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Making Your Own Pattern: a tutorial

Making Your Own Pattern: a tutorial
Patterns aren't cheap. Seriously, I was browsing through through the look books at Hobby Lobby the other day and some of them were as much as $20. Tack that on to the price of fabric and other supplies and suddenly sewing your own clothing becomes very expensive. Thankfully, you can make your own patterns using your own clothing that you know to fit well. I'll show you how to make a simple blouse pattern using a top of my own. I used Scotch Postal Wrapping Paper as my pattern paper. I used paper because I like to lay my pattern piece down and trace the shape directly onto my fabric. Muslin fabric is another great material that would allow you to pin the pattern piece to your fabric. Lay your garment down on the paper and determine the middle of the top. Mark right above the collar and right below the hem. Draw a rough outline of one half of the top. When you get to the sleeve, do your best to fold it back so that you just see the armhole. Now for the sleeves. *Update*

Circle skirt calculator – for the drafting of full, half and 3/4 skirts. With bonus grading worksheet! | The Snug Bug Special Sunday greetings you naked molerats! Since you’re so naked, I thought you might want to make yourselves some nice little circle skirts. And perhaps, like me, you find yourself with little mole rat patterns just a touch on the small side. OK. Recently I’ve been plotting about two separate circle-skirt related issues in my head. For molerats who are unfamiliar with circle skirts, here’s the difference between the three styles. For a much more interesting comparison, here’s a full circle skirt. {image Whirling Turban} Here’s the oh, so lovely three-quarter circle skirt. And a slightly pixelated half circle skirt… {image Get Go Retro} The other circle-skirt related problem I’ve been mulling over has to do with grading up circle skirts. OK, I admit I usually grade up my circle skirts the ‘wrong’ way. My problem is (hopefully) solved! I made two little handy tools this morning – they both live in the same Excel file – in fact, in the same sheet! Okee dokee. Whew! OK! There we have it!

Sewing Helpers: {Tips & Resources Home / Crafts / Sewing Helpers: {Tips & Resources} Here’s a page full of several basic but helpful tips and tutorials for beginner sewers (and some great resources for those more experienced too!). You’ll find zipper installation helpers, tips for making your own bias tape, hemming methods, how to make pockets and bound buttonholes plus a whole lot more. Enjoy! Zipper Installation *Published May 18, 2011 and moved to this page for better organization Does sewing with zippers terrify you? Learn How To Install A Zipper With These Handy Tutorials Basic Installation: Recommends using a zipper foot, this type of install is one of the most common methods and is suitable for many types of projects. Tips & Tricks Guide To Zippers: This is a great resource from Sew, Mama, Sew! Bias Tape *First published November 23, 2011 and moved to this page for better organization You can buy bias tape in a wide assortment of colors, but sometimes you want to use something a little more special for a project.

: Ghost-in-a-box I schemed up these little guys a while back, and a whole flock of them will be in the shop update on Tuesday. Back to work on dolls and such! Have a Happy Weekend, and I'll be back with more very soon. xoxo Beginner's Bias Tape Bag with Free Downloadable Pattern I promised you this free downloadable bag pattern when we offered up the Simplicity Bias Tape Maker Giveaway as a great first project for your Homemade Bias Tape, so here goes… I’ve made a couple so far, and I usually don’t like fabric bags (i’m a leather lover) but I actually adore these for summer. They are super quick to whip up (under an hour) and are also reversible, so you can get a couple different looks in one swoop. You could also use store-bought bias tape, like I did for the big one (oh, and you can blow up or shrink the pattern to make different sizes – Scarlet’s been using the littler one as her lunch bag). Either way I think it’s a sweet & simple summery project. Get the full Beginner’s Bias Tape Bag Tutorial and free downloadable pattern after the jump…Beginner’s Bias Tape BagThe smaller version is made with the following fabrics: Bias Tape – Heather Bailey Washday Ticking in Dandelion, Amy Butler Sweet Jasmine in Navy, and Kei Barkcloth Woodcut in Teal. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Design*Sponge » Blog Archive » sewing 101: making a pouf Add a burst of color to your room with this crafty pouf! At 17” wide and 10” deep, it’s large enough to serve as floor seating or a foot stool. (And if you have pets, I have a feeling they may want to make this their new favorite spot!) This project is a little challenging to sew, but it’s not too difficult, so if you’re comfortable with the basics of sewing, give it a try. You can make a colorwheel effect with a range of solid colors, or choose a variety of patterned fabrics for a louder patchwork effect. Medium-weight cottons work well for this design (check out quilting shops for great selections of solids and prints). I love the idea of making a set of these poufs in a range of sizes, for a sculptural stack of cushions that will become a room element in their own right. CLICK HERE for the full how-to after the jump! Finished Dimensions: 17” diameter by 10” tall What You’ll Need ¼ yard each 12 coordinating fabrics (I used quilting cottons) 1 yard muslin 3 pounds fiberfill stuffing iron 1.

