DIY Advent Calendar Cushion Tutorial

Posted on January 3, 2025 by justelly1

The cushion was very time-consuming because of all the embroidery, but the result is stunning ❤

I took photos of almost every step because I wanted to do this tutorial.
If you want to make an advent calendar like this, there are no limits to your imagination.
You can embroider it. You can print each bag. You can paint it with fabric paint pens. You can also glue felt figures on it.

I chose a cushion size of 16 x 24 inches (40 x 60 cm). These dimensions are easily divided by 4 or 6.
If you want to use a different cushion size, you will have to change my instructions suitably.
This is not a standard cushion size. Still, I found this size without any problems at all the major online retailers.

Materials:
Cotton fabric (I bought 1.5 yard, meter)
Zipper (I bought a 20 inch / 50 cm)

Vilene + Stabilizer
2 eyelets with washers
1 D-ring
Cord or satin ribbon

Cutting the fabric:

18 x 26 inches / 46 x 66 cm = Two pieces

37 x 5.5 inches / 95 x 13 cm = Four pieces

In my case, the 4 pieces are so long because I had to fit the strips into the embroidery hoop. So I needed slightly longer strips.
If you are not embroidering, then about 33 inches (83 cm) is enough

Sew the calendar

Next, we start with the strips.

Go with the serger over the long sides of all 4 strips

Mark the center with a pencil. And then mark the spaces exactly as in the picture!

Unfortunately, I didn’t take a photo before I embroidered the strip. But you can clearly see the lines I made on the fabric

Depending on what you want to do on the pockets, I would recommend that you make marks.
For example, where the numbers should go or your motif. The entire calendar looks a little more even if the numbers are in the same place on each pocket.

My numbers start from the bottom at 1 inch / 2.5.cm.
And from the right-hand side at about 0.6 inch / 1.5 cm for the single-digit numbers.
The two-digit numbers start from the right at 0.4 inch / 1 cm.

In the photo above you can see my marks next to the numbers.

Next, I stabilized the pockets.
Unfortunately, I don’t know what my Vilene was called, but I chose the wrong one. There are different types.
I’ll explain this at a later step.
I mainly used the Vilene to protect the embroidery on the back and to make the pockets a little firmer.

Look at the photo right above.
You can see that the strip is wonderfully flat, no wrinkles.

Next, we need to make the pleats for the pockets.
To do this, we made the lines on the strips at the very beginning.

In this photo you can see exactly how I laid the pleats.

Do this with all the pleats on the strips. It is best to fix the pleats with pins.

And now iron the pleats properly.
I seem to have made a mistake here with the Vilene!!!

I was worried about the embroidery thread and didn’t risk putting the hot iron on the pleats. That’s why I put wet fabric on my strips and then ironed them.
Somehow the fabric wrinkled in some places. Is it because of the Vilene and the wet fabric? Or because of the embroidery thread? I don’t know.

Iron all pleats.

Now press the top seam over and sew close to the edge.
I won’t provide measurements. Unfortunately, I stitched too high up in one pocket when embroidering. I had to use this pocket as a basis.

Now we need to sew the bottom seam to the strips.
The pockets should be slightly SHORTER than 4 inches / 10 cm.

The reason for this is so that we have a small gap between the strips.
Always measure the same length on the strips from the top edge downwards and mark the fabric.

Now press the bottom seam over at the marking.

Sew close to the edge

Now you should have 4 strips where 6 pockets per strip are exactly 24 inches / 60 cm wide

Now sew the strips onto the previously cut piece of fabric. The fabric measures 18 x 26 inches / 46 x 66 cm.
First, make a line exactly in the middle of the fabric (at 13 inches / 33 cm)

Mark the top AND bottom of your cushion at 1 inch / 2.5 cm.

Place the bottom strip exactly on your markings. Place the center of the strip on the center of the cushion. Place the bottom edge on the mark at 1 inch / 2.5 cm.

I know the picture looks strange, but I forgot to take a photo of this step. So I made one out of 2 pictures.

Do the same with the top strip!
Again, center to center. And then place the top hem at the 1 inch / 2.5 cm point and pin in place.

Now place the two middle strips on the cushion.
Place them so that you have the same distance to the next strip everywhere.
I used a ton of pins so that nothing can slip. 😀

First, sew the center seam.

But be careful!
Never sew ON the pleats. Sew in the middle of them. Fortunately, there is still the old line to guide you.

In the photo you can clearly see the lines where you have to sew.

Next, I sewed all the strips to the bottom hem.
I sewed on the same seam as before for the hem.

Then I did all the seams from top to bottom.

Then, I sewed a small seam at the top of each pocket.

The front of your cushions is finished!
All that’s missing now is the star and the tag.

I cut two 5 x 3 inches / 13 x 8 cm pieces of fabric for the tag.
I embroidered one side. Then I ironed Vilene onto both pieces.
The pieces were placed right sides together. Then sewed together except for a small opening.
Then I turned the piece inside out and sewed the small opening closed.
At the very end I added the eyelet.

I made a lot of mistakes with the star!
I used the same fabric as for the cushion. As a result, the star is almost invisible when you are a little further away. I would choose a different color today. Maybe green like the numbers. Or golden yellow like the embroidery.
The 2nd mistake was that I made the outline in the star when the eyelet was already there. This made the lines crooked because the eyelet was always in the way with the foot.

I couldn’t use a star like Serendipity. It was too big and would have covered the embroidery.
I found a suitable star on the internet. I had the star printed out in size 5.5 inches / 14 cm in the copy shop.

I cut out the star twice with a seam allowance of plus 0.4 inches / 1 cm.

The smaller stars in the photo are the Vilene.

If you want to sew a star outline onto the star, do it at this step!

Iron the Vilene onto both pieces.
Sew right sides together. But leave a large gap so that you can easily turn the star over later.

The Vilene I used was too soft for the star.
I once bought stabilizers for a bag. This makes the bottom of the bag firm.
I cut the stabilizer WITHOUT a seam allowance.
It was a lot of work to squeeze this stabilizer into the small star. 😀 Then sew up the opening on the star. Make the eyelet in the star.

Now you just have to sew the cushion yourself.
I sewed a D-ring into the cushion to attach the star and the tag.

The idea for this cushion came from Serendipity’s blog.
You can find it here:

https://www.serendipityrefined.com/2013/11/diy-pottery-barn-inspired-christmas.html

Take a look at what she has done with the cushion. Maybe you’ll like her version better. Or, if you don’t have an embroidery machine, her cushion will give you new ideas ❤ ❤ ❤

An embroidered maritime hoodie. Huge mistakes with sewing chalk ..

Posted on August 7, 2024 by justelly1

And once again I have chosen a pattern that I really like.

Let it Snow sweatshirt in summer hahaha

I had a lot of problems with this hoodie. I’m still not quite sure whether I like the end result as it is now.

You can see exactly what my problem is with the hood! Two different shades of white.

When I made the holes for the cord on the hood, I hadn’t paid attention and also made the hole through the embroidered middle section. Stupid me!

I ordered 4!!!!! different white fabrics, but all of them were not the same white color as my original.
So I made the new middle section with it.

But then things got really bad. I made markings on all the pieces with blue sewing chalk so that I knew where the embroidery had to be. Then I ironed embroidery stabilizer onto the back and embroidered all the pieces.

When ALL the embroidery was done, I wanted to wash out the blue chalk in the washing machine. But it didn’t work! Not even after two washes.
Google then told me that this chalk should NEVER be ironed. Unfortunately, I had never noticed this before because I had never marked the right side of the fabric with it. At most for cutting, but it disappears when you sew.

So I had to cut out almost all the pieces again and re-embroider them. But this time I marked them with a pencil.

The only parts I kept are the back and the lower front.
You can still see the blue sewing chalk next to the top red line on the pocket!

If I decide to make the hoodie again, I will definitely do the lettering on the arm from top to bottom and no longer all the way around. It says ” Ocean is calling”. But you can’t really see it when you’re wearing the hoodie.

I still like this hoodie. But every time I look at it, I see the two different shades of white!

Here is the complete hoodie from the front and back. Oh yes, I still have to wash out the marks from the pencil that you can still see.

DIY A very very colorful super fluffy jumpsuit for at home

Posted on April 8, 2024 by justelly1

I actually wanted to post my last project before Easter, but I forgot.
This weekend I finally got around to taking the photos.
I didn’t sew the jumpsuit at home, but in a sewing class, because anyone who has ever cut and sewn fleece knows that you will find fluff EVERYWHERE afterwards! 😀

A bit mean, but I helped the sewing teacher to get rid of all the fluff with the vacuum cleaner.

I’m one of those women who is always freezing. So if you’re sitting at the sewing machine or at the table for a long time, for example, you don’t want to do that with a warm blanket. It restricts your movement.
But fleece is the perfect solution. It’s super soft, comfortable to wear and keeps you nice and warm.

Simply perfect for at home. Of course I would never leave the house in it 😀 but I didn’t plan it for that.
At the moment I’m already working on the 2nd jumpsuit so that I can always change in winter ❤

And here is my super colorful soft jumpsuit. I made it in the largest size so that I have plenty of space to move in it.

DIY Windbreaker with Dots Dots Dots

Posted on February 20, 2024 by justelly1

I can hardly believe it. I’ve finally used the laminated fabric I bought in 2014!!!!!. You can see it in the post:

You can not have enough fabric

I actually wanted to sew a raincoat from it. But I thought there wasn’t enough fabric 😦
Apparently I was wrong. The fabric would have been enough. Never mind. There was enough fabric for 2 windbreakers. So I made myself a windbreaker and gave the rest of the fabric to a friend from the course who had also made a windbreaker.
They are similar but not identical.

Here is my latest project ❤

Somehow all my logos have something to do with maritime 😀
That wouldn’t have fitted here. That’s why I designed a new logo and had it printed on the front pocket.

The laminated fabric is very similar to that of my raincoat. That’s why I knew it wouldn’t stretch and wouldn’t slip easily if I tried to pull it over my head.
That’s why I had the idea of sewing the opening on the side of the windbreaker to put it on and take it off. This means you only put one arm through the sleeve and the other arm is closed from the lower cuff to the cuff of the arm with a zipper.
It’s as quick as zipping up a regular jacket ❤

Windbreaker opened:

Windbreaker closed:

I also sewed a large pocket on the back. As big as the white patch.
This means I can completely do without a handbag or backpack.

I love the windbreaker, but sewing laminated fabric is so unpleasant. You can’t sew quickly, you can only sew at the slowest speed because the fabric is so badly transported by the machine.

I so love my self made tartan jacket

Posted on March 17, 2023 by justelly1

Today I show again a part that has taken a little longer.
I had worked last year and the year before last on the raincoat.

At some point I just could not see this yellow fabric anymore. So I just put the coat aside and started with a new jacket that I wanted to make for a long time.

I have an older jacket that I totally love the pattern of. The jacket is light and for summer when it is sometimes cloudy or windy.

This is the jacket I wanted to copy

Because the pattern is very similar from a zip-up hoodie, I used such a pattern.
The only difference was that I had to make the cut much larger as indicated. Sweatshirt fabric is stretchy, but my tartan fabric is not.
I just used my jacket as a pattern for the size. Because I knew it would fit me well.

I left out the pocket on the sleeve. On my original jacket, I never used it.

For the back I added such a piece, as you have it, for example, also on the trench coat. No idea what it’s called.
Unfortunately, in the picture it looks like the plaid pattern of it doesn’t fit exactly. But that seems to be because the jacket is hanging on the hanger. When I have the jacket on, the piece and back pattern fit perfectly.

Tartan fabric quickly looks too much if you don’t work with contrasts. I chose white because you can see the contrast really well and it spices up the jacket.

The pockets for the new jacket are similar to those from the old one. Here too, as with everything else, I have chosen white zippers as a contrast

With tartan I associate Scotland, history, past, kings, queens.
That’s why I wanted to have an “old-fashioned” embroidery on the jacket. I thought long and hard about what to embroider on the jacket. Then I found this embroidery with the crown on Etsy.
Now I just needed matching fonts for my name.
This font is called Old English. While embroidering these letters, I sat at my machine and had to recite the alphabet because I just didn’t recognize some of the letters. 😀

And to give the back of the jacket some contrast, I embroidered two ribbons with the same font.

What else happened this year?
My fabric store, where I went every Saturday for sewing classes, is closing for good next week Saturday. That is such a shame. You knew all the salespeople, they were incredibly helpful. I’m going to miss them. 😦
Our Saturday group has been offered an alternative starting in April, but we’ll see if the class can be held there on Saturdays. Unfortunately, I have to work during the week and can not go to a class.

After 3 years, it also hit me at the end of February with Corona. And that, although I have 3 vaccinations! It was pretty intense. I am not fit yet. The whole day only exhausted and tired and could only sleep. Hope that passes soon.

My longest sewing project – A yellow raincoat

Posted on January 24, 2023 by justelly1

Yes, this raincoat was extremely elaborate. I had sewn a coat years ago that also took a long time, but not as long as the raincoat.

Look here at my first coat

https://justelly.com/2017/06/10/my-own-sewing-masterpiece-a-jacket/

I started with the raincoat 2021!!!.

Unfortunately, there was already Corona. My fabric store that offers the sewing classes had to close, open, close, open again.

On top of that, the seamstress who does the sewing classes is already retired, so she was part of the Corona risk group. Therefore, even if the store was open, she did not do the courses for her own safety.

Everyone knows what the situation was.

That’s why it took almost 15 months to get the coat done!

And here’s my new masterpiece 🙂

If anyone asks if this pattern is available for purchase. It is not 😀

I think I almost drove Moni crazy with my special requests 😀
The original pattern had an elastic band in the waist. Then I came from class one Saturday and saw a woman who had these bands, I don’t know what they’re called, on the back of her coat. I wanted THAT too!

So both sides were opened again so that you can sew these bands in. I find them great and you can also beautifully emphasize the waist if you want that. Plus, through the snaps you have a nice contrast to the yellow fabric.

My hood was also already sewn when I didn’t like it anymore. So it had to be changed. But then it was too big. For this I sewed in a ribbon to change the size. I copied this from my parka. And again a little more contrast on the back thereby

The same for the sleeves. When I had the bands on the back, I wanted the same on the sleeves. When it’s very windy, I can make the sleeves nice and tight with it, so that no wind comes in.

As you can also see, I have again sewn with stripes. I would not be me if it was completely without stripes or dots or plaid 😀

I love the finish at the bottom of the coat. With the dark blue band looks really great ❤

Before I even started the coat, I knew I wanted this fabric printed. I had the logo on the front made on Etsy, and the image on the sleeve I bought on a graphic site.

Then I took a piece of my fabric plus the two graphics and went with it to a store that prints or embroiders clothing. They should first test if they can do that on this special fabric,

Btw, the year 2014 refers to the fact that I had attended a sewing class for the first time in my life ❤ ❤ ❤

As you can see here, it worked. And very well.

How do you like my latest sewing project?

Small tip if someone also wants to sew a raincoat.
I have taken laminated cotton as a fabric. When you make the visible seams on this yellow fabric, always select only the slowest sewing speed!!! Only then will the stitches be somewhat even. The reason is that the fabric is not slippery, but still not evenly transported if you sew too fast.

DIY Bottle holder for a belt bag

Posted on June 27, 2021 by justelly1

2 years ago or so I bought a fanny pack with a bottle holder. “Unfortunately” there were only in earth tone green, brown, beige. Not necessarily the colors I like.

All this time I had planned to sew the bag myself. This weekend was the sewing of the bottle holder. I had to first buy a few things such as thermofoil, rainproof fabric, etc.

Here is the original bag as I found it on Amazon.

Here is the original bag with the bottle holder

Every time I walked around with the bag in the summer, I was annoyed that my drink got warm so quickly.
That’s why I searched the internet for a fabric or foil that would either keep it cold longer or warm in the winter.
I found bubble wrap, which is coated on both sides with aluminum foil and is also used for freezer bags. So that it works even better, I have taken this foil double. I even used it on the striped part.

The bottle holder is slightly larger than the original, because I wanted the bottle is completely in the holder.

The original bottle holder can be attached to the belt so that it does not “wander” while running. I did the same with mine. I even had to buy extra wide Velcro for it.

And here is the finished bottle holder. The bag for this is very elaborate and will take accordingly longer until I have sewn it.

Smile, and the world … DIY Face Mask

Posted on June 1, 2020 by justelly1

I am/have been like many others. All previous activities, like going to work, meeting friends or going to sewing classes etc. were unfortunately not possible.

I spent a lot of time walking through parks and playing Pokemon. The game was changed so that you could play it either from home or alone. Fortunately, because normally you play in groups. That’s how I got to know a lot of new people who are really nice.
Greetings from me to all players out there ❤ ❤ ❤

Here you still have to wear face masks.
I started sewing some for myself weeks ago.
So far they were all single-coloured or made of one single fabric.

But if you visited my blog before, you know how much I like to applique.

A colleague asked me to sew a “funny” mask for him. This gave me the idea with the yellow smiley

Only later I have seen in the Internet that there are these face masks already to buy

But whatever. Mine is made by myself 😀

As always when I sew something, I start with something simple and then I start with something more difficult.
On the internet I found a smiley face that was just too cute not to sew it. To increase the effect I made a red circle around it like a warning sign

I sewed my first face masks with two layers of fabric. But I noticed that you sweat a lot underneath at higher temperatures. That’s why these two are single-layer, only where the appliqué is, multi-layer.

Smile and Stay Save ❤ ❤ ❤

Tutorial for my Christmas tree skirt

Posted on April 1, 2020 by justelly1

Yes, yes, I know. Christmas is long gone 😀
But if you have to stay at home almost all the time, you get the idea to sort out the photos from your mobile phone. And then you can also see the photos of things you sewed for Christmas presents.
Maybe some of you like my idea for the next christmas 🙂

I am writing my tutorial for a Christmas present while I am already sewing Easter presents.
Even though I don’t think I can meet my friends before Easter to give them the presents.

I love the colours red, green and gold for Christmas decorations. So often I have decided to decorate differently, but I always come back to this colour combination 😀

That’s why I have chosen these colours for this present. I have found a similar Christmas tree skirt on the Internet. But it looked so cheap that it would have been guaranteed to last only one Christmas.

In my fabric shop I found this very special fabric. On top it looks like satin, but it is thicker and has a black “coating” on the back. No idea what this kind of fabric is called.

But the colors looked so great that I had to buy it even though the price was so high.

Here my tutorial:

First I downloaded a beautiful free Christmas font from the internet.
Then I wrote Merry Christmas in very big letters, mirrored and printed it.

Now paint the whole thing on Bondaweb and iron it on the fabric. Here I had to be very careful with the iron, because I didn’t want to risk the fabric. Then cut out your motifs.

Actually I had planned to sew the letters directly onto the red fabric. But after I put them on the fabric and walked a little further away, I could hardly see what was written there.
So I decided to buy the same fabric in white for a better contrast.

Here you can easily see how much the fabric shines.

I don’t think I’ve ever cursed as much when sewing as I have with this fabric. I had so much trouble applying it because the fabric was so slippery.

You can see it especially on the red berries. With any other fabric the circle or the outlines would have been perfect.

As always when I apply, I do not rely on the bondaweb, but always sew on each piece for safety. Otherwise it would be annoying if a piece got lost in the washing machine later.

It has taken ages to remove the Bondaweb on the back of the white fabric so that I can iron it onto the red

Now the motif can be ironed onto the red fabric. Then sew the outline again as usual

My Christmas tree skirt has a diameter of 35 inches.
So you can calculate how long the ribbon for the edging must be. I used the same fabric for the backside.
Here are photos how to extend such a ribbon! Lay the ribbon like on the photo and sew as you can see the pin.

I wanted the border more three-dimensional. Therefore I have a cord (it is a coincidence that this is gold. It just had the thickness I wanted) and sewed it into the ribbon.

I sewed it with red thread so that I could see better later where to sew it on my Christmas tree skirt.

Now sew the ribbon onto the red fabric. Then cut around the edges. IMPORTANT: only cut the golden ribbon, not the red fabric

Now pin the back of the Christmas tree skirt with pins. But sew on the red side, because you can see the seam where I sewed the ribbon on. You have to leave a piece open, so that you can turn the whole thing around afterwards!

Close there after turning. It doesn’t look so good here, because I wanted to have the skirt ready that day and it’s just faster with a sewing machine than doing invisible stitches with my hand.

Here you can see how the ribbon looks like at the end. I definitely like it better as if it was flat

And now the finished Christmas tree skirt. I like it. Maybe that would be an idea for myself, too. But I still don’t have very good memories of it because of the slippery fabric. Although the result is worth it hihi

In retrospect, I would set the motif a little further towards the edge.
But whatever. Mrs. H. can decide which side she wants, the one with the motif or the plain gold side.

❤ ❤ ❤

DIY – Nostalgia, my very first application

Posted on November 10, 2019 by justelly1

Two years ago I sewed a table runner (my first) as a present. It was then that I made applications for the first time and noticed how much fun it was for me.

Today I just wanted to show what I had done this year with the rest of the fabric from the table runner. And yes, it went to the same person as the table runner hihi

I noticed that I hadn’t posted the table runner at all, like many things I had sewn myself.

OK, here it is. I found the idea of sewing birds with fabric printed with birds funny.

Here’s a pair of birds. I had found something similar on the internet and used it for my own good.
The black seam, which is not very even, I made extra like this. I thought it looked better that way.

The only things I don’t like anymore are the eyes and the beak. Today I would no longer sew them with the machine, but with my hand.

It was not only my first application, but also the first time that I sewed such a corner. Thanks to Youtube 😀

And now for the table runner. There are some things I sewed that I don’t like anymore, but I still like the table runner ❤

But now to the part I wanted to post today.

I still had some fabric in my closet and was thinking about what I could do with it. It should go to the same person as the table runner, so it wouldn’t be bad if I found something that fits.

It was the time before Easter where you can buy Easter decorations in all shops. There I saw a basket in white and I got the right idea what I could sew.

The basket is big enough that you can put flowers in it in spring or a rabbit at Easter 🙂

Maybe I should learn how to sew stuffed animals? Hihi

justellydotcom

I'm learning to sew

Category Archives: DIY Sewing plus tutorial