Sewing 101 with me...Patching pants

How many of you have loved the Sewing 101 series?  {Both my hands are raised!!}  I am so grateful to the amazing contributors and the many things I have learned.

I am a little sad to announce that Sewing 101 is going on a bit of a hiatus.  With the building of our house looming, and barely keeping up with blogging as it is, I am going to take a break from Sewing 101.  Not to worry, I'll still be sharing what I make and house updates...I just need to slow down a bit. So, to celebrate the break, I thought I would share some fun techniques I've developed for patching holes in pants, especially jeans.

Sewing 101 with Michele, Loop Closures

It's time for another wonderful Sewing 101 post!  I'm delighted to welcome Michele from Michele Made Me.  I twisted her arm into helping this month.  She is SO creative, and makes amazing things. Take it away, Michele!

Disclaimer: Somehow I cleverly managed to get myself into guest-posting for Chris' immensely practical Sewing 101 series. I'm honoured as Dickens to have a chance to occupy this space even for a millisecond. But it's just that... well... honestly... I don't consider myself much of a sewist. Oh, I'm not saying I don't sew. I DO sew. And I like it! But like a lot of people, I sew in a sort of haphazard, trial-and-error (emphasis on the error), bull-in-a-china-shop, learn-as-you-go kinda way. Sewing to teach people? That's a different spool of thread altogether.

So I decided to tackle my post from the point of view of a learner. In other words, I'm sitting at the front of the class figuring these things out as I go here. As a result, I will be sending you hither and thither to a few really great tutorials.

Are you ready? Let's learn something!

So I've chosen to explore the "ins and outs" of the loop closure as an alternative to buttons and button holes, snaps, and other closures, so that we might add it to our bag of sewing tricks. The loop closure is simple. Essentially, it's made up of two elements: 1) the loop, and 2) what I'm going to call "the anchor". See? I'm making stuff up already... As part of my learning, I decided to try my hand at a few loop closure variations.

Variation #1: Fabric Loop + Button

First, I visited The Sewing Diva. Her button loop tutorial tutorial showed me how to make the most basic button loop closure. The process photos I include below are only to prove that I actually tried doing it for real. The Sewing Diva will show you the way.

Just let me add 2 small recommendations to the info The Sewing Diva provides: 1) to get the perfect button placement once you've sewn in the loops, mark the button locations through the loops and stitch the buttons in place. And 2) to make the loops themselves, make tiny fabric tubes using the highly recommended "Turning Tubes of Fabric" trick from Pattern Review and go from there.

I will say this for the basic button loop. Of the variations I tried, this is by far my favourite. Once you've learned the trick to lining everything up properly, it is quite simple and the results are so pretty. Not only that, but it won't take long to perfect. The following result was my very first attempt. Not too bad eh? Only a little bit off. I still think it looks pretty.

Variation #2: Fabric Loops + Tie

Next, using the very same method as in #1, I decided to try putting a series of loops on either side of an opening, and have it lace up like a pair of shoes. You've no doubt seen this concept on vests and dresses to allow for growth or cinching. But I could imagine using this variation as a small-scale decorative element on the flap of a messenger bag maybe, or on the back pockets of girl's pants even. Wouldn't that be cute?

Again in variation 2, I used the handy "Turning Tubes of Fabric" trick from Pattern Review to make the loop fabric.

Variation #3: Stretchy Loop + Decoration

Elastic hair ties make great stretchy loops. For my third loop closure variation, I started by making a felt swirly flower. Dozi Design shows you how to make swirly flowers here. I made my flower out of felt instead of paper, secured it with several stitches, stitched on some leaves, and paired my flower with an elastic loop for a sweet decorative closure. I used the very same method presented in #1 and #2 for installing the loop.

The possible uses for this closure are many and varied. Think belts, bracelets, needle cases, journal covers, bags and more. The stretchiness of the loop allows for firm closure and permits the use of bigger and odd-shaped anchors. For example, instead of a flower, why not use something else entirely? Like a painted wooden cutout or a crocheted bobble? Just make sure your loop is long enough to stretch around your chosen anchor.

