The Sewing Garden

Taking in the Waist and Center Back on Denim Pants and Skirts

One of the more common alterations I do is taking in the waist and center back on pants, jeans and skirts. Most people try and solve this problem by just making a dart or two in the back of the pants. That doesn’t work too well if your pants or skirt is made of thick fabric…

How To Alter a Bubble Dress and Other “Closed” Lined Garments

By: Linda October 24, 2009November 27, 2024

Alterations, Bridalalteration, Bubble Dress, Bubbles Dresses, formal gowns, Homecoming dress, how to alter a dress with puckers, how to alter a poofy dress, lining, Men's suit jacket, prom dress, sew, women's jacket2 Comments

This year, I’ve seen alot of Bubble Dresses for Prom and Homecoming. Here is one I altered yesterday: They have lots of pouf all over them, don’t they? The hem and the lining are usually sewn together at the bottom of the dress. So, instead of opening up the hem area, I leave that alone…

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…

white plastic basket full of notions, 675

Keeping Your Notions Handy

By: Linda October 14, 2009June 19, 2023

AlterationsAlterations, How to keep your storage area organized, How to organize your sewing area, How to set up your sewing room, notions, organize, sew, sewing, storage1 Comment

Last week I showed you my sewing room. Today, I ‘d like to show you how I organize it. I was raised by a very organized mother. She taught me well. When you are finished with something, it goes right back where it belongs. But I’m not as good as I used to be. I…

My Sewing Room

By: Linda October 5, 2009June 19, 2023

AlterationsAlterations, how to organize your sewing space, sew, sewing, sewing room, sewing space14 Comments

Where do you sew? Do you have a designated room where you can keep your machine set up at all times? Is it in a bedroom, a basement, a dining room, an office? Is it well lit, roomy, comfortable and has lots of storage and all the tools you need to create the projects of…

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…

Mending What the Dog Chewed Up (Part Two)

By: Linda September 24, 2009February 7, 2021

Alterations, homewareAlterations, bags, how to fix a hole in jeans, how to fix a torn bag, how to mend a hole in clothes, how to mend torn items, mend, mending, purses, sew, sewing, Vera Bradley2 Comments

In the last post, we looked at a technique on How to Mend What the Dog Chewed Up, Part One. In that scenario, I mended a few small spots on two Vera Bradley bags that a customer brought to me to fix. Her dog had chewed them both to pieces. Today, let’s look at one of the bags.…

Mending What the Dog Chewed Up (Part One)

By: Linda September 19, 2009February 7, 2021

AlterationsAlterations, how to fix torn items, how to fix torn jackets, how to fix torn jeans, how to mend, how to mend bags, how to mend jackets, how to mend jeans, how to mend pants, how to mend sleeping bags, how to mend torn bags, how to stitch holes, mending, Vera Bradley5 Comments

A customer brought me 2 Vera Bradley bags (purses) that her dog chewed up and asked me if I could repair them. She really didn’t have high expectations; she figured anything I could do was better than what they looked like. But, she didn’t know that I have a favorite mending technique that earns rave…

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…

Changing a Garment From Zippered to Buttoned

By: Linda September 10, 2009March 25, 2021

AlterationsAlterations, How to put buttons in a shirt or jacket, how to put facings in a garment, How to take out a zipper, sew, sewing, zipper2 Comments

I have a customer who loathes zippers in her robes. So, she asked me if I could take the zipper out and put in buttons. No problem, I answered. However, before I started, I wanted to make sure that she understood that she was going to lose some of the width in the front. Putting in buttonholes…