Happiness Through Sewing
It has been said that plaid is a bold choice. I believe it’s a great choice for any season and any garment. There are so many types of plaids to choose from, and then all the colorways and fiber types and weaves… it could all get a bit overwhelming. Unfortunately, plaids require even more decisions […] Read more…
Plaid is not one particular design. It is in the geometric design family because of its intersecting stripes (usually at right angles). The plaid pattern is achieved by warping the loom (the lengthwise grain of the fabric) and weaving it (the crossgrain of the fabric) with bands of different colored yarns. The color bands can […] Read more…
There are a lot of steps to sewing a garment and one of the biggest steps is choosing fabric for your garment. It’s a big step because the type of fabric you choose to use is critical to the look of the finished garment. What with the price of fabric and the time it takes […] Read more…
Because I rarely attend dress-up functions I don’t want to spend weeks sewing something I’ll only wear a little (unless, I really want to make that particular item, or it’s a very special occasion). So my “fancy” clothes need to be fun and easy and, yes, still comfortable so that I am comfortable when wearing […] Read more…
Folding your fabric to cut out your pattern, as most patterns instruct you to do, means you obviously cannot see the fabric on the bottom layer. So when you cut out a pattern from folded striped or checked or plaid fabric how do you know if the stripes on both layers are lining up with […] Read more…
What is Fabric Nap and why do you need to know? You may have seen the word Nap, or With Nap or Without Nap, on the back of patterns. And it’s important to know if your fabric has a Nap because it can change the amount of fabric you need to make the garment. You […] Read more…
You’re excited to sew. You know it’s going to be great when you’re done. People are going to stop you and ask where you got it. You smile and reply “I made it”. You carve out some sewing time and do your best. When you’re done you try it on and…deflate. It doesn’t look so […] Read more…
It’s been five months since I started my No-New-Fabric-Purchases-For-A-Year challenge. The rule is simple; use as much of the 256 pieces of fabric in my stash. To make all those things I intended to make when I bought the fabric or make something else. It’s time to stop consuming and start creating. So far, I […] Read more…
Why was I, after adjusting a pattern for fit and putting time into my sewing, still ending up with garments that were not quite right? I couldn’t quite figure it out and it didn’t happen every time but it happened enough not to be one bad pattern or one cut off grain fabric. If anything […] Read more…
We’ve all heard jokes about uncontrollable fabric shopping and overflowing fabric stashes. We’ve laughed at them with a knowing cringe for certainly all of us are guilty of buying fabric we didn’t have a need for just because we loved it. And almost as certainly all of us have done it more than once. The […] Read more…