Quilting — A Craft I Adore

Decorative Thread

Make Your Own Halloween Decorations

We're all cutting back our spending to just the necessities, but that doesn't mean your house has to be boring and uninviting this Halloween, with these cheap and simple to make home decorations.

Below I give you instructions for making a Halloween tablecloth and trick or treat bags with pumpkin face cut outs and the word "BOO", but use your imagination – the templates can be used on all sorts of things, like cushion covers, curtains, placemats, napkins – the list is endless!

Fabric & Notions

For the tablecloth, first you need to measure the length and width of your table. If you have a table that extends, extend it first before measuring. You then need to add on an allowance for draping over the side.

Now this is a purely personal preference. Some people like tablecloths that drape almost to the floor, other like theirs much shorter. My general rule of thumb is to add on the amount of the drop to your chair seat.

You measure that by placing the top of your measuring tape level with the top of your table, and then measure down until you hit the seat of the chair. For me, it’s 10½” (or 27cm).

Now don’t forget, you need to add that on for each side, plus a seam allowance. Although a normal seam allowance is 5/8", I usually allow for a larger seam for a tablecloth as we are going to machine stitch it. I always allow ¾".

So, if your table is 5ft by 4ft then you’ll need:

 

Length: 60” PLUS 21” (drop at each end) PLUS 1½“ (2 seam allowances) – 82½”

Width:  48” PLUS 21” (drop at each end) PLUS 1½“ (2 seam allowances) – 70½”

Or, in metric

                Length:                 160cm PLUS 54cm (drop at each end) PLUS 4cm (2 seam allowances) – 218cm

                Width: 122cm PLUS 54cm (drop at each end) PLUS 4cm (2 seam allowances) – 180cm

For each trick or treat bag, you will need 2 pieces of fabric 10" by 12" (or 26cm by 31cm). So if you have 3 children, you'll need 30" by 24" (or 78cm by 62cm).

You'll also need some drawstring for the trick or treat bags – say 30" (or 76cm) per bag.

As it's Halloween, try to find a nice bright orange fabric for the tablecloth and bags and black for the cut outs! Or you could go gothic, and buy black (but make sure your cut outs are then in bright orange or white).

The Cut Outs

For the cut outs, the amount of fabric depends on how many you want to place on your tablecloth. Each pumpkin cut out measures 7" by 7½" (17cm by 19cm) – so if you want to put 8 pumpkins on your tablecloth, you'll need 28" by 15" (or 68cm by 38cm). The BOO cut outs measure 2" by 5½" (13½cm by 5cm) so if you want to put 16 BOOs on your tablecloth you'll need 22" by 8" (or 54cm by 20cm). And I'd recommend one pumpkin and one BOO for each side of the bag. Or you could just buy a yard of fabric and cut out as many as you can!

You can find sample cut outs on our website (see author resource box below).

To Make Up

Mark out your tablecloth using tailors chalk or pins, and cut out. Mark out the rectangles for your trick or treat bags and cut out.

Now pin a ¾" hem around the entire border of your tablecloth and sew.

Place the two pieces of bag with right sides together, and pin the two side seams and the bottom. Sew around in one continuous line. Now turn over half an inch on the top and sew. (Note: if you plan to machine stitch the Halloween cut outs on, then do these before doing the side seams). We now need to turn over the sewn top hem another inch – make sure to leave enough room for the drawstring to be threaded through. Sew in place, but remember to leave a small opening to thread through the drawstring. Thread through and knot each end to secure.

Now pin and cut out the number of Halloween cut outs that you need.

These can be attached a number of ways – with iron on hemming tape, craft glue suitable for fabrics,  hand stitching, or machine stitching.

So that's it – two very simple, but cheap, Halloween decorations to brighten up your home.

About the Author

Diane Ellis has been sewing since she was very young and got her first sewing machine at 6 years old (albeit a miniature one!). She sews purely for friends and family, and enjoys making her own patterns, and using her skills to decorate her home. She is the co-author of the website Sewing 4 Dummies where, for a limited time, you can sign up for a free 6 part sewing course called Easy Fun Sewing Projects.

How do I adjust the bobbin tension on my sewing machine?

I'm trying to finish up Christmas gifts for my nieces and nephews, and today my sewing machine has gone wacko. I've been doing cross-hatch quilting and sewing with both straight and decorative stitches through multiple layers of fabric and batting (Warm-and-Natural, which is pretty thin). Suddenly, the bobbin thread isn't grabbing the front to make for a zig-zag pattern, and even with a straight stitch, the back is loose and knotted looking. I think this means the bobbin tension somehow got thrown out of whack, which makes sense because it started after I replaced the bobbin after refilling it with thread. Help!!!

STOP! Don't mess with the bobbin tension yet!

What you're describing is usually the result of threading with the presser foot down, so the top thread can't enter the tension, or not putting the presser foot down when you're sewing (easy to forget when you're working on a thick quilt) or you've got lint or something stuck in the upper tension.

Loops on the bottom are a sign that the top tension isn't getting enough tension. Loops on top are a bobbin tension issue.

Chances are you've got a misthreading issue. (And if you've had more than 4 hours of needle up and down time in quilting, it's probably time for a new needle anyhow. Soooo....

1) Stop, and give the machine a new needle and a quick clean and oil.
Take all the thread off of/out of the machine. It's faster to rethread than looking for a minor threading error.

2) Clean the top tension -- dampen a piece of much-washed muslin (a bandanna or pillowcase hem is perfect) with rubbing alcohol or unflavored vodka. Raise the presser foot and floss the upper tension with your damp muslin. Drop the presser foot while you've got a clean piece of the muslin between the disks and slide the muslin just one way. Raise the presser foot. (If you don't have rubbing alcohol or vodka around, use the newest, crispest bill (currency) you have in your wallet. Fold it in half lengthwise, put it between the open tension disks, then lower the foot and pull the bill through. The paper they use for paper money is very strong and the ink is mildlly abrasive and does a pretty good job of cleaning tensions.)

3) With manual in hand, rethread. If you've been messing with the upper tension, set it to 4, then try on scraps, adjusting till you get the stitch you like.

There's one other possibility... if you're using very heavy thread and a very fine needle, the thread can jam in the long groove of the needle, and not get pulled up when the needle rises. This jammed needle also gives the loops on the bottom effect.

I've also seen a badly dinged up sewing hook give this sort of problem, so you may want to examine it, particularly if you've recently broken a needle or jammed a pin while sewing. Dings can be gently polished out with crocus cloth.

It's really really rare to have to adjust bobbin tension in most machines, unless you're doing some specialty work like bobbin work (upside down embroidery). If you do have to adjust the bobbin tension, here's a good article: http://www.threadsmagazine.com/item/4302/understanding-thread-tension

Learn how to turn distorted machine stitches and thread into decorative details