Happiness Through Sewing
My button fell off, again. Not the same button, but a button from a dearly loved garment. Luckily it fell off in my presence and I was able to catch it. Buttons fall off store bought garments because they are sewn on by machines and machines can’t knot a thread properly. Sorry, robots, that’s just […] Read more…
Shortening a skirt is pretty straight forward. Fold up the appropriate amount of excess skirt at the hem. Trim off any fabric that is more than you need for turning under a new hem and hem it. My skirt, too long as it was, could not be taking up at the bottom for it had […] Read more…
Did you know that when you hand baste anything, any stitch (tailor baste stitch shown in picture) that you do not need to tie a knot in your thread? Just leave a long enough tail (3″) so you don’t accidentally pull out the first stitch when making subsequent stitches. By leaving off the knot you […] Read more…
Darts are magical. They make a flat piece of fabric take shape. They can blend in to the garment or stand out as a design feature. I admire a well placed dart. I do not like a pointy dart, or one with a pucker and those boo – boos can easily happen to your darts […] Read more…
If you’ve sewn more than a dozen patterns I bet this has happened to you. It’s completely frustrating and this time it’s not your sewing skills or lack of attention that caused it. It’s your commercial pattern. It wasn’t trued. A true pattern is a pattern that all seams fit perfectly together as you would […] Read more…
1. It’s a Needle, Not a Harpoon Use the smallest needle for the weight of your fabric. Smaller needles give you better control over your stitches. Heavier weight and tighter weave fabrics need a strong needle but still choose the smallest strong needle you have. 2. Darker Thread Blends in Better When choosing which color […] Read more…
You know how pattern directions always tell you to clip the seam allowance of a corner off? Well their method of one snip across the corner works okay but this is what I learned in my first semester in Fashion Design classes. It’s that basic. You need to know this and it’s so simple you […] Read more…
Wool is one of my favorite fabrics to sew. It’s so easy and pliable, and as a finished garment, holds up well. Wool comes in all different weights and weaves and blends. My coat fabric is wool and alpaca. It has a pile and is heavy and thick enough for a coat. (This is why […] Read more…
Sewing my daughter’s Halloween costume, Simplicity #2757. I didn’t have the camera when I was sewing this part so I drew the steps out. Because the front and back pieces form a right angle with the side pieces at the neckline I couldn’t just sew one seam starting at the left side center front, around […] Read more…
That’s odd. They don’t look like they go together. (next time I’ll smile) You’re not flat and fabric is so unless you’re going for an ancient Greek look the fabric has to be manipulated to go over your curves. This is why we use darts and seams like the princess seam. However, sewing convex curves […] Read more…