This is the last show in the 1200 series. Have you gathered some travel tips that you can use the next time you head out on a trip? I know I have, but I've also seen many garments and accessories I could happily use every single day at home, away, or traveling about town. Show 1213 and the last three segments in the series are as good as it gets! Follow along as I give you a brief preview.
Kay is back on the show with another valuable sewing tutorial. This time she walks you through the basics of binding a sleeveless dress with bias trim instead of standard facings.
Click on the image to download Kay's directions for this segment. It's likely you'll be mesmerized by the beauty of Kay's sample dresses. These are all designed from her wonderful Serendipity Studio pattern line and stitched in beautiful fabrics. Just gazing at these will inspire you to sew something pretty!
I’ve been a fan of substituting bias for facings for a very long time. While standard facings do have their place, whenever it's possible or appropriate I use some alternative method. This may mean self-lining the garment, using a turn and top-stitch finish, some form of binding either on the inside or the outside of the garment, or simply increasing the size of the facing so it has a better chance of staying tucked inside the garment. I use all of these techniques regularly.
One thing to consider is the fact that bias binding does take more fabric than facings do. If you are looking for a way to cut a large amount of bias from a small amount of fabric click on the image above for a super method. My photo is from a previous project that featured piping on potholders but this method will work anytime you need to make continuous bias from minimal amounts of fabric.
Sew Caroline (Caroline Hulse) is up next, with a super simple tank dress with options for shaping the garment for a sleeker fit. Tank dresses are popular and so comfortable to wear. Not happy going sleeveless? Just add a sweater, wrap, or a shrug, and you can confidently wear this bare shouldered style.
Caroline highlights two helpful techniques in this segment. One involves using the edge-joining foot for stitching the waist casing. This foot is available for most machines. Check with your local sewing machine shop for more info.
Shirring with elastic thread is another trick she shares for shaping the waist. Crazy as it sounds, I think this is one of the first decorative machine embellishment techniques I tried when I began playing with machines so very long ago. I made a tunic top that had shirring at the neck and literally wore it out. Want to know how long ago? To give you a hint at the era . . . it was a McCalls pattern and Marlo Thomas, known as "That Girl" was on the cover of the envelope! Thought you would get a laugh out of that bit of trivia!!! CLICK HERE for my short tip sheet for setting your machine to sew shirring with elastic thread.
The show closes with a demonstration on serger flatlocking by Angela. Learn about loops and ladders and see how this popular serger stitch looks on layers of fleece. Flat locking has been in my serger repertoire almost as long as my Marlo pattern :-). Well, not quite that long but it is something I've used for many, many projects over the years. Watch for a future tip sheet on this on. I just need to iron my stored samples and take some new photos. Flat locking is how I hemmed the t-shirt in this recent Brother blog project. CLICK HERE to view instructions for this shirt. Learn to flat lock on your serger and you'll find there are many uses for this stitch, from seams, to decorative accents, to hemming and more!
Are you ready to go watch the show? CLICK HERE. Show airs until June 23 at noon EST. Enjoy!
Are you ready to go watch the show? CLICK HERE. Show airs until June 23 at noon EST. Enjoy!
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