DIY Pillow Cover - with Sophie

Hey everyone, my name is Sophie, and I run the sewing and interior design blog, iDesigns by Sophie! I love Just Pepperminty and I'm so excited to be doing a guest post here! The first thing I sewed by myself was a pillow cover, so that's what I'll be sharing with you today.

Here's what you'll need:

• Pillow insert (for this tutorial, I used a 12 x 16 inch insert)                            
• 1/4-1/2 yard of fabric, depending on your pillow size
• Thread 
• Sewing scissors
• Rotary cutter (optional)
• Thread snips (optional)
• Pins
• Needle

(note from Juli) If you guys are looking for a place to buy a pillow insert then you should check out PillowCubes! They're currently offering a discount for Just Pepperminty readers, so go find something you like and check out with the code: 10JustPepperminty and you'll receive 10% off your order!

Step 1: Wash and iron the fabric. It's important to wash the fabric because it softens it a little but, and also rinses off whatever weird coating or chemicals that could be on it from the manufacturer. I would recommend running a quick zig-zag stitch around the edges before doing this so that the fabric doesn't fray.

Step 2: Cut the fabric to size, taking a 5/8 seam allowance into consideration on every side. So, since I was using a 12 inch x 16 inch pillow insert, I cut the fabric into two 13.25 inch x 17.25 inch pieces.

Step 3: Lay the fabric pieces on top of each other with the right sides touching each other in the middle. Then pin 3 of the 4 sides. I don't usually use too many pins; just use as many as you need!

Step 4: You've probably thinking, what about the 4th side? Since we have to insert the pillow into the cover, we can't sew all the way around. First, find the center (for this size, it was at 8.625 inches) and mark it with a pin or light pencil mark. Then, measure 5 or 6 inches out on either side of that mark, and mark those with two pins right next to each other. This is to remind you when to stop sewing!

Step 5: Sew around the cover using your sewing machine! Make sure not to use a basting stitch, it won't hold together well. When you're finished, use the thread snips to cut off the excess thread. If you don't have thread snips, scissors will work too!

Step 6: Snip the corners so that they will be sharper when you turn the cover it right side out. Then, go ahead and turn it right side out! Next, carefully insert the pillow form into the cover.

Step 7: The last step is to hand-stitch the open end using thread that matches your fabric. For this fabric, I chose white, so it wouldn't stand out. Tie it off and use the thread snips or scissors to cut off the excess thread. 

And that's it! I did this project for the first time without any sewing experience, so you can too!

Connect with me on social media: Facebook // Pinterest // Website // Blog // Etsy 

Huge thanks to Sophie for a wonderful post! Stay tuned and you'll see me popping over on her blog!

Stay Minty,

-Juli

DIY- Band Tees

Heelloo everyone. Long time no see! Again... But anyway here we are now, and hopefully you're all having a wonderful winter! (Or whatever season you're in)
Today I'm back with a DIY band tee. Band tees and fan tees are made often in my house- what can I say we're mega fangirls! This one is for the band American Authors *insert heart eye emojis* If you don't know them, I very highly recommend you click that link up there. You can most definitely do this with another band, singer, or anything else though!
So, let's get started -

Alrighty you will need: bleach pen // tee shirt // cardboard box // x-acto knife // design of choice
The tee I got was perfect for the job and on sale for $2.50, so you don't need anything too fancy! To find your design you can do a quick google search for a bands' logo, or any design you like (you could even freehand your own), print it off to the size you want it on your shirt, I made mine almost 8x10, just so it took up the whole page.

With your cardboard or a cutting mat underneath, use your x-acto knife to cut the outline of your design and tape it to the center of your shirt. If you have a double outlined piece, like the crown, keep that little guy and set it aside for later.

Once everything is cut out you can start the bleaching! You can look at the packaging of your pen to see exact directions for the brand you have. Here I used the thinner tip because of the design but it's your choice. As you squeeze it on, brush the bleach -so it's more flat then tube-ish- with your tip. In the second picture you can see why you kept the little insert! So just set it down and trace around it.
Lastly, my wonderful sister freehanded the letters for me.

