It's summertime, and drawstring shorts are easy! There are plenty of perfect cottons in a variety of weights available at both our brick-and-mortar and online stores, and you'll find the cording (or elastic if you prefer) and thread on our Third Floor. Tim Anderson's 10-step Instructables tutorial makes this project quick and painless, beginning by tracing your own favorite pair of shorts to make a pattern. For the complete step-by-step tutorial, please visit Tim's post on Instructables here.

This skirt is super easy to sew, especially when you use a stretchy knit fabric! This simple tutorial by It's Always Autumn is a super easy way to create a skirt that is both comfortable and great for spring. This project is such a piece of cake, you won't even have to bother with zippers or buttons.

A simple way to make suspenders with seven items, in only eight easy steps.

What You Will Need

1. Elastic (no wider than 1")

2. 4 Straight Pins

3. Needle and Thread

4. One 1" Metal Back Patch

5. 1 Garment Tape Measure

6. Scissors

7. Four 1" Grips With Brackets

STEP 1: With the tape measure, measure from 1 inch below your left front pant loop, bring the tape measure over your left shoulder and down to 1 inch below and to the right of your center pant loop, or 1 inch below your right back pant loop. This is the length of elastic you will need. Be sure to cut 2 strips of the elastic in this length.

STEP 2: With the scissors, cut 2 straps from the elastic in the length you measured in step 1.

STEP 3: Use the straight pins to pin a horizontal line to hold the elastic end around the grip, making sure that when the grips are clipped onto your

pants, the elastic is snug but comfortable.

STEP 4: Hand sew the end of the elastic so that it's around one of the grip ends. (This will be the back right end)

STEP 5: Take the end of the elastic that is not yet sewn, and put it through the metal back patch, so that the point of the triangle is facing up.

STEP 6: Sew the unfinished side so that it's around a second grip end.

STEP 7: Take the second strap of elastic and repeat steps 3-5, making sure both straps of elastic form an overlapping X.

STEP 8: Trim off most of the excess elastic that remains, clip on all 4 grips.

Maggie from the super homemaking and crafting blog Smashed Peas and Carrots, created this simple tutorial on Kirtsy for making double-sided cloth napkins. Cloth napkins are luxurious, thrifty and ecologically sound. Make a handful from cotton or linen fabrics in your stash, pack a picnic basket with cherry scones & a thermos of tea, and spend a lazy afternoon reading under a shady tree in the park!

Sarah made this easy-peasy tutorial for creating adorable hedgehog pincushions on BurdaStyle. Shade of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle! These would make a great last-minute addition to anyone’s sewing kit gift.
"Then Mrs. Tiggy-winkle made tea—a cup for herself and a cup for Lucie. They sat before the fire on a bench and looked sideways at one another. Mrs. Tiggy-winkle's hand, holding the tea-cup, was very very brown, and very very wrinkly with the soap-suds; and all through her gown and her cap, there were hair-pins sticking wrong end out; so that Lucie didn't like to sit too near her.” – B. Potter

Fionnuala at Basil Exposition present a tutorial for a customizable, easy–to-sew roll-up knitting needle case in a valiant effort to keep pairs of needles together, to avoid last minute scrambling for an errant needle. This project uses less than one yard of fabric, and would make a delightful gift for your favorite Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle or Madame Defarge.

Elizabeth contributed this classic, practical and easy to sew pattern for a computer laptop sleeve to SewMamaSew. This project requires less than half a yard of fabric, allowing one to be beautiful while remaining thrifty. These would make fabulous holiday gifts, using unique fabrics from Britex Fabrics. I’d love to make one in a charming Japanese cotton/linen the-king-has-no-clothes fairy tale print, or perhaps in an urban graffiti strewn home decorating print.

We have had several requests for old-fashioned bow tie patterns recently…the kind that you need to tie yourself. Once again, BurdaStyle comes to our rescue with this open source bow tie instructions and bow tie PDF for a delightfully chic, yet retro bow tie pattern.  And Britex Fabrics' online store now carries all the bow tie hardware you'll need! And for all you bow tie fashion mavericks, here are directions on how to knot your new attire.

Download the PDFs and enjoy our very San Francisco photo shoot! Much more inspiration awaits at Britex.

We are wild for these quick and easy to make wool potholders. They would make a lovely and practical gift for anyone with a kitchen….and might even entice the recipient to back a creamy and rich chocolate ganache tart to share with you on a dank and rainy night! Wool felt can be found in squares on Britex’s 3rd floor, and by the yard on Britex’s 4th floor. If you wish to buy wool felt by mail, contact us through our fabric mail order department for detailed mail order assistance.

This handy-dandy bag is the other project that we presented at Maker Faire. This super-cute drawstring bag from BurdaStyle is a practical travel accessory. Make it as large or tiny as you need it. Supersized, it makes a stupendous laundry bag, and small, it makes a swingin’ bag to carry your drawing pastels. This project is great for everyone, from beginners, to experienced sewers!