September 21, 2016

Beth – Sew DIY

tutorial, sewing, Small things to sew, Gifts to sew

DIY Tutorial – Clear Vinyl Zippered Pouch

September 21, 2016

Beth – Sew DIY

tutorial, sewing, Small things to sew, Gifts to sew

DIY Tutorial – Clear Vinyl Zippered Pouch

A few years ago I ended up with a bunch of clear vinyl material and it's just been sitting in my closet ever since. I couldn't bear to throw it out because I knew that one day I'd find a use for it. Then a few weeks ago, I suddenly had the idea that it would make a fun and easy to sew zippered pouch. Reminiscent of the pouches we used to put in our three ring binders to hold all of our pens, pencils and erasers (gotta have the big pink eraser, right?) this is a flat pouch with a zipper running down the front. I love that this pouch can feature a show-stopping zipper and that the clear vinyl makes it really easy to find just what you're looking for.

July 14, 2016

Beth – Sew DIY

tutorial, sewing

DIY Tutorial – How to Add a Shoulder Cut Out to Any Pattern

July 14, 2016

Beth – Sew DIY

tutorial, sewing

DIY Tutorial – How to Add a Shoulder Cut Out to Any Pattern

Hi friends! Today, I'm super excited to announce that I have a new tutorial over on Bernina's We All Sew blog. The cut out shoulder (aka the cold shoulder) is more popular than ever this summer and lucky for us it’s really easy to DIY. In the tutorial, I first show you how to hack the drop shoulder design of the Hemlock Tee pattern, a free pattern from Grainline Studio (sign up for their newsletter to get the pattern). Then I give tips for adapting other shoulder designs too.

March 8, 2016

Beth – Sew DIY

tutorial, Sewing Knits, Garment Sewing

How to Hand Stitch Knit Fabric

March 8, 2016

Beth – Sew DIY

tutorial, Sewing Knits, Garment Sewing

How to Hand Stitch Knit Fabric | Sew DIY

This is just a quick little post today about hand stitching! So we know from my topstitching knits tutorial a few weeks ago, that when you're sewing with knits it's very important to use stitches that stretch. It's pretty rare that you'll need to hand stitch a knit fabric as they're a more casual fabric. But on that occasion, you'll need to choose the correct kind of stitch to suit the fabric.

When I made my Sequin Mesa dress, I used a stretch sequin fabric and lining. Because I didn't want any topstitching to show, I used a hand stitch to secure the hem and attach the lining at the sleeve and skirt hems. At the sleeve hems, I wasn't really thinking and just used a regular slip stitch which means that seam does not stretch very much. I just wasn't really thinking at the time. But, when I went to sew the skirt hem, I realized that it would be best to use the fagotting stitch. I had done this stitch before but it felt really tedious. This time, I figured it out and it was quick and easy to stitch.

How to Hand Stitch Knit Fabric

Important note: You will be working from left to right for this stitch.

1. Secure your thread to the fabric. Then insert the needle from right to left through a few threads of the garment.

2. Moving to the right, insert the thread again from right to left through a few threads of the hem. Loosely pull the thread but don't tighten it all the way. It should be tight enough that the stitching is secure and the thread won't get caught on anything. But not so tight that it warps the fabric or doesn't allow it to stretch.

3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 until the entire hem is secure.

And that's it. This is a helpful stitch to know and easy to sew once you get the rhythm down. It can also be used to join two pieces of fabric in a decorative way, as seen here on the Colette blog. Are there any other sewing tips or tutorials you'd like to see on the blog? Let me know in the comments.