Stay stitching happens right at the beginning of the process of producing a fine garment. Learn how to sew stay stitch step by step and why.

Do your teachers or staff still lead assemblies? Check out this post on how we made the switch to student-led assemblies and how you can do it too! Learn how to give more control to students. Be brave and read on!

Silhouette beginners guide to importing images and how to use the trace tool

Check out these simple tips on how to clean a mattress. Get rid of mattress stains and smells with these easy tips. Clean a mattress using baking soda and a DIY spray you can make yourself. Clean it today so you can sleep better tonight.

Learn how to make cording with these step-by-step instructions that include videos.

Does your child struggle with letter reversals? Try our free printing practice sheets. Extra guidance and daily practice will soon set things right.

This blog post teaches you how to create and use both custom and pre-made templates in Evernote.

A serger or overlocker tutorial on serging curves by Make it Handmade as part of the Relationship Rescue Serger Series.

The CAL – Crochetalong 2016 CAL, Friends Around the World kicks off with the Octoghan Square by Valerie Bracegirdle from the Agrarian Artisan!

I keep parents up-to-date with weekly newsletters! These are black and white and ink-friendly!

How to clean mattress stains. Urine, Blood or Sweat Stains? How to quickly remove stains and smells from your mattress... No judgement!

My favorite method for hemming knits - using the blind stitch hem. This method is neat and sturdy and works for most knits except very stretchy ones.

Lately, I’ve been needled a lot about hand embroidery needles – lots of questions from beginners and beyond about this mysterious tool that we certainly can’t live without. Today, I want to share a few points about hand embroidery needles, so that you can make a good choice when you select the needle you’ll use ...

Following on from our NEW invisible zipper tutorial, here's how to attach your zipper to a facing with your sewing machine like a pro! NOTE: This tutorial is demonstrating a side invisible zipper (as

Oral thrush is a terrible nuisance. It tastes bad, causes bad breath, and can be embarrassing. Nothing tastes right and it's all you can think of. Left untreated, it can get out of control. Even then, you can still beat it! This article explores how!

Have you ever wanted to sew something specific but couldn't find a pattern for it? Or you went to look at clothing patterns in the store and all you could find were patterns for clothes with big sailor collars from the early 90s or giant, flowing coulottes or jumpers? I don't know about you, but those don't really flatter my body type or my style. It can be discouraging and just make you vow never to sew again if that's all the fashion world has to offer those of us that like to sew for ourselves. BUT, I'm here to tell you there are other options! Hallelujah! We don't have to get stuck in the last decade of fashion mistakes afterall! I'm going to show you ways to sew without buying a traditional pattern. We all like options, right? When I realized for myself that I could actually sew without a pattern, my love for sewing went crazy! It became a passion. It was also a challenge that I really enjoyed. I'm not suggesting that it will always be successful or easy, but it's a lot more fun to sew things you will actually wear and use. My sewing machine sat in a dark closet for years until I realized this. Now, it's a permanent fixture in my craft room. (And I took the plunge and got a serger, as well.) First, think about the items of clothing you have that fit you well and you love. I'm kind of on the taller side and it's difficult to find skirts that hit me at the right spot and look flattering on me, so I went to my closet and found my favorite skirt. Look over your item and investigate how it was sewn together. Are there straight lines? Gathers? Ruffles? Elastic waist? Zipper closure? Now, if it's something that falls into those categories or categories you are comfortable sewing, why not try to make your own pattern from that item of clothing? Or if you're like me, just lay that item flat on top of the fabric you want to use and start cutting! Check out this tutorial for a basic ladies' skirt that I made - and you can make one, too, with your own favorite skirt as your guide! Another way to learn to sew something you'd like to make is to hit up Pinterest. There are thousands of tutorials on sewing so many different things on there. It would be hard not to find what you're looking for. If you look and there's not one, let me know! I might try to do one for you on this blog. Just follow these directions: Go to Pinterest.com. Enter in the search bar at the top left, "elastic waist skirt" or whatever you want to make. It will pull up hundreds of pins. Look through them and see which one you'd like to make. Then, follow the directions. If you're making a home item such as pillows or whatever, you can do a search or you can measure the item of yours you want to replicate. {I keep a notebook with all of my notes for measuring and fabric needed, etc.} Write down all the specifics that you need to know and go for it! You'll be surprised at what you can make without an official pattern. If there are basic sewing techniques you need to freshen up on, check out my {Sewing Basics} page above. I'm constantly adding more. Sometimes, you can print patterns for free off the internet for things you'd like to sew. I've done this before and it actually works really well. I've done this on baby items and small things. It's really a great way to get patterns. Google "free sewing patterns" and you'll be surprised what you can find. Even Simplicity, a name we all trust, {who sells tons of patterns in stores} offers free ones online that you can print from your computer. Don't be afraid to try to make your own pattern, though. Start with something simple like a throw pillow {or try one of my methods here} and then take the next step to something a little more challenging. You'll be sewing up a storm in no time! What have you tried to sew lately? Did you use a pattern or just wing it? Have you ever made your own pattern? This is part of my 31 Days of Home Economics series. You can find the whole series by clicking on the tab above labeled {Home Economics}. Like this post? Will you please share it with your friends on your social media? You can also follow me on Facebook, Google+, Pinterest and Twitter. Click the social media icon of your choice in the right sidebar. Thanks for stopping by! I'm sharing this with a few of these friends.

