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'sewstylish-tip' tag - CraftStylish

tag:sewstylish-tip

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Prevent Stray Bobbin Threads

ThreadsMagazine, contributor | September 20th, 20107 comments

Use hair elastics to help keep thread on your bobbins.

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Spike Your Hand-Sewing Thread

ThreadsMagazine, contributor | September 13th, 2010

When hand-sewing, I use a bill spike to hold my spool of thread. They are available in stationery-supply catalogs. It helps keep my spool of thread readily accessible without rolling away but gives...

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Sheath a tracing-wheel blade

ThreadsMagazine, contributor | September 6th, 20101 comment

Use a toothbrush holder as a handy storage place for tracing wheels.

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Kitchen Mats in the Sewing Room

ThreadsMagazine, contributor | August 30th, 2010

Pliable kitchen mats come in handy as a cutting mat when using a rotary cutter.

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Perfect Narrow Mitered Corners

ThreadsMagazine, contributor | August 23rd, 20104 comments

Use this method for easy-to-sew, professional-looking corners.

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Floral net thread cover

ThreadsMagazine, contributor | August 16th, 2010

Use net flower covers to help keep thread on its spool.

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Silicone Hem Guides

ThreadsMagazine, contributor | August 9th, 20101 comment

Create iron-friendly pressing guides using recycled potholders.

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Pretty piping

ThreadsMagazine, contributor | June 11th, 20102 comments

Adding piping is a great way to accent the lines of a garment, but it can have extra visual punch if you apply a decorative stitch to the bias fabric before insertion. Once I’ve selected a...

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Hair elastics for closures

ThreadsMagazine, contributor | June 4th, 20103 comments

Hair elastics make excellent button loops, and they’re perfect for many other embellishments as well. I use a simple circle elastic joined with crimped metal, glue, or stitching. The elastics...

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Looped button closure

ThreadsMagazine, contributor | May 28th, 20101 comment

To make an interesting button closure, I start with a small standard buttonhole (about 3⁄8 inch long), one for each closure. I tie a 3- to 5-inch piece of decorative ribbon, rope, or thin...

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Easy seam-allowance guide

ThreadsMagazine, contributor | May 21st, 2010

A rubber band around the base of my sewing machine is an excellent way to temporarily mark a wider-than-usual seam allowance. It’s easy to follow and stays in place securely, but itrsquos...

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Used-needle identification

ThreadsMagazine, contributor | May 14th, 20102 comments

Some projects require that you change needles after you’ve used them briefly, e.g., switch from a lightweight needle to a heavyweight one. To know if a needle is slightly used or brand new, I...

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Tepee relaxes magnetic pull

ThreadsMagazine, contributor | May 7th, 2010

My magnetic pin holder secures my silk pins so tightly that it’s difficult to remove them, so I push a knitting needle or stiletto under the pins to sculpt them into a tepee shape. Then I can...

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Sewing tools from the art- and office-supply store

ThreadsMagazine, contributor | April 30th, 2010

On my latest forays to art- and office-supply stores, I found some useful marking and cleaning tools. While a lot of sewers know the virtues of drafting tape—it’s inexpensive, can be...

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Streamlined shirt collar

ThreadsMagazine, contributor | April 23rd, 2010

Whenever I cut a shirt collar that has a straight edge, I remove the seam allowance from the outer edge of the pattern piece and cut the collar on the fold. That way, there are no intersecting seams...

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Easy, elasticized swimsuit straps

ThreadsMagazine, contributor | April 16th, 20101 comment

This is a trick I learned when trying to figure out how my bathing-suit straps were made: Cut elastic for the strap as long as the desired finished strap plus two seam allowances and 3 inches. Cut...

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"Wicked Witch" test for wool

ThreadsMagazine, contributor | April 9th, 2010

To determine if fabric is 100 percent wool, soak a small swatch of it in chlorine bleach for about eight hours. If the swatch dissolves completely, is significantly smaller, or has clearly...

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Unstick hoops with shaving product

ThreadsMagazine, contributor | April 2nd, 20101 comment

If you use spray adhesives to adhere fabric to hooped embroidery stabilizers, you’re likely to wind up with sticky hoops. There are plenty of products that will degunk your hoops, but...

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Fire-hose technique for managing long fabric strips

ThreadsMagazine, contributor | March 26th, 2010

I was recently making yards and yards of corded welting for a slipcovering project, and I just about lost my mind trying to keep the very lengthy fabric strip I had made from twisting and tangling...

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