How to Sew a Zipper into a Pillow, the Easiest Way Ever!

Yes, there are many tutorials online that teach you how to sew a zipper into a pillow. But this method is Different. Easier.  As I stitched up some pillows recently, I wondered if there was already a post out there with these instructions. To my amazement, there weren’t any. So I thought I’d share that with…

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How To Add Lining and Hem Your Drapes or Curtains

Finding drapes in the color, length and fabric you need is not an easy task, unless you get them custom made. But that is expensive. I found a set of drapes in the color and style I wanted, but the length was too long. Also, when I stood on the curb outside, they didn’t look good…

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Thank You!

The WordPress annual report just showed up in my inbox. I am speechless. There were over 290,000 visits to this blog in 2013! That’s about 800 per day….incredible! And you are reading this blog from 179 countries all over the world… (from some countries I have never heard of)…..even more incredible! Thank you to each…

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Should You Charge A Minimum Fee For Alterations?

I get asked this question alot. Should you charge your customers or friends a minimum fee for alterations? Well, let’s take an example. This morning, I found a bag on my front porch. Inside was a pair of workout pants: The customer called to say that there was a hole in the seam at the…

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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…

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How to Choose Boning for Your Dress

Each day, I receive many emails with great questions and today I thought I’d post one I received yesterday as well as the answer to it. Here’s the question: Hi Linda,  I am making my daughter’s strapless wedding dress.  I used the fabric store feather weight boning for the muslin corset .  We got it…

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How To Replace a Zipper in a Jacket or Coat

Update: October 19, 2020 If you read my last post on How Much To Charge To Replace a Zipper, I promised I’d be back to show you how to put in a new zipper. Here’s the jacket with the broken zipper: On this jacket, the zipper teeth didn’t hold together when the jacket was zipped.…

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Celebrate With Me…It’s Free!

Today is the 3rd anniversary of this blog and I thought you might like to know how it all started. About 6 years ago, a customer came to my door needing his suit jacket altered. As I spoke to him about the changes that needed to be made on it, he asked me if I had…

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Fun At The Wedding Reception

This is a sewing related post, even though the title doesn’t sound like it! As I mentioned in the previous post, we held two receptions for our daughter’s wedding. One was held at the church. The second was a family dinner at a public golf club in the next town. Here are the newlyweds leaving the church:…

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Wedded Bliss!

Thank you for your sweet emails and congrats on our daughter’s wedding! It was a wonderful day! The weather was perfect and the ceremony divine While we’re still waiting for the photographer to give us the photos (how long do they usually take? It’s been about 6 weeks), I couldn’t resist sharing a couple of…

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