sewing tutorial Archives - Page 6 of 6

The Leather Bow Belt

February 26, 2013 by girlinspired 3 Comments

Oh, hello! Guess what I have in store for you today? Another incredibly quick sew – The Leather Bow Belt. It’s awesome if I do say so myself. Head on over to I Heart Naptime for my February post and the full details on making this fun belt for yourself!!

Find The Leather Bow Belt tutorial here.

The Spring Market Tote – Tutorial

February 25, 2013 by girlinspired 20 Comments

The last week of February already, can you believe it? My daffodils are blooming, we spent the weekend outside mowing and pruning; the sunshine just has a way of lulling me outside – is it the same for you? I have been in need of some totes to lug snacks and sweatshirts and a magazine to and from all of the places I run every day with the girls. Today, I’m going to share a tutorial for a very basic oilcloth tote that you can sew up in a snap. I used oilcloth for this one, primarily because I wanted something that would be easy to wipe down and would also hold up to rain while I dash in and out during the inevitable spring showers.

Supplies

1 piece of oilcloth 36″ x 18″ (or alternately, two pieces 18″x18″)

1 piece of lining material 36″ x 18″ (or two, as above)

2 straps – 30″ each (you can use braided trim, leather straps, or make straps with fabric)

The basic construction of the tote is a cinch! You’ll simply attach your straps to each end of the oilcloth piece (the short sides). Then fold the oilcloth in half and sew up each side to form the side seams. Repeat with the lining. Square off the bottom corners of the bag to make a flat bottom. Attach the lining and main bag together, then turn and topstitch. Here’s a picture tutorial with a few more details.

And that’s it! You’ll notice that I referenced “bottom seam” in the instructions, which would apply if you are using two pieces of fabric for the main bag and two pieces for the lining. For a quicker bag, you would simply omit all references to that bottom seam and just use the one larger piece of fabric. Does that make sense (so you’ll have a bottom fold not a bottom seam)?

Okay! Now get sewing – you can have one of these puppies done in about 30 minutes. Have fun!

Rolled Hem: Sewing Basics Video Tutorial

February 19, 2013 by girlinspired 51 Comments

The rolled hem presser foot is just another amazing little device that makes my sewing life a million times easier. Using this sewing machine attachment makes hemming sheer and slippery fabrics an absolute breeze. The fabric takes very little preparation and the little foot does most of the work. Let’s dive in and learn how to sew a rolled hem.

bottom hem of a beige satin dress with rolled hem

Today, I’m hoping to share my technique to easily use this tool. I thought it would be fun to see how I perform on-screen, so….I recorded a little video tutorial. I discovered that I say “um” a lot and throw in a bunch of unnecessary pauses between my overly detailed babbling. But, I think it will give you a quick picture of how I get my special presser foot to work its magic for me. And I hope it helps you with your next tricky hem!!

Did you find the video helpful? I have a couple close up pictures below of the finished rolled hem.

rolled hem presser foot and bottom hem of a beige satin dress with rolled hem

Gathering Stitch: How to Sew Perfect Gathers and Ruffles

January 5, 2013 by girlinspired 91 Comments

I’ve had some requests recently for sewing basics so today I’d like to discuss how to sew a gathering stitch. Learning how to gather fabric is a basic sewing technique, and essential for garment sewing, but it can be challenging when you are first learning.

I would LOVE IT if you would take a few minutes to leave a comment with any sewing basics that you’d like to see here on the blog. It will obviously take some time to create a good pool of basics, but it will help to know what your interests are!

Clearly, I like a lot of ruffling to accompany “my style.” And while it may be old hat to many of you, gathering and stitching fabric can be an intimidating process for others – I know it definitely was for me when I started sewing garments! I’m going to show you the process of gathering a skirt to join it to a bodice that will give you the cleanest results with (hopefully!) the least amount of frustration and/or mess. The trick is this: sew two lines of gathering stitches, press and steam your gathers, and pin a lot!! Incorporate those three things and you’ll be good! Ready?

Prepare your skirt pieces so that they’re ready to attach to the bodice. First, you’ll sew two parallel rows of long (gathering) stitches around the top of the skirt. (Stitch length long, tension loose.)

Now, mark the center front and center back on your skirt and your bodice, and pin the two together, right sides facing, with your skirt piece facing out (so you have easy access to those bobbin threads and you can see the gathers while you’re working) Four pins total – front center, back center, side, and side. Now, start pulling your bobbin threads. Work on one section at a time. Press your gathers and shoot them with some steam while you’re working. You’ll see how this helps you to gather the fabric without it folding down and without the gathers overlapping.

Now, pin the gathered skirt to the bodice. The more pins that you use, the more even your gathers will stay when you sew the pieces together. Add more steam as needed to make sure that all the gathers are lined up nicely. Then, you’re ready to stitch the bodice to the skirt. Line up your needle so that you can stitch directly in the center of your two rows of gathering stitches. You’ll see how the two rows of stitches hold everything in place. Go slow and make sure that your gathers stay even and then your raw edges stay aligned.

close up of sewing machine foot sewing over pink fabric gathers

When you have stitched all the way around, pull out all the pins, then remove both sets of gathering stitches.

closeup of finished gathering stitch on pink fabric

Serge around the raw edge if you wish. Look how neatly it finished up that inside seam. If you do not already have a serger and you’re looking for a decent quality starter serger, I recommend this Juki serger. I used mine for years (in fact, I used it for this post when I first published it back in 2013.) I still use my Juki serger alongside my Babylock when I am doing both a coverstitch and overlock stitch on the same project and don’t want to convert my machines back and forth.

Now, press your dress open (press the seam up toward the bodice) and admire your perfectly gathered skirt! I like to finish the dress off by top stitching around the base of the bodice (not shown).

Use this gathering technique for perfect ruffles added to anything! It’s not necessarily limited to attaching a gathered skirt to bodice. You would use this technique if you’re gathering a skirt to add it to a waistband or to add a ruffle to the bottom of your garment.

SO!! Is this how you do a gathering stitch?? Is this Sewing Basics tutorial helpful? What other Sewing Basics would you like to see on the Girl. Inspired. blog??