Easy Fat Quarter Projects for Beginners | The Sewing Room Channel

hi i'm cheryl and welcome to the sewing room  channel many of you viewers ask me if i have   any beginners sewing tutorials and the answer  is yes i do i have many so i'm going to show you   some simple and inexpensive projects you can  make using 18 inch by 22 inch pieces of fabric   called fat quarters and those fat quarters  are available and a lot of fabric shops   so there's not going to be a hard time finding  them but i i want to let you know though that i   live out in the desert in the middle of nowhere  basically all we have is a little walmart here   with some fabric stuff in it not a lot so i have  to drive a long distance to get to fabric shops to   get the supplies that i need to make the tutorials  so to help pass the time on these long drives   is that we listen to audio books on audible  we really enjoy it and we also like to well   i like to go to quilt shops my husband doesn't  like it so much because i spend too much money   but anyway we're planning a road trip this summer  to visit quilt shops and we're also going to go to   yellowstone national park and on audible i found  an audio tour book of yellowstone national park   so while we're driving through the park we can  listen and learn all about yellowstone because   i've always wanted to go there since i was  a little girl because my parents didn't take   me on the trip that they went on they took my  brother but not me oh well i digress but anyway   so we're gonna visit quilt shops we're gonna  drive through yellowstone and while we're   driving to quilt shops we can listen to other  audio books on audible we love the fact that   audible has thousands of titles and tons of  subjects that you can listen to it's really   a lot of fun to give audible a try you want to  go to audible.com of the sewing room channel   or text the sewing room channel to 500 500 i'm  going to say it one more time go to audible.com   the sewing room channel or text the sewing room  channel to 500 500 so now let's get started   on those easy beginners fat quarter sewing  projects here are some samples of fat quarters   you can buy them individually like these three  here and by the way fat quarters come in all types   of prints and you can also buy them in solids you  can also get them in fat quarter packs like this   this particular packs have five different prints  what's nice about the fat quarter packs is they   are all coordinated colors they all work  together so you know you can't go wrong so   if you have a hard time coordinating fabrics if  you pick out fat quarters all that work is done   for you to buy your fat quarters i bought a lot of  these at walmart but not well all walmart stores   have fat quarters you can also get them at joann  fabrics and crafts you can go on the internet   and also purchase them there i'm going to show  you how to make a basic fabric napkin your   fat quarters are typically 18 inches wide by 22  inches long you want to square the fat quarter up   so i squared mine up too into a rectangle shape  17 and a half inches by 21 and a half inches   when i'm making a lot of napkins i stack the  fabrics on top of each other i use a rotary cutter   a rotary cutting ruler and a rotary cutting  mat to help me cut everything out it goes   really really fast you just put the ruler  on the correct line on the cutting mat and   then you can cut your fabric very quickly after  cutting your fabric then you want to go and take   two opposite edges of each other and you're  going to fold it over a quarter of an inch   and press it all the way down to the other  end then fold it again a quarter of an inch   and press it all the way down and again you do  that on opposite sides so i'm going to go to   the opposite side right here i've already  folded and pressed it then you're going   to stitch close to the edge of this inside  folded area all the way down from end to end so when you're done your edges should look like  this on opposite sides remember now go to your   other two opposite edges and fold it over once  and press all the way down side to side and then   fold and press again all the way down side to side  now i'm going to go over here to the opposite edge   then you're going to stitch again close to  this edge now on these two sides you want to   back stitch at the beginning and then at the end  of your stitch so here's one that i've completed   so here you can see all of the edges this is  the back side and then of course here is the   front side so i usually just do a simple fold  on mine i don't usually do anything fancy you   i just fold it in half i bring the two shorter  edges together and then i fold it in half again   like this and smooth it out and then fold it in  half one more time now this one here came from a   fat quarter pack aren't these beautiful i bought  this fat quarter pack at walmart and it was under   six dollars for all of these so you got six  excuse me five five napkins if you wanna make   more then of course you can buy two fat  quarters and it's a very inexpensive way   to have really nice dinner napkins now i'm  gonna demonstrate how to do a very basic   placemat and i love doing placemats because you  know they get dirty they get old and you want   to make new ones and they're just so much fun to  make them for different seasons of the year and   different holidays again i like the fat quarters  because i can make my placemats two-sided   so you're going to need for just one placemat  you'll need two fat quarters then you're   also going to need one piece of heavy iron-on  interfacing you're going to cut all three pieces   15 and a half inches by 18 and a half and  again to make things go faster in the cutting   part of it i stack everything together and  just do one set of cuts all at one time   then you're going to take one of your fat  quarters and you're going to fuse the interfacing   on the back side this is the pretty side so  you're going to film put it on the back side   it's really simple process to do i don't even feel  the need to demonstrate it just follow package   instructions you'll need to have a damp cloth and  a hot iron with steam you're going to let the iron   rest on the top of the interfacing for about 12 to  15 seconds and keep moving it around till you have   it all fused together so here's the interfacing  side so i'm going to put that side against the   table and here's the pretty side of my fabric i'm  going to have it facing up then i'm gonna take my   other whoops my other piece of that quarter and  i'm gonna take the pretty side the front side of   the fabric and face it down and then you're going  to just place pins