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?
Sew Your Scraps into a Patchwork Fold Over Pouch
I love a good patchwork project but I’m not always wanting to take on making a whole quilt. Sometimes I want to just make some patchwork squares and turn it into something pretty. That could be lots of things besides quilts. Like this adorable patchwork fold over pouch! Quilted clothing and accessories have become super trendy lately. Melissa at Polka Dot Chair created this project and she has a tutorial showing how you can sew this pretty patchwork pouch.
If larger patchwork blocks on a quilt are pretty, these smaller scale patchwork blocks in this pouch are sending me over the moon. They’re just so sweet! And because they’re made from half square triangles, they’re actually pretty quick to sew together. Her tutorial includes how to create 8 of these half square triangles at a time.
This is a great project for using up your scraps! This project uses a ½ yard of a solid fabric and then a total of ½ yard of scraps of various prints. As long as your scraps are big enough to cut a 5 ¾” square then you can use them. And pairing the scraps with a solid color in all of your blocks helps keep the look both scrappy but also cohesive.
And while the small pinwheel blocks are perfect for this project, I think you could also substitute other quilt blocks – or even some orphan blocks left over from quilt projects.
When you’ve got all your blocks made, it’s easy to sew them into a fold over pouch. It’s basically a larger version of a simple zipper pouch. If you’ve ever sewn a zipper pouch before, you know how satisfying they are to sew. Quick, easy, and always useful! And in this case, a stylish patchwork pouch!
Go to Polka Dot Chair to see how to sew this adorable patchwork pinwheel fold over pouch.
[photo credit: Polka Dot Chair]
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