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Comprehensive clothing construction tutorials, free pattern drafting guides, and creative fabric embellishment techniques for home sewists.
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Sew GuideA button stand is needed as a stable base to attach buttons on the front of your garment as well as to give your buttonhole the needed strength to withstand the pull of the buttons. There are more than one way of sewing these stands, including just folding the center fabric edge…
Sew GuideA boxed corner is all about making a flat fabric to its 3-D avatar. With just a few stitches, a two-dimensional piece of cloth is manipulated into a form with depth, volume, and structure – a flat square becomes a little box. Like this one….. And many more. To sew this, you need…
Sew GuideWhen I was making bag handles earlier for my bags, I would consistently make fabric tubes and just turn them right side out by the dozen and edge stitch them to make fabric straps. Then I realised that there is more than one way of making those straps. And that the fabric straps…
Sew GuideI recently tried watercolor embroidery after discovering it on Instagram. It’s simply a combination of watercolor painting and hand embroidery, but the effect is striking. Instead of stitching on plain fabric, you first create your own watercolor-painted background and then…
Sew GuideThere are 2 ways to use your phone or tablet as a DIY light box-To trace a paper design and to trace a digital embroidery design. I use the second method – because then you have an unlimited choice of designs. Almost any image can be turned into an embroidery design and…
Sew GuideI love all kinds of printing on textiles and love all things sustainable and also love all things botanical (read: looking at flowers). So it was a given that I would also love eco-printing. But… reality proved to be a bit more nuanced than “love.” “Passable,” more like. Maybe…
Sew GuideMost of the zippers you buy for your sewing project come with built-in hardware that stop the slider and prevent it from coming off. However, zipper lengths rarely match your project exactly and when you shorten the zipper by cutting off the ends, it makes sense to prettyfy the…
Sew GuideDon't buy Organic Fabric until you understand these Fabric Certifications - Find Safe, Sustainable Fabrics for Sewing
Sew GuideThere is a reason why people with Large Thighs struggle to find Jeans that fit
Sew GuideEmbroidery machine embroidered letters – it is a no brainer. If your embroidery machine is good enough and the file is optimised for stitching well, you are guaranteed beautiful looking letters on your t-shirts in no time. But what if you don’t have an embroidery machine. How to…
Sew GuideAny one who has a home sewing machine will have a zig zag stitch and any one with a zig zag machine can make satin stitch applique – And, Satin Stitch Applique is considered as the holy grail of applique technique. But, it is not a matter of just “keep your fabric on top of ...
Sew GuideTo tell you the truth, I have a love-hate relationship with cotton knits. I do not have a serger and with experience, I will compare them to a “toxic ex” – who we know will cause drama and trauma, but we keep going back because they make you look good. There is a saying in ...
Sew GuideTo tell you the truth, the headline I wrote is a little misleading. There is no way that you can add studs to clothes without leaving holes. But there are methods you can follow to minimize the damage. And the beauty of studs and the way light reflects off them may make you…
Sew GuideThe printable water-soluble stabilizer works like this—take the designs you have for hand embroidery, print them directly onto those sheets, and then cut them out. Peel the backing from your design, and place it on your fabric. No tracing. No messy lines. Just embroider over it.…
Sew GuideThe days are not far off when you will look at a flower and you will be able to print out the line design for it. The way technology is progressing, this is entirely possible, even if you want to brush it aside for now. But as it is now, for you and me, finding ...
Sew GuideIsn’t it weird that you can leave holes in your jeans as they are and no one will think you’re strange? Can you say that about any other clothing? But the funny thing is, there are some people who think it’s weird that there are still people who prefer their jeans without holes.…
Sew GuideIf you do not like the plain look of normal fabric edges, nothing like beads to add some drama. But not all fabrics are best for this edge finish. Before you start, the most important step is choosing the right fabric for the beads you plan to use. This is always a pet peeve of…
Sew GuideOmbre refers to the gradual blending of one color to another or a gradual change of light color to dark – imagine colors fading into each other. This shading mimics a lot of colors in the nature and is used in textile design to add visual depth. You just have to design your…
Sew GuideA bellows pocket is a perfect storage pocket with a gusset on the side. But how roomy can a jeans pocket be. Well, as roomy as it can be. There is a way, to turn it into an expandable bellows pocket. Yes, you make a little alteration to the jeans pocket and it turns into ...
Sew GuideWhat can you make with this thin sliver of a ribbon, which looks almost like thick thread? Well, a lot, apparently. This is why they say, NEVER underestimate anything and anyone. These thin ribbons are great to decorate clothes and fabric. Because they are narrow and flexible,…
Sew GuideIt is heartbreaking when the fabric you bought -bwith so much self-doubt and the potential for looks of disdain from the rest of the family and whatnot – turns out not to be in the prime condition you thought it was! I am not talking about tears, rips, and holes caused by wear…