Sewing tips, tutorials, videos and the latest news

How to easily sew your own quilted fabric to use in your sewing projects

How to easily sew your own quilted fabric to use in your sewing projects

Quilted bags are so fashionable right now, including quilted clutch bags, backpacks and tote bags. They have been brought to our attention and right into fashion by a popular ‘designer’ range of quilted bags made with pretty prints. But why pay designer pricing when you can sew your own bags? All you need is the quilted fabric and almost any bag pattern can become a designer quilted version of itself. Sewing your own custom quilted…

Oxford Purse, an easy beginners purse sewing pattern with video

Oxford Purse, an easy beginners purse sewing pattern with video

Check out my new purse! The Oxford Purse is a great everyday shoulder bag that even a sewing beginner can easily sew. It’s lightweight, doesn’t need any difficult to find materials or hardware, and is just the right size. She’ll easily carry your wallet, phone, keys and more but her lightweight design means you won’t be weighed down. I love my new Oxford, well, my two Oxfords. This purse is light yet holds it’s shape…

How to sew darts perfectly for clothing or bag making

How to sew darts perfectly for clothing or bag making

Learning how to sew darts in fabric is an essential sewing skill no matter whether you want to sew clothing or bags. Darts are much more commonly sewn in clothing to mould the fabric to the curves of the body, but darts can also be very useful in bag-making, to turn flat cloth into a shape with volume to give space inside your bag. In this article I’ll share with you my easy tips for…

How to install a magnetic snap for a purse sewing pattern

How to install a magnetic snap for a purse sewing pattern

A magnetic snap is one of the most commonly used pieces of purse hardware and is usually used as a closure at the top of a bag, purse or tote, or to secure a fold-over flap to the front of the bag. The magnetic snap or sometimes called magnetic button closure is my favorite type of bag hardware because they are affordable, easy to find, and easy to install. One of my soon-to-be-released purse patterns…

Canterbury Zipper Pouch sewing pattern in 2 sizes with video

Canterbury Zipper Pouch sewing pattern in 2 sizes with video

I’ve been wanting to make this style of flat zipper pouch for such a long time, but it’s taken me a while to get this sewing pattern just right. The first time I tried to create what I had in my mind, it was so complicated to sew and so fiddly, that I almost gave up. But after several revisions and a different construction method, I eventually made it a lot easier to sew and…

How to join binding strips and reduce bulk with a diagonal seam.

How to join binding strips and reduce bulk with a diagonal seam.

This is a quick step by step photo tutorial today on how to join straight binding strips when you need a piece longer than the width of your fabric. If using quilting cotton, which is probably most likely, our usable fabric width will be 42-44 inches but even for quite small projects, you will often need to join two or more binding strips to get the complete length you need. If you simply sew the…

Comparison of three different woven interfacing products with video

Comparison of three different woven interfacing products with video

One of the really valuable things to do when sewing bags is to become familiar with different interfacing and stabilizers, so you can make your own informed personal choices about which would work best when sewing a bag. I love to use fusible woven interfacing on almost all of my projects, well probably all of my projects, so here I am comparing different brands of fusible woven interfacing to see how they differ. There is…

How to use the automatic needle threader on your sewing machine

How to use the automatic needle threader on your sewing machine

Does your machine come with an automatic needle threader? Sounds like a great idea right, until you realise that it can actually be a little tricky to use it. The secret to threading first time, every time, is to fully understand how the automatic needle threader works so you work with it to catch the thread. I’ll do my best to show you in the video below. I carried on trying to get a photo…

How to sew with the printable practice sheets

How to sew with the printable practice sheets

Have you grabbed your copy of the sewing practice sheets yet? This 7-page printable document is perfect for those learning to sew or refreshing sewing skills that might be a bit rusty. The pages can help you become comfortable and proficient with using your sewing machine and changing the settings. There are pages for practice in sewing straight lines, sewing with the zig-zag stitch, turning corners and sewing curves. It’s one of the first things…

Malvern Zipper Pouch sewing pattern, classic zipper bag to sew in 4 sizes + video

Malvern Zipper Pouch sewing pattern, classic zipper bag to sew in 4 sizes + video

Anyone need to learn how to sew a zipper bag? Then I have the perfect easy zipper pouch pattern and video class for you. Introducing the Malvern Zipper Pouch. Malvern is a set of 4 different sized zipper bags with an easy-sew construction method. The Malvern Zipper Pouch is a simple sew, doesn’t need many materials and will be your go-to zipper bag to sew. Use it as a phone pouch, a clutch bag, a…