Tiny fibers and dust accumulate inside your machine. Learn how to keep everything running smooth and when to clean your sewing machine.

I don’t know about you, but my kids refuse to use a flat sheet. I’ve tried off and on since they were about 2, but the flat sheet always ended ...

Before in Excel tips we learnt about Custom Lists feature in Excel and how to use it to sort and have custom autofill series. In our example we sorted the sales data using our own criteria of cities that was not alphabetical. That helped us having data of cities first that are more important to […]

Begin to understand gestalt language processing with this comprehensive overview info sheet. A great resource for therapists, educators, or caregivers to start to understand GLP and make changes to best support their gestalt language processors. Includes: What is GLP What are gestalts The stages of language acquisition for gestalt and analytic language processors Why it's important to know how a child is processing language How to know if your child is a gestalt language processor How to support a gestalt language processor Page of example gestalts Links to further information This is a great as a handout for parents and carers, daycares/ preschools, schools, educators, and health-care professionals. You may also like: Neurodiversity Info Sheet Using Neurodiverse Affirming Language Neurodiverse Affirming Supports in the Classroom Supporting Autistic Kids in the Classroom Made by a speech-language pathologist.

These are so fun!!! 20 great General Conference activities for toddlers and yout that will keep the kids entertained AND engaged during Conference.

And it only costs around 5?? to complete the project…

Around 80% of users throw away their old seam rippers when they get dull and replace them with new ones. But if you can put in a little bit of extra effort, you can easily get rid of the dullness and sharpen the seam ripper in no time. For this task, there are two basic

One Page Project Manager (OPPM) The One Page Project Manager Template Excel helps a project manager to manage projects with a single page. The Latest One-page project manager covers the task tracking, maintain critical dates, task meter, resource load, to do for the PMs, risk, and issues tracking. The One-page project manager template has been designed to fit into one excel sheet and easy to print. Another important KPI has also been developed to be visible easily. Features And Advantages Of The One Page Project Manager Excel Template Covers all the critical project aspects on one page. Allows capturing of critical milestones/dates with a status indicator. Has a task meter that shows how many tasks are on track, concerned, or delayed. Allows tracking of individual tasks and highlights delayed tasks. Captures the resource workload for each resource. Captures top 5 concerns, which can be risks or issues. Captures top 5 action items or change requests. Has notes and a to-do tracker which highlights tasks that have passed the due date. Can handle a list of 20 pre-defined holidays. Holidays are reduced from the task duration. Download This Template Now! One Page Project Manager Template Task Tracker Section The task tracker allows up to 21 tasks. Each task has an owner, start date, end date, actual completion, forecast completion, and status. All the columns marked in blue are auto-populated, so they should not be changed. The task tracker calculates the Forecast % complete based on task start date, end date, and duration. Based on the Actual and Forecast, the status is populated. If the task is on track or ahead, then the status is green. If the task is less than 5% behind then, the task is marked amber. If the task is lagging behind for more than 5%, then the status is marked red. Always copy the previous task to create a new task. Update only the columns marked in yellow. On day-to-day, basis updates the Actual % completion. One Page Project Manager - Task Tracker Milestones, Task Meter, And Resource Workload View In One-Page Manager Milestones and Key dates section allow tracking of key dates and milestones. Each date has a due date and status indicator, indicating track, concern, and delay. The Task Meter displays show the on track, concern, and delayed. The graph gets the data from the task tracker status. The Resource Work Load displays the work allocated to each resource in days. The resource workload graph also gets the data from the task tracker. Task Meter and Resource Work Load Concerns, Actions, and Change Requests Section This section allows the tracking of risks and issues within the Top 5 Concerns. Each concern has an owner and status, which can be On Track, Concern, or Delayed. The Open Actions and Change Requests allow tracking of action items and change requests. Each action item and change request has an owner and status, which can be On Track, Concern, or Delayed. Concerns, Actions, and Change Requests Section To-Do and Notes List Section The notes and to-do list are specially designed for project managers to keep track of their own tasks. Each task will have a description and due date. The task will be highlighted in red if the task is overdue. Notes & To Do List One Page Project Manager Data Section The data section can be used to set the resources. Populate only resource names. The workload column is auto-calculated. The public holidays can be used to set public holidays. You may be interested in other articles One Page Weekly Status Report One Page MS Project Status Reporting One Page Report Template

