The Sewing Garden

four baby blankets folded up and finished, 1032

Baby Blankets…Let’s Sew Some!

By: Linda June 17, 2010March 15, 2021

Basic Skillshow to make a budget friendly baby gift, how to make a flannel baby blanket, how to make a receiving blanket, how to make an easy baby shower gift, how to make an inexpensive baby blanket, how to make an inexpensive baby gift, how to make easy baby blankets, how to sew a flannel baby blanket, how to sew an easy floor blanket, inexpensive baby gifts14 Comments

Ok, I know this isn’t an alteration, but I just have to tell you about these blankets that I make for every baby shower that I go to! I love to add a homemade touch to the registry items that are asked for. I know the new thinking surrounding baby blankets. Many new moms don’t…

How to Alter a Dress or Top With Binding

By: Linda June 8, 2010February 10, 2021

Alterations, BridalAlterations, Ann Taylor, Bias Edge, Bias Tape, Binded Edge, Bloouse, chiffon4 Comments

You may have a garment that you need to alter but it has bias binding (or edging) along the armhole and/or neckline edge. The binding is a separate, narrow, bias strip of fabric that is sewn on to the garment. Here is an example of what binding looks like: Many customers ask me to make this alteration…

French Seams

By: Linda May 27, 2010April 2, 2023

Alterations, BridalAlterations, Bridal, homecoming, how to alter a bridal gown seam, how to alter a bridal gown sleeve, how to make French Seams, How to take in French Seams, how to work with sheer fabric, lingerie, prom, sew, sheer fabric3 Comments

I want to teach you how to alter a garment that has French Seams in it. But, first, I’d like to talk about what they are and show you how they are made. The French Seam is a seam that is encased within itself so that no raw edges can be seen. You’ve probably seen French…

Snow in May?

By: Linda May 12, 2010January 17, 2018

Alterations6 Comments

I just had to show you what we woke up to this morning: We don’t typically get snow in May, especially not after Mother’s Day! We don’t like to see it this late in the Spring as the snow can ruin the blossoms and the branches on trees. It’s just weird seeing snow on tulips…

How To Add a Corset Back to Your Dress…Option #2

By: Linda May 11, 2010February 22, 2021

Alterations, Bridalhow to add a corset back to your dress, how to add width to a dress, how to alter a quincinera dress, how to enlarge a garment that is too small, how to enlarge a wedding dress, how to enlarge the back of a dress, how to lace up a back of a dress, How to make a dress bigger by adding fabric, how to make a dress more rigid, how to sew a corset back, make a dress bigger20 Comments

You may have already read my post on Adding a Corset Back To Your Wedding Dress. Both that first post and this post offer a great option for dresses that don’t zip all the way up. This is a way to add extra room in any dress or top. Usually, you’ll find this option on…

How To Shorten Spaghetti Straps

By: Linda April 22, 2010February 12, 2021

Alterations, BridalBridal, formal wear, Homecoming dress, how to fix straps on a dress, how to shorten long straps, prom dress, spaghetti straps, straps2 Comments

Let me show you how easy it is to shorten the spaghetti straps on your dress. This is a prom dress whose straps were too long for the customer: On this dress, there are four straps on each side. But, the technique is the same whether you have one spaghetti strap or several. Not only did this…

How To Hem a Bubble Dress

By: Linda April 7, 2010February 11, 2021

Alterations, Bridal, HemsBridal, bubble hem, how to alter a poofy dress, how to take in a poofy dress, poof in a dress, pouf in a dress, prom, puckering in a bridal gown, puckering in a wedding dress, wedding17 Comments

Let me show you how easy it is to hem a bubble dress. Here is a strapless gown that a customer brought in earlier this week: Sometimes, if the dress isn’t overly long, I can just tack the dress up at random spots and stitch a bar tack in to hold up the hem. Most…

Sewing Machine Needles…How to Choose The Right One

By: Linda March 25, 2010February 10, 2021

AlterationsAlterations, how to choose sewing machine needles, how to sew denim, how to sew leather, how to sew through jeans, jeans, needles, Schmetz, sewing machine, Singer, what needle do I use?, what to do when your sewing machine skips stitches6 Comments

How do you know what kind of sewing machine needles to use in your machine? Well, I prefer to use Schmetz brand needles. They work. They work well. I have been using them for at least 27 years. Before that, I used my mom’s Singer machine and just used Singer needles on it. But then,…

Hemming With Twin Needles

By: Linda March 15, 2010February 24, 2018

Alterations, HemsAlterations, double stitching, fleece, fleece robe, how to hem with double needles, how to hem with twin needles, how to sew 2 rows of stitching, how to sew on fleece, lingerie, sewing, swim wear, swimsuits, T-shirts19 Comments

Have you ever sewn with twin needles? They are awesome! Schmetz makes several different kinds. This is one of them: You can find them at Joann Fabrics. Schmetz makes twin needles where the needles are different widths apart, which is really nice. Do you see the numbers at the bottom of the package of twin…

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 together5 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…