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Cutting Knit Fabric: Making Sure Your Project is Perfectly On-Grain

By on September 28, 2012 in Projects, Tips, Work in Progress

More Renfrew sewing progress! I started my assembly-line cutting with the solid knits, because they’re easier than stripes. The fabric I’m using is a 95% cotton, 5% spandex jersey knit in a medium weight. It’s heavier than a standard tee shirt but not anywhere near as thick as yoga pants. (It sure is hard to [...]

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Alma Blouse: A Trick to Sewing the Tie Belt

By on August 14, 2012 in Patterns, Tips

Hey everyone! Today’s post is a little trick to sewing the tie belt on the Alma Blouse. The actual trick is very short to explain, so I thought while I was at it, I’d demonstrate how to make the whole tie belt! You can add a tie belt to any blouse. Thread a contrast tie [...]

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Adding Topstitching to the Alma Blouse Neckline

By on August 10, 2012 in Patterns, Tips

Just for fun, I added a little topstitching to the neckline of the Alma Blouse. I knew how sheer the fabric was when I started, but it still bothers me a little that it’s so see-through, maybe topstitching will work as a distraction! Here’s how I did it: I sewed the first row of stitching, [...]

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Sewing Facings in Sheer Fabric

By on August 9, 2012 in Patterns, Tips

I had enough of the bird-and-flower print left over after making the bird-and-flower Cambie Dress to make a second project! (Don’t you love it when that happens?) Luckily the Alma Blouse (View A) doesn’t require a lot of fabric, and would look pretty in a vintage-inspired floral print. When I started making this blouse, a [...]

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Pants, Trousers, and Shorts: Fitting Resources

By on June 26, 2012 in Patterns, Tips

Why do people fear sewing pants? The number one answer is likely fit. After all, the actual sewing part of making pants is easy to master. Starting with a pants pattern that is close to your proportions is a good idea – like the new Thurlow pattern! Pants are considered one of the hardest things [...]

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Sewing the Cambie Dress Straps

By on June 11, 2012 in Patterns, Tips

Today, I’ll demonstrate how to sew the Cambie Dress Sleeves (or straps, if you prefer) into the front bodice. This is one of those sewing steps that might become super clear as you’re doing it yourself, but may be a little confusing in the directions. One of the great things that comes out of pattern [...]

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