Do you have a garment that you’d love to recreate, but don’t have a pattern for it?

Paper is the most common way to draft a pattern, but it can be tricky to get everything accurate.  Especially if you’re dealing with stretch fabric or curved lines.

Did you know that you can use tape to draft patterns?

A clever member of Craftster has created a tutorial to remake her favorite pair of sports shorts, using masking tape.

The basic technique involves laying down layers of masking tape over the garment to recreate the shape of the pattern piece.  It’s definitely worth checking the how-to out.

image: Stock.xchg

Getting together to sew quilts, exchange news, and enjoy one another’s recipes constituted the pioneer quilting bee.  This often was a rare social time for these ladies who were busy with the day-to-day work (drugery in some cases) of running a household and helping with farm chores. 

Image:sxc.hu

Today, quilting and crafting ladies still get together for what I’d call “modern” quilting bees.  As I read Cindy’s Stitches in Time blog post about friends getting together to work on quilt kits they had purchased at quilt show, I pondered on the many types of quilting bees in today’s world of the computer and Internet.

• Friends getting together at one another’s homes to work on projects
• Quilting groups meeting regularly to work on projects; these might be their own or a charity project
• Groups working on fund raising projects
• Internet groups that exchange information and news via e-mail
• Round robin projects sent through the mail to those within a group.
• Two quilters who exchange projects and news via mail and e-mail.
• Quilting classes that continue as quilting groups who meet regularly

(Although I mention quilting bees, these gatherings could involve most any art/craft.)

What type of quiting or crafting bee are you involved in?

Custom-made sofa wraps and slip covers can be prohibitively expensive - and pre-made ones don’t always fit as nicely as you’d hope.

Why use a sofa wrap at all?

Well, if you have dogs, pets or kids, they’re an easy-to-wash alternative to getting your sofa cleaned anytime it gets grubby!  Just toss the wrap into the washing machine, and your sofa looks good as new.

Threads Magazine has put together a great tutorial for making your own custom fitted sofa wrap - for a fraction of the price of store-bought.

Thrifty, stylish and practical!

image: Threads Magazine

Bias tape is one of those sewing notions that can make people…

Grumpy.

It can pull, twist, wrinkle and generally be a pain to deal with it.  But honestly, it really doesn’t have to be.  Amy from Angry Chicken , has put together a little instructional video for working with bias tape - and how can you resist a sewing tutorial with puppets?

I personally prefer to pin my bias tape, especially if I’m sewing a long strip of it.  If you have a walking foot, they can also be very handy for bias tape stitching.

So now you can finish binding your blankets, crafts and quilts - without swearing

I was browsing through my local Michaels Arts & Crafts store yesterday, when something caught my eye in the jewelry section.

They now have vintage-look sewing machine and scissor pendants!

The pendants are from the new “Manor House” collection by Blue Moon Beads.  Unfortunately, I can’t find a link to buy them online, but you can always call your local Michaels and see if they carry them.

images: Michaels Arts & Crafts

There are so many options for cutting fabric these days, from fancy motorized scissors to a new machine that cuts strips of fabric for quilting.

So what works for you?

Are you a hard-core rotary cutter fan?  Or do you go old-school fabric shears all the way?

What do I like?

Well, it depends on what I’m cutting out.  For clothing and most craft projects I rely on my trusty Gingher shears.  They’re lovely to work with, sharp and well balanced.

I wouldn’t use them on polar fleece or vinyl though… that’s a sure way to trash a pair of good scissors!  That’s a good reason to have a “second best” pair of fabric scissors - an older pair of scissors that still work well is a good choice.

For quilting or when I need to be really accurate, I like to pull out my rotary cutter and gridded ruler.  It allows me to make very precise cuts - handy when an extra 1/8″ can throw a pattern off.

image: Stock.xchg

If you don’t have the button, maybe it’s time to stock up?

Fabric.com is holding a 30% off sale on their entire stock of notions - which means now is the perfect time to make sure your sewing shelf is filled up.

When notions are on sale, I like to go through my upcoming projects and make a list of what notions I’m going to need.  It’s handy to have notions ahead of time, especially if the pattern calls for something unusual.

Just click on the image to visit the sale.

image: Fabric.com

Utilizing scraps and old garments for quilts and even for clothing was a popular practice among the pioneers.  In the early days of our country, homemakers usually either made their own fabric or recycled what they had on hand.  Rarely did they have the money to purchase new fabric from the general store.

Image: sxc.hu

Nowadays, in our stressed economy,  recycling garments has become popular once again.  Not because fabric is scarce, but because people can’t afford to purchase new.

I used fabric from old garments for quilts and for my daughter’s clothing many years ago.  It was fun to pour over the quilts and find scraps from sewing projects and family garments.

Nowadays, women are rediscovering this art of making quilts and clothing from old garments.  In addition to fabric shops being popuplar places to shop, quilters and dressmakers are pulling out the old fabrics and garments from their stashes.  They are finding these items also at thrift shops and rummage sales.

Have you utilized old garments for your sewing?

Related Posts:

Aprons in Art, Business & Memories mentions recycling clothing as aprons.

Penny Halgren’s Cutting Up Garments for Fabric gives a tutorial.

I can’t tell you how happy this picture makes me

I’ve found my much-loved Gingher shears - carefully packed away.  It had been the “carefully-packed away where” part that was giving me trouble.

Of course, pretty much anyone who sews can appreciate how much their scissors mean to them!

Fabric shears are such a personal tool - even if you’re fine with sharing other supplies, most sewers that I know would be hard-pressed to share their shears.

And heaven forbid your kids or spouse pick them up!  If they even glance at a piece of paper in the room… well, I leave that to your imagination

image: C Findlay-Harder

For today’s Wordy Wednesday post, I’m going to be brave and share what my pattern storage looks like

I’ve tried quite a few different methods of the years, and I still find that my trusty set of plastic drawers work just fine for me:

image: C Findlay-Harder

All of my patterns are in there - in no particular order, I will admit.  I’ve tried using different boxes for different types of patterns and I found that it just got too hard to manage.

And besides - I ended up with waaaay too many patterns that way!  One drawer works for me, so what works for you?