Explore over 900 free sewing patterns ranging from beginner-friendly projects to advanced designs. Get inspired and start sewing today!

Today I’ll be showing you how to use a twin needle or double needle on your sewing machine all in a video tutorial. There’s a photo tutorial as well along with some great close up examples to help you be as successful as possible with sewing with a twin needle. There’s something about sewing two […]

Learn 5 top tips for sewing in a set-in sleeve along with a step by step video tutorial

These 7 FREE small quilt patterns can be completed in an afternoon! Learn how to use up fabric scripts to a quilt in a day quilting project and more from expert fiber artists! This FREE download includes step-by-step instructions and high-resolution images, so get your copy today!

This video sewing tutorial is a presser foot guide - learn how to sew using a cording foot, find out why you need it for sewing elastic, and embellishing your sewing projects.

Wondering How to Make a Neckline Higher? Top US sewing blogger, Kara Metta shares her Step by StepTutorial. Click here now for all the info!!

No matter how well designed a pattern may be, it cannot fit each individual perfectly. Each human body has its own quirks, and each person has different fitting needs. You may find that you need to enlarge a pattern beyond the sizes available on the sheet, or you might need to shrink it. Perhaps you

Japanese Omiyage Bag Photo Tutorial. DIY Craft Idea

Make a difference in the world by sharing your talents - a list of charities in need of sewing and quilting and fabric donations.

These two treasures are my recent covetous eBay win. As much as I am meant to be saving for Christmas buys, these come up so rarely I just couldn't hold back. There were a good twenty plus books listed as separate lots, something for which I am very grateful, and I allowed myself two. I bid on a few of them, but these were the two I came away with: books number 9 and 21. Though they have no dates they will most likely be late '40s. If you haven't come across the Haslam systems before, it was designed as a three part drafting system, requiring a chart of your measurements, a special drafting curve/template, and a set of draftings like these. Having finally got to see the draftings for myself, however, you could easily draft these pattern up without the chart or the template, as they are very thorough with the measurements on the diagrams. The original curve templates do come up on eBay occasionally, though they can be hard to find amongst listings as people so rarely know what they are if they are found out of context. Alternatively, I came across this blog post, where you can download a PDF version to print at home! I love the generosity of the blogging community. Book number 9 is for "Lingerie: with blouses, skirts, overalls and maternity wear". There are several dressing gowns and house robes Nightdresses... Pyjamas... And lots of lingerie, including slips, bras and different styles of knickers. I love the pockets of this skirt, and the blouse is a classic 1940s style: There are also some maternity styles including dresses and smock tops. This lovely swing jacket would be beautiful for non-maternity wear too- it looks so comfy! Book number 21 is for "Spring and Summer" wear, and has pages of full colour illustrations in addition to the black and white sketches. The ruffled peasant dress is so feminine and sweet. Beautiful scalloped details. I'm also in love with the simple shawl collar and clean silhouette of the pink dress below: I'll be on the hunt for some winter fabric to make this one up soon I think. Suits and coats. My favourite is the ruffled peplum design on the pink jacket.

A bodkin can be used for many things – drawing elastic back through waistbands of sweatpants, skirts; drawing ribbon or webbings through casings; turning out fabric tubes; inserting cording, or extracting it and probably more.

Nous manquons tous des idées pour organiser notre maison alors il est temps de trouver la solution adaptée à nos espaces. Il faut parfois

Learn how to prewash fabric before sewing your projects to avoid shrinking and other common issues like fraying when you do.

Learn to convert SMT LEDs into sewable sequins of light in this video tutorial. Video on YouTube (please subscribe to our channel!) and Vimeo. In addition to the following supplies, you’ll ne…

In this sewing tutorial I want to show you how to use a twin needle - a very simple tool that expands the capabilities of even the most ordinary sewing machine. Learn threading a twin needle, twin needle types and sizes, find out how to avoid tunneling when using a twin needle. Very useful sewing tips. #sewingtutorials #sewingtips #howtosew #sewinghacks

I went to one of my local quilt shops for a browse this morning. Their shelves were filled with beautiful Kaffe Fassett fabrics, but I know there's going to be even more next time I go because the latest Kaffe releases are arriving in NZ this week. It got me thinking about how much Kaffe I already have stashed at home. Maybe I need to dedicate next year to just sewing with Kaffe fabrics! I've seen some beautiful quilts in the Kaffe Fassett Facebook group recently. Yesterday I saw one on Instagram by Jeanette Bruce @goneaussiequilting that almost glowed. I did a quick search for the Moss Garden pattern and found that it was a free pattern included in this grouping here on Quilt Inspiration blog: from Quilt Inspiration blog Even though I've got about 10 Kaffe Fassett books on my shelf, I had a browse through the free patterns and found some that looked quite straight forward. I've downloaded six patterns and might just use one of them for my next Kaffe quilt. After I've finished my Cartwheel quilt and my Green Diamonds quilt. I hope you find the link to the free patterns useful - especially if you're a Kaffe fan like me.

My husband surprised me with a sewing machine a few years ago and I've loved it. It's been so handy having it to hem the kids' pants and take in a waist or two. And then there are the crafts I've made with it. I'm still a beginner but oh boy do I love to sew! But of course, it's only fun if you know what you're doing. Here are 20+ fabulous sewing tips that will help anyone wanting to learn a few new sewing tips and tricks! 20+ Incredibly Helpful Sewing Tips and Tricks 1. Let's start with the

"A tailor's ham is a tool used to press curved seams, while the sausage, aka, a sleeve pressing roll, is used for sleeve seams. This is also a challenge where you can make your pressing tools as amazing as possible and then share it onto social media. Rules: There really isn’t much to it. All I ask from you is to make them as fun, as lively, and as beautiful as you can! Let them represent everything you are. Then post them online on any social media platform with the hashtag #hamsausagechallenge to let the world see what you’ve created! Tell your friends, tell them to tell their friends, who should also tell their friends and let’s start a sewing revolution!"

