Thanks very much to Karen, Carol,
Linda and Deb from USA, Pauline from Australia,
Susan and Mary from the UK, for the following Tips.
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|
This low-tack tape (available from
Staples) is great for trying out alterations on a paper pattern. When you have decided on
the final version you can replace the Removable Magic Tape with something more permanent
such as strips of iron-on interfacing. |
| If you alter a sleeve pattern you
need to check it still fits the armhole. This flexible ruler (available from Woolworths)
is just the job for measuring those curves. |
|
 |
Mary
(Halesowen, UK)
Working
in confined spaces?
When
embroidering and trimming those threads in fiddly spaces confined by hoops try using overlocker-tweezers
to "hold" threads or "pick" them away before continuing to
embroider! also the little brushes that come with sewing machine to
clear lint etc come in handy to brush away any tiny bits of thread particularly when using
the very small hoop. particularly useful for the more ham-fisted-fumble-fingered
like meeee!
Levelling
hems by yourself...
Levelling
hems of skirts by yourself: is your husband revolting? refusing
to grovel* at your ankles with tape measure to level your
skirt hems claiming arthritic-knees? so is mine! here's what I do - ask for the
inside-roll off bolt of fabric from your local fabric shop; this is solid enough and
tall enough to be marked with a pencil line that matches an equal line of tacking in
contrast colour around the circumference of your skirt at the hipline - I stand the
cardboard roll in front and using a mirror "walk" around the stationary roll
noting any variation between my skirt's mark and the pencil on roll - it takes a while and
a bit of practice but it works!! Even the back too! (I've perfected a quite
intricate series of manoeuvres that would challenge a gymnast in order to get all angles
and the taller you are the more you'll appreciate the length of the roll!) After
adjusting the skirt on the waistband, measure down from the now straight/level line of
tacking to find the hemline.
Another
use for these cardboard rolls? (they are very solid & hardwearing) cut them to size
and pad thoroughly with wadding before covering with calico and stitching by hand to
enclose - voila! custom-sized seam rolls! I've got a small one (my sleeve seams,
children's sideseams) a medium one (my skirt seams, children's trouser leg seams) and a
large one (my dress/trouser leg seams and one for the children's legs to grow into!) so
cheap! and easy to make!
*
your webmaster 
wishes to point out that
he has frequently grovelled at his wife's ankles with tape measure in
hand!
....and
darts in skirts
Skirt
darts: Got a favourite skirt pattern with the darts just in the right
place/flattering length? fancy a new skirt pattern but want to use the same
darts? I mark the position, the width apart and the length of my favourite skirt
darts and draw a diagram with the measurements on and a traced copy onto freezer paper -
adapt the new skirt pattern to accommodate THESE darts before cutting out the skirt!
Kind
regards.
Susan (UK)
Hello! I found your website through
Susan Arnott who is on my Friendly Sewing Forum on Delphi Forums.
Here are a few things that I would like to share. I sure wish that I could take
some of your classes, but alas, I am
too far away. Your website is wonderful and Susan is always telling us of your great
talents...
1. Keep a fabric notebook.
Cut off a small piece, including all colors in the piece. Note the content and the care
instructions. Write down the yardage. Some of us have so much, that we forgot what it is,
how large a piece we have, etc. It is also useful when you want to buy a ready made
garment to match or to buy other fabric to make a garment to go with the fabric. A good
idea would be to try to take this along when you go fabric shopping. |
2. Get a supply of index cards. Staple a card
to each of your patterns that you have made or are making. Note the year and the fabric
that you used as well as what alterations you may have done to the pattern. This can be
useful as one sometimes tends to forget what pattern they used for a certain garment.
Don't make the mistake of thinking that you will remember that certain pair of pants
needed to be taken in a wee bit. Write it all down exactly. This is also helpful as you
may gain or lose weight also. So, the year can be important, too, so you don't
think, ah,
I'll just make those again, they'll be sure to fit. Maybe not this time. |
3. Make it a habit to always prewash and
machine dry your fabrics, if that is how you will care for them, as soon as you buy them.
Immediately put them in your laundry room. Then you don't have to play a guessing game
when you go to sew on them as to whether or not they have been laundered as then you will
find that everything you have put away has been laundered and pressed if needed, and you
don't have to wait for them to go through the wash if you want to be sewing right away.
Also, it is important as some stores may take something back if it doesn't hold up
going through the laundry. |
4. Keep a list in your handbag of average
yardages of garments that you have made or want to make. Look on the back of your patterns
and see what this average is. Mark down what the average pair of pants, shorts, skirt,
etc., would take, in whomever's size you would wish to make them. When I buy patterns that
I know I want to make, I write down the pattern number, a brief description, the yardages
and and notions, trims, etc.
|
Karen Eyerman Latus (New York,
USA)
My sewing machine (Viking Designer I) has a
basting feature, which I find very useful. I have never had much luck at hooping
fabric straight and at the centering marks of the hoop, so settled instead on hooping the
stabilizer, and spray-basting the fabric to the stabilizer.
I know that many people already do this. What I do differently is make room in my
hoop for more than one piece of fabric! The basting feature stitches about 1/8"
outside the area of the design, not around the perimeter of the hoop, so I can sometimes
fit more than one design.
I mark centering lines as needed on the stabilizer, leaving at least 1 centimeter between
designs. I hoop and embroider the first design, then remove the hoop from the machine to
set up for the second design. I DO NOT remove the stabilizer from the hoop. I do
this only on raw fabric, not completed items.
