Happiness Through Sewing
Shortening a skirt is pretty straight forward. Fold up the appropriate amount of excess skirt at the hem. Trim off any fabric that is more than you need for turning under a new hem and hem it. My skirt, too long as it was, could not be taking up at the bottom for it had […] Read more…
Mend It Better by Kristin M. Roach I picked up this book from my local library. The title caught my eye. Mending? That’s not very trendy or glamorous. Up-cycling is trendy. Fixing what you already own? Not so much. This book is full of practical tips and instructions. It also has projects, like a pouch […] Read more…
I saw via my Pinterest account, a tutorial on non slip headbands. I’ve always liked the look of headbands but I was always so disappointed in them whenever I tried to wear one. They either started to give me head ache, dug into the spot behind my ears or constantly slipped off my head. This […] Read more…
My mom just scanned this photo of me at age two getting into her sewing box. I was always a big help. Read more…
I made the orange skirt without a commercial pattern. I based it off the brown skirt which I had bought years ago. I like the way the brown skirt fits and thought how hard would it be to copy it? It’s simply constructed with ten identical panels, a side zipper and a 2″ facing at […] Read more…
Did you know that when you hand baste anything, any stitch (tailor baste stitch shown in picture) that you do not need to tie a knot in your thread? Just leave a long enough tail (3″) so you don’t accidentally pull out the first stitch when making subsequent stitches. By leaving off the knot you […] Read more…
Darts are magical. They make a flat piece of fabric take shape. They can blend in to the garment or stand out as a design feature. I admire a well placed dart. I do not like a pointy dart, or one with a pucker and those boo – boos can easily happen to your darts […] Read more…
I’ve started a new project; a summer top. It has four darts in the front and two in the back. Tailor tacks are what you’re supposed to use to transfer dart markings from the pattern to the fabric. However, I think Tailor Tack Lite* (TM 😉 work just as great Tailor tacks are more secure […] Read more…
I’ve been working on a quilt the last two weeks. I’m not a quilter but I do love playing with color. I made this as a gift for a soon to be new mom. This quilt is larger than the suggested crib size. I know this new baby’s baby cousin will be spending time visiting […] Read more…
Recently a young friend of mine showed me a dress she bought second hand. This rayon floral dress featured two strong design elements. The first a corseted center front, purely decorative with a self fabric tie. The second feature was an exposed, silver toothed, zipper along the center back seam from top to hem. The […] Read more…