The Polka Dot Chair - a modern DIY and sewing blog

Summer Dress Patterns for Girls

Posted on May 24, 2013 by Melissa Mortenson

Memorial Day is coming up and with it brings the official start of summer! Here are seven free Summer Dress patterns that you can find here on the Polka Dot Chair Blog.

Happy Summer and Happy Sewing! Read more... (139 words, 1 image)

Posted in sewing | Tagged kids, sewing, summer, tutorial | Leave a comment

How to cut fabric with a Silhouette

Posted on May 23, 2013 by Melissa Mortenson

File this one under “holy cow it worked”! I cut fabric with my silhouette machine! To be honest when Silhouette contacted me about reviewing their new Fabric Interfacing I was a bit skeptical…..

They sent me a special fabric blade for my machine, and 2 types of fabric interfacing, sewable and clean cut.

To cut fabric with a Silhouette Machine it turned out to be very simple and quick! Read more... (279 words, 6 images)

Posted in crafts, sewing | Tagged sewing, silhouette, tutorial | 5 Comments

How to Sew a Zipper

Posted on May 20, 2013 by Melissa Mortenson

Hi!

Welcome to Sewing School! Today we are going to learn How to Sew a Zipper. Are you excited? The lesson today is part of my “Sewing Lessons” blog series sponsored by Bernina.

Just a note, all of the instructions today will be based on using a Bernina 710 machine, but you can use ANY brand sewing machine and follow the SAME directions. I will say things like “adjust your stitch length to 6″ , if you don’t have the same sewing machine as me, you’ll just need to know how to adjust your stitch length. If you’re not sure, pull out your user manual. Read more... (1104 words, 25 images)

Posted in featured, sewing | Tagged bernina, sewing, sewing lessons, tutorial | 4 Comments

Five things on a Saturday

Posted on May 18, 2013 by Melissa Mortenson

ONE:

Does anyone remember “the incident” from a few years ago? Fast forward to today and this fun new rotary cutter shows up in the mail, and my husband says “do they know you’re not to be trusted with those things?”

Well apparently OLFA does trust me to use a rotary cutter because they sent me one of their new models. Besides the fact that it’s so pretty, it has a much better system to change the blade. Read more... (377 words, 7 images)

Posted in life, sewing | Tagged my life, sewing | 2 Comments

40 Gifts for 40 Years

Posted on May 17, 2013 by Melissa Mortenson

This week I turned 40 years old. To be honest I’m really not sure how I feel about that, it could take up a post all in itself.

For my 40th birthday gift, my Mom sent me the cutest thing! It was such a fun and unique idea that after I had opened a couple of the packages I thought “I HAVE to stop and take pictures of this!” It was such a nice idea that I wanted to share it with you here today. Read more... (282 words, 7 images)

Posted in gifts, holidays, parties | Tagged birthday, easy gift ideas, holidays, my life, parties | 12 Comments

“Sunnies” Sunglasses Case

Posted on May 15, 2013 by Melissa Mortenson

Are you ready for summer! Oh man am I!!! Here’s a fun sunglasses case for you to sew!

There are two things you should know about me 1) I ALWAYS have a pair of sunglasses with me, I can’t drive without them, the sun hurts my eyes. 2) My purse is a MESS. All of the sunglass cases I had before were to heavy so I didn’t carry them around with me. I made this simple case to be lightweight enough to not weigh me down, and the pom pom attachment will make them quick to spot in my purse. Read more... (467 words, 11 images)