Toted as “the Dressmaker’s Resource” Pattern-Making.com is a great resource for the avid sewer. Although it does have lots of knitting and crochet patterns, it also has some great sewing and pattern making info. I was inpressed with the tutorial for drafting your own bra pattern as well as the simple instructions on how to pivot a dart. And if you ever wanted to delve into the world of pattern grading, they have some great beginner tips.
Comments
Have you read?
DIY Kids Gingerbread House Bag with Free Pattern
I am just smitten with this felt gingerbread house bag. This would make such a sweet special Christmas accessory for a kid. It’s a free pattern at Benzie Design, designed by Gracie from Hello Gracie Makes. It’s packed with adorable gingerbread house details, like swirls and stripes and scallops adoring the doors and windows.
And while all those details might seem like this would be a complicated pattern, it’s actually not. The bag itself is made from felt, which makes finishes edges unnecessary. (All of those scalloped edges are just cut from felt, no edge finishing required.) The strap is super simple, made from rope with knotted ends. And all those details are made with some basic hand embroidery stitches. Sparkle felt makes it extra cute.
The striped scallop roof is actually the top flap of the bag. A magnetic snap makes it a secure closure. The rope straps are attached through felt loops at the side of the bag.
They rate this project as an intermediate level, and it should take about 6 hours to make start to finish. That’s doable for a Saturday project or a couple of evenings. Full color photos step you through the entire process.
The project includes a shopping list for all of your supplies. They’ve got a shop so you can order all of them from Benzie if you like and get exactly the supplies used in the project. I noticed it includes a pair of scallop shears, which makes cutting all the scalloped edges for the roof and around the door a breeze.
Finished dimensions of the little felt gingerbread bag are approximately 6 ½” wide x 7 ½” tall. That’s the perfect size to hold a small book, a small toy, or a notepad and some cute pens.
Go to Benzie Design to get the tutorial and free pattern for the felt gingerbread house bag.
What I really want to know is how do I enlarge a small sized pattern to my size(20). I found lots of very beauty dress and pantsuits patterns from the 1950s and the 1960s and I want to be able to look at the outfit on the front and back of the pattern and sew by sight or learn how to create a pattern just by looking at the pattern. Can you please help!!!!!!
Deborah
PS I will begin sewing lessons very soon.
Deborah,
I wish I could give you some info on grading patterns, but that’s one of the skills that I’m also wanting to learn. And for exactly the same reasons – I have a collection of fabulous patterns from the 50s to the 70s that are all in the wrong size!!
–Anne