around all four sides all over   you want to indicate an opening right here that's  large enough for your hand to go through so you   won't stitch over this part at all so you're going  to always back stitch on each side of your opening   so you're going to start on this side  of the opening and you're going to begin   stitching a one-quarter inch wide seam and  you can put a piece of tape on your machine   on the next onto your throat plate where that one  quarter inch is and keep the edge of your fabric   up against that piece of tape so back stitch here  first then stitch down to this corner when you   get a quarter of an inch away from this quarter  leave your needle down through the fabric lift   the presser foot turn your fabric and then begin  stitching down the next side so you want to go   all the way around all four edges and when you  come back here you back stitch here on my sewing   machine i already have little markings to indicate  where the different seam widths are so here's this   solid line right here is where my needle would  with is lined up at then over here i have that   quarter inch line if you don't have the quarter  inch line then just take a ruler and lay it right   up here so to see how far out that quarter inch  line is and then just take some masking tape and   lay it right there and then you would just  keep your fabric edge right up against   the tape now trim some of the fabric off at the  corner i trim it down to about an eighth of a of   an inch wide so i'm just going to cut across this  way and then i'm going to take just a tiny bit   off on each side like that so you're going to  do it at all four corners now reach in between   your two pieces of fabric your two fat  quarters and begin turning it front side   out and i usually go to the corners first and just  begin pulling it out after you turn it frontside   out you want to reach inside the opening and  poke your corners out now if your corners aren't   coming out too pointed like you would like  them to you could take something like this   and gently poke don't poke too hard because you'll  poke right through your fabric or you could use   scissors i don't like doing that because i believe  scissors will poke right through there sometimes   you can take a little straight pin and just kind  of pull it out gently and that helps too then give   it a wonderful pressing make sure your edges are  nice and flat all over then at your opening you   want to fold those opening edges inside quarter  inch then take pins and place a few pins across   there to hold it all in place after you've done  that then you want to stitch close to the edge   all the way around all four edges and remember  that little trick when you come to a corner   leave your needle down lift up the presser foot  and then turn your fabric okay it's all done   here it is on one side and now let me show you  the other side and what's so nice about using   different fabric on the other side is that if one  side is stained or you just get tired or maybe you   have two themes you have christmas on one side  thanksgiving on the other now let's move on to   a really basic shoulder bag this shoulder bag only  needs one fat quarter and then you're also going   to need some heavy iron on interfacing again and  again i'm using the pellon what i recommend you   do is you take your fat quarter and fold it in  half and cut both pieces out at the same time   you're going to cut them 10 and a half by 17  and a half inches and you'll need to cut out   the interfacing the same size now here's the fat  quarter that i'm using i've already cut it into   two pieces on one of the pieces you're going to  fuse your heavy iron-on interfacing on and again   follow the package instructions then bring both  pieces together so this is the front side of the   fabric it's also referred to as right side and  pretty side you'll hear all three of those terms   so i'm bringing them together like that so i'm  now looking at the interfacing side of my bag   on one end you're going to round the edges and how  i do that is i have these little circle templates   that i purchased you don't need to use these  but if you want to buy them they're made by june   taylor you can get them at joann fabrics and  crafts or just take a large lid from a bottle   or some round container and set it up  to where the edges of the circle hit the   excuse me the edges of the circle hit the  edge of your fabric then take a pencil or   fabric marker and trace around it you want to do  it on two corners place pins on all four edges   you're going to leave a very wide opening down  here so place one pin over here one and a half   inches from this edge over and do the same thing  over here one and a half inches over put a pin   these are your start and stop points to stitch  begin stitching over here and back stitch   stitch a one quarter inch seam stitch down to this  corner again do that trick where you leave the   needle down through the fabric turn your fabric  and stitch all the way around now when you get to   where you hit this line here this curved  line just stitch right on top of that line   and when you're a quarter inch away over here  then continue stitching down here if you need   to measure and put a little dot a little mark  there to remind you where that quarter inch is   feel free to do that also and you're going to do  that all the way around and then you're going to   stop down here at this last pin and back stitch  at your two rounded corners you want to trim   some of the fabric off to where it is about a  quarter of an inch wide then after you do that   you want to do short little clips all around that  curved edge make sure you don't cut through your   stitch line this helps the fabric to lay  smoother once you turn it front side out and don't forget to trim off your other two  corners trim that fabric down to a quarter of an   excuse me 1 8 inch wide then you're going to reach  inside of your opening and turn it front side out   after turning it frontside out reach inside  the opening and poke your two corners out here   and then from the inside push against this round  corner to push it out nice and round then go ahead   and give the entire bag a good pressing to make  the straps take your second fat quarter and cut   out three strips that are three inches wide by  22 inches long then take them and you're going to   bring front sides together and stitch a  one-quarter inch seam so stitch all three together   in one long chain then you'll finger press those  seams open or do it at your ironing board then to   fold the strip into the strap you're first going  to take your piece of fabric and fold it in half   