Next fill up your sink- or a nice sized bowl with water. I used warm water here. Just dunk it in there and squish and squeeze it to rinse the bleach off. After the water turned rusty orange I rinsed out the bowl, filled it up again and rinsed the shirt again. That's about it! The last thing I did was throw it in the washing machine on the spin cycle for a couple of minutes and then hung it to dry!

Super easy and nice vintage/old comfy style kinda thing haha. Who are your guys' favorite bands?

If you have any questions just go ahead and leave them below!

Stay minty,
-Juli

How To: Mask a Photo into a Shape or Text

How To: Mask a Photo into a Shape or Text

This is a super quick + easy tutorial that you can use for wall art, instagram photos, or a profile picture- maybe a shaped sidebar photo for your blog!
For this tutorial I used Photoshop, but you could use a free alternative (like gimp) if you don't have Photoshop.
So, here's how you do it:

1: Open a new file in your editing program with a transparent background. I made mine 800x800 but you can choose your size accordingly.

2: If you're using text, click on the type tool and type whatever you like. I chose a bold font that I'm sort of obsessing over at the moment!

(If you're using a shape use, one with a transparent background)

3: Drag in your photo. Place it to cover your text and hit enter. I'm using a watercolor I did of a galaxy (I'm obsessed okay!)

4: In the layers tab right click your photo's layer, and choose 'create clipping mask'. You should see that small arrow will appear on the left side.

5:Click the new layer button (the page icon at the bottom) and add a blank white layer. Drag it below your text layer. You can make the background whatever color you want, but I liked the way it flowed with my image as white.

Now you're done! 

I hope you guys liked this tutorial!

If you have any questions feel free to ask- I'll be happy to answer!

P.S. I'm working on a new blog design for my own blog AND for the blog my younger sister is starting! Hopefully you guys will be able to see them both pretty soon!

Stay Minty,

-Juli

How to Finger Knit a Scarf

How to Finger Knit a Scarf

Ah, Autumn. It's coming. I know, I know, it's bittersweet for some of us. But it was bound to happen!
In honor of the chilly weather headed our ways here is a tutorial for you- How to finger knit a scarf! If you've never heard of finger knitting, it might sound a little weird, but it's also really great, and easy too! If you're familiar with loom knitting, it's pretty similar. Just use your fingers instead.
So let's get started!

What you need: 
• Scissors
• A thick skein of yarn (the thicker the better!) I used a weight of 6
• Your fingers!

1:To begin, use your index finger to tie a slipknot by wrapping the yarn around your index finger twice, then taking the bottom loop and pulling it up, then down through the top loop.Take it off your index finger and move it to your little finger, pulling it slightly tight. 

2:From there, wrap the yarn around each finger once until you get to your index finger. Once you're there, start wrapping again back the other way to make another row.

3:Starting at your little finger, begin pulling the bottom loop over the top one, and up over your finger, continue until you get to the last loop. The last one will seem kind of loose but that's okay!

Just push the loops down to the lower part of your fingers and repeat steps 2-3. 

4: The first photo is how it should look a few minutes through, from then on you should have the hang of it and be able to get a nice long amount of rows with ease! Just keep going until you have your desired length. To see if it's long enough for you, just keep it on your fingers and wrap the tail around your neck, I like mine to go around about 7 times. Just do whatever you like!

5:Once you get it to your desired length, measure about 10 inches off your wrapping yarn and cut it. Take that yarn and weave down through the top of your first loop. Take that loop off of your finger then repeat with the next until they all have the string woven through them. Pull the string tight so your end gets a bit bunched up.

6: And finally, tie a knot or two as close to your scarf end as possible, then grab the beginning of your scarf and tie the two ends together, so you have one long loop. From here you can either wrap it around however you plea for ever, or wrap it around to where you like it once, and when it's where you like it you can add a button, or take a short piece of yarn and tie it somewhere to keep it in place!

And you're done! 

Now you can wear your lovely new creation! 

The more of these you make the easier it gets, I've made multiple ones in a day. You can also make yourself a bracelet or necklace, anything you can think of!
Hopefully this wasn't too confusing to read, but if you guys have any questions just leave a comment and I'll answer as soon as possible! 

Stay Minty,
- Juli