I get asked the same questions a lot when it comes to being a reviewer. For years, I've reviewed products on my blog – either in exchange for products, or products and payment. Generally speaking, I snag the reviews because of you guys – the page views and social media following I have. However, with […]

Learn how to Grading Altering Sewing Pattern Sizes. Modify your patterns to use the sizes that fit your body with this easy tutorial.

How to Move Pinterest Pins - Pinterest Tutorial

This helpful serger guide was submitted by Sarah from Sewing Parts Online. If you're ever in the market for a special sewing foot, pedal, bobbin, instruction manual, etc. be sure to check out their website. They even have parts for older machines like mine. Sarah hooked me up with some great darning feet! And now she's been kind enough to share this amazing guide with us. Enjoy! ... Learning all the new options a serger brings into your sewing life is a challenging and rewarding experience. I know most of us are intimidated by just the appearance of a serger, let alone figuring out what heck you can do with it! However, with a little time and patience, your serger will add all whole new perspective to your sewing. Successful sewing relies on a great community we all make together, so if you know any special tricks or have a few questions, leave them in the comment section below. Someone may have the same question or your trick might save us all a little more time! Firstly, mentally prepare yourself for a little confusion. When you're learning new serging techniques, you will find yourself adjusting, rethreading, crying, readjusting, switching needles...it's a lot to take in. This is because, just like a conventional machine, your setting have to be altered to fit different stitches, fabric, and thread weight...x4 (or x3 or x2 depeding on your stitch, but we'll get to that later). It takes time, but it does get easier and is well worth it! Secondly, give yourself time to really experiment with your serger before starting any projects. Trying to complete a project and compute all your serger settings will more than likely overwhelm brain circuits and cause spontaneous combustion. For me to understand my serger, I used my manual, library books, and surfed the internet to create a Serger Scrapbook. I tried out each stitch and different techniques one at a time. Once I had a stitch or technique done correctly, I glued the fabric swatch in my scrapbook, recorded all my settings as well as some tips and adjustments for different threads. Because there is so much to learn, having a scrapbook is an easy and fast way to recall information. While learning, I would limit myself to a couple hours of serging at any one time and just walk away when you feel the urge to break something. Give yourself time to learn in a stress-free environment and don't judge yourself if you mess up. It gets better! A few things to remember: Use good quality thread. Back away from the bargain bin; it will only end in tears. Sergers have fast moving parts and inferior threads cannot keep up. Maxilock and Toldilock are great options. Do whatever you can to ensure the thread is feeding evenly and consistently off the spool. Any wiggling will cause hiccups in your stitch. I have had to stuff my thread spools to secure them tightly. The thread nets are also very helpful. Use the Stitch Finger as a guide for sewing. Keeping an eye on the Stitch Finger (or the needle when the Stitch Finger is on R) will prevent the material from getting wrapped around the Upper Looper. Love thy Tweezers! I literally cannot thread my machine without tweezers. Tweezers also help if you are trying to detangle thread that wraps up where it shouldn't. Keep those pins far, far away from the cutting blade and the needles. You know how on your conventional machine you can get away with sewing over a pin or two? Not on your serger. You can always use basting spray to secure your fabric. If you must use pins, place them three inches away and parallel to the blade. Oil every 15 hours of serging and dust frequently. That cutting blade makes one heck of a dust pile. If a thread breaks in the upper or lower loopers, I rethread both of them in order just to be safe. Remember to keep your manual handy. I know we all hate trying to read manuals, but they really are a helpful reference. Here we go! Construction