The Promised Skirt Hemming Tutorial Step 1. Choose a good skirt to work with. This particular technique works best with wool-like skirts. Step 2. Step 3. Step 4. Step 5. Step 6. Step 7. Step 8. Step 9. Step 10. Step 11. Your final folding should look like this. Step 12. The key to getting a good blind hem is to barely catch the edge of the folded fabric. Step 13. All right, that's it. Edit: If you hem a skirt using this tutorial, be sure to let me know. tutorial: light drape cardigan Drastic changes in temperature drive me insane. Stepping outside an airconditioned mall to the taxi stand will have me sweating seven ways to Sunday. Conversely, if I step inside a freezing room from somewhere warm, my tummy will do sommersaults. Or I’ll get a migraine. Because I seem to have an old lady’s body, I needed a light cardigan. I made a DIY cardigan, of course. [wp_ad_camp_1] 1. 2. 3. Sewing: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Styling possibilities of your fun DIY drape cardigan: LINKY LOVE: Tatertots and Jello, Sassy Sites, Hope Studios, A Bowl Full of Lemons

Tutorial and Pattern: Rainbow Sunshine Plushie (and a little fair[l]y [ugly] tale about patents) I want to begin this tutorial with a little story. One day there was a little organic cotton rainbow be-ribbonedplushie that was sketched and then stitched with love in a very messy upstairs room in a home somewhere in Minneapolis. It was a happy little plushie, made all the more so by the creation of its 3 identical siblings who sat on a sunny windowsill with the little plushie, keeping it company. Three of these four happy little plushies were placed in an Etsy shop, where they could be adopted by a good family, where they might be mooshed and drooled on and thrown over the sides of a crib and loved by a baby new to this world, much like the little plushies. They sat in that little shop, anxiously awaiting their new family for not much more than a week, when suddenly a nasty, ugly, bullying corporate lawyer informed them they could not be placed for adoption because apparently they were infringing upon some stupid, damn patent or other.

Travel Accessories: Plenty of Pockets Tote When you're on the road, doesn't it always seems to be the ordinary, everyday things you are suddenly in desperate need of: gum, nail clippers, your headphones? I get a little panicky, certain I've left behind the most obvious items... as if perhaps I'm on an arctic expedition and won't see civilization for weeks. But the opportunity for replenishment doesn't matter; I want my stuff close at hand. That's the theory behind our handsome travel tote: plenty o' pockets to stash all your stuff. We offer a full set of pattern downloads below for the tote body as well as all the pockets. We recommend using a twin needle to do the decorative stitching on this project. Our tote uses a heavy, solid-color duck for the exterior, a fabric that is readily available at numerous outlets, including this pretty 7 oz. duck in brown from Fabric. com. The finished size of the tote is approximately 12½" tall x 11½" wide with 2" deep sides and base. Contributors Storage Solutions Related Articles

Tutorial: Sprocket Pillows These are my favorite new pillows. They are fast and unbelievably easy to make…and I hope you love them as much as I do. I did my best to simplify the instructions/pattern so they are beginner friendly, and super fun to make. If you’ve never worked with a template or curves, and your nervous about it…these pillows are a perfect place to start. The only problem with them is that you can’t make just one…trust me …I tried. There are pattern templates for two sizes: Click the link below to download the pattern templates *For best results, print the templates directly from google docs (click file on the left and print). ** Please do not re-post the link to these templates on your own website! You will also need: Large fabric scraps for the top wedges, a 5" x width of fabric strip for the middle (plus a little extra for the large size), a fat quarter for the back, a bag of poly-fill stuffing, and a button and thread for the center. Let’s get started!!!! 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13.

10 Beautiful Fabric Flower Tutorials It is spring! If the flowers are not blooming yet here is a round-up of awesome tutorials to help you make your own flowers! Here you will find 10 beautiful fabric flowers, but don’t miss these five fabric flower tutorials! 1. How to make lovely fabric flowers 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. ..And how about updating your spring wardrobe with this beautiful rolled rose bracelet. 10. Just had to add one more! 11. If you need more flowers don’t miss the round-up of crochet flower tutorials and these darling fabric flowers!

Free Patterns For all of my fellow frugal crafters out there, I've collected a bunch of vintage or vintage-inspired free sewing, knitting and crochet patterns for you! I find new patterns all the time so this list will be updated constantly, so do check back! If you posted a free pattern to share that isn't listed here, please leave a link in a comment below. Also check out my Pinterest board, "Sew Vintage" for more beautiful free vintage sewing patterns and check the bottom of this page for free vintage millinery book downloads! Patterns from Va-Voom Vintage 60 + Free Vintage Sewing Patterns Please note: some of these patterns were posted ages ago and the blogs have since been shut down or taken over by someone else using the old domain but the patterns are still available through Pinterest or the Wayback Machine. Dresses Skirts, Pants and Shorts Tops Outerwear Lingerie and Foundations Accessories, Swim, Playsuits and Misc. Crochet Patterns Knitting Patterns Millinery

Cloth Doll Making by Runo Dollmaker

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