You have no idea how happy I am to post this! I found the photos to my Sami Bracelet Tutorial that were lost when bloger converted their photo storage a few years ago. However, as I found an old harddrive, this and much more I thought lost was found again and I can once again present my:

These bracelets are so much fun to make, and you can vary them endlessly! Let me show you a few of the bracelets I've made over the years. This is the Katarina Bracelet, a simple bracelet with no backing, and if you wish to make this exact bracelet, the tutorial can be found here.

This is a macramé version, and if you wish to make one of these, I have a tutorial for it here. 

Here we have the Katarina bracelet braid with additional 2 single strand versions of a four strand braid on the sides. 

Here's a simple three strand braid made to look very exclusive by twisting strands of tin thread around each other  and placing flat strands of tin thread around. Then it's finished with twirled strands of tin thread on each side. makes for a very exclusive looking bracelet - that's super easy to make!

Sami bracelets are absolutely not just for women! This I made for my father, it's a massive five strand braid with hand twirled leather thongs edging it, and finished off with three strand braids which I have "folded" over instead of softly bent them around each other. 

This I made for a very dear friend, it's a simple three strand braid with inlays of pearl silk in between the tin strands. It made for a beautiful contrast towards the softest, most lovely cerise lamb skinn. 

Little details like adding a slim satin band (this is actually the kind that are used for keeping clothes on the hangers in stores) between two simple three strand braids for a little pop of color makes a world of difference! The closure was also spiced up here with a little bow and using the satin band for closure. 

Here I used a sheer pink ribbon as the middle for a katarina braid, it gave such a cute effect I think. Instead of the antler button I used a heart shaped pearl. 

This I made for a friends birthday gift, it's a tie on, ruffle bracelet with a four strand braid. It's made with off white reindeer leather as she's from the very north of Sweden, so it seemed very appropriate. I think it's super chique! 

These two is one single strand katarina braid and the one on the white leather is a simple three strand braid. Isn't it so cool how you can vary these simple braiding techniques endlessly? 

I have so many more to share with you as I have mad so many of these over the years, but I'll be another day =)  I hope you'll try making your own sami bracelets! It's so much fun!

Summer Squares & Charming Rag Quilt - Free Tutorials

I'm super excited to have found a couple of my very first patterns and tutorials that I did for Moda Bakeshop back in the day. They where sadly lost form Moda Bakeshop during a wordpress crash, and I thought them lost until today! Both these two patterns have been added to the "files" section of my Facebook Group, and is available for free download there. You're most welcome to join for the patterns. 

The Summer Squares Quilt

The original post can be found here. This is such a fun pattern and the appliqué trapunto method described is great fun and I use it for most appliques I make. However, nowadays I recommend using a high loft synthetic/polyester batting for the trapunto, for the best results. 

It can also easily be adapted to make adorable baby quilts. Like this baby quilt I made for my friends baby girl Vega a number of years ago.

The trapunto technique can also be used without applique pieces, but jsut to amke quilting sections stand out like here with her name. 

Charming Rag Quilt

The Charming Raq Quilt is a tutorial showing how to make rag quilts without batting, using only flannel instead for a quick to make, beautifully warm, heavy and snuggly quilt.

If you make it with patterned fabric for batting and backing, you get these really fun, lively rag seams. 

I hope you'll enjoy these tutorials once again! Both patterns have been added to the "files" section of my Facebook Group, and is available for free download there. 

Sew Your Own Half Check Dog Collar Tutorial

I made a YouTube tutorial showing how to sew your own, beautiful and practical half check dog collar! This type of collar has many names, half slip collar, martingale collar and more but it's a super convenient kind of collar slip on and off, with no risk of the dog backing out of it, nor does it choke your dog.

Convenience: Slip it on and off without any need for a snap or buckle. This is great for shy or scared dogs that might find the snap of a buckle loud and scary, for dogs with long coats which might tangle in the buckle, or for dogs that just don't have the patience to stand still while the collar is adjusted and secured. 

Safety: As we make this collar exactly to size, there's no risk of our dog being able to back out of the collar or escape it, while the collar doesn't choke or strangle the dog.

Comfort and coat: If you have a long haired dog, a tightly fitted regular collar might cause unsightly "waves" in the coat from the collar, but as this collar is large and loose when the dog is't pulling (which makes it very comfortable for the dog to wear too!) and therefore reduces this effect from the collar. 

I recommend clicking this link and going to YouTube and watching the video there instead of embedded. 

The reason for this tutorial is that have a new little family member as of a little over month now! Lilla My is a 1,5 year old Sheltie girl whom has found her forever home with us!  We love her soooo much!⁣ 

She of course urgently needed her own  Tula Pink collar! Lilla My really loved her new collars, and when I tried to have a photo shoot with the finished collar, she promptly laid down to sleep on my background!  I could hardly protest this (despite the black hairs now all over my white photo background) as it's her collars right? =D 

The collars in the video are made with Tula Pink fabrics, my girl needs to be dressed in style right!? The wider collar is from Tula's Zuma line, the beautiful "Glow fish" print. And the thinner one is the "Disco Kitty" print from her Tabby Road line.

