A Sewing Tool Box Basic! Seam grading is like stair-stepping. It’s the process of turning a standard seam allowance into layered tiers of fabric. The result is less bulk, which means a smoother finish from the right side.
Prom and wedding season is upon us, which is always a great time to pull out the specialty fabrics for garments as well as home décor items. However, working with these fabrics does require a little special handling; they aren't always as user-friendly as good ol' cotton. We picked four of the most common categories:
From getting the spacing right, to cutting holes in the fabric, to the actual installation process, we’re here to prove you can conquer this hardware at home and get a professional result. Plus you get to hit stuff with a hammer!
For more basic Janome sewing machines (5mm and 7mm), this a fun, easy way to add little decorative stitch touches in pretty thread colors! Be the flower girl of the sewing accessory world, sprinkling pretty posies over any project.
Today’s machines can zip along at up to 1000 stitches per minute; you can see how a little length goes a long way. The shorter the stitches, the tighter the seam. The longer the stitches, the looser the seam.
Making a narrow hem with a clean corner can be a challenge. Our go-to option, the one that earns our Sewing ToolBox Stamp of Approval, is a double-turn with a folded diagonal point corner: easy, tidy, and pretty from both sides.
Snaps are one of our favorite closures. They're small yet sturdy, like a cute little Corgi dog. But there's not always a lot of variety from which to choose. You can usually find nickel or brass, and the Western favorite: pretty pearl head snaps, every once in awhile, maybe a rhinestone alternative. But that's where
A true Sewing Survival Skill! The word fussy sounds negative. But in the world of sewing, a fussy cut is a beautiful thing. It means cutting in a way that precisely captures a specific section of fabric for a specific purpose.
Your project instructions call for two yards of 60" wide fabric, but the fabric you want to use is 45" wide. Hmmm... attempting to dredge up that old math lesson in proportions is probably not going to happen on the fly. Instead, print out our handy conversion chart for those times you don't have a
We love the look and functionality of zippers. But many of us are not crazy about installing them. To get good, you gotta jump in. Let’s start with a conventional zipper, where the fabric meets along the center of the zipper teeth.
In our quest to continue bringing you the information you’re searching for, we’ve been partnering with some of our pals in the sewing community to provide guest features on garment sewing. This is an area we don’t currently focus on at Sew4Home but for which we get a lot of inquiries. It’s not that we
A quilter extraordinaire, our friend Kim Niedzwiecki (aka Go-Go Kim) recently entered the world of garment sewing. She’s alive to tell the tale, and offers up her experiences, pearls of wisdom, and encouragement for you to do the same.
Tufting are those depressions made at regular intervals in a cushion by passing a thread through and pulling it taut. Simple, right? It can be. Start with the right tools and make sure you measure and mark with precision.
Thermal fabrics are the added layer in projects designed to keep hot stuff hot and cold stuff cold, such as oven mitts, lunch bags, shopping totes, etc. We take a look at options for thermal batting, fabric, and interfacing.
Often, the most exciting notions look rather nondescript inside their cardboard boxes and cellophane wrappers. Our goal with the Products We Love series is to break open the packaging, show you how to use these cool tools, and inspire you to add one or more to your own sewing basket. The Clover Hot Hemmer is one of the
If you want a flat, stable base, an inset base panel is the go-to option. It’s easy, but you do need to carefully measure and mark, then sew each side independently during construction. Follow our steps to achieve an expert finish.
Picking out buttons is fun! Sewing on buttons, not quite so fun. The up-side of button sewing is that it’s relatively quick and easy, and by following our tutorial basics, yours will stay put stronger and longer.
Pleats are the origami of the sewing world. And although you don't usually need to fold one into the shape of a swan, there are a wide variety of pretty pleats that add distinct visual and textural embellishments for both home décor as well as garment sewing. Each type provides a different look based on
It gives a fabulous softness to a wide variety of projects, from toys to pillows to blankets and more. Although not difficult to sew with, to create the very best results, it helps to have a few tips and tricks under your belt.
We explain the fundamentals of quilting, including the tools you’ll need, cutting techniques, how to create blocks from basic shapes, piecing tips and techniques, and stitching. Enter at your own risk; quilting can be addictive.
It’s a little bit like the ancient art of origami. You start out with a flat square (or rectangle), and after a few folds, flips, and slices, you have perfect bias strips ready to become custom binding for your next project.