A four Thread Overlock stitch is ideal for constructing your projects. It'll finish the edges and hold your fabric securely. This is your basic starting point. You can serge in twill tape or ribbon into the seam to prevent stretch (like in shoulder seams). However, I recommend reinforcing heavy activity areas of clothing on your sewing machine after you have serged (like the crotch area of your pants). I have felt the wrath of not securing this area on a conventional sewing machine...in public. Settings for four Thread Overlock on Muslin using Regular Serger Thread: Left Needle- 5.5 Right Needle- 5.5 Upper Looper- 4.5 Lower Looper- 4 Length- 2 Differential- 1.0 R or S- S Blade- Engaged (Can you spot the spelling error? Thank goodness for spell check!) Corners Serging an outside corner is basically serging a straight line. You can't pivot the material as you would on a conventional sewing machine. You simply serge a 3 inch chain past the end of the fabric, lift the needle and presser foot, and reposition your fabric to serger another straight line. The ends of the chain get secured in the stitch. Serging an inside corner requires you to bunch the fabric in to a straight line and serge normally. Don't worry, your fabric won't stay bunched. Try to get your line as straight as possible. Curves The trick to serging curves is all about control. Make sure you have a firm hand on the fabric and are controlling the feed with purpose. Try to slowly serge until you get the hang of it. Circles To successfully serge a circle, you need a starting point. Cut out a one inch long notch in the edge of the circle. The notch depth should be equal to your finished edge. So if I am cutting off 1/4 an inch, my notch will be two inches long, 1/4 inch deep. Just like serging a curve, maintain control of the fabric. You may find it helpful to draw your hem line and follow it as your serger. I always find it helpful to watch the needle(s) as I serger. Flatlocking Consult your maunal and adjust as needed. The trick is to have no tension in the needle and high tension in the loopers. Also, you want to examine your stitch finger and make sure the thread is hanging about 1/8 an inch past the edge of the fabric to ensure the fabric will lay flat when pulled. I especially love flatlocking with nylon thread in the upper looper. Here are my settings for three Thread Flatlocking with Nylong thread (on muslin fabric): Left Needle- 4 Right Needle- - Upper Looper- 5 Lower Looper- 9 Length-2 Differential- 1.0 R or S- S Blade- Disengaged We see flatlocking often on active wear, but it also adds a great decorative element. With the wrong sides of the fabric together, you get the serging stitch in the right side of the fabric. But if you serge with right sides together, you will get a cool ladder stitch on the right side of the fabric. This is great for weaving in ribbon or yarn or beads. Spread or Two-Thread Converter Talk about a great way to save thread! A spreader, also known as a two Thread Converter, fits into the upper looper, making it think it's working when it's not. The same technique for sewing a three thread flatlock applies to sewing a two thread flatlock. Remember to let the fabric hang over. I find it most accurate to follow the stitch finger as I serger. I aim to have the edge of the fabric meet with the inside edge of the stitch finger. I keep my eyes glued to that and I get the best results. Inserting Spreader (Pardon my dust) Settings for two Thread Flatlock using a Spreader (serger thread and 100% medium weight cotton fabric): Left needle- - Right needle- 1 Upper Looper- Spreader Lower Looper- 5 Length- 2.5 Differential- 1.0 R or S- S Blade- Disengaged Rolled Edges Rolled edges are so beautiful! Especially with decorative threads and on lovely sheer fabrics! Rolled hems are the stitch of choice for light-weight decorative fabrics, but require a few extras to be successful. Regarless of the stitch width, I recommend using some form of stabilizer on the lighter fabrics. You can use water soluble stabilizer or ribbon. I have actually heard of people using plastic wrap to secure the stitch of super delicate material. If you don't have any stabilizer available, you can simply fold the edge on itself and serger. You just need to go back and trim the extra fabric that's left over. Settings for Rolled Hem on Muslin using regular serger