Summer may officially be coming to an end soon up here in the northern hemisphere, but it's still quite hot out! So a bit more time for some fun summery projects! And I recently did a couple of YouTube videos you might like on that topic! I teach you how to make a super simple DIY 2-color rope belt in today's video. Which I made to go with the pedal pushers I sewed in last week's video, where I also showed step-by-step ... Read more »
Sewing Tutorials
Bias tape armhole facings tutorial & a summer blouse
Do you love gingham? I loove gingham. Apparently, I love gingham so much, that between my two latest YouTube videos, where I show you my favorite tricks for achieving perfectly smooth bias tape facings around armholes, and then sew up the example blouse from the tutorial, I end up showing 4 different gingham summer tops I've made. I really had no idea until making of those videos that I sewed it that much! If you'd ... Read more »
Sewing tutorial: all-in-one facing for a center back zipper dress
I love sleeveless dresses, but I don't love sewing separate armhole and neckline facings. They are annoying and even with understitching and tacking them at seam lines, they love to try to flip out, and often require more pressing after laundering than you might want to bother with. And then they still want to flop to the outside when you get dressed. Annoying. For awhile, that was the main reason I preferred lining ... Read more »
How I pattern hack a vintage & modern pattern together & sew a dress!
If you've followed me a long time anywhere on these here interwebs, you know that I love to hack sewing patterns. Hack patterns together, hack them into different cuts and style, you name it, I'll hack it. I knew one of the first things I wanted to do on my new YouTube channel (did you miss my launch?!) was a video where I walked through how I hacked one of my favorite bodices. It's a bit of a tutorial! Quick ... Read more »
1950s-style cuffed jeans (and informal video extravaganza!)
I made more jeans! And then I have some good news, and some bad news relating to that. The bad news is I've been saying since last summer that I was going to do a vintage jeans sew-along. And I... can never get to it. Friends, if you've followed me awhile, and if you've ever read any of my tutorials, they are intense. They can take me weeks to put together just one tutorial. I rarely even do them these days because ... Read more »
Pattern hack: turn Butterick B6285 wrap top into a tuck-in surplice top
As I mentioned in my wrap/surplice top series introduction, I have two pattern hacks I've worked up for Gertie's Butterick B6285 pattern. Yesterday I showed you how to lengthen the wrap top bodice. But today's modification is my favorite: how I turned this wrap top pattern into a surplice top. Basically, it looks the same, there's just no wrap ties, and it's long enough to tuck it in! I adore the general fit and shape ... Read more »