There’s this funny thing when you sew diagonal seams that it took me a while to get my head around. You seem to do everything right, but things just don’t line up properly. Sew a slanted seam for the first time and when you open up the seam to press it, the edges of your fabric are wonky. You might come across this if you are joining bias tape, or just if you are sewing…
Do you have sewing tools, pencils, pens, brushes, knitting needles, crochet hooks, craft knives or similar that you need to store and organise? You’ve probably seen these sewing patterns for brush rolls for your cosmetics brushes, or crayon rolls for the kids’ art supplies. But maybe none of them is exactly the right size or exactly what you are looking for. That can be frustrating, trying to track down exactly the right pattern in the…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
The invisible ladder stitch is an essential hand sewing stitch to learn for bag makers. This is a simple stitch to learn and master once you’ve practised it a few times, and you can get into an easy rhythm with it. This hand sewing stitch is perfect for closing the gap left in the bottom of your lining or pocket without it even being visible when you’ve finished – hence it being called ‘invisible’. Why…