Under-stitching is an easy sewing technique; it’s a necessary technique if your garment has facings (versus bindings) on the neck, armholes, pant waistband, or the hem. Under-stitching keeps a facing from peeking out on the right side – that is it’s job. The images of my purple printed tunic show straightforward under-stitching at the neckline;… Read More Understanding Under-stitching
It’s time to divulge more sewing secrets from the mysterious east, and from last week’s Guessing Games post. Congratulations to Myra of the Simple Inspirations blog, for winning the game. You nailed it, Myra! To the “baggy pants” crowd, also well done. The bottom garment here is a shalwar (pronounced shull-waar). It’s worn with a… Read More Making a Shalwar
Padded hangers, a perfect holiday gift for the girl with beautiful clothes hung on wire hangers. Well, padded hangers are available commercially, and cheaply. But that’s no fun. Padding a hanger yourself adds a fun, customized element to your closet in addition to using up your scraps, your ugly fabric, and make you happy at… Read More Padded Hangers. Make Them Yourself.
We move ahead in replicating the grey (or gray) ready-to-wear silk tunic, mentioned in the last post. I’m lifting, so to speak, the “bones” of a pattern and using that information to make something quite different from original intentions by the pattern company. Same bones, but such a different look! Colette Pattern Company’s Sencha Blouse… Read More Grey Silk Tunic, Part 2.Manipulating the Pattern
Hi Readers, Hope you had a great holiday season! The last couple of months were peak travel season and the lovely editor/founder of the online magazine Masala Mommas, published my post in December. Today, I’m going to send you to Masala Mommas to read about how I added a hidden pocket to this otherwise unused pashmina… Read More Travel Scarf, Hidden Pocket
Hi Readers! Today I’ll share a wee bit of sewing information. You know, when the neckline bias binding extends into a tie? Examples include neckline of a baby bib, or maybe shoulder ties on a dress. Well, it’s a really good thing – until you reach the end of the tie and are faced with… Read More #Sewing Tip: Neatly Turned Bias Binding End
Behold a blind hem which can be made really fast on a serger. No need to attach a special foot or fiddle with the settings if your serger is set on the 3-thread setting. Here’s the back story. I realized that there was a dire need for dish towels in my kitchen – yes, dire. Like a good… Read More Easy Blind Hem, Serged!
Dear Readers, If pictures are worth a thousand words, let’s DO this. Posted below for your viewing pleasure are pictures with a minimum of text. Enjoy! J. Crew shirt before and after Inspiration (Anthropologie) Sleeve hack Bias strips, scalloped rotary cutter and gathering foot Gathered strips pin-auditioned and sewn in circles. First rosette Second rosette Third rosette pin-audition Embellishment… Read More Image-Rich, Word-Poor: A Refashion Sewing Post
Earth Day is approaching! Time to re-use, re-cycle, re-make and whatever re-something you can do. I’m having a ball creating on-trend wearables by re-styling my own clothing. I made this classic navy jacket as a student in a tailoring class eons ago. You can tell; huge shoulders are divulging it’s age. Because of it’s classic nautical style it just… Read More Classic Navy Jacket Becomes Sleeveless Blazer. OK, Vest.
Easing fabric, in sewing vernacular, really means making one edge of fabric sew up evenly to a corresponding edge which happens to be a different length than the first one. For example, how would anyone sew a 10” fabric edge to an 11” edge without ending up with extra fabric at the end of the… Read More 2 Sewing Tips: Easing Edition
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