how to: turtleneck sweater turns cardigan in
5 easy steps

So many knitters are scared of the s-word.* It’s really not that terrible. In fact, I’ve been cutting into sweaters for years to make pillows, scarves and tote bags. You just need to get over the fear that all of the stitches will immediately unravel. Take it from someone who unravels sweaters a lot. It’s [...]

how to: crochet or knit single row stripes

I first heard about this at knitting retreat. It’s a really simple idea and I can’t believe it has never occurred to me on my own. I love skinny stripes, but breaking yarn at each row leaves too many ends to weave. I always figured that I’d have to do two rows of each [...]

how to make a ruffle scarf in 3 easy steps

The other day I saw a woman wearing a cotton scarf that was layered and unfinished in the most beautiful way. She looked like she just walked off a catalog shoot. I’ve never been able to pull off that “I just threw it on and it looks perfectly ruffled” look, so I decided to design [...]

how to sew a baby quilt in five easy steps

So you’d like to make a quilt, but you’re intimidated by all of those little pieces, right? I am, too. But you can make a quilt without blocks. It’s easy and looks just as nice! Here’s how I did it:
Materials
1 – 36×36″ piece of top fabric
1 – 36×36″ piece of bottom fabric
1 – 36×36″ piece [...]

easy backpack with bias tape straps

My daughter starts preschool next week and she needed a backpack. I asked her if she’d like me to make one for her and she said YES!
I let her choose fabric from my stash and helped her with coordinating the colors. I really like how it turned out and she loves it. My only [...]

how to refashion a dress into a skirt
in five easy steps

Even though I wrote this tutorial for a kid’s size dress, you can do this with adult sizes, too. This is the same way I turned a shirt into a skirt.
My daughter and I both love this dress. She only wore it a few times last season because it was too big. This year it [...]

how to sew a placemat zipper pouch with only four seams

I found this cute Orla Kiely placemat at Target a few weeks ago and wanted to make something quick and easy for my knitting. Because the edges are already finished, I only needed to sew four seams. If you want a gusseted pouch, you can sew two more seams. Either way, it’s a very fast [...]