Happiness Through Sewing
If you’ve sewn more than a dozen patterns I bet this has happened to you. It’s completely frustrating and this time it’s not your sewing skills or lack of attention that caused it. It’s your commercial pattern. It wasn’t trued. A true pattern is a pattern that all seams fit perfectly together as you would […] Read more…
1. It’s a Needle, Not a Harpoon Use the smallest needle for the weight of your fabric. Smaller needles give you better control over your stitches. Heavier weight and tighter weave fabrics need a strong needle but still choose the smallest strong needle you have. 2. Darker Thread Blends in Better When choosing which color […] Read more…
Summer to me means new skirts. I like wearing skirts in the warm weather as much as I love wearing cardigans in the cooler weather – a lot. Usually, I buy a new skirt from Boden at the beginning of spring. The prints are really fun, they’re well made and they’re lined, which wasn’t a […] Read more…
It’s a beautiful world after all. I recently went to visit my parents. At the last-minute, before leaving my home, I grabbed my wool coat just to show my mom. I knew she would be interested in seeing it even though I wasn’t happy with it. I had room in the car so why not […] Read more…
After sewing the coat that turned out to be unflattering, I wanted to sew something fun, kinda’ easy, and where success is a pretty sure thing. Ah, pot holders. I’ve made pot holders as gifts with themed fabric picked just for the recipient. I’ve made them as a class fund raiser using muslin the students potato […] Read more…
I “finished” the coat about two weeks ago. But it wasn’t what I hoped it would be so I wasn’t excited to share. However, I had put a lot of time, effort and money into the project, the sewing was flawless (flawless, I tell you) and it was cold outside so I was going to […] Read more…
I couldn’t believe the difficulty I had with these patch pockets. Patch pockets, right? Easiest pockets there are but not this time. Here are my four stumbling blocks; First, I lost motivation. I had to stop sewing completely for a week as we went away for the holiday. Second, placement of the pockets was difficult […] Read more…
You know how pattern directions always tell you to clip the seam allowance of a corner off? Well their method of one snip across the corner works okay but this is what I learned in my first semester in Fashion Design classes. It’s that basic. You need to know this and it’s so simple you […] Read more…
My friend Shannon is teaching herself how to sew. She’s not using a book. She’s not using patterns. She’s altering cast off clothing into new garments of her own design. I love her fearlessness. Read more…
Wool is one of my favorite fabrics to sew. It’s so easy and pliable, and as a finished garment, holds up well. Wool comes in all different weights and weaves and blends. My coat fabric is wool and alpaca. It has a pile and is heavy and thick enough for a coat. (This is why […] Read more…