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15 things home sewers can learn from industrial sewing

15 things home sewers can learn from industrial sewing
Today, we have a very special guest post from local sewing legend, Sharon Blair. Sharon runs Portland Sewing, where she and her faculty teach a wide range of classes including industrial techniques. I had the pleasure of meeting Sharon recently and asked her to fill us in on some tips home sewers can take away from industry practices. -Sarai image: industrial sewing machine by kerem79 I like to sew. That’s what sewing with an industrial machine can do for you. But there are many other techniques from the industry you can use to improve your sewing and the look of your garments without buying the machine. Change your seam allowances. There are so many other fun and interesting techniques to use when making a professional garment. About Sharon: Fashion entrepreneur, designer and writer Sharon Blair studied couture sewing in Paris.

Sandpaper Printed T-shirt Kids Craft This is a super simple sandpaper printing technique that will keep your kids busy and make one cute shirt! The best part about this fun little craft is that the supplies were bought at the Dollar Store, even the T-shirt! We used crayons we already had so we only spent $2.00 on our new T-shirt. Supplies for Sandpaper Prints good quality crayons, a t-shirt, iron and fine sandpaper. Directions for Making a Sandpaper Printed T-shirt Color a fun design on the sandpaper. Place a piece of cardboard inside the t-shirt to keep the design from bleeding through to the back of the shirt. Place a piece of parchment paper or paper towel on top of the sandpaper to protect the iron. Remove the sandpaper. To set the color, place a couple of paper towels on top of the design and iron.

DIY Fashion: Screen Print Tee The life of a college student involves attending many events, from parties, to football games, to concerts on campus. And what better way to celebrate these monumental events – and show off your school spirit – than with a custom screenprinted shirt? Using an old shirt and some fabric paint, you can create a custom screenprinted shirt proclaiming your love for your school, your football team, or whatever suits your fancy. What you’ll need: Shirt, hoodie, or whatever else you want to screen printFabric paintFreezer paperIronExacto knifeRulerCardboardSpongePencilMarkerPrinter paperPlastic plate How to: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. This DIY is something that can be easily translated for almost any event – the possibilities are endless! What do you think? Will you be making your own screen print tee? Posted on on August 9, 2012 / Filed Under: Fashion Tips / Tags: DIY, DIY fashion, Do-it-yourself, fabric paint, Featured, How To, Screenprint, T Shirt, Tutorials

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Ladies Who Lunch All my closest friends know that I (Chanel) am forever on the search for the perfect, chic lunch box. And believe it or not, a lot of the prettiest and well-designed carriers out there are super expensive. So with this personal challenge in mind and with Picnic Week in the air, I was inspired to create my very own reusable lunch bag. Taking my pattern directly from the handy-dandy, classic paper lunch sacks that I predict will be around forever and ever, I put together this canvas version that’s reusable, washable and most of all, super pretty. canvaslunch sackpencil or fabric chalkstitching awlwaxed thread (I got this great multicolored spool at Tandy)2 needlesscissorsmatches or a lighter 1. 6. *tip: for a video demonstration on how to hand stitch like this, refer to this tutorial. *photos by Camille

beltmaking 101 Finally–the long-awaited beltmaking tutorial! way I make my fabric-covered belts has been learned from a mix of trial-and-error and vintage manuals. The supplies are simple, and making a simple pass-through belt is quite easy. I have, however, included instructions for how to add a pronged buckle to a belt and add eyelets. I hope you enjoy, and as usual feel free to ask any questions in the comments! Supplies: 1″ wide stiff belting (available at JoAnns), 1/4 yard fabric at least 45″ wide, buckle for 1″ belt (see sources at the end), pattern paper, thread, scissors, ruler, pins. Begin by measuring your waist and adding 6″ to 8″ inches to the length (I tend to err on the side of more, especially for a belt using a pronged buckle). Cut the belting the length of your waist plus the extra. Using the paper pattern, cut one layer of your fabric. Fold the fabric around the belting, wrong sides out. Gently work the seam to the center of the belting width, and press seam open.

How to make your own dress form When starting on the wonderful and exciting journey of making your own clothes or altering old ones there is one thing you will definitely need to make your job easier...that is a dress form. There are many tutorials on the web but the best one I found is the one I am going to share with you. The source is but the tutorial is in German so I am going to make a short presentation in English, although the pictures speak pretty much for themselves. Here is what you will need: pillow filling for stuffing out your formscissorsmetal base2-3 rolls of tapecardboardan old hip-length T-shirtfoil (for the neck) take on the T-shirt and wrap your neck in foil to protect it then take the following steps one by one in wrapping the tape. and the end result is pretty good! Now you have your dress form and can start working on your most exciting sewing projects!

Recycled Grocery Totes Ready to go green? Then say goodbye to your old grocery bags by melting them into something cute. Afterall, plastic is the new plastic, right? Skill Level: Beginner to IntermediateNeeded: * plastic grocery bags (Target bags work best)* Parchment Paper* Fabric for handles and decor (optional)* IronWe’ll be fusing layers of old grocery bags together to create a stronger “fabric” for our new bags. Let’s get started! 1. I guess Target needs to add #6. I chose to only use the white portion of my bags. Cut the bottom, top and sides off of your bag. Lay the long rectangular sheet flat. This is the tricky part, so I won’t sugar coat it. I found that the best way is to start at the bottom and press the iron up, to get any air bubbles out. When you’re all done, it should look like this, a large sheet of plastic: Continue the process so that you have sheets of this new “fabric” to work with. 2. Cut out your bag pieces using a rotary cutter, cutting mat, and ruler. 3. 4. 5. And….you’re done!

