Any great ideas? I am sewing!

[JordieC]

I got a sewing machine for Christmas very happy cause it's what I wanted and I plan to be such a good wife and mother sewing everything - ha ha!! Seriously I do want to leanr and I will be having lessons soon.

Last night I managed to thred the machine and make 3 very cool drawstring bags so I can do the basics. I want to make some more things but preferable things that don't require patterns or tricky bits!

Any great ideas for some practice items? Or things that would be good for kids/babies?

[AngelPunks]

what about some funky doona covers for their beds, only tricky thing you'll have is button holes (unless you want to hand sew in press-studs).

You can make tea-towels for your kitchen, grab some linen and make placemats for the dining room table.

[kawazuki]

bibs are easy. t shirts easy.
i just use one that fits them and draw a pattern and then cut and sew.

also slip dresses if you have a little girl are easy and quick.

teddy bears hardest part deciding what colour and how firm to stuff them lol

[AngelPunks]

t-shirts are probably a bit too hard if you're going to use stretch material as there are special needles (ball point ones) and a technique to sewing with stretch - but this is something you should learn to do in the future.

I used to make funky pants to wear off the pattern of other pants I already had. I also used to make cotton t-shirt style tops to wear from other tops of the same size.

[HotI]

cushion covers- good to start off with. if you want something bit trickier, try 4 colours on the front of the cushion so each quarter is a different colour. you can use velcro (not so easy to sew with a machine) or a zip to close it up, or just overlap the material like a pillow cover.

pants are really easy, but easier with a pattern. kids pyjama pants, shorts. i just sew a seam at the waist and thread the elastic through.

i find pants a lot easier than tops, the neckline can be tricky to make look even and 'professional'.

library bags, hemmed blankets for dolls cots.

[Bathsheba]

An extremely easy and useful project is an apron I love sewing them... you don't need a pattern if you already have an apron that fits you well. Just lay the uncut fabric over the top of your old one and trace (leaving enough for a hem). The best material for around the neck and waist ties is "webbing"... available at all fabric shops. If you need a piccy for inspiration i can take a photo of one of mine.

[Astrid]

An extremely easy and useful project is an apron I love sewing them... you don't need a pattern if you already have an apron that fits you well. Just lay the uncut fabric over the top of your old one and trace (leaving enough for a hem). The best material for around the neck and waist ties is "webbing"... available at all fabric shops. If you need a piccy for inspiration i can take a photo of one of mine.

I thought you were going too suggest sewing a peg basket lining

[Bathsheba]

ROFL Astrid! Well, yeah, you could make one of those too! I've already got the piccy in my gallery album for that one!

What I'd love to see is a cover for a Sunbeam toaster... it's a project i've been meaning to tackle for a while now... so if anyone has made one...

ETA: oh and if anyone has made their peg basket lining i'd love to compare notes!

[Sair]

A shirred dress like this one https://www.bellybelly.com.au/forums...&size=big&cat= I added tiers but you don't have to.

Here is the tutorial I used and as she mentions, I also used about 10 less inches off the width in total.

Kuky Ideas

[Bathsheba]

Another surprisingly easy project is fitted sheets... making your own sheets can be very cost effective... especially for cots as they can be very overpriced IMO.

[HotI]

Another surprisingly easy project is fitted sheets... making your own sheets can be very cost effective... especially for cots as they can be very overpriced IMO.

Or, if you have double bed sheets that have a rip in one spot, but the rest are still ok, use the material to make single/cot sheets.

[mbear]

Hi there..

I recently bought a sewing machine too - whislt i sewed at high school i needed to get back to basics....i also made a apron, and some cushion covers - very easy. I also made my DD's some library bags for kindy - dead easy.
Ive recently ventured into little girls dresses and skirts......beware, its very, very addictive !!!!!

[Danni]

would love some more ideas and some site recommendations for tutorials etc?

I have two square cushions where the overs have stains so I would love to sew some new ones but have no idea where to start!

[luna moth]

Tissue box covers. Everyone laughs at me when I say this, but then they see mine and it all changes. I bought this really beautiful satin with a large floral print on it, and it is sooooo pretty.
Cloth bottom wipes are really easy too, or hankies.

Or just come on over and help me with one of my million projects

[helle]

I failed textile classes with flying colours, but I'd love to learn to sew too. Make all my own clothes would be so much easier than trying ti find things in the shops!

Things for kids you could make, doona covers, pillow cases, curtains are fairly easy! I don't know if kids have them now, but when I was in primary school we had library bags to keep our books in that were home made! You could make other little bags as well for the kiddies to keep things in! Even bigger draw string bags to keep their clothes in when they have sleep overs? And smaller matching ones for toiletries etc...

If you want to learn the nitty gritty stuff you could go to Spot Light (dunno if you have that over there) or a craft shop and sometimes they hold classes and teach you different things, and possibly teach you how to use all the fuctions on your machine as well!

[mbear]

Google Living Creatively...they have some great tutorials on their site.....all free of course.

[sconeonamission]

what about patterns? I'd love to make some clothes for me and ds, maybe even dh. I have a spotlight down the road, but are patterns expensive? are there ones on the net? An Apron would be awesome!

ANY pattern really! Fitted sheets would be an awesome idea coz I can't find (or afford) a fitted sheet for ds' king single bed

[Mother Goose]

I make a lot of quilts. I've just finished sewing Christmas Decorations for Christmas Gifts (they turned out pretty well!). My next project is some toys and possible a mobile.

How does one make a slip dress? My DD is obsessed by dresses and I promised to make some skirts/dresses.

MG