Back tack or knot? Both secure your machine stitching at the beginning and end of a chain of stitches. Back tacking is quickly done with the sewing machine and knotting is hand tying the threads together much like hand stitching is secured. To back tack simply sew over the first couple of stitches twice. This […] Read more…
Dressing Downton: Downton Abbey Costumes at the Biltmore House
Do you watch Downton Abbey? I do andĀ I can’t seem to stop. I know it’s just a dressed up soap but it’s exactly because it is “dressed up” that I’m beyond hooked. Yesterday I was able to see in person some of the costumes from the show at the exhibition, “Dressing Downton; Changing Fashions for […] Read more…
A Review of McCall’s 4116; An Easy to Sew Head Scarf
My friend has started chemotherapy treatments and will soon lose her hair. I wanted to help more than just visiting a couple times (we live 458 miles apart) so I asked if I could make her some head scarves or hats. The answer was yes but the style was completely up to me to choose. […] Read more…
How to Patch a Hole so it Disappears
Look what I found; two holes in my cotton skirt. Holes too big to ignore or stitch up with a little thread. And this skirt, a Boden skirt, is too dear to me to throw away or use for parts. I wasn’t sure how to patch it in a subtle manner without having any matching […] Read more…
Japanese Style Smock Apron to Sew
This is where I started; with a picture I saw on Pinterest. A simple smock apron of linen. A catalog item no longer available. This is what I figured out on my own the first go around. But I really wanted an apron more like the one I had found on Pinterest. So I made […] Read more…
Mistakes Will Be Made and Even Repeated
I haven’t posted in a while. I had a sewing set back followed by a few days away from home. I’ve been back home for a while now. Still, the cause of the setback, a simple one, is haunting me. I made a mistake. I’ve never been known as a perfectionist – fearing failure is […] Read more…
No More Sloppy Back Pockets
Does this drive anybody else crazy? The welts on a double welt pocket should lay flat against the garment. Welt pockets that gap open permanently in a twisted way look sloppy. Having two twisted, gaping, horizontal lines across one’s backside isn’t stylish or flattering. What really drives me crazy though is that more and more […] Read more…
How To Easily Fix Baggy Pants
There is a fine line between stylishly baggy pants and sloppy, frumpy, baggy pants. And I think the line has a lot to do with, not the pattern, but your body. The younger and fitter someone is the more they can look cute, perhaps even fashionable, in loose fitting clothing. Well, I’m no longer young […] Read more…
Happiness Through Sewing: Even When You Don’t Feel Like It
Two years ago I started strength training. As with anything new the gains come quickly in the beginning and then plateaus and even setbacks due to sickness and stress can happen. Recently the coaches have started programingĀ “recovery workouts” for clients to do when they are a little sore but not ill, or their muscles […] Read more…
Easy to Make Linen Apron
This version of my back cross apron is more what I was going for. (See my first version of the apron here: “Easy to Make, Back Cross Strap Apron“). It is made of linen but still only a yard of fabric. The drape is so much nicer than the quilting cotton. The basic construction is […] Read more…