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Install Pillow Piping from The Sewing Loft: National Sewing Month 2013

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It’s Day Twenty-Nine of National Sewing Month! Too see the daily blog posts, projects of the day, and more National Sewing Month details, click here.

National Sewing Month 2013

Hello, Hello FaveCraft Readers! Heather here from The Sewing Loft and I’m so excited to join the party during National Sewing Month with you.

The Sewing Loft

Today, I want to show just how easy it is to install custom piping on decorative pillows. This simple trim can really create that WOW factor on a limited budget.

Install Pillow Piping

 

Install Pillow Piping | The Sewing Loft

This project is for all levels.

Skill Level- 1 Button

Supplies:

  • custom piping
  • pillow pattern

Tools:

  • sewing machine
  • zipper foot
  • basic sewing supplies

Basic Instructions:

  1. Attach your zipper foot to your machine and check the needle position.
  2. Determine the starting point of piping on your pillow. I suggest in the middle of the bottom of the pillow to hide.
  3. Position piping; pin in place all around pillow matching seam allowance.
  4. Straight stitch as close to the cording as possible, clipping corners as needed to turn the seam.
  5. To join piping, unpick a few stitches on piping and fold back fabric to expose cording. Clip cording to match evenly; fold under the fabric edge and overlap to cover the seam; continue stitching piping in place.

Install Pillow Piping | The Sewing Loft

Custom piping is an easy way to add that decorative touch on a shoestring budget. The key is to take your time and not to be caught short with the trim. With a few minutes of prep work and some simple calculations, you can transform even the simplest pillow insert into a decorator pillow.

Here is what I created with my piping.

Witches Brew Pillow by The Sewing Loft

 

The Sewing Loft

PS- If this easy project inspires you to get your needle moving, be sure to visit me for more inspiration and sewing tips.

 

 

What project in your home would you use piping on?

 

Be a Crafter XD on Single-Fold Bias Binding: National Sewing Month 2013

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It’s Day Nineteen of National Sewing Month! Too see the daily blog posts, projects of the day, and more National Sewing Month details, click here.

National Sewing Month 2013

Today’s National Sewing Month blog post is brought to you by Maz from Be a Crafter XD. Maz is the genius behind some of your favorite projects on AllFreeSewing. See her full project list right here.

Single-Fold Bias Binding and Lace for Neckline

Bias binding is a very common technique in sewing. While double-fold bias tape is often used for edges of quilts, placemats, bags, etc., single-fold bias tape would be used for a soft strap in a neckline and armhole when you make clothes.

How to Cut Bias Tapes:

Fold the fabric so that the edges meet to form a triangle. Decide the length and width.

Single Fold Bias

How to Join Bias Tapes:

Single Fold Bias

Single Fold Bias

Place your lace to the edge of the neckline.

Single Fold Bias

Then place your bias on the lace. The right side of your bias will be placed against the right side of your fabric.

Single Fold Bias

Sew along with a straight stitch. When you sew bias binding on curves, just stretch it out and sew as you go on a straight line.

Single Fold Bias

You may need to “trim” the redundant part to get a perfect edge. Turn over and fold the bias like you see in this image.

Single Fold Bias

Fold the folded bias against the wrong side of your fabric.

Single Fold Bias

Iron if needed. Use a pin to secure it (I personally prefer hand sewed large stitches to pins for this part; just use a different color thread and remove it later).

Single Fold Bias

Sew a straight line on the right side, very close to the seam line but try not to sew over it.

Single Fold Bias

When you are done, this is the back of your neckline.

Single Fold Bias

A little tip for a V-neckline,

Single Fold Bias

Deal with the V corner at the back. Here’s the front when you finish.

Single Fold Bias

It’s an easy way to create a vintage look!

Remember to check out Maz’s amazing blog, Be a Crafter XD for more inspiring projects!

 

 

What do you recommend using single-bias on?

 

 

Sewing Dresses & Apparel Tips from Suzannah: National Sewing Month 2013

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It’s Day Seven of National Sewing Month! Too see the daily blog posts, projects of the day, and more National Sewing Month details, click here.

National Sewing Month 2013

Today we welcome guest blogger, Suzannah from Adventures in Dressmaking who is sharing tips on her specialty: dressmaking/apparel sewing!

For a couple years now I’ve had a feature on my blog called”Sewing Circle.” It started when a reader sent me a question about how to choose patterns to go with a few fabrics she’d collected. It’s sometimes hard to imagine how you can make a sewing pattern on your own, so we had fun talking about styles she was interested and how she could make them out of her fabrics. I posted about it on my blog and the series was born. Since then I’ve gotten a lot of questions from readers about how to copy a dress they’ve seen in a magazine or even a store window, and a lot of general questions from sewing beginners.