thread: Left Needle- - Right Needle- 3 Upper Looper- 9 Lower Looper- 9 Length- F Differential- 1.0 R or S- R Blade- Engaged Settings for Rolled Hem with Nylon Thread on Muslin: Left Needle- - Right Needle- 2 Upper Looper- 2 Lower Looper- 5 Length- 2 Differential- 1.0 R or S- R Blade- Engaged Remember, you will have to adjust your settings to accommodate for fabric weight and the type of stabilizer you use. Gathering You can buy a Gathering Foot for your serger, but it can be done with the general purpose foot, it just needs a little tweaking. I found I get the best definition using lighter fabrics, but you can increase the volume of your gathers by simply manually pulling on the needle thread after you have serged. Settings for Gathering with Nylon Thread: Left Needle- 5 Right Needle- - Upper Looper- 4 Lower Looper- 3 Length- 4 Differential- 2.0 R or S- S Blade- Engaged You can adjust the width as you please. Lettuce Edges A lettuce edge is an awesome decorative edge! You will get the best results from ribbed knits because they have a great stretch and bounce back quality. I tried a lettuce edge on other knits and wasn't pleased with the results nearly as much. The trick is to stretch the material from front to back as much as you can. Really pull on the fabric to get a great lettuce effect. You aren't going to hurt your machine. Slowly sew until you get the hang of it. Keep a firm grip and control the fabric. Settings for Lettuce Edges on Ribbed Knit using Embroidery Thread: Left Needle- - Right Needle- 2 Upper Looper- 2 Lower Looper- 6.5 Length- 2 Differential- 0.7 R or S- R Blade- Disengaged Making Waves There are a couple of ways to make your stitches look like waves. To create a wave look within your stitches and the create a wave effect with multiple rows of stitches. Wave Illusion within the Stitch: If you own a Babylock machine, you have a wave stitch built in. For the rest of us, you will need to do it manually. First, start with your manual's recommended settings for a three-Thread Overlock and make slight adjustments to fit your thread and fabric weight. User your left hand to guide the fabric. With your right hand, loosely hold lower looper thread between your pointed figner and thumb. Count 1-2-3 out loud and sqeeze your finger at the intervals beween each second. So you are literally pinching the thread for a millisecond as it comes off the spool. This takes a lot of practice. I'm still working on my precision. Settings for Manual Wave Stitch on Muslin using Nylon Thread: Left Needle- 5.5 Right Needle- - Upper Looper- 3.5 Lower Looper- 4 Length- 1 Differential- 1.0 R or S- S Blade- Engaged Wave Illusion on Fabric: To create a wave look on your fabric, you serge multiple parallel lines using a shortened three-Thread Overlock Stitch. It looks best when you use decorative thread in the Upper Looper and thread matching your fabric in the Lower Looper. Then, on your conventional sewing machine, you sew a grid of alternating lines that intersect the serged lines. For example, you serge five parallel lines one inch apart. Then you go to your conventional sewing machine (match your thread to the fabric), sew five more parallel lines that cross over your serged line. You alternate the direction you sew to create the wave look. Basically, you are sewing a grid. Settings used on the Serger on medium weight fabric using decorative thread in Upper looper: Left Needle- - Right Needle- 5.5 Upper Looper- 4 Lower Looper- 4 Length- 1 Differential- 1.0 R or S- S Blade- Disengaged Blind Hem Yes, it can be done! This works great in place of a cover stitch on knits. Start with a Flatlock. Adjust your settings to match your fabric and thread. Fold hem to the wrong side of fabric, then back over to the right side of the fabric. For a truely invisible hem, extend the raw edge past the fold and stitch on the extended hem edge (1/4 inch part), allowing the machine to just barely catch the fold. Sew slowly and keep your eye on the needle to make sure it is catching the fabric. Match your needle thread with the color of your fabric. Setting for Blind Hem on muslin using Nylon thread (increase tension in upper looper for regular thread): Left Needle- - Right Needle- 1 Upper Looper- 4 Lower Looper- 4 Length- 4 Differential- 1.0 R or S- S Blade- Disengaged I hope you found this article helpful and good luck with your serger!