Variation #4: Chinese Frog and Knot Before writing this post, I had seen "frogs and knots" on oriental dresses and silk bags. You can purchase these closures ready-made in sewing shops and online. But guess what? You can actually make your own too! Bridges on the Body has a beautiful Chinese frog and knot closure tutorial that will allow you to make your very own closures to match your particular project.

Truthfully, it took me many many - probably about 15 to 20 (I stopped counting after awhile...) - tries before I got these to look anywhere near authentic. But to be fair, I was using the wrong type of cord at first: a small crocheted chain that I'd made. Bad idea.

To be successful, you need the type of cord with a high coefficient of loopiness. In other words, it's gotta hold its loopy shape and resist flopping and folding. Once I figured that out, the frogs were much easier to make. Also, after so many tries, the method is etched forever in my little brain. But it is an elegant process once you know it. I'm very glad I learned it!

Variation #5: Emboidered Loop + Button

And finally, the fifth variation that I attempted was this embroidered loop. I learned how to make it from Ysolda.

Ysolda's button loop tutorial perfectly explains the easy steps to create this simple embroidered loop. It seems to me this variation would be perfect for a small subtle closure, one that you hope won't be too obvious.

And there you have it: my round-up of five loopy closures. Hopefully you will find it useful or, at the very least, feel encouraged to learn about a different closure! I certainly did. I'm sure whole new neural pathways have formed in my brain as a consequence too. And it didn't even hurt!

Come visit me at my blog, Michele Made Me, for all kinds of craftiness. I'll show you how to make some amusing things: your own covered buttons from scratch for example, or a pincushion out of a toilet roll, or maybe a fridge photo magnet display out of denim. Drop by anytime. I would love to have you!

Thank you sweet Chris for letting me prattle on about loopy closures on your lovely blog today. I learned something new by doing it and hopefully your readers will too. Have a great day!

How fabulous is this?  I love using loop closures since making the Portfolio dress...and you can use them in so many different projects!  Thank you so much, Michele.  I first found you through the covered button post...and have been a fan ever since.  


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Sewing 101 with Becky, Stuffing!

Welcome to Sewing 101!  I'm happy to feature Becky from the Patchwork Posse today.  She will be showing us the 101 on stuffing.  

Hi girls—I am so excited to be here on Chris’s blog!! She has some good stuff—and I love chatting…so here we go!   Picking a ‘theme’ to talk on was next to impossible.  I mean, really who wants to know what?  I design quilt patterns, and doll patterns and other odds and ends. Lately I have been stuffing a few new things in the sewing room and my nose has been filled with fluffy stuffing stuff- so I thought, maybe I should share a bit about stuffing.  Let me just tell you that I pick up whatever is cheapest around here. I find stuffing at second hand shops, use coupons so I can buy the big 5 pound box of it and I have even torn up quilt batting for stuffing…..so for the most part I have tried just about anything.  But, if you have used something new, by all means share it! I am always looking for new things to achieve different looks.

Sewing 101 with Amanda, Gathering

Welcome to August 2011's Sewing 101 post! I am super excited to introduce you to Amanda, from The Modern Marigold.

Hello everyone! I get to share GATHERING with you today, and I am totally jazzed.

I use gathering on almost every skirt that I make, and I love subtly flirty look it adds to women's clothing.

Gathering isn't rocket science, but I'm going to show AMDAP (as much detail as possible)
so you can see every little trick there is to it. I hope you'll add your own tricks in the comments!

{clockwise, from top left}

1. Gather {hee hee} your supplies. I'm making a simple summer skirt *for me!* yay!
2. Set stitch width to 0 and stitch length as long as it will go.
3. Pull out a nice long tail to start with. USE GOOD THREAD, not the cheap stuff. You don't want those tails breaking on you later on!
4. Place the fabric you want to gather with the presser foot 1/4" from the edge. Do not backstitch.

                      
5. Keep a steady 1/4" from the edge, all the way down the piece of fabric. When you get to the end, don't backstitch, but pull another nice long tail.
6. Go back to the beginning of your first line of stitches. Run a second line, just like the first (nice long tails, no backstitching) exactly 1/4" from the first line. The more exact you can be, the better.
7. Now you have two lines of stitching with 4 threads sticking out at each end.

