Thursday 23 August 2012

What is the easiest fabric to sew?

I would say 100% cotton or curtain material upholstery fabric. It is so easy to handsew or machine sew these fabrics so why not give it a bash!

The reason these are so easy to sew with is that they are sturdy and tightly woven to give you a smooth sewing session compared to say CHIFFON! If you want to make things a little easier for youself then stay away from chiffon for a bit until you are more experienced at least.

If you are new to sewing I would suggest buying some curtain lining to practise on. You should be able to buy a metre/yard of curtain lining for €2-€5. The colour of these fabrics are generally cream or white.

The great thing about practising on curtain fabric is that if you make a mistake it is no biggy because it was no major expense to purchase and you did not ruin a cool fabric that you were looking forward to making something out of. I have done this too many times, bought gorgeous fabric and instead of practising a new challenge on curtain fabric I used the cool new fabric, made a mistake, had no material left to redeem the garment and was left frustrated and down a couple of quid that it cost to buy the fabric and most annoying of all was being left with no garment! Not cool

So your best bet is to revert to the basics eg: if making a skirt practise on curtain material or white cotton then when you feel you have constructed it well, go out buy your fabric and perfect it second time around and then you will have a great result. Happy Sewing <3

Friday 10 August 2012

Tutorial: How to make a blind - with just one seam

Hi all,

Today I will show you how to make a gorgeous blind with just one seam and some glue. SIMPLES! Here is the finished result.



What you will need:
  • Curtain material/upholstery fabric
  • A bottle of All Purpose Glue
  • Thread
  • A scissors
  • A measureing tape
  • An Iron
This is a blind I made for my kitchen. My kitchen has a country theme to it so I thought this material would sit well with the rest of the room. This fabric is curtain material.

Click this link to bring you to my DIYhomeinteriors page on youtube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_SDe2jGciw to watch the video tutorial. I hope you found this tutorial useful. Happy Sewing <3

What is Seam Allowance?

Seam allowance also called inlays, is the space between the edge of the fabric to the stitching line when you go to sew two or more pieces of fabric together. The normal amount of seam allowance you leave is generally 5/8" for home sewers or 1/4" for industrial sewers. See an example of the right seam allowance on a measuring tape in the image below.

The 5/8" is highlighted within the red circle

The reason seam allowance is essentail when sewing is because if you do not factor in seam allowance your garment or craft will be too small.

For example: I am making a pencil skirt and say I am making it in a UK size 10. If I cut out my material without seam allowance and sew it up that will mean my skirt will be too small and it will reduce the original UK size 10.

Most patterns you buy should have seam allowance included on the pattern but please read the info first to make sure before you cut it out and cut out your fabric. A mistake you dont want to make trust me... as it may be fun cutting out your pattern the first time and then your fabric but when you have to do it again straight after because you made that mistake it gets repetitive!

By adding 5/8" to the pattern that means I can sew that part in and then I will have my perfect size ten with the seam allowance as excess fabric that you can then trim down half way if you want to reduce the bulk. Happy Sewing <3

Tutorial: How to make a wire headband

This tutorial will teach how to make an easy wire headband in the style of Rockabilly/Pin Up Girl/Vintage. This is so simple to make and turns out beautiful. When it comes to headbands these babies win hands down as they are really flexible with the wire being able to bend it whatever way you want, size depending on your own preference and they look really great on! Here is the finished product:


So here we go...

What you will need

  • At least one half a yard/metre of fabric (I used 100% cotton)
  • A sewing machine or if you have not got one you can hand sew it but make sure to sew tight stitches so it does not fall apart.
  • A scissors
  • Thread
  • Measuring Tape
  • Loop Turner to turn fabric inside out, again if you do not have one of these you can use your hands
  • Aluminium Wire (The type that bends easily)
Firstly,

Measure your head: Get your measuring tape and wrap it around your head the way your would tie your headband around. When you have your head measured add an extra 5 inches on and this will make it long enough to bend.  I measure the length to about 30 inches in total without seam allowance but it all depends on head size really.

Next cut out your fabric:  Please not before cutting your fabric you want to add 5/8" seam allowance. Cut your fabric on the fold to the shape in the image. Cut it so that you have each end curved to give shape to the bow part of the headband.


This is what it will look like when you open it up, see image below.


Now you need to start sewing your headband together. You want to turn the fabric around and sew the faded part together so that when you turn it inside out you have the right side of the fabric showing as your headband. Leave an inch roughly in the middle unsewed and open so that you can turn the fabric inside out with the Loop Turner. See images below.



Now get sewing :)


Here I am sewing the 5/8" seam allowance I allowed for when cutting the fabric out


Gap left to turn the fabric inside out


Now trim down the edges so there is no excess unnecessary fabric.



Take your Loop Turner



Place it through the hole you left unsewed and push to one end of the headband and hook the material onto the Loop Turner like the image below.




Then start pulling the Loop Turner downwards while pushing the fabric up so you can pull the Loop Turner that is hooked to the fabric out of the hole you left in the middle of the fabric. This will help you pull the fabric out and turn it inside out.



Like so..



Do the same to the other end of the headband pull it through the hole and your headband will be turned inside out.



Now you want to Iron your seams flat.



Apologies for the weird shadow going through these two images, I think my camera just had a malfunction.


Now you can insert your wire through the hole in the middle you left unsewed.



Measure your wire to the same measurement as your headband length but you can add 2cm on each end so that you can bend it over like the image above. By bending the end of the wire it prevents it tearing through the headband. Then push the wire into your headband fabric.



After your put your wire in you can bend it back straight so that it hits each end and you have the perfect amount of wire to twist once your headband is done.


Finally, seal the hole in the middle by sewing it closed.



Et voila!

Here are some I made earlier. Happy Sewing <3





If you would like to purchase any of these headbands you can find a variety of designs on my facebook page www.facebook.com/pinmeupireland






Wednesday 1 August 2012

Introduction to "So you want to sew"

Welcome to my "So you want to sew" blog.
This blog was made to teach and inspire those who love sewing, being creative and making things in the world of crafts, costume, fashion and homeware. I will be doing tutorials with how to's on learning the basics when it comes to sewing aswell as more difficult lessons. I will also add any inspiring images and ideas I see and in time if we create a following I hope to encourage everyone to have a go and upload their crafts they have made :) I hope you find my blog useful. So lets get started...