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Making Your Own Pattern: a tutorial

Making Your Own Pattern: a tutorial
Patterns aren't cheap. Seriously, I was browsing through through the look books at Hobby Lobby the other day and some of them were as much as $20. Tack that on to the price of fabric and other supplies and suddenly sewing your own clothing becomes very expensive. Thankfully, you can make your own patterns using your own clothing that you know to fit well. I'll show you how to make a simple blouse pattern using a top of my own. I used Scotch Postal Wrapping Paper as my pattern paper. I used paper because I like to lay my pattern piece down and trace the shape directly onto my fabric. Muslin fabric is another great material that would allow you to pin the pattern piece to your fabric. Lay your garment down on the paper and determine the middle of the top. Mark right above the collar and right below the hem. Draw a rough outline of one half of the top. When you get to the sleeve, do your best to fold it back so that you just see the armhole. Now for the sleeves. *Update*

Circle skirt calculator – for the drafting of full, half and 3/4 skirts. With bonus grading worksheet! | The Snug Bug Special Sunday greetings you naked molerats! Since you’re so naked, I thought you might want to make yourselves some nice little circle skirts. And perhaps, like me, you find yourself with little mole rat patterns just a touch on the small side. OK. Recently I’ve been plotting about two separate circle-skirt related issues in my head. For molerats who are unfamiliar with circle skirts, here’s the difference between the three styles. For a much more interesting comparison, here’s a full circle skirt. {image Whirling Turban} Here’s the oh, so lovely three-quarter circle skirt. And a slightly pixelated half circle skirt… {image Get Go Retro} The other circle-skirt related problem I’ve been mulling over has to do with grading up circle skirts. OK, I admit I usually grade up my circle skirts the ‘wrong’ way. My problem is (hopefully) solved! I made two little handy tools this morning – they both live in the same Excel file – in fact, in the same sheet! Okee dokee. Whew! OK! There we have it!

Sewing Helpers: {Tips & Resources Home / Crafts / Sewing Helpers: {Tips & Resources} Here’s a page full of several basic but helpful tips and tutorials for beginner sewers (and some great resources for those more experienced too!). You’ll find zipper installation helpers, tips for making your own bias tape, hemming methods, how to make pockets and bound buttonholes plus a whole lot more. Enjoy! Zipper Installation *Published May 18, 2011 and moved to this page for better organization Does sewing with zippers terrify you? Learn How To Install A Zipper With These Handy Tutorials Basic Installation: Recommends using a zipper foot, this type of install is one of the most common methods and is suitable for many types of projects. Tips & Tricks Guide To Zippers: This is a great resource from Sew, Mama, Sew! Bias Tape *First published November 23, 2011 and moved to this page for better organization You can buy bias tape in a wide assortment of colors, but sometimes you want to use something a little more special for a project.

Fabrique de balles... - Les Wouimardis Tavaux pratiques pour les week end ! comment fabriquer des balles, pas trop grosses, légères et surtout bien colorées ? C'est très simple, il vous suffit de prendre un crochet (2.5mm pour les miennes) et du coton. Vous savez, les restes de pelotes dont on ne sait jamais qu'en faire... on se choisit un petit coin au soleil et on commence ! .. Enrouler 2 fois le fil autour de votre index et majeur, glisser le crochet dans la boucle et faire une maille serrée. R1: 6 mailles serrées, 1 mc ds la 1ère m. R2; 1 m en l'air, 2ms ds chacune des mailles du rg préc., 1 m coulée ds la 1ère m. (12m) R3: 1m en l'air, *1ms, 2ms ds la m suiv.*, répéter sur tout le rang, term par 1mc ds la 1ère m. (18m) R4: 1 m en l'air, * 2ms, 2ms ds la m suiv.*, répéter sur tout le rang. term par 1 mc ds la 1ère m.(24m) R5: 1 m en l'air, ms sur tout le rang, term par 1 mc ds la 1ère m. R6: comme le rang 4.(32m) R7: comme le rang 5. R9 à 14: 1m en l'air, ms sur tout le rang, term par 1 mc ds la 1ère m. Bon week end !

: Ghost-in-a-box I schemed up these little guys a while back, and a whole flock of them will be in the shop update on Tuesday. Back to work on dolls and such! Have a Happy Weekend, and I'll be back with more very soon. xoxo Beginner's Bias Tape Bag with Free Downloadable Pattern I promised you this free downloadable bag pattern when we offered up the Simplicity Bias Tape Maker Giveaway as a great first project for your Homemade Bias Tape, so here goes… I’ve made a couple so far, and I usually don’t like fabric bags (i’m a leather lover) but I actually adore these for summer. They are super quick to whip up (under an hour) and are also reversible, so you can get a couple different looks in one swoop. You could also use store-bought bias tape, like I did for the big one (oh, and you can blow up or shrink the pattern to make different sizes – Scarlet’s been using the littler one as her lunch bag). Either way I think it’s a sweet & simple summery project. Get the full Beginner’s Bias Tape Bag Tutorial and free downloadable pattern after the jump…Beginner’s Bias Tape BagThe smaller version is made with the following fabrics: Bias Tape – Heather Bailey Washday Ticking in Dandelion, Amy Butler Sweet Jasmine in Navy, and Kei Barkcloth Woodcut in Teal. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

