A Wrap Maxi Skirt -- Fall Project #3

You can't live through fall without owning a maxi skirt.

Most of the maxi skirts I saw at the stores are mostly made out of knit material.  It is comfortable, however lack of elegance.

I come up with this wrap maxi skirt.  Maybe, you will love this one better.

Here are some details.

You will need a buckle and 3 eyelets.


Here are the patterns.

It is quite simple.

Have a lot of fun sewing!

How to Sew a Partial Button Placket

1.  Decide which side will be the top flap and which will be bottom.

2.  Move the cut line 1 cm toward the bottom side from center line.  The cut line should be shorter than the trim.

3.  Attach the trim to the top side.

4. Iron it down and turn it over.

5.  Form the pointed end.

6.  Sew it down.

7.  Attach the bottom flap.

8.  Iron and sew it down just like you did on the front flap.

9.  Back of bottom flap (the right part).

10.  Sew the top and bottom together.

If you have any question, do leave a comment.

Happy Sewing!

How to Sew a Button up Shirt Collar

You maybe avoiding sewing a shirt with collar because it looks too hard.  I made a tutorial just for the collar part.  If you follow every step, you will have a beautiful collar.  Try it!

1.  Match up the top and bottom parts of the collar and apply interfacing on the piece the will be shown.

2.  Sew the top pieces together.  Then, turn it out.

3.  Cut a very tiny triangular shape at the middle of top and bottom pieces where the two parts are going to join.

4.   Use the bottom pieces to sandwich the top piece.  Match up the cuts and align the edges.

5. Pin it down all the way, then sew it.

6.  After sewing it down, cut a little cuts at the parts that turns.  It will look prettier after you turn it out.

6.  Iron it down.  Now you have a very pretty collar.

7.  Finally, sew it together to your shirt or dress.  You will first sew the bottom flap to the shirt then fold in the seam of the top flap and sew it down.

That's all.  It might take some practice before you make it perfect, but it's a learning process, isn't it?

Have a lot of fun sewing.

How to hem a curved edge the easy way

There are many methods out there showing you how to hem circle or curved skirt.  The method that I am going to show you is the easiest I have ever known. First, you will push the fabric toward the iron as you move the iron along the edge of the fabric.  By doing this you will create some ruffles on the edge.  After you go through the whole edge, fold it in and iron down.  Then, use blind hem stitch to hem it. Here is a short film show you the action.

The video

This could take some practice to make it perfect.  Make sure to use your finger nail and the fabric to prevent from burning your finger.  

Be safe and Happy sewing!

Shirt dress? or Just Shirt! -- Fall Project #2

In the fall, I always like to wear a loose shirt with jeans or tights.  It is comfortable.  However, sometimes a classy shirt dress is always on the top of my must-sew list, too.

This pattern I made is for both.  With one pattern you can make both a Shirt and a Shirt Dress.

As usual, these patterns are for sizes 12 (L), 8 (M), and 4 (S).  If you want to make one that fits you perfectly, you might want to try to draft one with bodice pattern.  You can learn it from here.  http://sewingclassfordaughters.blogspot.com/

I used the same pattern to make both.  You just have to change the length.

Here is the pattern for FRONT.

I didn't do pockets for my shirt nor my dress, but I added it to the pattern in case you want pockets.

The pattern for BACK:

SLEEVE AND COLLAR

For the front opening, I already made a tutorial in the post "Little Blue Dress".  If you need that, you can check it there.  

However, I am going to give you a tutorial on how to put the collar together.  It's not very easy, but you can do it.

1.  Match up the top and bottom parts of the collar and apply interfacing on the piece the will be shown.

2.  Sew the top pieces together.  Then, turn it out.

3.  Cut a very tiny triangular shape at the middle of top and bottom pieces where the two parts are going to join.

4.   Use the bottom pieces to sandwich the top piece.  Match up the cuts and align the edges.

5. Pin it down all the way, then sew it.

6.  After sewing it down, cut a little cuts at the parts that turns.  It will look prettier after you turn it out.

6.  Iron it down.  Now you have a very pretty collar.

7.  Finally, sew it together to your shirt or dress.  You will first sew the bottom flap to the shirt then fold in the seam of the top flap and sew it down.

That's all.  It might take some practice before you make it perfect, but it's a learning process, isn't it?

Have a lot of fun sewing.

Fall Dresses -- Project # 1

In order to sew this dress, you will need to use knit fabric.  It has to be stretchy, which means no zipper.  I came across one of Michael Kors' dresses and wanted to figure out how to make it very badly.  One day when I was browsing through Pinterest, I saw a pin showing how to make that dress, but it was in Russian.  Here is the original post.  http://nelyager.ru/post227911972/  I kind of figured out how to do the front part from the post and then make my own pattern.  Here is a close look of the front part.

First, we need to make a dress pattern and do some changes later.  Here is a dress pattern.

I have 3 sizes, 12, 8 and 4.  If these are not your size, you might want to try doing it with bodice pattern.  I have another blog showing you how to do it with bodice patter.  http://sewingclassfordaughters.blogspot.com/

You should have a complete front pattern like this.

From here, we cut the pattern into 4 pieces by cutting along the a, b, c, and d cut lines.  When we sew them back, we sew along the a, b, c, d lines too.  Each of the bottom 3 pieces needed to be cut into 6 equal parts.  Do not cut them all the way, leave about 2 mm front the edge.  Let them barely hang to each other.  After cutting them up, we need to re-position them.  This is the top and the right pieces.

You have to have the right measurement in order to sew them back exactly.  This is the left and bottom part.

I made a mini version to show you how to put them together.

First, take the bottom piece and sew the line "a" together and make sure you don't sew all the way.  You should leave about 2 cm.

 I should look like this.

Then, thread the top part through the hole we left out.  

Here is a look of the actual front piece before it is all sew up.

Finally, sew up the rest of the b,c, and d. lines.  Now you have a completed front piece. 

This front piece is the only challenging part.  The rest is just basic sewing.

Have fun!