Yuki Clothing

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Category Archives: Misc


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Linen bread towel

My husband has found himself a new hobby, which is baking bread. Once a week I get two loaf of fresh, home-baked bread that tastes sooo much better than what you can buy from the stores. This new-found hobby is, of course, something I intend to fully support!

Last time I was shopping to fabric I found this wonderful white/beige striped linen fabric that would make for some great bread towels. I would’ve liked to make them a bit bigger but the amount of fabric I had to my disposal had to dictate the size of the towels. I cut three 63x48cm rectangles (1cm seam allowance) and three 9cm band for the hangers. The hangers where folded and pressed in place. The seam allowance was folded once, pressed, folded a second time and pressed again. I removed some fabric in the corners because it was too bulky and then I pinned the hangers before sewing the lining.

I like the contrast between the towel and the blue hanger.

I like the contrast between the towel and the blue hanger.


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Cushion cover of recycled denim

I think there’s something very appealing about recycling. I like to think that it saves both the planet and my money. Of course, it’s not always that the idea that looked amazing in my head turns out great in reality. However, this particular one is one that I’m very pleased with. At first, I was planning on selling two of them on Etsy but before I even finished making all of them, my mother-in-law exclaimed “I wanna buy them! They would look great in our summer-house!”

Material-wise, this isn’t a cheap project but if you’ve got a bunch of jeans to sacrifice you’re good to go.

For one50x50cm cushion cover you’ll need:

A lapped zipper

A lapped zipper

  • 25 12x12cm squares of mixed denim
  • 52x52cm lining fabric for the front side
  • some denim for the back side (amount is dependent on how/where you insert the zipper
  • 1 zipper ~47cm
  1. Sew the squares together (if in doubt, check out how I made the bedspread). Don’t forget to press the seams!
  2. Measure and cut the lining fabric.
  3. Serge (or zigzag) the lining together with the front.
  4. Sew the zipper (I used a lapped zipper here)
  5. Sew front and back sides with their right sides facing together. Don’t forget to open up the zipper or you’ll have trouble turning it right sides out.
  6. Press and you’re done!

 

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and 4 cushion covers!


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Reupholstered sewing chair

After only half a year of using this chair, the white sitting cushion wasn’t exactly white any more. I knew this day would come when I bought the chair. I mean, who designs a chair with a white sitting cushion anyway? It’s bound to catch some denim colour sooner or later. In this case, my chair has been subjected to both denim and a lot of lint from all the sewing. Something definitely had to be done to save this fine piece of Swedish carpentry (from IKEA).

When I change the cover fabric of a sitting cushion, I usually remove the sitting cushion from the chair, get rid of the old fabric and then place it onto the new fabric. I then measure and cut it at the same time, one side at a time.

Pinning the fabric in place

Pinning the fabric in place

The next step is to, with a gigantic stapler, attach the new fabric starting with the front side of the sitting cushion. If you’re working with a pattern, make sure it looks even. Here I use pins to just lightly keep the fabric in place while I staple it down. When the front is finished, move over to the back. Stretch the fabric so that the surface is nice and smooth and staple it down. Next up are the sides, don’t forget to stretch the fabric slightly. Now, fold the fabric in a couple of folds so that the corners look nice and then staple them in place. Last but not least, remove any excess fabric and assemble the chair again.

I also wanted to make a matching cover for this black, round cushion I got from a friend. The cushion is supposed to give you good lumbar support and so far I’m very pleased with it. The only thing that’s a tad bit annoying is that I usually need both my hands to put it in place, but when I sit down at my sewing machine I’m always holding onto something. To fix this, I attached a large piece of black elastic band that’s supposed to sit around the chair. The cushion cover itself is made from three parts, one large rectangle sewed into a tube (with an opening to get the cushion inside) and two side panels. I sewed the side panels with the wrong side of fabric facing out, just to spice it up a bit and make it more interesting. With the cushion in place, the opening was sewn shut with invisible/ladder stitching.

The result!
Ladder stitching makes for a nice finishing touch


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Wow, my bedspread’s on Pinterest!

When I looked at my site statistics today I was surprised and happy to see that someone actually managed to find my blog via pictures of my bedspread on Pinterest. It’s not every day that random people manage to boost your confidence like this. Thank you unknown persons! :) A small step for mankind but a giant leap for me!

Now the only question is, what am I to do with the ~100 leftover tiles? Pretty much the only thing I can think of is cushion cover. But I hardly need 4 cushion covers! Perhaps I should give Etsy a try…


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Cushion cover (how-to)

As I sit down to write about my latest project I can’t help but smile as my mind wanders off to that episode of Coupling where Susan and Steve are trying to buy a sofa but Steve goes off on a rant about the devious cushions. It’s pretty hilarious but you know what’s worst about his rant? It’s that he’s actually, to large extent, right. :) Have a look for yourself. Here’s a link to YouTube.

This cushion project isn’t for myself but for my mum. She bought this designer fabric and asked me to make her a 60x60cm large cover. To begin with, I cut the fabric into two 63x63cm pieces (1.5cm seam allowance). Since I only had a normal zipper and not an invisible one, I wanted to hide it a bit. With the zipper being slightly smaller (around 50cm), I began by sewing the pieces face sides together but leaving an opening for the zipper (slightly smaller than 50cm). With the iron, press a crease where there would’ve been a seam if not for the zipper. Then place the zipper under the opening and pin it in place.

From the front side, sew the zipper in place. I often feel that the fabric stretches a bit and to counter this, I never sew around the zipper. Instead I sew one side first, then start again from the top and sew the other side. This way the zipper will be equally “crooked” on both sides :) My narrow presser foot is 0.5cm wide and steering it close and parallel to the zipper gives me a nearby perfect seam.

Here’s how the zipper looks at this stage! Will you look at that insanely good pattern matching! The funniest thing is that I didn’t even notice it until now that I was going through the pictures.

Sewing the zipper was the hard part. Now just pin the cushion cover with face sides together and sew all the way around. Don’t forget to open up the zipper a bit, it makes things a bit easier later on. Finish the edges with zigzag or a serger if you’ve got one.

Last by not least, turn the wonderful creation right side out! I like to use my cooking chopsticks for the corners. They’re small enough to do a good job but blunt enough to not damage the fabric.