This show is full of inventive and attractive ways to rescue cherished old linens and sweaters that have seen better days. It ends with part two of the sew along where you'll see how to convert a skirt pattern from standard to a bias cut.

Michell Paganini, otherwise known as the up-cycle guru, walks you through the decision-making process when selecting parts of vintage linens to use for projects. In this show she presents many ideas for transforming linens into practical projects you can make use of every day. Watch her make one of my all-time favorite projects, a simple yet sweet hanger cover.

It's possible that you may want to add some additional embroidery to the hand-stitched pieces you already have. One of my favorite ways to imitate hand embroidery is to add bobbin work stitching. CLICK HERE for a tip sheet showing more about this technique.

Michelle's downloadable instructions for this show include not just the hanger cover but also a shoe bag, pashmina wrap sack, and fabric bags with potential for anything from storage to gift giving. I suggest you start hunting and rescue those heirloom pieces that would otherwise waste away in a cedar chest, drawer, or closet!

The show continues with Londa Rohlfing. She has tips for cutting sewing, and styling sweaters to fashion them into new and interesting garments. Next, she demonstrates setting a sleeve using just six pins. Essentially, it's a matter of feeding the sleeve fabric with your left finger and a tool such as a stiletto in your right hand. I can see this working well for sleeves that have very little extra fabric that needs to go into the sleeve cap.

Angela Wolf closes out the show with her bias cut skirt. You'll see her cut the skirt by flipping the pattern for a full front and back.

Another way to do this is to trace off the pattern to get a full front and a full back. This makes it easy to cut the skirt out on a single layer of fabric. I recommend creating a new pattern piece with tracing cloth. I love, love, love pattern tracing cloth, buying it by the bolt when it goes on sale, so it's there when I need it. Simply fold the tracing cloth so you can place the fold line of the pattern on it as if you were going to cut out an actual garment. Cut, and then open up the piece, transfer all the markings, notches and important information, and then use this to cut your single layer piece. If you ever find yourself running short on the size of the tracing cloth, simply layer one piece on top of another and use a straight stitch or a zigzag to extend the size of the piece.

Before we wrap up, I have just a few more thoughts about working with vintage linens. I'm curious, have you ever found spots on old linens and struggled to get them removed? I've had some success cleaning and brightening old linens by soaking them in color safe non-chlorine bleach and treating stains with a dose of good old fashioned Fels Naptha soap. I've also used a rust remover product such as Iron Out on all white fabric that can tolerate hot water. When all else has failed I've resorted to antiquing the antiques by dying them in a coffee or tea solution. Here is my recipe for that:
 
Make two cups of strong tea or black coffee. Allow to cool. Add 1/4 cup white vinegar. Mix ingredients and place in a stain proof container. Wet fabric in clear water and then transfer to container. Gently stir fabric in the coffee or tea solution for three to five minutes. Rinse thoroughly in cool water. Dry flat. Press only after fabric is thoroughly dried. Note that this amount is for best for dying lace or small fabric items. You'll need a larger, stain proof container to increase the amount of fabric or solution. It's very important to let fabric or lace dry before ironing. If you iron while wet you'll get uneven streaks of color.
 
I've read about some other cleaning recipes that promise to refresh linens without damaging them. Of course a lot depends on the strength of the fabric and the fiber content. Be cautious. It's important to note that just getting fabric wet can be harmful if it's weak. Here are a few other cleaning options that sound promising although I have not tried them myself:

• Mix these four ingredients: 1 scoop Biz, 1 scoop OxyClean, 3/4 cup Ammonia, and 1-gallon hot water. Soak for at least one hour and then rinse completely and allow to air dry.
• Put a mixture of salt and lemon juice on the stain and then pour boiling hot water over the stain while holding the garment or linen over the sink.
• Wet fabric and place on a white cloth in full sun.
• Mix one quart of warm water with 1/4 cup vinegar and one tsp of liquid dish detergent.​

If you have any thoughts, tips, or ideas to share on this topic, please be sure to leave a comment. It would be interesting to know which stubborn stain removers work for you!

This is the beginning of a whole new series of posts as It's Sew Easy TV uploads Series 1500 to their online site. This means the series has finished airing on PBS stations across the USA. Have you had the chance to catch any or all of these episodes? If you saw them already you may enjoy watching them all over again. Perhaps this is your first chance to catch them week by week. Each Friday at noon EST a new show is uploaded, and it stays online for a full week. With the online version you can relax and watch during a half hour that fits your personal schedule.  

In show 1501 Angela Wolf starts off her A-Line skirt Sew-Along. This is her own original pattern. What a flattering skirt style! In this show you'll learn how to read important pattern sizing info, insert a concealed zipper, add a narrow binding for a waistband, and sew a machine stitched blind hem.

Adding the waistband and stitching the hem is pretty straightforward so I thought we'd talk a little more about the zipper insertion. Angela uses a concealed, (also known as invisible) zipper and inserts it will a regular zipper foot by sewing very close to the coils. Personally, I like using a foot that is specially designed for the task. More about that in a minute.

You'll find presser feet designed and sold by companies that manufacture this zipper style. Two common ones are made by Coats and by YKK (Unique® brand). Take a look at the packages above - did I mention this is an old zipper style? The package I have on the right is tagged with the price of $1.00 LOL!

​This type of hidden zipper has been around a long time. The coils are rolled to the back of the zipper tape and are sewn to the fabric right along the seam line. During insertion the coils lay flat but after stitching they roll back and disappear into the seam, giving them their concealed, or hidden characteristic.

The tan zipper you see here is Coats, the white one is Unique®, both of these coordinate with the specialty feet which include various shank adapters to fit most modern machines. The third, salmon colored zipper is somewhat of an "antique." It was given to me by a friend who sewed skating costumes decades ago. It has YKK on the tab and it's made up of metal teeth. I haven't tried inserting this type but it does evoke a bit of nostalgia for the days when all zips were made of metal.

As I said, I'm a fan of using a specialized foot, designed to match your machine brand. Here you see the Brother style. Recently they released a "new and improved" version. Look closely at the one on the left in the above photo. This new style has a guide in the center to help hold the zipper firmly in place while stitching. In addition, the grooves on the underside are deeper than the original foot. This helps keep the rolled coils of the teeth from moving out of position as the foot passes over them. ​

Here you see a close-up of the grooves on the underside. This foot works with all Brother machines that have the horizontal bobbin case, including machines with a 5mm throat plate. Overall, it is an improved foot designed for modern concealed zippers. ​Visit your local Brother dealer to see this new foot.

I'm a huge fan of this type of zipper! It's my "go to" type for most of my garments and I like it for home decor and accessory projects too. Click on the image below to check out this Clutch Purse from a previous Brother Blog post. 

CLICK HERE to see a short YouTube video of the new Brother style foot in action.

If you are ready to go and watch the show visit www.itsseweasytv.com. Show 1501 is online until 12-28-2018.

Questions or comments about the concealed zipper and zipper foot? I'd love to hear your thoughts!