Reading Pillow

As a child, my mother always encouraged me to read and have an interest in books.  Growing up, reading was one of my favorite hobbies and I could read an entire Goosebumps or Animorphs book in a day.  I knew when I had children that I wanted them to love reading too.  Thankfully my children take after me and they love to read.  

My toddler loved her books so much that she would keep them in her bed and sleep with them.  It wasn't until I changed her bedding that I found the massive stash of books she stored in her pillowcase.  I tried to keep her from keeping books in her bed but it was a losing battle.  Keeping books in her bed wasn't an issue I wanted to fight about so I drafted a quick pattern to make reading pillows with a pocket for her to store her books.  

   

To make your own reading pillow, here are the supplies you'll need:   

• 1 yard of 44" wide fabric
• 3/4 yard of fusible fleece
• Fabric scissors or a rotary cutter
• Sewing pins
• Sewing machine
• Coordinating thread
• Acrylic ruler
• Cutting mat
• Iron
• Ironing board
• Hem guide
• 16" x 16" pillow form

Pro tip: Wash your fabric before you cut your pattern pieces.

After you washed your fabric, you'll cut out the following pattern pieces.

To watch how I sewed the pillow you can watch my YouTube tutorial, which repeats the information provided in this blog post and shows you the step by step how to make your own reading pillow.

If you use this tutorial, don't forget to share your creations @diywithashley

Thanks for stopping by!!!

DIY Makeup Brush Travel Holder

Last-minute before my trip to NYC I decided that I needed a makeup brush holder so my brushes wouldn't get damaged.  I didn't have time to shop around or go look for fabric so I used scraps from a dress project.     

This is a beginner-friendly project that you can easily sew in an hour!  You can easily use this tutorial to make a pencil roll if you're an artist or you have a mini artist in your life.

To get started, here are the supplies you'll need:

•      ½ yard to 1 yard of remnant fabric
•       1⅔yards of lace
•       round template
•       sewing pins
•       hem guide
•       scissors or a rotary cutter
•       matching thread
•       an acrylic ruler and cutting mat
•       iron and ironing board
•       fabric marker
•       and a sewing machine

Next, you'll need to cut the following pattern pieces out of the fabric of your choice.

After you cut your pattern piece, watch my YouTube tutorial to see how to sew your makeup brush roll:

Thank you for stopping by!!!!!  

XOXO,

 Ashley

DIY Envelope Pillow - 2 different ways!

Hi all!  Welcome back to my blog for another tutorial!  Today I'm going to show you how to make envelope pillows.  I'll show you two different ways to make these pillows so you can customize them.  The written instructions are in this blog post and the YouTube video tutorial is at the end of this post.

The first version of this tutorial has a contrasting back.  This version is perfect if you want to use sequin fabric or a panel design.

If you’re making version 1, you’ll need 1/2 to 3/4 yard of each of your fabrics.  If you’re making version 2 you’ll need 1-2 yards of fabric.  The amount of yardage will depend on your pillow size.

The rest of the supplies you’ll need for this DIY are:

• sewing pins
• an acrylic ruler
• a cutting mat
• a rotary cutter or fabric shear (if you’re using sequin fabric, you’ll need strong craft scissors for cutting)
• a hem guide
• an iron
• a pillow form
• a sewing machine
• coordinating thread
• a serger or pinking shears

If you’re making version one with the contrasting front, you’ll need to cut your front piece of fabric 2.5” inches larger than the width and height of your pillow form.  For example, if you have a 16” x 16” inch pillow, you’ll need to cut a square that is 18.5” x 18.5” inches.  

For the back fabric, you’ll need to cut 2 pieces of fabric.  To calculate the width you’ll take the width of your pillow and add 2.5” inches.  To calculate the height, you’ll use the height of your pillow and add 10” inches.  Take this number and divide it in half so you now have the height of the two pieces of fabric.  If we use our 16” x 16” inch pillow, we’ll need to cut two pieces of fabric 18.5” x 13” inches.

Once you have your fabric cut out, you’ll start by creating the hem on the back two pieces.  Using your hem guide, fold over a 1/2” inch on the wrong side and iron.  Then fold over another 1/2” inch and iron again.  You’ll repeat this step on one edge of each of the back envelope pieces.  You can use your sewing pins to pin the hem.  Next, you’ll take your back pieces to your sewing machine and sew 1/8” inch away from the hem edge.

With our back pieces finished, we can begin to assemble the pillow cover.  Start by laying your front piece right side up them layering your back pieces on top, right sides together with the hems in the middle.  The center should overlap about 4” inches.  This overlap is to help keep the back securely over the pillow form.  After you have your fabric arranged, you can start pinning all the way around.  When you’re done pinning, you’ll take your pillow cover to your sewing machine and sew 1/2” inch all the way around the outside.  To finish your pillow cover, you can serge the raw edges or use pinking shears.  Then cut the corners off and turn your cover right side out.  Yay!  You just made an envelope pillow!!!

