#Sewing Tips and Tricks

[anielskaaniela]

How to Read Japanese Sewing Patterns to Sew Clothing

In this post, you will learn how to read and understand japanese sewing patterns to sew amazing clothes from them. Check out my japanese sewing patterns [here]. Japanese sewing patterns are renowned for their precision, elegance, and unique style. However, they can seem daunting for beginners due to the different symbols and conventions used. This step-by-step guide aims to demystify Japanese…

[thatsbelievable]

[creations-by-chaosfay]

Are your scissors dull? Would you like tips regarding sewing needles?

If you're having a difficult time cutting through material, your scissors likely need sharpening. There are two ways I've used for this, and they're both very effective.

The semi-free version:

Take aluminum foil, a long sheet of it, and fold this into about four layers.

Cut through all four layers, in thin strips, with your scissor. I make the strips less than half an inch apart, and cut the long way. You will need to be careful because the edges of the foil will be sharp.

After you get through all four layers at least six to eight times, fold what's left of the sheet in half. This will create eight layers, cut through these until the sheet is gone.

Test your scissors by cutting through scraps. I've made children's scissors sharp enough to cut through four layers of fabric when I use this method.

The inexpensive version.

Purchase this. You can find it in fabric stores, craft stores, and even a department store (like Walmart) in their crafting supply section. I bought mine at Joann Fabrics, when they had a sale, for less than $8.

Scissor sharpeners are super easy to use. Just follow the instructions they come with. Basically, you slide them in, and pull them out like you're cutting.

You won't need to do many passes for most scissors, but you will make children's scissors very dangerous.

For very small scissors, like applique or embroidery types.

Use the semi-free section.

You will only need two layers for the first pass, not nearly as much as you would for larger blades. So make the sheet smaller.

After five or six passes, fold the layers in half for four layers. Make several more passes.

Test your scissors to see how sharp they are. If unsatisfied, make more passes through the foil layers.

I hope this was helpful!

For hand-sewing sharpening needles, the little strawberry attached to the tomato pincushions serves that purpose. Stab your needle through that a few times. I find it works only so many times before I simply need to switch to a new one.

As for machine sewing needles, sharpening them borders on pointless. I suggest using Organ Needles if price is a big issue for you. My experience with Organ Needles has been phenomenal. The low price and high count, and the fact they last just as long as the name brand stuff you find in supply shops is just a bonus.

I have a pack of 100 sewing needles for less than $30. Compare that to the $10-$20 a package of five or ten name brand needle packs cost. Even if half the needles in my 100 pack start dull, it's still less than what I would otherwise pay. Thus far, this hasn't happened.

My needles go dull swiftly when I do any foundation paper piecing, stitching through fabric and paper, and paper dulls scissors* real quick. Imagine how fast that is with a needles, making hundreds of stitch through all those layers. If I notice the stitches look messy, I switch out my needle. I still have over half left, and have been using the same pack for around a year now.

If you're wondering how to dispose of the used sewing needles, may I suggest a plastic bubblegum container? I used to chew gum all the time, but had to stop after my doctor explained it's very bad due to my TMD/TMJ (and having hEDS also explains why large pieces of gum would dislocate my jaw). Because of my habit of keeping perfectly acceptable containers, I had two empty ones. One is used for my handsewing, like a little trash container. Opening and closing the floor models is irritating, and the fact I have a cat means all trashcans in this house must have a lid. Anyway...I use my second to hold used needles, broken or bent pins, and after four years of using this, the thing isn't even a quarter of the way filled. It'll likely be decades before emptying it will be necessary. The hard plastic edges make it impossible for any of the pointy ends from puncturing, thus making it safe for all and no trash bags will suffer.

[a-rainbow-girl-detective]

The (plush) Making of Cassandra Cain

Thought I'd share some behind-the-scenes pics of making my Cass doll! If you'd like to make your own Cassie (or other character), the pattern I used was from the book My Rag Doll, by Corinne Crasbercu. I got it from my public library, but it's currently available as an ebook on Hoopla as well! Just a heads-up, the ebook links to the incorrect page for pattern templates (which you'll need to, y'know, actually make your doll), but you can find the correct location for the templates here.

Flat Stanley Cassie in her early stages! I think the instructions in the book say to embroider on eyes after you finish sewing the doll, but I used plastic safety eyes, so I added those (and her mouth) before cutting out the fabric for the head. Because the cotton I was using was pretty thin, I added a layer of lightweight interfacing to the face so that the eyes wouldn't tear loose as easily. I also gave her ears, which the original pattern does not include, because I thought they were cute.