Isn't she fashionable on her walk? =) 

It's really easy to make and such a fun sew, properly addictive! Such a great scrap buster too! 

And I'm going to end this post with two more photos of my lovely cutie, just because I can ;)

I'd love to see if you make your own collar using this tutorial, please share you photos in the Facebook Group, or tag me on social media <3 

Pressing Cotton Bags - Giving your bag a professional finish!

The secret to really professional looking cotton bags boils down to two things in my humble opinion - interfacing and pressing. Both subjects I cover in my latest YouTube video.
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I quite often get the question about how my bags can look so crisp in photos despite then being made from cotton with fusible interfacing. For this look - the importance of taking 20 minutes pressing your bag after finishing it can not be stressed enough! I try to share this during my classes, but it's not always we have the time to talk about this to the extent I'd like. So I made a little tutorial showing how I do this. 

I recommend going to youtubehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2V93b_yxQk to watch this video. 

It'll give you better quality then the embedded version. 

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In this video I also show how I use my beloved Clover Mini Iron II, it's such a great tool!
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Here is also a sneak peek of my BRAND NEW BAG design! The bag is not completely finished in this video, but it's a good hint. ;) 

How to Sew Rolled Bag Handles - Video Tutorial

Many are unfortunately a little intimidated by the my favourite bag handles, my faux rolled handles that I use on for example my Stockholm Bag and Daytona Bag. Therefore I made a video showing how I make them, hopefully it'll give you the confidence you need to make your own.

These handles are truly great, no need for any interfacing, rope, tubing or similar, just vinyl. They look fantastic and will add such a professional touch to almost any bag!  Attach them by sewing them down with a rectangle directly on the bag like on the stockholm bag, or attach them to handle connectors like on the Daytona.

I recommend going to youtube to watch this video. 

It'll give you better quality then the embedded version. 

I'd love your comments on this video, any and all helpful feedback is most welcome as I'm so new to video making =)

Fabric folding and storage

I have this obsession to when it comes to organizing and storing my cotton fabrics. I need to se them all at a glance and I love having them in rainbow order. So I made a little video showing how I fold and store my fabrics.

I recommend clicking the link and viewing it on YouTube directly though: https://youtu.be/d1pc2XVb8ic

I store most of my cotton fabric in an IKEA "Billy bookcase" with "Oxberg glass panel doors", to prevent the fabrics getting so dusty - while still allowing a nice overview. I try to sort by color for that pretty rainbow effect. But it's not always possible, some fabric just doesn't "read" like a single color, so those I have at the bottom there in the "messy and yardage section" *lol*

Setting your seams - or how to get those perfectly flat quilt blocks

I published a photo of a quilt block I'd sewn, and I got quite a few private messages on Instagram asking me how I get my seams so flat, so I made a little video to show the importance of setting your seams, and how to do it. This is the photo that I posted, a cute simple square in a square with fabric from Kate & Birdie and Kona Cotton.

I highly recommend clicking the "Watch on Youtube" link in the video as this low quality won't allow you to see what I'm talking about. Video is available here: Watch video.

When we sew quilt blocks, we usually do not sew with a dual feed presser foot, which causes a slight stretch/tension in the fabric on top compared to the fabric being fed at the bottom by the machines feeders; which is why the top piece usually comes out longer than the bottom one, despite being totally equal in length when the seam was started. This causes the fabric, when the seam is sewn to have a slight "waviness" to it, as the fabric has been stretched slightly. This can be made worse from improper thread tension. Adjusting your presser foot pressure (usually reducing it) so your seams come out as flat as possible, while still retaining enough pressure to make a nice seam will help this. However, a slight waviness is difficult to get rid of.  Starching your fabrics with spray starch before you cut it is a great way to reduce this issue too. However for baby quilts such as this one, where you don't wish to spray the fabric with a bunch of chemicals is not desirable. This is where setting your seams come into play.

Setting your seams is something the old school quilters amongst us will say is such a standard thing to do that it doesn't warrant a post, but I've found a lot of new quilters don't know to do this, and it makes such a difference!


Set your seams: 
Start with your block in the same position as when you lifted it from your machine, don't open up the fabrics, just lift it from the bed to the pressing table. Here you can see the little waves in the fabric.

Put your iron on the cotton setting. With or without steam is a personal preference, have you pre-shrunk your fabrics properly with a hot iron with steam, you can use steam here to without danger to distort your block. Set down your iron on the block and give it a good press. Here you can see how flat it becomes, the waviness is gone!

Next press your block like you normally would (I'm pressing the seams open here which I normally don't, as it's for a baby quilt so I want it as flat as possible).

And enjoy your perfectly flat, beautiful block!

In the video there's a comparison with a block with the seams not set. Leave your blocks to cool flat on the ironing board, preferably even under a heavy book or a quilt ruler to let the fibers set in place flat before moving them.

Hopefully this will help you to get your blocks properly flat and beautiful!

How to reattach a zipper pull - Video tutorial

I've been contacted by several people who are very uncomfortable removing zipper pulls and reattaching them. Since I do so quite often in my patterns, for example in my free Racoon Case Sunglass Case pattern I thought it was long overdue with a proper video tutorial! It's also available in my youtube channel.

