Join us, along with our friends at Janome, as we pull together information, tutorials, and projects to rekindle sewing as a real life survival skill. Now is the time to remember, re-learn, and teach others how to create from scratch.
Any endeavor that turns into a passion comes with its own set of terms, phrases, abbreviations, and secret handshakes. Well, maybe they don’t all have a secret handshake… maybe just a decoder ring. Sewing is no different, and although we do try to make sure we define the more unusual words we sometimes toss around, we can
I love buttons. Always have. In fact, although I don't recall much about the two-year-old phase of my life, I do remember my white sweater with the little duckie buttons. I can close my eyes and see his chubby yellow body and orange feet. I can even remember the feel of the raised, painted surface
We just found out from our friends at Sulky that our Webinar and Bag Kits are still available, but just for a limited time! We originally did the Webinar live this past Fall as part of their Sewing Online with Sulky series. The live event was recorded and archived and is still available! Once registered,
We all love little cheats and hacks! Our super popular S4H Cheat Cards cover important, need-to-know sewing tips and/or techniques in a handy business card size: 2” wide x 3½” high. That’s small enough to tuck into your wallet or tack up on the bulletin board in your sewing room. All the individual Cheat Cards
This custom felt appliqué pillow features more twists and turns than a James Patterson mystery. We created a beautiful abstract flower design with a bit of a whimsical feel – perfect to render in the soft texture of a quality wool blend felt. If you are a beginner when it comes to appliqué, felt is
One of the signs of a truly well-made project is that it looks nearly as good on the inside as it does on the outside. Finishing a project’s inside raw edges elevates the final appearance and adds to your sewing toolbox.
Create a square pillow with an embroidered peace symbol and a coordinating rectangular pillow with the word PEACE embroidered in a gorgeous floral flourish. Our custom embroidery designs are offered as free file downloads.
Mistakes happen to the best of us. Anyone who sews understands that some seams just weren't meant to be. The good news: ripping out a seam and starting over is something we all do. With a little care and patience, it's an easy fix and no one but you is ever likely to know it
Learn to achieve tip top topstitching and enviable edgestitching. For embellishment or assembly, stitching visible from the right side is an important detail and its precision can make or break the final outcome of your project.
Do you ever watch those TV hospital shows and think, "I could do that"? Maybe not be an actual, real-life doctor. But you could wear a white coat, carry a stethoscope, and yell, "Get me a C-Spine, Chem 7, and a V-Fib!" I have no idea what any of those terms mean. They're just fun
Sometimes the perfect webbing or strapping you’ve selected for a project is simply too darn wide for the D-ring or Swivel Hook you really want/need to use. Try this quick trick to bring your wide webbing down to size.
We call this a "flat top" zipper. We've also heard it referred to as a set-in zipper and a recessed zipper. You can make up your very own name; the Penelope Zipper would be one option. You've undoubtedly seen this type of zipper on loads of handbags and totes. It sits below the top of
No matter what kind of sewing you do, sooner or later, you will likely have to sew a dart. To get the perfect contour a dart should provide, follow our professional tips for marking, stitching, and pressing. We review 6 styles.
Ah – decorative stitching… as long as you’re going straight, all is well. Then the corner approaches. If making a turn with a decorative stitch has you puzzled, we’re here to help with several ways to make a turn for the better.
Want to know the long and the short of this classic technique?! Making an adjustable strap can seem like a magic rope trick with all the weaving and threading this way and that. But, it’s really quite easy and makes the strap so much more useful. Lengthen to wear cross body, shorten for a shoulder
For some reason, button-sewing by hand is stuck in our head as a dreaded, time-consuming task. That need not be true! Read on to learn our favorite, super speedy, five-step process to perfect buttons every time.
It’s a classic way to secure all types of straps and narrow panels: a stitched box with an “X” through the middle. The pattern provides strength and stability, and when done with precision, also adds a pretty detail.
A blind hem is exactly what it sounds like: a hem with stitches you can barely see. It's perfect for window coverings, the hem at the bottom of a garment, or anywhere you want a clean finished edge. When I first started sewing, attaining a perfect blind hem was like finding the Holy Grail. And
We've been asked numerous times by Sew4Home visitors, "How do you get your double rows of stitching so perfectly even?" We've quietly given out our secret to several of you. But now we've decided it's time to reveal it to the world. The way to get perfectly even, super close, double rows of stitching is...