And here she is with stuffing! Isn't she adorable? I think she can rock a bald look.

I think the pattern suggests adding hair by sewing strands of yarn together into wefts, but I decided to go back to my crafting roots (knitting) and make her a wig cap instead! I basically knitted a trapezoid of fabric, sewed it to her head (I'm in the process of pinning it down in the picture), and used a crochet hook to attach lengths of yarn to the knitted stitches. Cass has over 500 strands of hair! (Dick, down below, has even more.)

Hair added, trimmed, and finished! I actually made a Nightwing doll at the same time I was making Cassie. I'm not thrilled with how he turned out, but I think he and Cass look super cute here together!

I sketched out a few attempts at a bat-cape for Cass, but none of them looked very good. I had a few dollars left in my crafting budget for last year, so I decided to go ahead and just buy a pattern! I used one from DollTagClothing on Etsy. It's intended for 18-inch dolls, but the shorter version was the perfect length and width for Cass! If you look closely in this picture, you can see there's a seam down the back of the cape that isn't supposed to be there. In the pattern, you're meant to cut your fabric on the fold, thus giving you one complete piece for each side, but I was nearly out of fabric, so I had to cut separate pieces.

The best Caped Crusader, truly! But her expression was missing something...

With newfound eyebrows (and attitude!), Cassie was finished and ready to take on the world! Next, I plan on making either a Signal or Robin!Steph doll. Curly hair is my favorite to make, so I'm looking forward to both of them!

[lapdogchase]

gm how are we all doing today

[bevanne46]

Ironing Tips & Tricks

Experienced quilters know how necessary an iron is to quilting success. But if you’re just getting into the sport (if you’ve done it, you know it should be classed as a sport) our tips may save you from some quilting mishaps.

IRONING

 

Ironing is only done during the beginning part of piecing a quilt. You should iron out the wrinkles in your fabric after you’ve gotten it from the store and/or after you’ve washed it.

You will want to iron gently (in the direction of the weft and warp) so that you don’t shift your grainlines out of position. This method of ironing reduces the likelihood that you will stretch out your fabric.PRESSING

PRESSING

 

Pressing should be done throughout the piecing process. After piecing, you'll want to press your fabric to set in the seam using the OnPoint™ tip.

After sewing your pieces together, you should press the seam open or to one side (usually the darker fabric's side so you won't see the fabric through it). As with garment sewing, this reduces bulk in your finished product.

After sewing your blocks together, you'll want to open the quilt block by pressing it open from the right side using the OnPoint™ tip. This will help eliminate any tucks or wavy lines to ensure your blocks are the correct size.

Pro-Tip: Often used interchangeably, Ironing & Pressing are NOT the same thing. Ironing is the action used to remove wrinkles by sliding a hot iron back and forth. Pressing is the process of lifting and putting the iron down on a specific part of a project.

[telekineticmaniac]

The video that no cosplayer asked for, but most cosplayers need — let's talk about cosplay crafting safety!!

[craftdiscoveries]

Have you ever tried sewing on paper? Here are some great tips from Tammy Garcia, the creator of the Index Card A Day (ICAD) challenge.

[hexusproductions]

I'm pretty comfortable with the amount of progress I'm making in my Stardew save. I'm nearing the end of year 2 and while it's not the Maximum Efficiency Possible, I've just gotten a pig and the furniture catalogue, and I'm happy to play at my own pace as intended

[creations-by-chaosfay]

Some additions regarding quilt making

Quilting cotton and batik won't fray/thread in the wash, unless it's very low quality

If you wash one fabric you'll be using for a project, you must wash all thr fabric for that project. Why? Because when you finish the quilt, it'll watp and the stitches may even tear.

If the edges you're cutting are looking gnarled, the blade is dull. Change your rotary blade and sharpen your scissors.

Get a scissor sharpener. They are very inexpensive. Mine cost $3, and I use if for all the scissors in the house. Rotary blade sharpeners, in my experience, make the blades duller.

Clean your sewing machine(s) between projects!!! This will prevent skipped stitches, threads won't get tangled, and the machine will work significantly better. Do not use one of those cans with pressurized air. Those will only shove lint and thread I to the gears. I use tiny fluffy tools and paintbrushes used for painting tiny things. There are vacuum cleaners made for this work as well. Doing this between every project is imperative for a healthy machine and fewer mistakes.

Use the correct thread. Threads come in a variety of thickness and material. Low quality makes a lot of lint, but it's ideal for a tight budget. High quality makes virtually no lint, but coats a small fortune.