This is how the experts learn how to caulk like a pro. Follow these quick and easy steps (with pictures) and you can learn too.

Sewing Machine Presser Foot Guide- for beginners

Printables are all over the Internet these days. Bloggers enjoy making them and sharing them on […]

Usually, when I sew together items, using my overlocker, the end of a seam intersects with another seam, has it's end turned back (for a hem) or overlaps on itself, so I just chop the end of the thread off and let the overlapping stitching stop it from unraveling. Sometimes, the over-locked seam runs all the way to the end (like in children's sleeves), so if you were to cut the end off, it would unravel. You also don't want unsightly overlocking ends hanging out of your child's sleeves. This is what I do.... Cut the thread with a bit of a tail, five to ten centimetres should be ample. Grab a needle with a big eye, and preferably a bluntish point, and thread the loose thread onto the needle. Use the needle to take the loose end of thread between the two layers of fabric and the overlocking stitch. Alternatively, you could just thread it back between the fabric and the stitching - you might do this if there is only one layer of fabric. Pull tight and snip the loose end. All done! Isn't that all nice and tidy!

How to Sew a Round Hem: Hello everyone !I am glad to share this technique with you today. If you have visited my website, you have probably noticed I really like circle skirts. In fact, most of my favorite free patterns are using this technique. For example, I have used …

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12 clever sewing hacks you absolutely need to know! Must-see clever hacks that will make your sewing easier. Get the most out of your sewing machine!

This is such a quick and easy way to hem jeans! It is GREAT for kids jeans too....I'll show you at the end but the hem can be undone so w...

Check this post out for some simple ideas to implement in therapy with young stuttering clients. Post includes The Speech Guy and Speech Roads Stuttering therapy with kids is so tricky! There is this balance between teaching awareness of the stutter and lowering emotional reactivity to the stutter that I am still working on mastering. It is different for each child and you really have to get a feel for how they will react. I only had 3 stuttering kids on my caseload this past year and they were as different as different can be. I tried doing the therapy in a group and it worked out okay but man it was tricky since they had such individual strengths and weaknesses, planning their sessions was a bear! Here are a few little lessons that really worked for all 3 of them (they were all 6-7 years old). The Speech Guy Two of my three stuttering kids had started to develop fairly severe secondary behaviors during stuttering moments. These are behaviors that happen as the child tries to get past the stuttering moment and can include funny facial and/or body movements to try to help them out of the stutter. Examples include eye twitches, loss of eye contact, slapping the leg, rocking the head forward, clicking the mouth, arrested breath, avoding words that are hard to say and a lot more. It honestly freaked me out when I evaluated them because I had no idea how to work with stuttering, especially stuttering that was severe enough to present with secondary behaviors. My supervisor at the district suggested I talk about the different parts that we use for speech and how they affect our talking. We found this Speech Guy on therapsimplicity.com. It was an awesome starting point for these kids and a fun activity to send home. We talked about each of the parts and how we use them for speech (mouth, nose, eyes, ears, voicebox, lungs) and the funny things that happen sometimes when we get "stuck" (raising eye brows, wiggling nose, tensing mouth, arrested breath, etc). The kids got to color their speech guy and the parts and take them home and tell their parents about them. Speech Roads My stuttering kids are fairly young and I was trying to come up with a good way for them to listen and evaluate stuttering behaviors. I drew these little "speech roads" during our lesson when I was trying to describe different types of "bumpy" speech to them. They really latched on to the road and we ended up using them a lot in our sessions. I cut them apart and had the kids hold up the speech road (smooth, bumpy or road block) that matched how the person was talking. Once they could identify what speech road I was using I had them listen to themselves and evaluate their own speech. I made copies that they could take home and practice evaluating theirs and other's speech.

Architect Doug Patt of How to Architect has created a tutorial on how to hand letter like an architect. Hand lettering is a dying art but I still enjoy it