Rick rack or rickrack or ricrac, however you spell it, there’s no denying it’s been at the top of the trim list for near 200 years. Earliest mentions of this wavy wonder date back to the mid-1800s! At its most simplified, rick rack is defined as a flat, narrow woven braid in a zig zag
Start with a simple yet bold fabric, add some distinctive decorative stitching, and the result is a stunning table runner that's a perfect backdrop for any gathering or occasion that calls for a pretty table setting. Remember, "Life is short; use the good china!" We chose a canopy style striped fabric, which is easy to
A straight line. It seems like the most basic thing you can do when sewing. But we’re amazed by the number of comments and questions we get from S4H visitors who want to know how to do it better, easier, and more consistently. We don’t have any magical powers to make our seams and topstitching
For our Featured section, we’ve been focusing on projects that can use smaller pieces from your fabric stash. This lumbar pillow uses skinny cuts to create pretty strip patchwork. Wavy line free-motion quilting finishes the front.
Be ready for any small sewing emergency with a travel-size sewing kit that contains just what you need for a quick disaster fix – even a built-in pincushion kitty. Be prepared AND be adorable.
Whatever the task, a bit of hand stitching usually comes in… well, “handy.” We’ve outlined the tools needed along with seven of the most common stitches. Simple drawings and steps show how to do each one.
When you want a pocket’s motif to precisely blend with the panel on which it sits, all you need is a little extra fabric, some tissue paper, and those tracing skills you learned back in kindergarten. We show you how.
Definitely a Sewing Survival Skill! With the right presser feet and accessories, an understanding of seam grading, and the patience to go slowly and carefully, you can sew like a pro through thick and thin.
You may have seen these type of pillowcases in luxury hotels or fancy spas. Rather than an open end, the pillow itself is enclosed in an overlap. We've had several emails asking how to create this type of finish in order to keep a stark white pillow from showing along the end of a pretty
The right finishes make projects go more smoothly, look more professional, and give you an upper hand when it comes to impressing friends with your vast sewing knowledge! Making a flat felled (or flat fell) seam is a detail with a place in history as well as a place in the world of professional seam
We all make mistakes, but many errors can be avoided with proper planning, attention to detail, and the wisdom to slow down. Take the time to consider the best practices that will provide the best results.
There you stand in the fabric store, staring at that giant display of bias tapes and bindings in front of you, the shiny cellophane packages glinting in their neat, color coordinated rows. Single fold, double fold, blanket, quilt. Geeze! What's what? Do you just throw a dart and hope for the best? No! You study
Buttons are the perfect finishing accent to so many projects. Not to mention the fact they are also a very functional closure. But if you have to sew on a lot of buttons by hand, you might think twice about using them. I personally find sewing buttons by hand tedious, time-consuming, and I can sometimes
If you’ve ever tried to work with fabric cuts are that are not straight and true, you know why it’s so important to square-up your fabric. Find our easy folding, aligning, and cutting tips plus ruler recommendations.
Most projects require at least some hand stitching. Often, it’s the final seam closure after turning a project right side out. A Slip or Ladder Stitch creates an invisible seam between two folded edges, or a folded edge and a flat edge.
Learn contortion pleating, which involves twisting the gauze into a bound bundle then drying it in a conventional dryer or a microwave prior to final air drying. Learn to crinkle, then learn to make this gorgeous tasseled scarf.
We’re here help with the steps you’ve forgotten since high school geometry: parts of a circle, how wide to cut fabric to fit a circle, how to draw a circle without a pattern, and how to convert decimals to inches to work with Pi.
This is not one of those square-peg-in-a-round-hole situations. But, if the idea of sewing a two-dimensional item (a flat circle) into a three-dimensional item (a tube) sounds like something from another dimension altogether, read on. We've broken it down into a simple step-by-step process and even show you two different methods. Let's chat first about
We’re always on the lookout for designer trends in retail shops, online, magazines, and more. It was during a recent search that we spotted a number of pillows with dense panels of decorative stitching, as well as many featuring embroidery accents and tassels. It was a style that had a bit of a boho feel
The magnetic snap is indispensable to the construction of purses, totes, and bags. We've used them on dozens of Sew4Home projects and decided it was high time the technique had its very own tutorial. As with many notions and tools that add a unique professional finish, the steps for their use are themselves not necessarily
Remember making paper snowflakes as a kid? You fold, fold, fold, then cut, cut, cut. This fabric cutting technique is the same basic concept, but without the Swiss cheese effect. Grab your rotary cutter and mat, and let’s slice!
We love to gather with friends and family to share good food and conversation. We enjoy gathering with like-minded folks to attend concerts and other events. In these contexts, gathering is fun and easy. By comparison, in sewing... gathering is often known as daunting or simply too time-consuming! We believe all gathering should be fun