How fabric is woven is important; fabric that is off-grain when you’re cutting can cause the completed project to stretch out of shape. Get a better understanding of how to identify fabric grain and tips on how to straighten it.
So many choices! This article helps you sort out the most common interfacing options for bags and totes. You’ll like the printable chart we developed. Post one copy in your sewing room and use another when you shop.
Most of the time, sewing is all about soft things, from beautiful fabrics to cushy pillow inserts. However, every so often, something hard comes along. It's not there to torment you; it's a way to inject an interesting new texture into the mix. We're here with a few tips to make working with these trims
Outdoor jackets, yacht covers, baby clothes – the humble snap does it all. They’re easier to use than buttons and more durable than Velcro®. Find out the best tools to use and tips to follow to make inserting snaps… a snap!
There are entire accessory systems to achieve this unique embellishment technique, often referred to as “yarn embroidery.” YOU can do it with a simple change of your Janome presser foot. It’s like drawing with yarn.
Ruffles. Bet you can't use them just once. If you love ruffles like we do, you need to know about an accessory that makes ruffling and pleating easier, faster and more precise: the Ultimate Ruffler from Janome. This attachment is designed to work with any machine that can accept a snap-on presser foot, which means
A big part of sewing is knowing your fabric. A big part of knowing fabric is understanding how to care for it. Protect your project and fabric investment. Learn when to preshrink fabrics, what products to use, and more.
If you can imagine it, chances are you can appliqué it! With appliqué, you’re free to incorporate almost any kind of graphic into your project. Learn our favorite tips and techniques for finding designs, cutting, applying, and stitching.
We love the quilting art of superstar, Heather Jones. A while back, she was kind enough to give us her favorite tips on straight line quilting. It provides a clean, modern feeling to a design, and is especially cool when densely stitched.
Beads add dimension, texture, and color in one fell swoop. Hand sewing is an option, if you have a few spare days. Machine sewing CAN be like trying to ride your bike over a field of BBs… unless you have this clever presser foot set.
Explore heirloom stitching by machine. We show two options: hemstitching (if you are brand new) and fagoting (if you’re more advanced). Both offer beautiful borders with mitered corners and an optional monogram.
There are two major curves you encounter in sewing: inward or concave and outward or convex. Learn the keys to a smooth result with both: an accurate seam allowance, proper clipping, and careful pressing.
We love embellishing projects with gorgeous ribbons. One reason is that we have such amazing choices from our friends and sponsor, Renaissance Ribbons. Another is because ribbons inject wonderful color and texture. Third, they're very easy to work with. Since we use them often, we're always thinking about new and unique ways to apply them.
Stenciling is one of the oldest forms of human art. We’ve used it to embellish some pretty half aprons. A coordinated set of these aprons would make great gifts for a bridal party or a cooking or crafting collective.
Remember how scary it was to raise your hand in school and ask what you feared would be a "stupid" question? Hopefully we've moved beyond that childhood fear. Questions are great because they lead to answers, and answers are meant to be shared. Today's quick measuring tip came from a question in a visitor's email. Someone
Decorative stitches are tiny pieces of thread art. Sometimes when we look at them, we can't believe a single threaded needle made such an intricate design. But even though we all love them, we often forget to use them. When you get caught up in the precise seams of a project's construction, decorative stitches can
Buttonholes. For many of us, beads of sweat start to form at the mention of the word. “Am I about to ruin everything by botching the buttonholes?” Nope! They’re really not hard once you break it down into individual steps.
The shirred sundress is a wardrobe standard for summer. But S4H is never one to settle for standard! We spun the traditional one-seam-up-the-side design, taking it from ordinary to trendy by adding a flirty eyelet underskirt and a precious sash with its own flower pin. Both of our classic fabrics have a sweet, old-fashioned goodness.
The turn or twist lock closure is one of those finishing touches that looks so professional, it fools you into thinking it must be crazy hard to install. We're here to bust that myth wide open. We used this closure on our Ribbon Flap Shoulder Bag. Centered within one of the ribbons, this little lock
As we enter the final phase of making a quilt, you should be proud of all you've learned thus far. If you think back to Part 1 of this Series, you may have been skeptical about adding "how to quilt" to your sewing toolbox of skills. Now you can see it was simply a case
We're back for the second half of our piecing tutorial – part Four of our Five-part Quilting Basics series. Quilters are very resourceful and innovative. You can see this trait revealed in some of the popular quick-piecing methods that have been developed over time. The mindset behind each is to save thread and/or time. They