A number of years ago, we had a French intern working with us... the daughter of a friend of a friend - you know how those things go. She was a sweet girl with a lovely accent, and we had fun asking her for the translation of things we tag as "French": a French braid
In sewing, there's a difference between stitches you use for construction and ones you use for finishing. When you’re first learning to sew, your immediate focus is getting all those pieces to fit together correctly. From the moment you cut the fabric, you’re concerned with maintaining the shape of the pattern pieces. You tediously concentrate
Zip-A-Dee-Ay! Please meet one of our favorite zipper friends: the invisible zipper. Remember, this zipper is shy, and likes to stay hidden in the seam line of your projects. In fact, with the exception of its slender zipper pull, you’d never know it was there. It likes it that way... and you will too! In
Learn to pipe like a pro. From types of cording to determining length and yardage to making the bias strips to finishing the ends. You can certainly buy packaged piping, but making your own means you pick the perfect size and fabric.
A knife pleat sounds dangerous, but it is actually one of the easiest and, we think, prettiest members of the pleat family. In a knife pleat, the folds are pressed to one side in the same direction, which is why they are also sometimes called side pleats. More than likely, you've seen knife pleats on
We use binding on lots of projects and we get lots of compliments about how nice it looks. We also get lots of questions about how we managed to pull that off! This tutorial summarizes the binding basics you need to know.
Today's faux fur gives you the luxurious look and feel of real fur at a fraction of the price and without harming any animals. And, because of recent improvements in fabric manufacturing, it comes in an amazing array of rich colors and lush textures. It truly starts out beautiful on the bolt. But if you
Ah, sheer fabrics. There's nothing quite like them for a light, airy look – simplicity with elegance. But many folks avoid using them because you can't sew with them quite as easily as you can regular fabric. True, it takes some care and patience, but there's really no reason to fear the sheer. You just
At Sew4Home, we do everything possible using a sewing machine. It's so much faster. However, there are times when hand sewing is necessary. Instead of searching the junk drawer for that needle you thought you saw awhile ago when hunting for the tape, stock up on these five basic types of hand-sewing needles. Hand sewing