid PDF includes full color stitching charts with pastel and primary color options and two different text layouts. Why did I include so many variations?? Because I couldn’t decide which I liked the most and if I can’t decide then I know other people will like having multiple options as well!
I have already designed and stitched several other patterns and can’t wait to start sharing them soon! I also started a Facebook group – Stitched With Whitney where you can keep up to date on my shop and see sneak peeks before anyone else! There are lots of other cute animal designs coming…
This past weekend I got to go up to my parents’ house and spend time with my mom. We talked cross stitching, filmed a new flosstube video, and even got to go to a local needlework shop WITHOUT the kids! We had a lot of fun and spent two hours wandering around looking at all the cross stitch pieces on display and the patterns for sale. The store was a lot larger than I expected, and we could have stayed much longer, but our hungry stomachs won.
This week I’m sharing the Flosstube video Mom and I filmed together. We showed some of Mom’s previous finishes, current projects, and designs she is planning to stitch soon.
This video is ALL about Mom’s projects, in my next flosstube video I’ll sharing my recent stitching.
While I was at my parents’ house I also picked up my finished Sampler Sew Along quilt! My mom was amazing and took my finished blocks and sewed them together into a quilt top, quilted it, and bound it. It turned out so amazing! I’ll be sharing photos and all the details for finishing the quilt soon.
After almost 12 years on youTube I have accumulated many, many handmade and DIY items. So, what do I do with all those DIYs?? I actually use a lot of them!
Three years ago I shared a video all about the DIYs we use daily. You can watch it HERE. But now that my kids are older some of the things on that list have changed.
To sit down and think of all the handmade items we use daily is actually a little harder than it sounds. We are so used to using most things that we don’t even notice them anymore. I came up with 10 or 11 DIYs we use every day at our house. Click HERE to watch!
All the tutorials and links I mentioned are in the video description box on youTube. Click the video embed or linked on this page to take you to youTube to find the links.
Obviously there are many more DIYs we use regularly, but not every day, so they weren’t included in this video. You can get an idea of those items in my DIYs we use weekly video from a few years ago.
What are the DIY or handmade items you use every single day?? I would love to hear from you! You can leave me a comment on youTube or tag me in a pic on Facebook or Instagram.
