No matter how long you’ve been sewing, or how much experience you have unpicking seams is inevitable. Sooner or later, you will have to unpick a seam. It’s actually good to do so. In most cases, when something goes wrong, it is best to redo it right away. Ignoring it can often make the issue … Continue reading Unpicking a Seam

The slip stitch is also often referred to as a ladder stitch or invisible stitch. The slip stitch is used to close pillows, linings, stuffed animals, and more. The slip stitch comes up again and again in sewing regardless if you are making bags, plush toys or garments. Being handy with a slip stitch is … Continue reading Slip Stitch

Yesterday I was working on a project that I had hoped to have ready for you today. The project involved a lot of blanket stitching, and as I was in the middle of sewing it I realized that without noticing I would randomly switch how I made the stitch. It got me thinking…what stitch am … Continue reading Blanket Stitch vs Buttonhole Stitch

When I was younger and had been sewing for just a few years, my sewing machine started acting funny and I thought for sure it was broken. Turns out, that wasn’t the case at all. The problem was I had been using the same needle the whole time I had been using the machine. My … Continue reading How to Change a Sewing Machine Needle

Once you’ve mastered threading and using seam allowances, as we studied in Lessons 3 and 4 of the Learn to Sew videos, you are ready to sew a seam. This is where all machine sewing begins! It’s important to be able to distinguish between the Right Side of the fabric, the bright side, the side … Continue reading How to Sew a Seam

One thing that comes up frequently in sewing is finishing seams. This can be just as important on simple projects as it is on garments and in more complex construction. Having a bag of tricks for finishing seams can remove the need for linings and can simplify projects. It can also provide a more polished … Continue reading Finishing Seams

A French seam provides a great finish to many projects. In a French seam no raw edges are visible, as they all become trapped inside a small casing. This can be a really great feature as you won’t have any frayed edges. I have found this seam to be very helpful on projects that are … Continue reading French Seam

Gathering can be found in many sewing projects and is used in everything from basic crafts to garment construction. There are several different ways to gather, but my favorite way is using two rows of stitches. TIP: USE TWO ROWS OF STITCHES Creating your gathers with two rows of stitches provides a safety net, just … Continue reading Gathering

Pleats create fullness to your fabric and are a good alternative to gathering. Instead of scrunching up the fabric along the stitch line, you simply create folds. Pleats can be a lot easier than gathering. They are quick and lie really flat. However, you do have to make sure they are consistently sized and placed, … Continue reading Pleats

I have been making a lot of bags lately and one feature that I use almost all of the time is a zippered pocket. These are super cute and convenient on both the inside and outside of the bag! To create a zipper pocket you need one zipper, fabric for the pocket, and the fabric … Continue reading Zipper Pocket

For many projects, a bit of coordinating bias binding can make a huge difference in overall quality and appearance. It can be tempting to just grab a package of premade binding from the store, but it is SO nice when it actually matches your project! The process of making your own can seem a bit … Continue reading Bias, Continuous Bias Binding, and Grainlines