A blog about family, little divas, chunky munkys, and my "tiny" obsession with photography, sewing, and anything with the word "how-to" involved.
Showing posts with label free tutorials. Show all posts
Showing posts with label free tutorials. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
My Version of Little Boy's Tie
This week I finished my first try at my own idea for a little boy's tie. This particular tie is made with a clip-on back due to responses that I received from other moms stating their preferences. I think it turned out pretty cute, but I would love to know what everyone thinks and if you would like to see a tutorial. It is fairly easy to make and is great for using up scrap fabrics. I used a dark red corduroy for the backing and a ribbon-lined alligator clip for the clip-on. The front has coordinating fabrics and ribbon with button accents. Let me know what you think and if enough people want to see how it's made, I will get to work on a new tutorial. So, keep the feedback comin'!
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Shirring 101
I had a couple of people ask me about tips on shirring after I posted the peasant tops that I made for the girls. So, I decided to make a short tutorial on how I shirred all of the areas of these shirts. Originally, I tried to use the method that the pattern suggested, but it just wasn’t quite turning out the way that I wanted. So, I played with it until I found what I liked, which is in the tutorial below.
1. You will need elastic thread for your bobbin only. Your top thread will be whatever you choose for your topstitch to be. You will also want to make sure that you hand-wind the thread (this I did find out from the pattern). You will want to wind your elastic firmly around the bobbin, pulling just slightly to give it some tightness. Then, insert the bobbin, and you are ready for the next step.
2. Next, you will want to make sure that you are doing your shirring on the right (top) side of the fabric, so that your elastic is on the back side of the fabric. Always make sure to start with the needle in the fabric that way you know exactly where it will start the row. Now, the position of your first row is your preference. For this example, I chose to make it about a half an inch from the topstitch of the hem. In the previous posted project, I started the first row about a quarter of an inch from the edge of the rolled hem.
3. Hold on to the elastic thread when you first start to sew (just so the elastic doesn’t shrink back into the bobbin). Then, do a quick backstitch to lock everything into place and start stitching around the edge back to where you began. Now, backstitch again, and then leave a little extra elastic before cutting because you will now tie both the beginning elastic and the ending elastic together in a couple of knots to make sure the elastic has a secure hold.
4. Now, you will move over and line up your first stitch line with the right edge of the presser foot, and follow the same process as in Step 3. One thing that you will need to do each time from this point on is make sure the fabric is flat as you are feeding it through the presser foot.
5. You can continue this process for as many lines as you would like shirred, depending on the project you are working on.
6. The last thing that I do (which I did learn this step from the pattern as well) is to use your iron on the steam setting and just shoot some steam onto the area that was shirred. This will gather the shirred area even more and give it a fantastic look and feel.
1. You will need elastic thread for your bobbin only. Your top thread will be whatever you choose for your topstitch to be. You will also want to make sure that you hand-wind the thread (this I did find out from the pattern). You will want to wind your elastic firmly around the bobbin, pulling just slightly to give it some tightness. Then, insert the bobbin, and you are ready for the next step.
2. Next, you will want to make sure that you are doing your shirring on the right (top) side of the fabric, so that your elastic is on the back side of the fabric. Always make sure to start with the needle in the fabric that way you know exactly where it will start the row. Now, the position of your first row is your preference. For this example, I chose to make it about a half an inch from the topstitch of the hem. In the previous posted project, I started the first row about a quarter of an inch from the edge of the rolled hem.
3. Hold on to the elastic thread when you first start to sew (just so the elastic doesn’t shrink back into the bobbin). Then, do a quick backstitch to lock everything into place and start stitching around the edge back to where you began. Now, backstitch again, and then leave a little extra elastic before cutting because you will now tie both the beginning elastic and the ending elastic together in a couple of knots to make sure the elastic has a secure hold.
4. Now, you will move over and line up your first stitch line with the right edge of the presser foot, and follow the same process as in Step 3. One thing that you will need to do each time from this point on is make sure the fabric is flat as you are feeding it through the presser foot.
5. You can continue this process for as many lines as you would like shirred, depending on the project you are working on.
6. The last thing that I do (which I did learn this step from the pattern as well) is to use your iron on the steam setting and just shoot some steam onto the area that was shirred. This will gather the shirred area even more and give it a fantastic look and feel.
And VOILA!! You're finished and should have a perfectly shirred garment. If you have any questions, feel free to comment or email me!
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Soo cute!!
I LOVE this reversible pinafore tutorial that I found! This blogger is wonderful!! She has a number of other tutorials which look super easy and cute, and I can't wait to try my hand at this dress, especially for my little diva. What I really love about this is EVERYTHING, but I especially love that it is 2 outfits in one which makes for double duty. You know those times when your out for lunch at TGIFridays when your 2-yr old decides that she HAS to have spaghetti for dinner, even though you need to run 20 more errands after? Well, now she can have that spaghetti and even though she will inevitably spill it on herself, you can reverse the dress, and BAM!! a new clean outfit! How absolutely wonderful is that? Also, I love the fact that it can be worn as a dress or shirt, just depending on how you make it. It can even grow with your child from dress to shirt. And that's not all, you can wear it in every season, just add a shirt underneath! Could this pinafore BE any better??? Can't wait to make some for my girls! Will post results when I get the chance to start after the holidays...
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