The thought of making your own patterns can be daunting. After all, it looks complicated at times. I remember wanting to learn patternmaking so bad, before so much information was available on the Internet. Actually, before the Internet existed. (How did we ever live without it?) I knew one person who knew how to make […]
5 DIY Dress Form Tutorials for Solo Fitting
A dress form can be a life saver when you have to do fittings for yourself, by yourself. Especially if it’s a duplicate of your body and shape. But a custom made dress form is expensive. Unless you make it yourself, that is. And according to the Internet, there are many different ways to make […]
20 Mistakes Sewing Beginners Make
Hello Everyone! In September I went back to the basics of patternmaking with 2 posts on budget-friendly patternmaking tools. This month I want to deal with sewing by helping my sewing friends, who are beginners, avoid some time and money wasting situations. Sewing is one of my favorite things to do, and I want it to be one […]
Patternmaking Tools that Won’t Break Your Budget, Part 2
Hello, Everyone! Here I am again getting back to the basics (this is Part 2) with the last 3 of 7 patternmaking tools that I started talking about in my previous post. You can read about and watch the video of the first 4 tools I discussed in Part 1, if you missed it. As I mentioned […]
Patternmaking Tools that Won’t Break Your Budget, Part 1
Hi, Everyone! I’m going back to the basics with this post and the next one (Part 2). For some of you, this will be a refresher on patternmaking tools. For those of you new to patternmaking, this will be new information. But whatever your patternmaking skill level, you don’t have to have the most expensive […]
Web Site Video Tour
Hi, Everyone! I just wanted to do a quick video tour of my new Web site, just in case you haven’t had a chance to explore yet. I want to make it as easy as possible for you to get around. I hope you like my new digs as much as I do. I can’t […]
Web Site Makeover
Sometimes change is hard, even when it’s necessary. I tried to put this off as long as I could, but the truth is – it’s time. It’s time for my Web site to get a new look! So although the technical things that could go wrong make me very nervous about this Web site change […]
10 Sewing Mistakes That Will Make Your Clothes Look Homemade
Handmade clothing is good. Clothes that look homemade-not so much. Why? Because in sewing the word homemade is usually associated with poor quality. It can refer to the way the garment is sewn or a poor choice in fabric, to the way the garment fits. Today, I’m going to talk about 10 sewing mistakes that will definitely give your clothes a homemade look.
Choose the Right Fabric
You altered your pattern until you got the fit you wanted. You cut each piece carefully, making sure to follow the pattern layout to avoid any mishaps. You took extra care in sewing each piece using techniques that would give it a professional look. Then why did it still end up in the “ain’t never […]
How to Fix a Gaping Neckline
In my patternmaking book, Patternmaking Made Easy, Connie Crawford says an adjustment must be made to prevent gaping when lowering the neckline more than 2″ from the original jewel neckline. Have you ever had this problem? Well, today I’m going to show you how to fix a gaping neckline on your sewing pattern.