Sewing Techniques – Page 21

Tutorial: Make fabric stencils using paper punches

September 2, 2009 by Anne Weaver

Ashley from Lil Blue Boo made these fabric stencils, but instead of cutting the shapes out herself she used paper punches from her scrapbooking supplies. Brilliant! Read how she did it at Lil Blue Boo. [photo from Lil Blue… Read more ...

Tutorial: Adding a purse clasp

September 1, 2009 by Anne Weaver

Christine from Christine Sews shows how to add a clasp to a purse. This little detail is easy to add to your next handmade purse. Go to the tutorial. [photo from Christine Sews] [tags]sewing, tutorial, purse, clasp[/tags]… Read more ...

Video tutorial: Dying and bleaching fabrics with household products

August 28, 2009 by Anne Weaver

Jennifer Ackerman-Haywood of CraftSanity demonstrates a couple of cool techniques for making custom designs on your fabrics. In the first, she uses colored sharpies to dye a piece of muslin. In the second, she uses dish detergent (with bleach) to… Read more ...

Tutorial: Getting a strip of fabric from a dress shirt sleeve

August 25, 2009 by Anne Weaver

With all of the refashioning of men’s dress shirts, sooner or later you’ll come across a project that needs a little bit of extra fabric for a strap or a ruffle or extra width. One place to get the extra… Read more ...

Tutorial: Adding pintucks to a shirt

August 23, 2009 by Anne Weaver

Beccy from Wipster shows how she shortened a tunic and added pintucks to create a new sleeveless shirt. The impetus for the refashion was a small stain on the front of the tunic. She was able to cut out the… Read more ...

Tutorial: Adding gathers to a sleeve pattern

August 20, 2009 by Anne Weaver

Vegbee from Just Tutes answers a reader’s question regarding making puffy sleeves. She explains how to alter a basic short sleeve pattern to give extra fullness right at the top. It’s actually a fairly simple alteration. Get the info and… Read more ...

Tutorial: Making stretchy spaghetti straps

August 20, 2009 by Anne Weaver

Urban Organica tells how to make stretchy spaghetti straps. She uses them on nursing tops, but says they’d also be useful for anyone who has an active lifestyle. Stretchy function aside, they’re just plain cute! Get the how-to. [photo… Read more ...

Tutorial: Sewing with twin needles

August 20, 2009 by Anne Weaver

If you like to sew on stretch knits, a twin needle might just become your second-best friend. (Your machine itself is your best friend, right?) A twin needle will sew two parallel lines of stitches on the top of a… Read more ...

Tip: Keeping cutting info for bias tape right where you need it

August 20, 2009 by Anne Weaver

I love bias tape. Love, love, love it!! Love it so much I could marry it. I especially love custom bias tape out of printed fabrics. Given my jr. high crush on custom bias tape, it should come as no… Read more ...

Tutorial: Creating a zipper band

August 19, 2009 by Anne Weaver

Christine from Christine Sews shows how to create a zipper band for a purse. The zipper band is the bit of fabric at the top of the purse that connects the zipper to the body of the purse. Get the … Read more ...

How to Put an invisible zipper foot on your Sewing machine

August 17, 2009 by Anne Weaver

If the instructions on the little plastic invisible zipper feet leave you confused or frustrated, then take a look at this tutorial offered by Coats & Clark’s Sewing Secrets blog. (This blog is no longer activie and re-directs) We were… Read more ...

Tutorial: Sewing and turning outside curves

August 15, 2009 by Anne Weaver

Kerri from cute.little.disaster shares a tutorial on Picking Up Threads showing how to sew and turn outside curves. That’s a convex curve, for you all science-y folks. Get the how-to. [photo from Picking Up Threads] [tags]sewing, tutorial, ouside,… Read more ...

Tips: Keep your sewing machine happy and humming

August 12, 2009 by Anne Weaver

Even though it may seem at times that your sewing machine hates you, Laura from We Wilsons explains how a little TLC for your sewing machine can keep your sewing machine (and your relationship with it) running smoothly. Read her … Read more ...

Tutorial: Serging curves

August 11, 2009 by Anne Weaver

Editor’s note: The blog linked to in this post, Christine Sews, is no longer available. I have not yet found a similar tutorial for serging curves from another source. –Anne

It can be difficult to get a nice, smooth line… Read more ...

Tip: Following the right line when cutting multi-size patterns

August 9, 2009 by Anne Weaver

Multi-size patterns allow for flexibility when cutting your fabric pieces. I can cut one size of shirt in the shoulders, but another in the bust. But with this flexibility comes complexity. With all those lines, it’s easy to accidentally skip… Read more ...