10 Free Tote Bag Patterns and Tutorials Totes make great handmade gifts. Here is a Tuesday Ten that shows a round-up of lovely totes. If you love to sew you might also like these free sewing tutorials right here on Skip to my Lou! Every tote needs a matching pouch. Pleated Zippered Pouch Lined Zippered Pouch 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. How To Sew Darts - Coletterie For beginners, sewing darts tends to seem like a complicated step. I know that I was confused about getting a straight line and ending right at the point. Double pointed darts seemed even more confusing. Straight Dart Straight darts have only one point with dart legs along the edge of the pattern. 1. 2. 3. Curved Dart Curved darts are often used around the bust as they can be very flattering. 1. 2. 3. Double Point Dart Double point darts tend to be found on dresses with simple lines. 1. 2. 3. 4.
Tutorial: Scrap Buster Fall Pillow This is my favorite thing to do with my little scraps, and since its Scrap Buster month over at Sew, Mama, Sew, I made a quick tutorial so you can make your own. This pillow cover is 16" square with an envelope back & the design possibilities are endless! I added some pillows I’ve previously made with this same method at the end of this post. You’ll Need: 1. 2. 3. 4. Iron your fabric scraps onto your appliqué material according to the directions on the appliqué material. Now with scissors cut out your trunk and leaf shapes. When you get all your leaves cut out, tear the backing appliqué paper off the leaves and trunk. Then you can arrange them how you want on your pillow front. Once your design is how you like it, press with an iron over each spot for a few seconds making sure not to bump anything out of place. Now you can sew either along the inside edges of your leaves, or you can do a zig zag stitch or blanket stitch around the edges if you prefer. Pin around the edges well.
Free Pattern Fitting Series Pattern Fitting Series I am presenting a pattern fitting series entitled "My Approach to Successful Pattern Fitting". This series is written and produced solely by myself and all of the content is offered from my experience in the Fashion Industry and tailored to appeal to a DIY Sewist/Sewer. I hope that if you've had a difficult time with fitting yourself in the past that you will find my information helpful. If you'd like to read my opening post about the series I'm currently writing it's here.
bEING pERFECT iS hARD: Reupholstering Some Shoes First I got together an old pair of shoes that I wasn't too fond of, a bottle of Sobo fabric glue, a pair of scissors, and about a yard of fabric ( I used fabric from a long dress I had cut into a mini dress ). I wasn't really sure where to start. So I just started cutting random pieces of fabric and then sort of molding them to the shoe (cutting off excess as I went).
Bag Your Jacket Lining Lining a jacket makes it last longer and become easier to slip on and off. Best yet, using the bagging method is as quick or quicker than finishing an unlined jacket. Photo: Sloan Howard. by Sandra Millettfrom Threads #88, pp. 56-59 Sewing jackets is something I like to do, but lining them is another matter. Prepare to bag All jackets benefit from having a lining; it lets the jacket slide easily over other clothes, drape correctly on the body, and stand up to wear and tear. If you're using a pattern without a lining, it's easy to make a lining pattern. The bagging procedure begins only after the jacket and lining have been constructed, but there are a few details to attend to before construction. Since the jacket's seam allowances will be pressed open, don't serge any two seam allowances together, as you might be tempted to do, for example, on the center-back seam. The next step is to create a temporary hem on the jacket. Join lining to jacketReady to sew nonstop?
Large T-Shirt to Fitted Tee Tutorial | a.steeds.life - StumbleUpon I have these two t-shirts that I love. They're soft, comfortable, and have good worn (and sentimental) designs on them. But, I never wear them for anything other than around the house because they are large men's t-shirts and look completely shapeless on me. So, while I was staying with my mom at her camper this summer (she lives & travels in an RV), I asked her to help me try it out. First, a before & after look at the t-shirt we did. So, here's how it's done. Start with a t-shirt you love that's just too big Turn the shirt inside out and lay a shirt that DOES fit you on top of it, lining up the collars so that you can be sure it is centered over your large t-shirt. Thanks to brianagayle for the video tutorial & tips! No time to make your own?
DIY Custom Fabric Labels Custom clothing labels using iron-on transfers (©2005, www.grumperina.com. Updated September 13th, 2010. Information and images contained within this tutorial are copyrighted and cannot be used for any unintended purposes without my explicit permission. E-mail me.) Many people have asked how I make these adorable and completely customized labels for my handknits: It's simple, cheap, creative, and allows me to put the recipient's name, fabric content, care instructions, and even a little cartoon on the label! Click here to proceed with the tutorial: You will need: - inkjet printer - iron (no steam!) - satin ribbon, 5/8" - 1/2" wide, or whatever is suitable for your project - anti-fraying liquid (Fray Check , Fray Block, etc.) - iron-on transfers, whichever are suitable for your printer. Let's get started! You will need to design your label using graphic software. Follow the instructions on your iron-on transfers. You can reuse the same iron-on transfer paper over and over again. Ta da! All done!
tutorial: how to sew a simple maxi dress The Plan. Fabric. You will be making a maxi dress so buy fabric accordingly. I stand 5′ tall (I know, I know, I am tiny) and I needed 2.5 meters of fabric with a 45-inch width. Preparation and Cutting. Sewing. Don’t forget the banana. Instructions for making the rosettes are HERE. Gather A Ruffle Without Pulling A Thread I enjoy using center-gathered strips to use as a ruffle embellishment (often called a "Euro-Ruffle"). The ruffled strip on the top pictured above is for my little friend Julianna, age 3, but I have used this same technique with narrow ruffles around necklines or sleeves on adult garments. The ways to use this embellishment are limited only by your imagination. In this tutorial, I will show you how to make a center ruffled strip, without having to pull any gathering threads! You can click each photo to enlarge it, then click the << BACK button of your browser to return to this page. First, start with a strip of woven or knit fabric. The top pictured above was embellished with 1-3/4" strips of woven fabric that have been finished like this-- Since the strips will be gathered, you may need to start with more than one strip so that it will be long enough. After stitching them together as shown above, trim off the the excess "triangle", leaving a 1/4" seam allowance. Labels: Sewing Tutorials
Tutorials for Recycling T-Shirts So way way back, in June, I wrote this Studio Organization post, about starting the process of organizing my studio by cleaning out the closet full of junk. Well, it's September and...let's just say the closet is a work in progress. Some of the things that are taking up space in the closet are shirts that I never wear anymore. I realized I could repurpose them into something else! Here are some tutorials for recycling shirts: Check out these t-shirt scarves! Create cute little bows for accessories or packaging with this tutorial. Gorgeous ruffled pillow tutorial here. Looks like I have a lot of projects ahead of me to keep me from cleaning out my closet!
Old Sewing Machine Maintenance According to the old Singer parts lists, that big spokey wheel on the end of your vintage Singer is the balance wheel. According to most folks who use a vintage Singer it’s the handwheel, so it’s the handwheel as far as we’re concerned here, and we’ll be looking at its removal and replacement, with a bit of a detour on the way. But why, pray, would anyone want to take the thing off? Well, you could be taking a machine apart because it’s in a disgusting state and cleaning it will be so much easier if you take off some of its bits. Or maybe you want to change the handwheel for a different one? “The clutch?” Well, the clutch is what lives behind that big chromed knob in the middle of your handwheel, and without the clutch your machine would be nowhere near as user-friendly as it is. That upping-and-downing is the motion, which you stop by unscrewing the stop motion clamp screw when you want to wind a bobbin. As you take the chromed knob off, one of two things will happen.