and press it all the way down then bring  the sides into that center fold line   and press again all the way down and then fold  it one more time like that and press then after   you've got it all pressed here's my strap you're  going to stitch close to the edge on each side   all the way down from into end now i'm going  to show you how to place the strap on your bag   remember the opening up here at one end  you're going to take each end of the strap   and fold it right inside like this right up  against the edge of the opening so remember   you stop stitching it one and a half inches  from this side that's so that you can slip this   in there and then of course put a pin in there to  hold it and place the other end in the same way   and then place pins across your opening so  place several pins there and then pin it   straight up here making sure it's one and a half  inches away from this edge you're going to stop   four and a half inches from here where your curved  edges are you're going to stop right there pinning   i put two pins here to know that  this is where i stopped stitching   so i'm just going to move this a little bit  you're going to start stitching here back stitch   then come up this one side of the strap  all the way up to here turn your fabric   always leave that needle down through  your fabric when you want to turn it   and back stitch several times right up  here then turn your fabric again and stitch   all the way down here then you're going to go over  to this side and do the same thing same way then   when you're done with that stitch across this  edge to close it all up so here's what it looks   like when it's all stitched on now i'm going  to turn it over this is the outside of the bag   this is the inside of the bag you're going to fold  up this bottom edge where it has this the corners   the straight corners and fold it up about six  inches okay yours might be a little different then   you're going to take this one and fold it over  about four and a quarter inches so that it looks   like this so i'm gonna flip it over this way so  your two places here should not wind up on the   front here they should be just staying in the back  where you stitched it down so i'm going to flip it   back over this way so now that you've got it all  folded the way you want it open this back up pin   these edges down on both sides pin it down then  stitch about an eighth of an inch away from this   edge up here and back stitch up here and then go  over to this side and do the same thing stitch up   about an eighth of an inch and make sure you  back stitch i'm going to show you how to put   a snap closure on now there's all types of snaps  out there so you can use any snap of your choice   i'm using this little kit and there's really no  name to this kit i went on amazon and looked for   snaps and this is what i saw and you get all  these different colors they're plastic snaps   plus it includes the tool kit so you want  to take this little tool right here and i   folded this bag over and i put a hole punched a  hole where i thought i would want my snap to be   and i went through it then i went on down to  here kind of did a little bit of an indentation   and then pulled it out and i could see it right  there and i'm going to reach in through here and   poke a hole through this part so you have to have  your holes poked first as far as your snaps go you need two of these top pieces right here  okay they look like this then these other   flatter looking pieces one is a male one is  the female so that they can go into each other   that's how they refer to it so i'm going  to take and it doesn't matter which   which end of the bag you put the male  and female on so i'm going to take this   and i'm going to this one has to go from the  inside of the bag so give me a moment while i push it up underneath here's my snap the little  pointy thing is sticking out through there i'm   going to take either the male or female it  doesn't matter which one and i'm going to   put it on top and just sort of press it down a  little bit then take this tool here and you're   just going to kind of have to scrunch it up in the  bag a little bit so slip it under there like this and push against it so you want to make sure that  the snap is centered under this thing right here   and then you just want to push down real hard real  real real real hard and i just kind of hold it   there for a minute and then release and then it's  all set up okay so that one's on now you're going   to go to this end over here where your other hole  is and this time you're going to take the piece   with the pointy thing on it stick it through this  end all righty and poke it all the way through and then take your other male or  female it doesn't matter which one   you just have to make sure you  have one of each put it on there so it looks like that and then center it  just like you did before and squash it down and then you're all set and you  just take it and snap it closed so here's the front side and then let me turn it  over and this is the back side really easy project   to do well there you go you have three beginners  projects they won't take you very long at all   and they're very inexpensive and also very  practical so i hope you learned something   by watching this tutorial and also if you're  interested in looking at other beginner tutorials   make sure you check below your youtube screen  for those video links and don't forget to follow   me on instagram and make sure you check out my  facebook page thank you so much for watching   i'll see you next time and happy sewing i hope  you enjoyed this video if you did please click   on the thumbs up button and don't forget to  click on share to share this video with your   friends if you haven't subscribed yet click on  that red subscribe button down there in the lower   right hand corner of your screen click on the  bell so you can receive notifications about   my latest videos i'm cheryl and this is scotty  and this is manny see you next time and happy sewing

Channel: The Sewing Room Channel

Views: 51,028

Rating: 4.9082928 out of 5

Keywords: diy, diy projects, diy sewing, how to sew, sewing, sewing for beginners, sewing instructions, sewing machine, sewing machine for beginners, sewing patterns, sewing projects, sewing room channel, sewing tutorials, sewing videos, the sewing room channel, fat quarter projects, fat quarter, fat quarter projects easy, simple fat quarter projects, fat quarters, fat quarter fabric, fat quarters sewing projects, fat quarters ideas, fat quarters projects, fat quarter projects gifts

Id: ckzcjom7PSY

Length: 26min 52sec (1612 seconds)

Published: Mon May 24 2021