Teaching Sewing and Alterations for Fun or Profit
This is what a serged hem looks like up close: Maybe you have a dress, skirt, shirt or even a scarf that really needs this type of hem. You can duplicate this look with your serger (and I’ll give some pointers for how to do this on your sewing machine at the end of this…
Read MoreI just love my rotary cutter. Do you have one? They are so sweet. They make your sewing life a breeze. Also your quilting life. They are like a pizza cutter, except that they cut fabric. They are easy to operate. This model is made by a company called Olfa. Dritz and Omnigrid also make…
Read MoreThis dress came from a mother of a groom and it needed to be taken in in the bust area, so I’d like to show you how to do that. You can use this technique on strapless dresses as well. Do you see the pins in the side seam? There are pins on the other side seam as well. I…
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One thing I’ve noticed is that many of my customers could do simple repairs on their own machines, but they just lack the confidence that they can do it! Do you have some webbing that is loose or chewed up by the dog? Maybe the dog leash? Maybe a backpack? Duffle bag? Repairing webbing is…
Read MoreHave you ever had a halter top or halter dress fit loosely on the side of the bust area? It’s a very common problem. And since halters are so “in” right now, I thought I’d show you how to fix that problem. First, let’s look at the superb diagram below! Aren’t you impressed? It illustrates the basic idea…
Read MoreA dear friend of mine had a bone marrow transplant for cancer and is in remission. She lost all her hair from chemo and it’s growing back. In the meantime, she is wearing scarves over her wigs and wants the scarves altered. Here is the collection of scarves that I need to alter: Maybe you…
Read MoreMy husband presented me with his golf club cover this morning. It has a big hole in it. If you watch the golf channel (like my husband does), you’ll notice the caddies take the covers off the clubs by grabbing the top of the cover and pulling hard on it. I bet that’s what happened with…
Read MoreAre you looking for an additional way to earn some extra cash each month using your sewing skills? You may have thought it wasn’t possible, if you have kids running underfoot and your sewing skills aren’t perfect yet. Or, perhaps your sewing skills are just fine, but you want to be able to stay at home…
Read MoreDoes your machine come with a blind stitch hem foot? Have you used it before? Most of the time, it is used for stitching hems, but some folks use it to stitch down appliques for quilting or decorating clothes or hand towels. They can make a hem look rather professional. (I used contrasting thread here, but…
Read MoreHave you ever tried to hem a pair of pants and by the time you were nearly finished sewing it, you realized that you were going to get puckers? It happens to the best of us. But, how do you avoid it? I couldn’t find the answer anywhere in books or on the internet, so I devised…
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The Sewing Garden 