Change your needles!!! They get very dull, and this results in things looking messy. Also, use the correct needles. Needles for denim/jeans are ideal for foundation paper piecing, btw.

Shorten or lengthen stitches as needed. Foundation paper pieces should be 1.4-1.6mm, whereas general pieces is 2mm. You want to be able to fit a seam ripper in there.

Get a quarter inch foot. They rarely come with sewing machines, so you'll likely need to purchase it separately. The seam allowance for quilts is a quarter inch. I've seen them as cheap as $1 and as expensive as $10. Get them cheap.

If you're interested in foundation paper piecing, get a transparent foot with a guiding line mark on it. I also recommend a half each seam allowance because it helps things lay flatter.

For the paper, cheap printing paper. It's strong enough to not fall apart while working, but weak enough to rear off without tearing stitches. You don't need special paper. Also, keep a master copy of all your patterns, and save the files on an external hard drive if you can. If something happens to your computer, you won't lose everything.

Use a plastic container to store used blades, dull or broken needles, and busted pins. You can contact someone about disposing these safely, like a company that handles the sharps boxes hospitals and diabetics put used needles/syringes in. I use an empty bubblegum container for the pins and needles and for blades it's the case they came in.

You don't have to use name brand blades, btw.

Rotary cutters with a bearing/ball bearing in them are your friend. The cutter moves much more easily and doesn't require as much effort to use. They're more expensive, yes, but if your hands are a wreck or your joints aren't so steady (I have hEDS), these things will be a life changer.

Things I wish I had read in "beginner" sewing tutorials/people had told me before I started getting into sewing

You have to hem *everything* eventually. Hemming isn't optional. (If you don't hem your cloth, it will start to fray. There are exceptions to this, like felt, but most cloth will.)

The type of cloth you choose for your project matters very much. Your clothing won't "fall right" if it's not the kind of stretchy/heavy/stiff as the one the tutorial assumes you will use.

Some types of cloth are very chill about fraying, some are very much not. Linen doesn't really give a fuck as long as you don't, like, throw it into the washing machine unhemmed (see below), whereas brocade yearns for entropy so, so much.

On that note: if you get new cloth: 1. hem its borders (or use a ripple stitch) 2. throw it in the washing machine on the setting that you plan to wash it going forward 3. iron it. You'll regret it, if you don't do it. If you don't hem, it'll thread. If you don't wash beforehand, the finished piece might warp in the first wash. If you don't iron it, it won't be nice and flat and all of your measuring and sewing will be off.

Sewing's first virtue is diligence, followed closely by patience. Measure three times before cutting. Check the symmetry every once in a while. If you can't concentrate anymore, stop. Yes, even if you're almost done.

The order in which you sew your garment's parts matters very much. Stick to the plan, but think ahead.

You'll probably be fine if you sew something on wrong - you can undo it with a seam ripper (get a seam ripper, they're cheap!)

You can use chalk to draw and write on the cloth.

Pick something made out of rectangles for your first project.

I recommend making something out of linen as a beginner project. It's nearly indestructible, barely threads and folds very neatly.

Collars are going to suck.

The sewing machine can't hurt you (probably). There is a guard for a reason and while the needle is very scary at first, if you do it right, your hands will be away from it at least 5 cm at any given time. Also the spoils of learning machine sewing are not to be underestimated. You will be SO fast.

I believe that's all - feel free to add unto it.

[anielskaaniela]

How to Sew a Dress for Beginners: Easy DIY Tutorial

In this post, you will learn how to sew easy dress for beginners with free PDF pattern in 8 sizes. Love what you see ? Support me by snagging some cool items from my shop! Every purchase helps me bring you more awesome content. Thank you! Shop Now Are you ready to dive into the world of sewing and create your very own clothes? Today, I’m going to guide you through an easy sewing tutorial for…

[thatsbelievable]

[briar-rosesleepingbeauty]

welcome to my blog ૮ ˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶ ა

briar-rose!!

she/ her

> avid sewer, i LOVE sewing

> a creative at heart, natural performer

> gemini sun, leo moon and aries rising

> COSPLAYER

cat lover and who-niverse fan

> aspiring costumer

> phantom (poto) phan + love never dies defender

> MUSICALS MUSICALS MUSICALS

! finnick odair, john price, simon riley, phantom of the opera men

( ˶ˆ꒳ˆ˵ )

divider creds : aqualogia

[rlikerefashion-blog]

how to install metal button snaps

[bevanne46]

Binding a Quilt? Not my favorite part of quilting but Karen Brown of Just Get It Done Quilts has a video for that.

HOW TO BIND A QUILT - BINDING HACK TO YOU NEED TO HAVE