I love replacing my zipper pulls with contrasting ones or just prettier pulls, and while the first few attempts at this might be frustrating (and sometimes being two people can help), once you get the hang of doing this, it's actually really easy! And being able to remove the zipper pull makes working with zippers in so many instances so much easier =)

A few examples of where I've used contrasting zipper pulls, isn't it cute?

I hope you will find this tutorial easy to follow and that it will boost your zipper confidence!

Ruffled Sleep Mask - A Free Tutorial

I'm back home with my sewing machine after a long summer in Sweden. It's so nice to be back to blogging and instagramming (which I honestly do more these days, yes I've gotten lazy). The long and very bright summer nights in Sweden made me start using a sleep mask during the nights. However, all those I found where either all in synthetic materials and didn't breathe at all, they where really uncomfortable in fit or from binding around the edges which left ugly marks on my face, or they were just plain ugly.

So I decided to make my own, cute Tula Pink one now when I'm finally back home with my sewing machine <3 I thought it really cute and slightly clever to use raccoon fabric for a sleep mask, on account of them having masks themselves ;) And as @sewperfectlyimperfect commented on Instagram, as they're nocturnal, it makes it even more perfect!

Materials Needed:

(1) 5x9" scrap of cotton exterior fabric.
(1) 5x9" scrap of cotton lining fabric.
(1) 5x9" scrap of cotton blackout fabric (if using light exterior and lining fabric you need this extra layer of a dark cotton fabric).
(1) 5x9" scrap of cotton or bamboo soft batting.
18" x 3/4" wide elastic  (or any elastic you have at home that is long enough to get it around your head, minus the mask).
30" x 1" wide silk ribbon for ruffle (or 2" wide strip of fabric) .
Template: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0Bw7OhV89tK5aOE9RX0hGVF8wRW8

Step 1 - Preparations

Print your template, just make sure your printer is set to not scale the document, but to print at 100% so that the template will be the correct size. Test by measuring the 1” line. 

Cut out all your 4 layers of fabric and batting from the template, seam allowance is included in the template. Make sure to center any design you want centered on your exterior piece.

Step 2 - Make the ruffle

Take your silk ribbon (or fold your cotton fabric in half wrong sides together and press) and set up your ruffler foot if you have one. I use the Janome Ultimate Ruffler foot so my settings are based on that, if you have a different one, try out your settings on scrap fabric or ribbon first. It might be safest to do so any way as each machine is a little different. 

I chose to have 1 ruffle with each stitch so as you can see in the pink circle, the selection is on 1. My stitch length was 4.0. I wanted semi deep ruffles so my depth screw is on the 4 as can be seen in the blue circle. Run through your ribbon with the needle hitting a scant 1/4" from one edge (or in the case of folded fabric, a scant 1/4" from the raw edges).

If you don't have a ruffle foot, use your favourite ruffle method, one excellent tutorial is available here if you're new to ruffles: http://www.seasonedhomemaker.com/how-to-gather-fabric-and-make-ruffles/

Step 3 - Attach ruffle

Fold your exterior fabric piece in half to get the center and use it to center your ruffle on the right side of your exterior fabric.  Place a ruler on top of your fabric and use it to make sure your ruffle extends equally far on both sides and"exits" your piece evenly. Pin or clip in place. Don't let your ruffles extend too far down, as then they could become uncomfortable when sleeping on your side. 

Sew in place with your walking foot, a scant 1/4" from edge and trim off any excess ruffle. 

Step 4 - Attach elastic

Place your elastic on the right side of your exterior piece, measure 1 1/2" (this measurement will vary depending on the width of your elastic, find one that looks pleasing and centered for you if using a different width of elastic) from the bottom of the piece and place it there, sew in place on one side on the cyan mark 1/8" from the edge. 

Place mask over your eyes and measure out how long your elastic needs to be for the mask to sit comfortably on your head (for me this was an exactly 15" long piece, including the seam allowance). Cut it off at desired length with a 1/4" seam allowance and sew in place on the other side too. 

Step 5 - Sew layers together

Layer your pieces as below. The reason we keep the layers in this apparently strange order is because we want the seam allowances gathered on the front of the piece so we don't get any uncomfortable bumps towards our face when we sleep.

Exterior fabric right side up 

Lining fabric wrong side up 

Blackout fabric 

Batting 

Sew together with a 1/4" seam allowance (making sure to keep your elastic out of the way when sewing, leaving about 1 1/2" opening where there's no ruffles or elastic for turning, the pink line in the photo below.

Cut little "V" shapes in the seam allowances along all curves to make turning smooth and easy. 

Step 6 - Finishing touches

Turn your mask through the opening (pull on the elastic, makes it easier) and sew the opening closed by hand using a ladder stitch.

Voila! All done! You have a beautiful, ruffled sleep mask! Sleep well.

If you make one, I'd love if you'd share it on social media using the #pinkponydesign and #ruffledsleepmask hashtags! And feel free to tag me on instagram @pink_pony_design and to share on Facebook <3