8 and 9. Take a look at both sides of your stitchery. The stitches on one side will probably be a bit looser (left) and the stitches on one side will probably be a bit tighter (right). For the next step, place the side with the looser stitches right side up.

10. On the left side of the fabric (or start on the right, it doesn't matter), pick up the 2 threads coming out of the top of the fabric. See how there are also 2 threads underneath the fabric? Leave those alone.
11. I like to fold my fabric in half and pull threads from both the left and right sides at once, just to save time. You don't have to do that -- you can work with one side at a time. Either way, puuuuullllll on those 2 (or 4, if you've folded your fabric) threads.

12. Don't worry about distributing the gathers just yet. Just pull the stitches, slide them along to make room for more, and pull some more.

13. Compare the piece you're gathering with the piece you're gathering it to (in this case, the white fabric with pink and green daisies). Keep gathering until the two pieces match in length.

14. Yay! They match.

15. Now distribute the gathers so that everything looks even and purty.

16. With the gathers at the top, place your two pieces of fabric right sides together. Pin if you like.
17. Adjust stitch length to whatever your normal stitch length is (I usually have mine on 3).
18. With the non-gathered fabric on top, sew both pieces together with a generous 1/4" seam allowance (you can backstitch at the ends this time). You want this line of stitching to fall between your two lines of gathering stitches.
19. If you didn't pin (I didn't), keep matching up the raw edges as you sew to ensure you have a nice straight seam.

20. Almost done! Look at the right side of your skirt (or whatever). Get out your seam ripper and remove the lower row of gathering stitches, 'cause you don't need them anymore.
21. Flip the skirt (or whatever) to the wrong side. To make a nice strong seam, zig-zag finish the raw edges together find my video tutorial here).

Add some elastic and -- woot! All done!

Thanks for having me over, Chris! Come by and say hello anytime!

Wasn't this fantastic? I had a hard time finding a simple tutorial on gathering the other day...and this just fits the bill! Thanks so very much, Amanda! Please hop on over and visit Amanda's yummy blog and etsy shop. She shares bits of family life, fun printables, and free tutorials. I found Amanda through her Pretty Blouse Pattern she shared with Sew Mama Sew in June. Thanks for tuning in, and if you would like to contribute to Sewing 101, just email me. burleyaudio AT gmail DOT com


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Sewing 101 with Jenny, Ruffles

Welcome to Sewing 101. We've made it through a years worth of sewing tips and inspiration. Today's contributor is Jenny from The Southern Institute, here to share some great tips for making ruffles.

I'm so flattered to be a part of the Sewing 101 series here at Pickup Some Creativity.  What a wonderful resource for beginner and advanced sewers alike!  I'm happy to be sharing a tutorial with you all today.


Incase you haven't noticed, ruffles are all the rage, and they're everywhere!  I don't really know of another embellishment that is used quite as much, so if your someone who sews, ruffles are a great thing to know how to make.  They are simple and easy.  In the little time it takes to make them you can transform an article of clothing or an accessory from blah to beautiful!  Here's a little tutorial on making two different kinds of ruffles...

Center-gathered Ruffle

1.  Cut a strip of fabric about twice the length that you would like the ruffle to be, and as wide as you would like it to be.  Use a traditional hem to hem both long sides of the strip.

2.  On your machine, set your stitch length to the longest setting... on my machine that is a 7.  This is called a basting stitch.

3.  Using your basting stitch, sew right down the middle of your strip of fabric, making sure to leave plenty of thread at both ends.  DO NOT back stitch at either end.

4. Pick up one of the threads on one end of the fabric and gently start to scrunch the fabric down the length of thread, while pulling gently at the thread.  This creates your gather or ruffle.

Edge-gathered Ruffle

1.  Start with another strip of fabric, just like the first, with the long edges hemmed.  This time we are going to be sewing along one long edge, instead of the middle.  

Using a basting stitch again, sew down one long edge of the strip, 3/8 of an inch in from the edge.  Make sure to leave long threads at each end, and no back stitching.

2.  Sew a second line at 5/8 of an inch, right alongside of the first line of stitching.

3.  Using your long threads, pulling gently, gather up the fabric to your liking.  

And there you go!  

Two different types of ruffles to use in your sewing. 

