Lately, I’ve been into using cloth napkins. Not only do reusable napkins save paper, but they just make you feel good. I’ll use them when I’m on my lunch break at work, eating something nuked in the microwave and completely not fancy. I’ll use them with my oatmeal in the morning or my cheese and crackers at night. You can make your own napkins using a rolled hem. One nice way to do this is on your serger. In a future post, we’ll do a rolled edge on a regular sewing machine.
Magnetic snaps make great closures for handbags and totes. They’re clean-looking and offer quick and easy opening and closing of your bag. They’re easy to install, but if you don’t take a few precautions, you could end up with strained, torn fabric. Let me show you how I do it.
What’s worse than making a thin tube and then having to turn it right-side out? Uh … nothing. Here is a painless, turn-free way to make a nice, neat strap for a handbag or tote.
Ever have two pattern pieces that are supposed to be sewn together but are actually curved in opposite directions? You wonder how they are possibly supposed to fit together. Sometimes you’ll see this in shaped seams, like a princess seam on a woman’s top that must make room for the bust. Sometimes, in the case of this tutorial, it’s a flat seam (meaning, not convex) that is rounded for visual effect. It’s really not hard to do, and I’ll show you how.
For a long time, I hated doing buttonholes and I hated doing zippers. So I had a bit of a problem when it came to making closures on garments. The thing is, I’m not really ready to go for an all-Velcro wardrobe or elastic waistbands, but in 50 years? Who knows. When I first got my machine and began sewing, I was tackling a lot of new techniques all at once, and the buttonhole was a bit intimidating. I was actually pretty bad at them until recently. I am embarrassed to admit this, but after I broke my automatic buttonhole…
Sure, it’s easier to buy store-bought piping, but how often do you have trouble finding piping that matches just right? Plus, homemade piping made out of the fabric you’re using adds extra pizazz and looks professional. It takes a little more time, but it’s worth it.