Sleeves, Necklines, Collars, and Dress Types | She's in Fashion I’ve recently ventured into drafting patterns starting from my basic bodice and skirt sloper. The fit issues are minimal, since the sloper is made skin tight. Design ease is added as you go along. I found these reference pictures useful for ideas on basic sleeves, necklines, collars, and dress types. Pajama Eaters – Downloadable Pattern | Sew Fearless There are few new additions to our household. Each of these helpful and huggable creatures lives on a small bed, and has quite an appetite for clean-but-not-squeeky pajamas. We feed them every morning and they give back the jammies at night. Isn’t that nice of them? We call them our Pajama Eaters. Project Materials For this project you will need: 1 yard of fabric (42″ wide) for the monster’s body and limbsA fat quarter (18″ x 22″), or 1/2 yard cut of fabric for the mouth and pillow liningFabric scraps for applique eyes and for the soles of the feet9″ x 12″ sheet of white felt for teeth12″ zipper that matches the mouth fabricFiber-fillSewable iron-on adhesive like Heat ‘n’ Bond Lite for the eye appliquesmatching threadsThe Usual Sewing Implements – sewing machine, pins, hand sewing needle, scissors, etc I used quilter’s cotton to make the monsters pictured (except the hot pink material is corduroy). Download the Pattern and Directions This pattern has been moved to my pattern shop!

Painted Upholstery – The Process Revealed (Tutorial) *NOTE – There are other examples of painted upholstery (mostly from readers) on the Chairs page at the top of the blog. In addition, there are other upholstery painting methods on that page, if you are interested. I recently painted an upholstered chair and have been asked about the process. Below are before and after photos: And, here it is after 15 months. Why would I do this? So, how could I do this cheaper? I REALLY wanted a chair like in my inspiration photo. The wing back and the vibrant teal color were important elements of my master bedroom story board. Then, I had an epiphany. After a day or two of getting my ducks in a row as far as a plan was concerned, I purchased this chair on Craigslist. It was in perfect condition. I began the painting process. Materials needed: 1 Quart of latex satin paint in the color of your choice (I just got word that though Valspar called it latex, this paint is acrylic. Note: The fabric medium is white and could lighten your paint color a bit. 2. 3. 4.

Simply Color by Vanessa Christenson for Moda: Coin Purse If we must say so ourselves (and sometimes we must), these little coin purses are about as adorable as they come! Not only do they get five stars on the cuteness chart, they are super easy to make. Make one for yourself (because you deserve it!), then make a bundle for your friends. They are the perfect fast and fun gift. Fill them with coins and gift cards, tasty treats or other little goodies. We loved working with Simply Color, and getting to know Vanessa, and think you will too. Make sure you come back each day this week for more inspiration and information... and coming up on Friday, a Great Giveaway from Moda. Any Sewing Machine (we recommend the Janome Decor Computer 2012) Ingredients shown below are for ONE coin purse Pleated accent with decorative stitching Find the 2¾" x 22" strip.Make a ⅛" double-turn hem along each 22" side of the strip. Purse body assembly Pin the pleated purse front and the plain purse back to a matching piece of batting. Contributors Tags: Section:

Anthro-Inspired Mirror You all know we love a good Anthropologie knockoff around here – so a couple of days ago when I was browsing online I came across this mirror. Oh I definitely need that. Hold the presses – did that say $498??? Huh. So after scouring the thrift shops, cutting myself on mirror glass, and overcoming an unreasonable fear of Mod Podge, here is my version! (Bear with me here – taking a picture of a mirror is a bit tricky. Ready for the tutorial? You’ll need: A MirrorEasy Off Oven CleanerFabric (enough to cover the frame and the back of the mirror)Mod PodgeA Staple Gun or other framing tool I went searching for a method to removing silvering and came across a great tutorial at Mitzi’s Collectibles. I started with a frame that I found at the thrift store. Obviously not clean. We actually had to ask on this one – because it just said 1951. $19.51 seemed way to high – and it was. Start by taking your mirror out of the frame. Lay your mirror down on a protected surface. Now walk away. Keep scrubbing.

DIY Sharpie Tie Die I love this Sharpie tie die DIY from The Art Girl Jackie blog! She did it with her adorable daughter and I think it’s a fun inspiration for this Spring and upcoming music festival season. Use this technique to spruce up your ratty t-shirts or maybe a pair of of cut off shorts. What You Need: Pre-washed white or light colored t-shirtRubbing AlcoholLiquid dropper or medicine dropperSmall plastic cup(s)Rubber bandsVariety of colored Sharpies Do It! Choose a spot to start and put your cup in right side up and secure a rubber band around the cup rim holding the shirt tightly in place.Pick your colors and create a small design in the center of the stretched circle. Photos and DIY via The Art Girl Jackie

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