The Promised Skirt Hemming Tutorial Step 1. Choose a good skirt to work with. This particular technique works best with wool-like skirts. Step 2. Step 3. Step 4. Step 5. Step 6. Step 7. Step 8. Step 9. Step 10. Step 11. Your final folding should look like this. Step 12. The key to getting a good blind hem is to barely catch the edge of the folded fabric. Step 13. All right, that's it. Edit: If you hem a skirt using this tutorial, be sure to let me know. tutorial: light drape cardigan Drastic changes in temperature drive me insane. Stepping outside an airconditioned mall to the taxi stand will have me sweating seven ways to Sunday. Conversely, if I step inside a freezing room from somewhere warm, my tummy will do sommersaults. Or I’ll get a migraine. Because I seem to have an old lady’s body, I needed a light cardigan. I made a DIY cardigan, of course. [wp_ad_camp_1] 1. 2. 3. Sewing: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Styling possibilities of your fun DIY drape cardigan: LINKY LOVE: Tatertots and Jello, Sassy Sites, Hope Studios, A Bowl Full of Lemons

To market, to market… A Market Bag Tutorial This is my first tutorial, and it comes during the same week that I’ve given up coffee, so hopefully this makes sense (and if it doesn’t, let me know and let’s just blame it on the lack of caffeine!) I make two versions of this market bag, and I use both on a daily basis. I made a number of one style recently, as shown here and here. These have side panels and end up measuring about 15″ across when laid flat. In any case, my sister has one of these bags, and continues to tell me that it doesn’t perfectly fit all the items she typically packs in there. This tutorial will be for the second version, which seems easier to make, as it requires less sewing and cutting. Market Bag Tutorial To start, I select two coordinating fabrics. Next you’ll cut out the pieces for the bag. I use a piece of interfacing on each of the bottom pieces for a little added support. Now on to the sewing – I usually start with the lining, but the order really makes no difference. You’ll now have a very basic bag.

Tutorial and Pattern: Rainbow Sunshine Plushie (and a little fair[l]y [ugly] tale about patents) I want to begin this tutorial with a little story. One day there was a little organic cotton rainbow be-ribbonedplushie that was sketched and then stitched with love in a very messy upstairs room in a home somewhere in Minneapolis. It was a happy little plushie, made all the more so by the creation of its 3 identical siblings who sat on a sunny windowsill with the little plushie, keeping it company. Three of these four happy little plushies were placed in an Etsy shop, where they could be adopted by a good family, where they might be mooshed and drooled on and thrown over the sides of a crib and loved by a baby new to this world, much like the little plushies. They sat in that little shop, anxiously awaiting their new family for not much more than a week, when suddenly a nasty, ugly, bullying corporate lawyer informed them they could not be placed for adoption because apparently they were infringing upon some stupid, damn patent or other.

Travel Accessories: Plenty of Pockets Tote When you're on the road, doesn't it always seems to be the ordinary, everyday things you are suddenly in desperate need of: gum, nail clippers, your headphones? I get a little panicky, certain I've left behind the most obvious items... as if perhaps I'm on an arctic expedition and won't see civilization for weeks. But the opportunity for replenishment doesn't matter; I want my stuff close at hand. That's the theory behind our handsome travel tote: plenty o' pockets to stash all your stuff. We offer a full set of pattern downloads below for the tote body as well as all the pockets. We recommend using a twin needle to do the decorative stitching on this project. Our tote uses a heavy, solid-color duck for the exterior, a fabric that is readily available at numerous outlets, including this pretty 7 oz. duck in brown from Fabric. com. The finished size of the tote is approximately 12½" tall x 11½" wide with 2" deep sides and base. Contributors Storage Solutions Related Articles

10 Beautiful Fabric Flower Tutorials It is spring! If the flowers are not blooming yet here is a round-up of awesome tutorials to help you make your own flowers! Here you will find 10 beautiful fabric flowers, but don’t miss these five fabric flower tutorials! 1. How to make lovely fabric flowers 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. ..And how about updating your spring wardrobe with this beautiful rolled rose bracelet. 10. Just had to add one more! 11. If you need more flowers don’t miss the round-up of crochet flower tutorials and these darling fabric flowers!

Free Patterns For all of my fellow frugal crafters out there, I've collected a bunch of vintage or vintage-inspired free sewing, knitting and crochet patterns for you! I find new patterns all the time so this list will be updated constantly, so do check back! If you posted a free pattern to share that isn't listed here, please leave a link in a comment below. Also check out my Pinterest board, "Sew Vintage" for more beautiful free vintage sewing patterns and check the bottom of this page for free vintage millinery book downloads! Patterns from Va-Voom Vintage 60 + Free Vintage Sewing Patterns Please note: some of these patterns were posted ages ago and the blogs have since been shut down or taken over by someone else using the old domain but the patterns are still available through Pinterest or the Wayback Machine. Dresses Skirts, Pants and Shorts Tops Outerwear Lingerie and Foundations Accessories, Swim, Playsuits and Misc. Crochet Patterns Knitting Patterns Millinery

Denim Circle Pillow- Tutorial, Part 1 For MORE Denim projects and ideas on how to use your RECYCLED JEANS, visit my new website: www.InventiveDenim.com! For Part 2, Go HEREFor Part 3, Go HERE Here are the supplies you will need: 1. 1. It’s important to use 100% cotton or close to it (97%, 99%). Next, cut open each leg at one seam. You now have two usable pieces of fabric from one pair of jeans. Cutting the Denim Circles? ****BIG TIP! TRACING Method: I used a 6 1/2” plastic circle template to make the cardboard template seen below. As you see, I can “typically” get eight circles from one leg but in in cases where the legs are especially tapered you may only get six (i.e. smaller sized jeans). OLFA CIRCLE CUTTING Method: You will need one Olfa Rotary Circle Cutter (CMP-3). It works just like a compass from math class. The video can be found here (video) . They do a good job explaining how to set it up for measuring, etc. Here are my two best TIPS: 1. Assembly: 1. Align a ruler with the circle, 1” from edge. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

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