Patterns, Techniques, Articles, Blogs, and other resources to learn how to sew
With all of the gorgeous quilting cottons out there, it’s easy to forget that there are actually other types of fabric you might want to use for a sewing project. Particularly for garments, where weight and drape and feel are just as important as the color and design printed on them. Rae from Made By Rae tells her five favorite fabrics for sewing clothes – and not one of them is a quilting cotton. Go there to see what they are. What are your faves?
[photo from Made By Rae]
It doesn’t matter whether you sew by hand or by machine, you need a pincushion. You need a spot to parks pins and needles and keep them within easy reach for when you need them again. There are a lot of styles of pincushion to choose from. Some magnetic, some fabric. Some cute, some purely functional. This “little bit extra” pincushion has a spot to store all the different types of pins and needles you might need while sewing. Polka Dot Chair has a free sewing pattern you can use to make one for yourself.
This handy little pincushion has a circular shape and is divided into sections to store different types of pins. The bottom section is for your regular straight pins. Just poke them in and they’re ready for when you need them. The top has one section with a felt flap perfect for holding your sewing needles. I don’t know about you but I don’t like mixing my hand sewing needles in with my pins on a pincushion. It makes it hard to find the needle when I want it. So having a separate section for the needles is a great idea.
This “little bit extra” pincushion also has a spot to hold a few fabric clips. Fabric clips have become popular alternatives to a traditional straight pin. They hold fabric pieces together without piercing the fabric, which is important when sewing leather, vinyl, or other materials that will show permanent holes from pins.
You can sew the “little bit extra” pincushion from large fabric scraps or small fabric cuts (fat eighth). You probably already have all the supplies you need to sew one in your sewing supplies already.
Get the free pattern for this “little bit extra” pincushion over at Polka Dot Chair.
[photo credit: Polka Dot Chair]
Loved reading about the fabric choices for clothing. Never had I thought about the dbl gauze as anything other than “summer dress and window coverings”, before…but now, eyes wide open and will definitely take a look see next time I hit Fabricland. I am Canadian.
The voile and lawn fabrics have always been of interest to me and I used to love wearing rayon’s; just hated what happened to them after they were washed and became a ball of wrinkles. I’m sure new technologies and manufacturing has created better, wrinkle resistant beauties to try once again; just NOT ALL HAWAIIAN prints.