Sew For Dough – The Sewing Garden

Sewing With Treadle Machines in Africa

My family and I just returned from an amazing, life changing trip to Zambia, Africa! It is a trip we will never forget. Our daughter, Michelle, works for an orphan ministry called Every Orphans Hope. We wanted to go and see her working first hand and help where we could. There are 11 orphan homes…

How To Sew a Button on By Machine

By: Linda September 15, 2010

Basic Skills, Sew For Doughhand sew, missing button, thread, thread shank5 Comments

Do you know how to sew a button on with your sewing machine? For those of you who don’t know how, or feel a little intimidated in trying, here’s my technique. Find a button for the garment and push the button through the hole to make sure it fits. Place the button over the original…

Alterations With a Challenge Attached

By: Linda March 3, 2010June 20, 2023

Alterations, Sew For Doughhow to alter a dress that is reversible, how to alter a garment that is reversible, how to fix a manufacturer error on a garment, how to take apart a dress and put it back together again, how to take apart a garment and put it back together3 Comments

I’d like to walk you through how to address an alteration that has a challenge to it. Most alterations are straight forward. You have a correction to make and there is an solution that suits it best. Along the way to getting that alteration done, many people have come up with solutions that offer efficiency…

beads all over a wedding gown, clear beads up close, 707

How to Sew Beads onto a Wedding Dress or Formal Gown

By: Linda November 23, 2009February 15, 2021

Alterations, Bridal, Sew For DoughDIY sewing beads on a bridal gown, DIY sewing beads on a wedding gown, how to sew beads on a bridal veil, how to sew beads on a wedding dress, how to sew beads on a wedding veil, Sewing beads back on a prom dress, take off beads and put them back on a dress, What to do if a bead falls off a dress?4 Comments

What do you do if you have to alter a wedding or formal dress (for a customer or for yourself) and the dress has beads on it? (Or maybe, you are making a dress and you want to add beads to it). It looks intimidating, doesn’t it? Well, I’m here to show you how easy…

How To Sew a Partial Hem

By: Linda October 16, 2009February 25, 2023

Alterations, Hems, Sew For DoughAlterations, Bridal, hem, how to hem half a hem, how to hem part of a hem, how to hem the front of a wedding gown, sew, sewing, train, wedding, wedding gown4 Comments

There are many instances where you may need to sew just part of a hem. Maybe you have a skirt that is uneven, too long in the front or back, or maybe you have pants with the same problem. Many times, when I get a bridal gown to alter, the bride likes the train length…

Writing Receipts For Your Customers

By: Linda September 30, 2009June 15, 2023

Alterations, Sew For DoughLeave a Comment

Some of you are sewing or crafting for other people. If you’re like me, you don’t want to spend a lot of money on supplies. I wanted to give my customers a receipt, but I didn’t need them to look like a beautiful keepsake. Chances are, most people throw theirs away. In fact, some just…

Shortening Long Sleeves

Are the sleeves on your shirts too long? Shortening sleeves is a quick alteration. This technique will work for men’s or ladies shirts that have cuffs on them. Let me show you what I did on this purple shirt: There are two rows of stitching on the top edge of the cuff It’s a little hard to see…

How to Hem Lining on Pants (or Skirts)

By: Linda August 18, 2009February 16, 2021

Alterations, Basic Skills, Hems, Sew For DoughAlterations, cording, hem, lining, pants lining, satin ribbon, sew2 Comments

We’ve covered so many ways to hem pants so far. If you’ve missed those, click on “Alterations” right here, or above, and it will lead you to all the posts I’ve written on hemming. But, for now, lets look at how to hem lining on pants or skirts. It’s very simple. Don’t be intimidated. First,…

Tailor Tacks…Instead of Pins

By: Linda July 22, 2009February 24, 2021

Alterations, Basic Skills, Bridal, Sew For Doughhow do I mark fabric without using a marker?, how do I mark fabric without using pins?, How to make a mark on fabric without a marker, what is a tailor tack?1 Comment

Have you heard of a tailor tack? If you’re 50 years old or older, you probably have. If you’re a young whipper snapper or you’re new to sewing in the last 25 years, you may not have any idea what I’m talking about. So, let me first tell you what one is and what it…

Rolled Hems

By: Linda July 9, 2009February 22, 2021

Alterations, Gadgets, Hems, Sew For Doughhow to make a small hem, how to sew a hem on a bridal gown, how to sew a hem on a prom dress, how to sew a hem on a wedding gown, how to sew a perfect hem, how to sew a professional hem, how to sew a rolled hem, how to sew a tiny hem8 Comments

This is a close up of a rolled hem: You’ll find them on prom dresses, wedding dresses, casual dresses, skirts and men’s shirt tails. In fact, they are found on all sorts of garments made from all sorts of fabrics. You can make a rolled hem “by hand”. You simply press up 1/8″ along your hemline…