 I just used the center-gathered ruffle to embellish this tank top that I made from a men's t-shirt.  In this case, I was able to completely skip the hemming since I was using knit material.  How easy is that?  You can find the tutorial here.  Here are some other examples that I found on two of my favorite websites...

source

source

source

Have fun ruffling!

Thanks so much, Jenny. Ruffles are such a great detail to add to almost any project. Please pop over and visit Jenny's blog. She has great tutorials, healthy recipes, including this fabulous super hero cape and cuff she shared during Celebrate the Boy.

Sewing 101 with Katy, Sewing with a Double Needle

I'm thrilled to introduce this month's timely Sewing 101 post. Please welcome Katy of No Big Dill fame!

Hello, Pickup Readers!  I am delighted to be here to talk a bit about my sewing passion.  This is such a great series to help demystify some of those techniques you frequently see, but not explained. When Chris asked me to guest post last month, I knew I wanted to talk about double needles.  Double needles might look intimidating, but they are so versatile and helpful, especially if you don't have a serger, but still want that professional looking finish.  So, today I will just be going over one use of the double needle that I frequently utilize in my sewing of swimsuits for my girls.

There are several different sizes of double needles as well as types, such as stretch and denim.  I use the regular double needles and prefer the 4/80 size for most of my projects, but you can order the others online.  The double needle is flat on the back above the red bar, just like regular needles and goes in the same way as a conventional needle does, with the flat part facing the back as you slide it up and tighten the screw to hold it in.

You will load the top of your machine with two spools of thread.  If you don't have the same color, just load an additional bobbin and stack on top of the other, making sure they are unwinding the same direction.  Load them both through the top of your machine together, just as if it were a single thread.

Once you get to the thread guide just above the needle, you separate the threads on either side and bring them down to the two needles in corresponding positions.  The bobbin with thread as normal, just one!

Increase your stitch to a 3, as that gives it a more professional look.  You will stitch your fabric without stretching it  and only on the right side of your fabric.  The back does not look the same!

In fact, the zig zag that the bobbin thread creates on the back is what helps maintain the stretch-ability of the fabric, while the front looks professional and tidy!  It's that easy!

Thanks for having me Chris, and if you'd like to now use your newfound skill of double needles, I've got a swimsuit tutorial to go along with this over at no big dill!  Even the swim instructors will be impressed with your child's homemade suit ;)

Thank you so much Katy for demystifying double needles! I recently acquired a few in a steal on ebay, but was a bit intimidated. Please be sure to check Katy's blog for her swimsuit tutorial. While you're there, be sure to read through her amazing Once Upon a Thread series. You want to know how I found Katy's blog? This amazing ruched headband!

Sewing 101 with Rae...Speedy Sewing Tips

This month's guest needs little introduction.  I'm excited to have Rae share her speedy sewing tips.  As a busy mom myself, I really appreciate this!  

Hello Pickup Some Creativity readers! Since most of the sewing I've done in the last couple years has been done while one or both of my children is sleeping, I've needed to sew as quickly as possible in short periods of time. While I think it's always good  to take your time if you can when sewing (this seems to reduce the amount of tearin' and swearin' in our house), if you know where to cut corners a little you can make things faster without sacrificing quality. And that last part is key: if you're sewing quickly but the seams pucker and the stitching veers and seams go unpressed, well then you're not really cutting corners in the right places, in my opinion. At least for me, part of the pride is in creating not only a handmade, but a quality handmade object. There's little joy for me in making something that looks shoddy, even if it's meant for the most practical purpose. So today I've compiled for you a list of my top Speedy Sewing Tips (some invented by me, some gathered from other places and people over the last couple years):

1. Skip pinning: I "finger pin" (hold pieces in place with my hands) for almost everything I sew, especially for straight edges or short seams, like the side seams on kids' pants or hems. Really unless a seam is long or curved (like a sleeve/armhole seam) or I'm attaching a gathered skirt to a dress, I don't use pins. For cutting out patterns I use a rotary cutter (see #5) so I don't pin when I cut my fabric either.