I thought I’d summarize a few of my favorite sewing techniques and tips based on some top Sewing Circle questions I’ve received.

How to Cut Out the Right Pattern Size

Using patterns can be confusing, but before you even cut them out, you have to choose the right size — which can be even trickier! I can lend some insight into how to choose the right size and cut out the right fit.

  • Sewing patterns use standard body measurements developed by the US Department of Standards during WWII. These are fairly outdated now, so many of us feel may need to cut out a size 3-5 sizes bigger than our current ready-to-wear dress size!
  • But, most people don’t have the exact bust, waist, and hip measurements of any particular size. When cutting out a dress or top, the bust measurement is probably most important. Use the size that matches your bust measurement, and taper at the waist (angle in or out when cutting after measuring) to fit. On a dress with a gathered skirt, for example, the hip measurement doesn’t matter at all, and even for the A-line skirts, it’s not as important as waist and bust, so you may be able to ignore that number and cut out the right size for your bust and waist. For pants or skirts, use the pattern that matches your hip measurement and make the waist fit. Or, if the numbers are pretty close, I usually use the average size. If your bust is an 8, your waist a 12, and your hips a 10, for example, use the size 10 pattern as a base.
  • Unfortunately, modern sewing patterns are not designed to fit as snugly as some of us might like for tailored garments. You may find you cut out what is supposed to be the right size in something, only to be swimming in it once you put it together. There are a couple possible reasons for this: 1) most sewing patterns are not high fashion and are not often made for trendy juniors’ sizes and snug fits. 2) most patterns are intended for a 5/8” seam allowance, and if you use a 1/2″ or smaller, it actually makes a big difference in fit.
  • Also note: patterns will usually tell you the “finished garment” measurements as well as the bust, waist, etc. to use when picking out your size. If your bust is 36″, the dress’s bust may be 38″ or 39″ to allow for movement and wearing ease. If you see these measurements and want something snugger, check the finished garment measurements for the smaller size down — maybe you should cut out that one.
  • If you want to test out a pattern, make a “muslin” out of whatever cheap fabric you can find — an old sheet, a thrift store find, or a fabric that you got on sale would be great! This way you can test out the pattern without spending too much time or expensive fabric. You don’t have to finish the edges of the muslin or add fastenings or anything.

You can custom-make patterns for your size, by measuring the pattern pieces as you cut.

  • The first thing you should do when cutting out a new pattern (when you don’t know how tightly or loosely it will fit) is measure the pieces and how large it will be when you sew them together. To do this, you need to lay them out taking into account the seam allowances (if you use 5/8″, overlap them 1 1/4″ at each seam) and measure across the bust and waist.
  • Try on the garment before you assemble to fashion fabric to the lining–it’s way easier to take in seams before you have two layers and a join at the top edge, for example. Pin the bodice closed where the zipper will be and look in the mirror. Use pins and a fabric marker if you like to pinch in where it’s too big or mark where it’s too small.
  • If all that fails and the garment is still too big, take it in some at the sides as well as the back—you don’t want your side seams to be so far off your sides. It’ll look kind of funky if anyone sees, and it may pull weirdly at the waist since the bodice is curved for the smallest part. You don’t have to take the bodice all the way apart, just 3-4″ or so on each side at the top, then go in and take it in.

It may sound like a lot, but once you get started with a muslin or simple pattern to start with, you’ll get more comfortable tailoring clothes for your shape and style!

Good Fabrics for Beginning Sewers

Some fabrics are better than others if you’re just getting comfortable with making your own clothes.

First, almost all clothing patterns will tell you on the back what the recommended fabrics are, although they’re not always helpful. Always read the back of the pattern if you’re concerned, and look at those types of fabrics while you’re in the fabric store.

The biggest differences in fabric are in weight — you can’t make a heavy coat out of a sheer chiffon. So think about fabrics in terms of the garment you’d make out of them, and stick to that. Some fabrics, like “shirtings,” are great for blouses and tops, but not great for pants or shorts. A nice linen with an embroidered pattern is good for a skirt or maybe a dress, but too heavy for a shirt. And, of course, a knit fabric is best for patterns that are meant for knits (they will tell you on the pattern). And alternatively, don’t make a pattern that’s meant for a woven fabric out of a stretchy one. It won’t work.

Generally, the fabrics that are best for apparel are in the front of the fabric store. They are often seasonal colors or named for the types of things they’re best for (“suitings,” “bottomweights,”…). You can take the recommendations of the store displays!

Quilting fabrics, often near the back of the store, come in super cute prints but are not meant for clothing. They can work for clothing, with a lining or appropriate finishing, but they are best for quilts or shower curtains or little home dec projects. I know, some of the prints are sooooo cute, but it is hard to make them durable and wearable. I don’t use them for clothing myself, although some people I know do.

The other very important thing to consider are the accessory fabrics that you’ll need to use: linings and interfacings. A very lightweight but crisp cotton is lovely for a lining, but poly/nylon linings are cheap and easy to find. I use lightweight fusible interfacing on pieces of the garment that need reinforcing. Don’t skip the lining and interfacing! As for my personal preference, I like natural fibers better than nylon, polyester, acrylic, fleece, etc. any day. I do use artificial fibers for many linings, and for some silk tops. But I love a good cotton dress!

How to Combine Patterns to Make Your Own Styles

Now that you’ve got the basics of cutting out your pattern and choosing the fabric, get creative! Some of my favorite dresses feature two different fabrics, one for the bodice and one for the skirt.

The basic idea is, combine two patterns of the same 1) size and 2) fit/shape. So, if your waist is 28″, you could combine the bodice for ANY dress that hits at the natural waistline and has a finished waist measurement of 28″ with ANY skirt pattern that also has a waist of 28″! Or, as I do, you don’t have to use a pattern for the skirt if you pleat or gather it into the waist. Or add a waistband — making sure you make the bodice above it shorter to accommodate it.  The tricky part comes when you use a skirt or bodice that has a scooped front, and you may need to adjust the skirt or bodice to match the skirt or bodice you’re pairing it with.

And, of course, you want to combine patterns of the same fit/shape. What I mean by that is: you can’t combine an empire waist bodice with a skirt that’s meant to hit at the natural waist, obviously (you’d get a weird baby-doll, and unless that’s the look you’re going for, it’s not going to work!). You can’t combine the bodice for a loose, flowy, knit dress with a pencil skirt dress pattern. So look at the finished garment measurements on the pattern package to guide you (if it has anything for the waist or wherever you’re combining) and just use common sense, and you’ll be fine. Here I combined a spaghetti strap fitted bodice with a pencil skirt (and added my own ruffle!) and got…

Sometimes with sleeves or even the waist, there’s a difference of 1/2″ or so, and you can normally stretch or pleat a little to make it fit (as long as you match your center front, back, and sides) or, try on the lining or unfinished bodice and see which pattern you want to cater to — if the armhole is too tight but the sleeve fits fine, cut the armhole a little deeper in the armpit, for example. If the waist is too big on the dress but fine on the skirt, take in the side seam on the dress a little.

These are some of my fave tips on making your own clothes and dresses! Check out my blog, Adventures in Dressmaking, for more of my fave ideas and projects for clothes, home, crafts, food, and more!

 

Have you ever started to make a dress for someone else and then decided to keep it for yourself?

 

 

Choosing a Quilting Design

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Today’s article on Choosing a Quilt Design comes to you from our guest, Carolyn Wainscott from Carolyn’s Canvas. Enjoy her tips and her lovely photos of the vintage quilt tops she quilted! You can also find more quilting designs in the Patterns for Quilting section of FaveQuilts.com.

Choosing a Quilt Design

That quilt top you spent so much time, effort and love on is done. The colors and fabrics had to match the design just so. With so much invested in the top, finishing the quilt deserves just as much thought and care. Or maybe you have found a wonderful quilt top in the trunk in the attic that needs to be finished. No haphazard quilting and binding here, please!

Eight vintage, or almost vintage, quilt tops were brought to me recently to be finished with machine quilting and binding. Each had been hand-pieced by the same quilter. Some fabrics ran through several of the tops. You lovers of old quilts would appreciate them, as I did.

It almost seemed like sacrilege to defile them with so vile a contraption as my longarm quilter, so to ease my conscience, each was quilted to enhance the quilter’s work (let’s call the quilter Sarah). I could have  stitched back and forth using one of the templates supplied with the machine and gotten done fairly quickly, but that would not have done justice to Sarah’s fine, hand-pieced work.

Before one of the tops could be quilted, a couple of blocks had to be reinforced with lightweight fusible interfacing because some of the fabrics were quite fragile. The interfacing was cut in squares the same size as the top’s blocks and fused onto the back, and it was ready to go. If I had begun quilting before this was done, the fabric would have been shredded. Now, you can’t tell the difference between the treated blocks and the rest of the quilt.

A couple of Sarah’s quilts were quilted with allover patterns because the designs are so busy.

This is Sarah’s charm quilt. I think it has over 800 patches, all hand-stitched, mind you!

Choosing a Quilting Design

Choosing a Quilting Design

This is Sarah’s combination 16-patch/9-patch variation. The quilting on this one is near invisible also on the top. Look at her inventive way of sizing up the 9-patch block to match the 16-patch with an additional ring of small blocks:

Choosing a Quilting Design

Choosing a Quilting Design

16-patch block and 9-patch with additional ring of squares

Choosing a Quilting Design

allover 16-patch/9-patch block quilting pattern

This is Sarah’s sawtooth double wedding ring. Yes, each of those triangles is hand-pieced!

Choosing a Quilting Design

The muslin space between the rings allows some show-off quilting that enhances the quilt pattern.

Choosing a Quilting Design

Choosing-A-Quilting-Design-8

I didn’t realize Sarah’s 9-patch quilt was an Irish chain quilt until I had it laid out to take this photo. The second photo was taken while it was on the longarm. See how those plain blocks can add so much to the flavor of the quilt?

Choosing a Quilting Design

Choosing a Quilting Design

Here  is a simple 5” block quilt with a free-motion, allover star pattern in each block.

Choosing a Quilting Design

Choosing a Quilting Design

This is Sarah’s grandmother’s flower garden rendition with simple outline quilting to pump up the hexagons.

Choosing a Quilting Design

Choosing a Quilting Design

And my absolute favorite of all Sarah’s quilts is her version of a ocean wave block. Yep, it is all hand-stitched, and her color selection is as modern as you can get with her mix of oranges, reds and bright pinks blended with lots of other prints. To bring out her individual triangles, a cross-hatch quilting pattern was used.

Choosing a Quilting Design

Choosing a Quilting Design

Choosing a Quilting Design

Because Sarah’s quilts were very traditional, I chose to stay with the more tried and true quilting of the time they were made.

Some quilters may decide on the quilting pattern from the very beginning of their quilt or, like a lot of us quilters, let the quilt decide how it wants to be finished. Whether you hand quilt or machine quilt, there are beautiful quilting patterns available if you don’t design your own.

For a wonderful variety of machine quilting patterns, take a look at Leah Day’s site: Day Style Designs.

Day Style Designs

Happy quilting! I hope you enjoy quilting as much as I do. Please come by and visit me at carolynscanvas.blogspot.com.

Carolyn Wainscott

What’s your best tip for choosing a quilting design?

 

Win an ImpressArt Metal Stamping Kit from AllFreeJewelryMaking!

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Metal stamping is taking the craft world by storm, and the new ImpressArt Metal Stamping Kit is making this popular medium more accessible than ever before. Never tried metal stamping? No problem! With the ImpressArt kit, you have everything you need to get started right there in one convenient package. But the best news of all? ImpressArt was generous enough to gift AllFreeJewelryMaking with one of these fabulous kits, and we’re giving it away to one very, very lucky reader!

The new ImpressArt Metal Stamping Kit, voted by the Craft and Hobby Association as one of the “Hot 20” new products of 2012, comes fully equipped with everything you need to become a master of the metal stamping art form. With a 1-pound brass metal hammer, a 3mm designer alphabet stamp set, a 2-inch steel block, and a step-by-step metal stamping instruction guide, you’ll instantly add a new technique to your crafting skill set. Plus, ImpressArt has thrown in an assortment of free stamping blanks as a bonus! That means the winner of this contest will have everything they need to get started making metal stamp jewelry as soon as they receive the prize!

The kit that ImpressArt has gifted for this giveaway includes a set of alphabet stamps in lovely Bridgette Lowercase, but the kits also come in three other font options including Newsprint, Jeanie, and Ballroom Boogie. One of the added perks of this kit is that the stamps can be used on other materials, such as leather, wood, card stock, and clay, so if metal is not your medium of choice, you have an endless array of other creative options before you!

The contest ends August 27, 2012. You can enter once daily, so return often to improve your chances of winning!

Need inspiration? Here are some metal stamping jewelry projects to give you an idea of what you can make with this amazing kit:

Good luck!

Have you ever tried metal stamping? Would you like making your own metal stamp jewelry?

 

How to Mask: Cardmaking and Scrapbooking

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Are you guys into card making or scrapbooking? My hunch is no–we seem to be more of a crochet and knitting group. Paper crafters, feel free to say hi in the comments, though! I wasn’t much of a card maker either until I started looking at some of the project ideas on FaveCrafts and seeing how easy they might be to replicate. I mean, anyone can cut out shapes (either with scissors, a paper punch, or a Cricut), and anyone can adhere embellishments to a piece of cardstock, especially with the help of glue dots. I soon learned that you can even make your own embellishments if you want to save money in the scrapbooking aisle at the craft store.

Card making is one of those crafts that everyone has dabbled in at some point–we’ve all got to give cards to friends and family on their birthday, and a good number of us give cards on Christmas, Halloween, Easter, Mother’s Day, and other special occasions. We’ve got lots of cardmaking technique videos on our YouTube channel that could turn even the most novice paper crafter (i.e. me) into a real card making maven.

One of the techniques I learned from our very own YouTube channel is masking. Ever heard of it? Me neither! Masking means blocking off part of an image when using rubber stamps so that the blocked-off (or “masked”) portion does not get stamped. Clear as mud, right? This video by Latrice Murphy explains it a lot better! You can watch the whole thing to see how she makes that adorable bunting and cupcake card, or just watch through the first 3 minutes to learn the technique.

And if you don’t feel like watching a video, don’t have the capabilities of viewing one on your computer, or you’re reading FaveCrafts at work and don’t want the boss to find out (shhh, I won’t tell!), I’ll break it down for you:

How to Mask

  1. First stamp the image you want to mask onto a piece of scratch paper and cut it out. In the video, Latrice stamps a bunting stamp and cuts out each individual triangle.
  2. Then stamp the same image onto your card or scrapbook page. Latrice stamped the same image in the corner of her card using the bunting stamp.
  3. Take the cut out shapes (the “masks”) and adhere them to your card or scrapbook page, right on top of the stamped area. Removable or re-positionable adhesive works best for this step.
  4. Now that your image is masked, you can feel free to stamp over it. In the video, Latrice stamps her card with a cloud background so that the bunting looks like it’s in front of the clouds, like real bunting billowing in the breeze.
  5. When you’re done stamping, remove the masks and you’ll see the unstamped section beneath (in this case, the cloudless bunting shapes).

Doesn’t that sound easy? For all of you non-paper crafters–doesn’t this video make you want to give it a try? What’s the most involved card making technique you’ve ever used?

Illusion Knitting: A New Angle on Colorwork

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There’s a whole corner of the knitting world that I like to think of as nerdy knitting. There are quite a few zany things over there that I can’t believe actually exist in the crafting universe. They range from exact replicas of knitwear seen in the Harry Potter films and knitted Dr. Who paraphernalia to mobius cowls and entrelac. Whether these types of knitting simply draw inspiration from nerd culture or actually employ principles from our algebra and physics classes, they all appeal to our intellect in some way or another. I stick illusion knitting in this category for several reasons: First, this technique uses viewing angles to create an optical illusion in your work. Second, you can use it to make incredibly detailed pictures of Renaissance masterpieces and portraits of icons like Albert Einstein and Daniel Radcliffe. Third, it’s the closest you can get to making a hologram out of yarn. And for those of you thinking this would be a great way to recall your boyfriend’s youth with scarves featuring holograms of Charizard, don’t be ashamed; I’m on the same page.

Some of you may be experienced illusion knitters, some may have seen illusion knitting and marveled at its trickery, and some of you may have no idea what I’m talking about. Illusion knitting is a piece of fabric that creates an optical illusion when viewed from different angles. Head-on, it appears to have very thin stripes running parallel to the knit rows. For example, in the righthand picture of the scarf shown, you see only very thin stripes and a faint outline of an image.  However, when viewed from an angle, illusion knitting shows an image or graphic in a contrasting color. For example, the lefthand picture of the scarf shows lighter pink stripes at the ends and two breast cancer awareness ribbons in a lighter pink. This illusion is created with a tricky combination of striping and purl bumps. Essentially, the “pictures” you see are created by purl bumps in the contrasting color, while the background is created by purl bumps in the background color. For every row of the design chart, you create 4 rows of knitting, 2 in each color.

If you’re a bit lost right now, you’re not alone. I took several different routes to understanding this technique, and you can only really comprehend it once you’ve tried it yourself! To practice with a basic sample, go through the How To Illusion Knit online tutorial. Then start with a simple project like the Sunrise Illusion Face Cloth. This pattern has clear graphics, and it’s small enough that you can frog it without tears if you need to start over. It also does not include a chart, which can really complicate things during your first illusion knitting attempt. Instead, it is written like a regular knitting pattern, with instructions for each row. The rows are grouped in sets of 4, which will acclimate you to the concept of knitting 4 rows for every row of the design chart. Once you have a handle on the technique, try some more intricate projects, like the Double Heart Knit Illusion Scarf or the Duckie Illusion Scarf.

What kinds of illusion knitting projects have you tried? Did you find the technique simple or difficult?

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