To make the second version of this envelope pillow, we’ll need to cut out one large piece of fabric.  To determine the width, you’ll take the width of your pillow form and add 2.5” inches.  To calculate the height, you’ll take the height of your pillow form, multiply that number by two and then add 9” inches.  For example, if your pillow form is 24” inches wide, you’ll add 2.5” inches and get 26.5” inches for your width measurement.  If your pillow is also 24” inches high then you’ll multiply that by 2, which gives us 48” inches and then you’ll add 9” inches.  This gives us a height of 57” inches.  Since this is a large piece of fabric, you may want to get 60” inch wide fabric and cut across.  The direction of cut won’t matter for this project unless you have a directional print.

Again, we’re going to start off the same way and iron down our hem at the top and bottom of the fabric.  Using your hem guide, fold over 1/2” inch on the wrong side and iron, then fold over another 1/2” inch and iron that down.  Use your sewing pins to pin the hem.  Sew your hems a 1/8” away from the edge.

After the hems are sewn, we will fold the fabric with the right sides together and the hems overlapping 4” inches in the back.  When you overlap the back, you’ll need to measure and make sure it is exactly in the middle of the back.  This part might be a little tricky, just make sure as your adjust the back overlap to be in the middle, you keep the 4” inch overlap.

Once you have the back centered, you can pin the two edges on the sides then sew them using a 1/2” seam allowance.  Finish off the side seams using a serger or pinking shears and clip the corners before turning the pillow cover right side out.

To make my pillow case fun I used my Circuit and cut out this iron-on a graphic with the lyrics of one of my favorite songs from the musical Hamilton. Here is the link to where you can purchase this graphic here.

YouTube Video Tutorial:

DIY Fabric Clutch Bag

*This post contains affiliate links*

I am very excited to share this tutorial with you all!!!  This tutorial was inspired by one of my YouTube viewers.  They followed my Trick-or-Treat bag tutorial and had leftover fabric so they asked me to make a tutorial on how to make a bag with the leftover fabric scraps. 

In this post you'll find your supply list, the measurements for your fabric pieces and the link to the YouTube tutorial as well.  The YouTube video below will show you step by step how I constructed the bag.

Supply List:

*All the supplies for this tutorial can be purchase at:

• Medium to Heavy Weight Fusible Fleece Interfacing
• 1/2 yard of fabric 
• Rotary Cutter or Fabric Shears
• Craft Scissors
• Sewing Pins
• Acrylic Ruler
• 6" inches of Double Fold Bias Tape (coordinating color)
• Cutting Mat
• Decorative Button
• Coordinating Thread
• Sewing Machine
• Iron and Ironing Board
• Hand Sewing Needle

Cutting Your Fabric:

Sewing the Clutch:

Happy Sewing!!

Love,

Ashley

DIY Fabric Headband

Recently my friend asked me to make her daughter a fabric headband to match a skirt I made her.  I tried to find tutorials that showed an all fabric and elastic headband but I didn't have any luck so I decided to make my own tutorial.

To make your own fabric headband you'll need:

1. 3/8 yard of cotton fabric
2. cloth measuring tape
3. 1/2" inch wide elastic
4. a cutting mat
5. an acrylic ruler
6. a rotary cutter or fabric shears
7. craft scissors
8. sewing pins
9. coordinating thread
10. a sewing machine

Pattern Instructions:

• Length measurement = circumference of head + 8.5" inches
• Width measurement = 1.5" inches wide

To watch how I made the headband, click the YouTube video below:

Happy Sewing!!!!

Love,

Ashley

DIY Lego Activity Box

*This post contains affiliate links*

My son loooves Legos and he loves to take them wherever we go.  However a lot of piece get lost when he takes them out of the house so I decided to make him a box he could use for building and carrying his Legos.

To make the box, here is the list of supplies:

1. Lego Lunch Box or a tin/plastic lunch box with a smooth surface on the inside.

2. Measuring Tape

3. Scissors

4. Lego Tape


5. Glue: Gorilla Glue or E6000
             

I filmed a short video so you can see how quick and easy it is to make your own travel Lego activity box:

Happy Crafting!!!!

Love,

Ashley

DIY Glitter Candlestick - Quick and Easy!

I discovered glitter blast spray paint and I've been waiting for the perfect time to use it.  While cleaning up my craft supplies I found glass candlesticks that I thought needed a little sparkle.  With the holidays right around the corner, I thought these would look great on my table for Christmas and New Year's Eve.  However these can be used year round and they also make great last minute gifts...think newlyweds and house warmings!

To see how to make your own set of glitter candlesticks, watch my video tutorial below: