Under the Big Tent with Knitcircus

Happy Tuesday peeps!

I'm really excited to have Jaala Spiro, the editor of Knitcircus magazine guest blogging today. Knitcircus is a quarterly magazine that publishes knitting and sewing patterns, recipes, and loads of great articles. Knitcircus went live with its first online publication last week!

Welcome Jaala....

Thanks, Christina and what fun to be on such a true multicrafting blog!

In the spirit of your fearless ability to reach into all kinds of craft, we’ve got a free sewing tutorial/pattern to offer your readers as a blog tour treat.



This was one of my favorite patterns for the magazine; pictured here in bright stripes, it would look cool and summery in a blue and cream mattress ticking or lemonade-colored awning stripe. If you choose a fabric with distinct stripes, make sure they match up on the right side before sewing! Pin twice, sew once…

Diamond Square Pillow

A pillow in the background caught my attention while leafing through a home design book, and I had to try making one like it. The technique is easier than it looks, and you’ll have a fine cushion in an afternoon.


Materials:
Eco-Friendly pillow form by Eco-Craft, 18”x18”
One yard of 45” cotton striped fabric for the front
½ yard fabric for the back—cotton, linen, corduroy, etc.
18” zipper
Paper bag
Dressmaker’s pencil

Instructions:
For the pillow front:
1) Cut four 10”x10”squares on the bias of striped fabric. I suggest folding the fabric into a big triangle, and cutting one square out of the paper bag. Using the square, mark the edges of the four pieces onto the wrong side of fabric with a dressmaker’s pencil. Cut out.

2) Lay out the four squares together, turning each 90 degrees to make a diamond shape in the center.

3) Pin the top two and bottom two together, right sides together. Make sure when you open them up, they’re in the proper alignment to create the diamond.

4) Sew a ½” seam on the center –facing sides of both top and bottom squares. Trim to ¼” and press both to the same side.

5) Pin the long edges of the two rectangles together, making sure to line up center seam lines exactly. Sew seam as in Step 4. Press trimmed edge on the wrong side, then turn and press all four seam lines from the front to ensure straight lines on the right side.

For the pillow back:
6) Cut two pieces of fabric 10”x20”.

7) Apply zipper to center: use instructions on zipper package to install a zipper between the long edges of the rectangles. (Here's a link to How to Sew a Zipper into a pillow)

8) Attach to front: Open zipper about halfway. Pin back to front, right sides together. Sew seams on all four edges as in step 4.

9) Turn right side out: grasp zipper pull and open zipper all the way. Bring pillowcase through zipper, using a closed scissors to push corners out if needed.

Finishing:
10) Press pillowcase, avoiding zipper. Clip any hanging threads.

11) Insert pillow form into case and zip up!--JS




**me again**

You'd think that a free sewing pattern would be generous enough, but there's more. One of you lucky peeps is going to win a free download of the Spring Pattern Collection!

You've got 24 hours to leave a comment here or ravmessage Jaala at jaaladay to enter. Simple as that. Tomorrow at 10am EST, we'll close the entries and pick a winner via the Random Number Generator. Good luck!

Don't forget to click the Knitcircus link and then click on the teeny tiny magazine in the upper area to check out more great patterns and recipes. Also, check out tomorrow's stop on the blog tour, Otterwise.

Thanks so much for stopping by Jaala!