FREE Pattern Pet House Igloo + Polar Opposites Fabric Giveaway!

I'm excited to start the new year with a fun new project tutorial and a matching fabric giveaway to go with it! First up is today's new free download pattern project: a Fun Igloo Pet House!

With a little imagination, and a bit of fusible foam, these polar themed fabrics have been transformed into a fun and functional little igloo that makes an ideal house for cats & small dogs.

The foam & fleece lined sides give it the classic igloo-style curved shape.  



These adorable new Polar Opposites fabrics on each side are perfectly suited for an igloo (and make it extra fun!).  The soft blue and grey shades are a fun cool neutrals.  The tiny polka dots pair sweetly with the whimsical arctic & antarctic animals.  Adorable walruses, polar bears, penguins, and everyone's favorite, the narwhal!

We don't have any pets, but we do have a baby with lots of animal toys.  This igloo house seemed the perfect place to be able to easily stow his little plushes: 

As you can see, he's a big fan of it already:

The large opening makes it easy for little hands (or paws) to get in and out:

I created this free pattern & tutorial as my first 2019 project as a member of Team Timeless.  

Now that I'm sharing it here too, I'm adding a gift for my lovely readers....

I'm giving away a big bundle of this fabulous fabric collection to a lucky Sew Can Do reader!

But first, let's get to making a pet igloo!

Finished Size:

14" x 14" x 14"

Materials:

- 1/2 yd cuts of 8 fabrics.  Mine are the entire Polar Opposites Collection by Timeless Treasures

- 2 1/2 yds 20" wide single sided fusible foam* 

- 1 1/4 yd 44" wide fusible fleece*

- Yard stick, rotary cuter, iron, disappearing marker, pins, hand sewing needle

- My FREE Pet Igloo Pattern Download HERE

* Both can be found in the interfacing section

Download my free pattern pieces (set printer to actual size and check against the square inch on the page), then print, cut out and tape base halves together per the instructions.

Cutting Instructions:

Fabrics

Fold fabrics, selvages together, and cut around pattern pieces, adding an extra 1/4" all the way around for the seam allowance:

- Cut upper side igloo pieces from 4 fabrics (I used Kidz-C6812-Navy, Kidz-C6814-Blue, Dot-C1820-Dove, Dot-C1820-Silver)

- Cut lower side igloo pieces from 4 other fabric (I used Kidz-C6813-Ice, Kidz-C6815-Grey, Dot-C1820-Steel, Dot-C1820-Smoke)

There will be two pieces of each print cut (for both outside and lining).  

From remaining fabric:

- Cut a 14 1/2 "x14 1/2" square from 2 fabrics for the base pieces (this includes the seam allowance).  I used fabrics Dot-C1820-Steel and Dot-C1820-Smoke.

Stabilizers

Put paper pattern pieces together and tape along center to make a full side pattern.  Cut out the stabilizers, but do not add any seam allowances.

Fusible Fleece

- Cut (4) side igloo pieces

- Cut (1) 15"x15" igloo base

Fusible Foam

- Cut (4) side igloo pieces

- Cut (1) 15"x15" igloo base

Take one side piece each from the fleece and foam, fold in half widthwise and cut out the front opening space along the pattern's center cutline.  

These will be for stabilizing the front side with the opening.

Assembly:

With right sides facing, pin, then stitch together the bottom edge and top edge of the igloo upper and lower sides.

I did the following print pairings: 

Dot-C1820-Dove & Kidz-C6815-Grey

Kidz-C6814-Blue & Dot-C1820-Smoke

Dot-C1820-Silver & Kidz-C6813-Ice

Kidz-C6812-Navy & Dot-C1820-Steel

There will now be 2 sets of 4 igloo sides.  Press seams flat.

Separate the pieces into two matching sets.  Fuse the fleece to the wrong side of one set according to the manufacturers instructions, fuse the foam to the other, leaving the 1/4" fabric seam allowance around all sides.

Take the front pieces and fold in half, right side inward.  

Cut out the opening area, using the stabilizer as your guide, leaving a 1/2" allowance.  

Start with two igloo outer sides.  With right sides facing, pin, then stitch together with a 1/4" seam allowance.  Start where the stabilizer begins at the bottom and stop stitching where the stabilizer ends at the point of the igloo.  

Add other sides to complete the outer.  Do not cross over previous side stitches at this end. This will keep the seams laying flat when turned.  Repeat this pattern of stitching for the lining.  

Trim raw edges to reduce bulk and clip around curves, to make it easier to turn later.  To attach the base, start by matching up one side of the square base to one of the bottom sides of the igloo and pin. 

Start and stop stitching 1/4" from each end to make it easier to pivot and repeat for the remaining three sides.  

Turn foam backed igloo right side out and insert the fleece backed igloo into it so the wrong sides are facing.  

Carefully clip 1/4" into into the three corners of the fabric of the opening triangle. Fold fabric edges inward and pin all the way around.  Slipstitch the folded edges together by hand. 