My current project is a Baby Ball for my cousin's baby.* I embroidered designs on 10
of the 20 circles all in one 6 x 14" hoop.
* The Baby Ball instructions can be found
in the Spring 1999 (Issue 10) of Viking's ZigZag magazine. I am quite proud of my
first international publication.
Carol A. Brown (Batavia, Illinois, USA)
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| I don't make many clothes but
I do appliqué a lot. By cutting off tee-shirt and
sweatshirts ribbing and making a hem I have a flatter surface to appliqué. I find that measuring and pinning the hem was a real
boring time for me, so what I did was cut a piece of poster board 12" long and
1" wide and use this for my guide! |
I can lay this poster board
down and fold my material up over the posterboard and press, and you can get a nice
even hem every time. you can also make one 12" long and 1/4 " wide giving you a
guide for that 1/4" hem. when you are done give one last press and then sew! NO pins
to remove! |
Hope this helps you in some little way!
Linda Dunn (llinois, USA)
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 |
Many people use a flexi-curve to help them
draw curves but did you know you can get one called a Quilters Flexible Curve
which is marked in inches and centimetres? I find it useful for measuring curves such as the armhole and sleevecap
when I am altering a pattern.
|
 |
 |
These Total Control
Scissors look rather odd but they are excellent for those intricate jobs
such as cutting buttonholes or trimming round scallops. Apparently, museums use them for restoration work. |
Mary (Halesowen, UK)
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| If you are wanting to
send a swatch of fabric to someone a distance away, but you have run out of
matching swatches, use a skein of DMC floss in the same color. DMC comes in hundreds of shades, and is lightweight
to send thru the post. |
Keep your fusible
webbing or water soluble stabilizers from drying out by storing
it in plastic bags. Here in the US, we get our bread in long plastic bags that are just
the right size for a width of Sulky Solvy.
|
Deb Titus (Maine,
USA)
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1) Have
trouble remembering which needles you have used & what were they?
I developed "a system" that works great for me.I
always take the needle from the right hand end of the pack & place the pack up on top
of my machine (I have a flat surface where they can sit).
If I change needles I replace into
the right hand end of the pack every time (that last space)- this way I know that
this is my "used" needle). |
I always throw my needle
out after 8 hours of sewing. And I leave the pack from where the needle came up
on top of the machine until I change the needle- that way I know what is in the machine
when I come back to it & I can see at a glance that I have one "used needle"
& so many left. |
2) I plan a cutting out
day... I cut out all my next projects & put pattern,fabric, scraps, notions -
everything I need to complete the job in a zip loc bag. Then I can sew them all up over the next few weeks - cutting out
is my least favourite part of sewing & I find this works for me.
I can sometimes cut out 4/5 shirts a couple
pairs trousers or half a dozen bras!!! all ready to go when I have spare time! &
everything is kept together in the bag so I'm not searching for the buttons I bought for
the shirts!!! |
Pauline (Australia)
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1) Learnt
this from personal experience!
when you make alterations to a tissue pattern
instead of redrawing a fresh sheet - cover with vilene (front and back if needed!) thus
KEEPING the original alterations visible to serve as a reminder as to HOW you did it in
first place!!! |
 |
| now, ask me WHY this is a useful
tip? lol! cos I had to wrack my brains to remember how I added into my armhole to
increase the sleeve! Happily
I had retained my notes from class and was able to repeat, but this time, I interfaced the
extra tissue paper over the original pattern for NEXT time!
|
2) Tip for managing
multisized patterns when sewing for children of different ages. Fed up of puzzling over pattern pieces and trying to
remember if the *SIZE 6* you wrote on them meant *PATTERN SIZE 6YRS* -- or -- *FITS MY
CHILD AT 6YRS* ?
I keep my patterns in a manilla folder with
the traced off sizes slipped into clear plastic A4wallets with a label marking the Pattern
Size AND age of child this fits .... perfect for when you need to reuse for the next
child! |
| 3) Tip for sewing
pyjama's for children who need a label to help them identify the *back* - cut out 2 layers
of same fabric reversed, or a contrast fabric or even better one with a suitable motif -
overlock them w/sides tog around all 4 edges in contrast thread then top stitch the
*label* into the centre back of the p.j's! Use embroidery stitches to sew
child's name on ! or "handmade with love" ! |
4) Tip for
sewing for twins when I sew for my identical twin nieces, I make up a
pair of dresses in same fabric but use a different contrast coloured fabric for
undercollars and facings and match THIS colour with thread for topstitching using
decorative stitches and even better match the buttons too!
*Mum* is delighted to receive
pair of unique dresses for each twin, *girls* are delighted they are the *same* and *I* am
relieved because I need only remember "red trim" = Zoe and "green
trim" = Aisleen!
|
5) Tip for
wise sewing projects - don't rush out and impulse buy fabric! plan
future projects around your existing wardrobe! don't end up like me with 2 heavily
patterned skirts in red and 4 blouses in pink and brown!
Similarly with patterns
- don't rush out and buy a short skirt pattern and a longline tunic top without being sure
they'll go together!
My wardrobe, sadly, has many
garments that lie unworn due to both of these! Take a friend and go window shopping
to see what styles and/or colours suit you and go together to mix and match! |
6) Bored
with zips? Tried this one myself and it works a treat!
If you have a pair of open-ended
zips of contrasting colours, open and separate and zip one half of one colour to the other
half of a contrast! ....
yellow/orange
looked particularly nice as did red/green and also saves *arguments* with
the children when they BOTH wanted green!
|
Susan (UK)
If you have a tip you
would like to share with others then e-mail me now! |
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