Great Instructions for Beginning Hand Sewing

 

Check out this great tutorial at Sew, Mama, Sew.  It teaches Hand Quilting, but it starts with the most important and basics of steps—knotting the thread in your need. 

Easy Pillowcases

This is a pattern I teach all my new sewing students, no matter their age.  It’s a great way to practice sewing a straight seam and it’s so much fun to see the finished project.  If you’ve never made a pillowcase with these instructions, the middle steps are going to seem quite strange.  Just trust me.  It works.   You can find the instructions here.

Girls’ Sewing Class

Girls Sewing Class

in the Shreveport/Bossier City area

for those finishing 1st – 4th grades

learn to make a pillowcase and an elastic waist skirt with trim

June 1-3

2-5pm

contact me for more information.

A New Tutorial Page

Check out the new link at the top of my page!

Great Tutorials

This page is a list of tutorials on my site (and others), like this one showing you how to make a vinyl beach bag.

 

Fun Beginner Patterns

Looking for a project perfect for a beginner?  Try one of these:

 

Two great things about this pattern: 

The instructions are written for a brand some one brand new to sewing.

The pattern teaches you how to embellish your skirt—something most “learner” patterns leave off!

 

This purse would be perfect for the summer.  This pattern is designed to teach you how to sew.

If you looking for easy home dec projects to get you started, try these Sewing For Dummies patterns.

 

Happy Sewing!

 

The Easy Way to Gather Fabric

This is not the way I’d teach you to gather fabric if you took my sewing class.  This is not the way most authors would tell you how to gather fabric.  But…if I have a long ruffle to gather, you can just about bet, this is how I will gather the fabric.

I’m showing you how I gather fabric with my computerized machine.

1.  Place fabric under needle and lower presser foot.  Take one stitch and then backstitch.
2.  Set your stitch length to the longest setting possible.  Tighten your top thread tension as much as possible.  If you have a manual machine, just turn your stitch length dial to the longest setting.  You may also have to Increase you tension on your upper thread tension dial.
3.  Stitch and watch your fabric gather on its own.  At the end of your fabric, do not backstitch.
4..  Remove your fabric from your machine and adjust your gathers according to the length you need.  To tighten the gathers even more, gently pull the top thread.

I find that using this method on my machine gathers my fabric to about 1/3 its original length.  It is easy to tug it as tight as 1/6 the original length.

Easy, isn’t it?  The most important step is still to come: 

Do not forget to reset your thread tension to its usual setting.

Happy gathering!

Upcoming Sewing Classes in the Shreveport Area

For Kids

June 1-3 Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday Mornings	Beginning Sewing For Girls (1st thru 4th grade)	Email for Details
June 7-28 Monday Mornings	Sleepover Sewing (Beginning Sewing for 10 and Up)	LSU-S
June 24-25 Thursday, Friday Mornings	The Next Step Sewing (1st thru 4th grade)	Email for Details
July 1 Thursday Morning	Sewing your Bedroom Basics (Pillows, Curtains, etc.)	LSU-S
July 19-23 Monday-Friday Afternoons	Wardrobe Re-Fashion for Tweens	LSU-S

For Adults

June 8-29 Tuesday Mornings	Needles, Nuts and Bolts (Beginning Sewing)	LSU-S
June 8-29 Tuesday Evenings	Shirt Making	LSU-S
June 26 Saturday	Purses	LSU-S
July 6-27 Tuesday Mornings	Sew More (Beginning Sewing II)	LSU-S
July 6-27 Tuesday Evenings	Needles, Nuts and Bolts (Beginning Sewing)	LSU-S
July 9-10 Friday and Saturday All Day	Sewing Workshop:  Christmas in July	LSU-S
July 26 Monday Afternoon	Sergers	LSU-S
August 2 Monday Morning	Knits	LSU-S
August 5-26 Thursday Evenings	Refashion and Alterations	LSU-S
August 7-14 Saturday Mornings	Sew More (Beginning Sewing II)	LSU-S

A Handy Resource

Ever wondered what exactly “four-way stretch” means on the back of that pattern envelope.  What about “chintz”, “faille”, or “tricot knit”?  Check out FabricLink’s Textile Dictionary.