Now there's a cute little igloo ready for a furry occupant to call it home:

or a fun place for baby to play:

Now onto the giveaway!!  One winner will receive this 8 piece bundle of six 1/2yds & 2 smaller cuts of the Polar Opposites collection:

So much cute fabric!!!  Wouldn't it be great if it were yours?  

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Craftastic Monday Link Party

Valentine's Day is nearly here so bring on those love - or otherwise - themed recipes, DIY, sewing, knitting/crocheting, jewelry making and any other creative goodies you've been making.

FYI - InLinkz now has a new, upgraded look, so don't be alarmed that the link-up below looks a little different.

Last week I shared my DIY Love You Gnome Matter What shirt for Valentine's Day:  

~~~ GIVEAWAY GOODIES ~~~

I'm giving away this Sew What Box. For chance to win, enter HERE.

And it's time to announce the giveaway winner of the $25 Gift Certificate to Heavenly Fabric Shop:

~~~ Anne H. ~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now let's see the latest Craftastic Picks!

Atelier Marie-Lucienne made this fun sweetheart crochet pillow (and shared the free pattern!):

Pillar Box Blue created this cute pinecone heart art:

Sum of Their Stories showed how she turned recycled foil into these sweet valentine cards:

Winding Road Crochet had this adorable crochet plaid baby & girl's cape pattern:

If you're one of this week's features, be sure to grab my Featured On button over on my Buttons Page to share the good news. 

 Want a Chance to 
Be Featured Next Week?  

Link back to the party somewhere on your blog.
I can't feature your post if you don't share the party.  
  

I also feature these projects on Sew Can Do's Craftastic Picks Pinterest board 

AND share each of them on Twitter too for even MORE exposure for YOUR blog!

Follow me there to see more great projects (and see if yours is one of them)!   

On Twitter: Follow @sewcandoblog

On Pinterest: Sew Can Do

Ready to link up your crafty creations?

 

Party rules are simple: 

• As long as it's crafty, and made by you, it's Craftastic (no links to shops, link parties or other people's work).  Add the link to your specific post. Product reviews, plagiarized or sponsored posts for random items will be immediately deleted.  
• Grab my party button & put it on your post, party page or blog somewhere.  If you want the chance to be featured, this is key.  The button code can be found HERE.
• Check out some of the other fabulous links and share some crafty comment love.  We all love getting comments!!

Inlinkz Link Party

DIY Love You Gnome Matter What Valentine's Day Shirt

Disclosure: Some links below are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you,
I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.

My littlest guy's first Valentine's Day is coming up and I wanted something cute for him to wear that wouldn't be outmoded the very next day and also wasn't white (aka a baby stain magnet).  There was just nothing cute in the stores, so I decided to make something sweet for him instead using stuff in my stash.  Everybody loves gnomes, so....

I came up with this "Love you gnome matter what" shirt!  The play on words and cute little gnome seemed perfect.

I thought it would be fun to share how I did it, 

so you can make one too!

Materials:

- Blank cotton shirt

- Heat transfer vinyl (I get mine from Happy Crafters)

- Cricut Explore or other cutting machine

- Iron and/or Cricut Easy Press*

Optional: fabric scrap and Heat & Bond Ultra

* You could use an iron for all of it, but I find HTV holds up a lot better when using an Easy Press or heat press (as in no peeling or puckering over time).  

I started with a blank baby shirt I'd bought on sale for less than $4 a while back.  It was patiently waiting in my stash for a project like this!

I started by making my cut-able fabric for the mushrooms.  Since I use the older Cricut Explore model, to cute fabric it needs to have Heat & Bond Ultra on the back to get a clean cut.  To make my mushrooms I used some scrap mini heart fabric with Heat & Bond Ultra fused to the wrong side with an iron (following the package directions). 

The paper gets peeled off and then it's primed to cut out on the Cricut.  

For the designs themselves, I used a free gnome & mushroom clip art found here to make a cut file for the center of my shirt.  I used the free iPiccy online editing tool and the free font Leckerli One to make my lettering of "Love you" and "matter what" into this png file.

I used Cricut Design Space to turn my png into a cut file and sized it to fit my little guys shirt (using the onesie template for a digital visual).

I mirrored the lettering before I cut it out from my heat transfer vinyl, since it gets cut carrier side facing down:

I used my several years old, but still works great, Cricut Explore to cut it out:

I did the same for the gnome and then cut the mushrooms out of the fabric (which gets cut fabric side up).

I did some quick weeding of my lettering to get it ready to press:

Then I got everything placed how I wanted it.  I heat fused the mushrooms on first with my iron since they required a different amount of time and the use of a press cloth.  Then I switched over to my Cricut Easy Press to fuse the heat transfer vinyl according to the temperature and material guide on the front and back side for the best adherence.  

Then pulled the carrier sheets off while still warm.

My Valentine gnome shirt was ready for my little Valentine to wear and it's gotten some big love from all of us already:

Happy Valentine's Day!