2. Pump up the stitch length: Did you ever think about the fact that your machine goes slower the smaller the stitches are? So unless I need a really strong seam, I often turn my stitch length on my machine from a 2.5 up to a 3 or 3.5 so that my machine gallops across that project lickety quick. I don't go much higher than that though because a 4 on my machine is getting near to basting stitch length and doesn't hold as well, even when backstitched at the beginning and end. If you try this and notice the seam is gathering a little bit, your stitch length is probably too long though, so don't overdo it.

3. Ten stitches forward, three stitches back: I use this technique for sewing seams on children's garments that really need to be strong, like the inseams on children's pants. What I do is sew ten stitches forward, then push in the reverse button for a few stitches, and then continue ten stitches forward, three back, ten forward, etc, until the seam is finished. How is this a time saver, you ask? The seams on my kids' pants seem to be the seams I repair more often than any others because they get strained by even normal wear. If I use this technique when I make them I can bet I won't have to put that garment under the sewing machine ever again. And there's pretty much nothing I hate more than mending; it just seems like such a waste of good sewing time.

4. Sew buttons on with embroidery floss: Instead of threading a needle with regular cotton thread, I use at least three strands (usually more) of embroidery floss for attaching my buttons. The extra-thick strand allows me to make just one or two passes through each hole in the button, instead of multiple times when I use regular thread. As long as the knot you tie is nice and strong (anyone remember the "square knot" from summer camp?), the thick thread will hold nicely even if you only threaded it through the button twice.

5. Rotary Cutter and Mat: This may seem obvious to some but I've been amazed by how many people think the rotary cutter/ruler/mat combination is just for quilters. I was taught to cut out garments by meticulously pinning tissue patterns to fabric and then cutting with scissors. Needless to say this takes a long time. Now not only have I dispensed with the pinning, I have now also dispensed with the scissors (I use my extra scissors and rulers as "pattern weights," placing them along the edges of the pattern). I use a rotary cutter to cut out almost everything. Not only is it handy for producing nice long straight edges, it makes cutting out curved edges on clothing nice and quick too!

6. Single-line gathering: It's traditionally taught that when an edge needs to be gathered, the best way to go about it is to sew two or more lines of basting (long) stitches next to eachother and pull the two threads on one side together to gather the edge up. While I do recommend this for gathering large things like the ruffle on a curtain or an adult skirt, I've found that for shorter edges or garments such as a gathered puff sleeve or a a baby's skirt that a single line of stitching works just fine. It's helpful to set the tension on your machine either very high or very low; that will produce a thread on one side of the fabric that is quite loose (pull on the tighter thread for an easy gather).

7. Skip the special feet: I find that for sewing zippers and piping, my regular presser foot works just fine. In fact, I find that a zipper foot gives me less control and therefore I usually end up with a crooked seam when I use it, so why use it when it takes extra time to dig it out and use it? For zippers, I put the needle in the left-most position (see picture above) and for piping I just center the needle over the stitching line on the piping (see picture below).

OK, so that's my little list of speedy tricks. Now here's a couple things I NEVER shortcut:

1. Pressing: Even the best-looking seam that spends a couple seconds under the iron looks 100% better afterward. I know it can be a pain to set up the ironing board or get up from your sewing table to walk over to the iron, but it makes such a huge difference!

2. Changing the needle: It's really important to do this often, probably more often than most of us think. A couple years ago I took a sewing class that came with the purchase of my sewing machine and the instructor said that her rule of thumb is to change your needle every 8 hours of sewing. I guess if I sewed all day every day that would be once a day, but for me in reality that's probably more like once every couple of weeks. And when I don't do it, my machine tells me it needs some attention in the form of thread loopiness and jams. Ick! It's worth it for me to avoid this headache, so I do!

So how about you guys? What are your tips and tricks?

Thanks, Rae!  I appreciate the changing needle tip...and just invested in a BUNCH of needles off of ebay.  Please be sure to visit Rae's blog if you haven't yet, and you live under a virtual rock.  The first thing I found on Rae's blog was her pleated pocket tutorial.  I knew she was uber cool when she made an awesome shirt for her husband.  She also has some lovely patterns for purchase; like the Big Butt Baby pants I wish she'd come up with one year earlier.   I keep reading for her witty words and eye for style.  Who wouldn't want to read a blog with a flickr pool called "Rae Made Me Do It"?