Well it's the end of a busy week! I don't know about you, but I'm pooped! But I'm pleased to say we've had some gorgeous, sunny days here in N.I. this week, and there's a lovely Autumn feel to the air! As always, the things I've been working on this week I can't show you yet (soon I promise!), so I'm going to give you a wee tute on how to use up every last wee bit of fabric shavings, you know those bits that end up all over your cutting mat after trimming blocks and hsts? We'll here's a cool way to turn them into a new type of fabric. As far as I know this product doesn't have an official name - I learnt it at college and it wasn't called anything then, but if you know the official name of this craft, please let me know. 1. Save up your fabric shavings & wee bits of offcuts that are too small to be useful (you can also cut up wee bits of fluffy wool, ribbon, sparkly threads etc.). Bigger pieces will need to be snipped down smaller. 2. Take a piece of plain sheeting/calico and lay a load of shavings on top. You can colour code your savings as I have done here, or have a multi-coloured mess! Make sure it's thick enough to cover the backing fabric, but not too thick to sew over. 3. Lay a piece of water soluble fabric over the top and pin/sew round the edges. This stuff is really cool - you can get different brands in a craft shop or online. I've used Avalon Water Soluble Embroidery Fabric by Madeira. 4. Now sew, sew, sew over the top of the w.s.fabric, either by free motion quilting or straight & wavy lines all over. Try not to leave any big gaps where the shavings can later escape from. 5. When you have stitched this to within an inch of its life, take the pins out and under a luke warm tap or in a sink/basin, allow the w.s.fabric to melt away (it goes a bit slimy as it melts off so rinse it well). 6. Give your new piece of fabric a good squeeze to get the water out and then allow it to dry on the radiator. 7. When dry, draw your desired shapes on the back and cut out. If you want to, sew more stitching on top to highlight details, for example veins in leaves, or sew on beads, sequins etc. 8. You can now use your fabric shapes to embellish/decorate cards, cushions, make letters or Christmas decorations etc. etc. The possibilities are endless! Another way to use this wonderful water soluble fabric is to roughly sketch a shape on to it & then put it into an embroidery hoop. Repeated sewing and shading with thread will close all the gaps, so that when you take the fabric off the hoop and dissolve the w.s.fabric you are left with a completely embroidered shape. Have fun & let your imagination run wild!

From booklet, Sew with Cotton Bags, 1941

Learn how to sew a drawstring bag. This is an easy sewing project for beginners and this tutorial is complete with video instructions.

It’s no secret that we have the scoop on all the sweetest nursery mobiles ‘round these parts of the Internet (in fact, we love them so much we’ve even rounded up a handful for adults), but, to help you make your baby’s dreamcatcher as personalized as possible, we’ve collected 20 of our favorite DIY versions. So get out your hot glue gun and vellum paper, and let’s get crafting.

Sewing machine skipping stitches? Learn all about common causes and the top 10 fixes to troubleshoot this problem. Instead of a regular, even line of stitching, you’re met with some lengths of thread that are longer than others, skipping across the fabric instead of anchoring it together. These longer stitches are called “skipped stitches.” They’re frustrating and annoying, and they happen to even the most experienced seamstresses.

På begäran finns detta inlägget även på svenska. Det hittar du här. Why and when you need to make an FBA Most patterns are constructed with a cup size B in mind (sometimes a C). A cup size is a relative measure and not a fixed volume. That means that you can be a B-cup and still span across sizes 0-18 (or whatever) - the volume of a B cup size 18 is a lot bigger than a B cup size 0 . If the pattern maker should cater for all cup sizes they would need to make one pattern for every cup size AND every size!! Imagine that pattern sheet!!! Gee, that would be crazy, which is why they stick with only one cup for all sizes and let us do the adjustments at home. It was so much simpler when women were all Barbies. ;-) See that should probably answer your question on WHY ON EARTH clothes in the store never ever fit you right. Same reason. All made for the same one cup size... Now. For those of you who are a little intimidated by this, or that may be afraid that you are changing the design of the garment. Chill out. It is really quite simple and this is done to KEEP the design and not to distort it. I will be showing FBA on the Alma Blouse from Sewaholic Patterns. Signs that you need an FBA Fashion photo borrowed from Ottobre 5/2011, sewing pattern magazine. If you would solve the above problems by just wearing a larger size, then the fit around your waist and shoulders will not be great. Just because the boobs are big, you haven't changed your frame, right? In this picture I am wearing my first Alma. I did just that, i.e. no FBA and went with a larger size. No complete disaster but there is definitely a lot to ask if you're picky, like me. No FBA, larger size to fit the bust. Another 'classic' we are all much too aware of, is the buttoned shirt where you are afraid to move your arms in case the buttons will pop off (have you ever taped, sewn, safety-pinned or glued the fabric in place between the boobs to feel secure?). I was just done wearing shirts altogether until I learned about FBA. Another graphic to illustrate this (I am such an artist!): You see that the green "fabric" needs to be way longer than the red "fabric", even though the neck and the waist are in the same places. This drawing is necessary to calm those of you who fear your garment will be bigger and tent-like after a FBA is done. It won't be, but your boobs will fit. The FBA process Now there are certain steps to take in order to succeed with the pattern alteration. I am sure there are many different ways to do this, but this is how I do it. If you have a better way, do tell! I am eager to learn! #1 Find your size and trace your pattern!! Really goes without saying, but you will be doing some cutting so don't spoil the original sheets. What size to cut? It is not always a clear answer to that, since we are all different. Some women have broad shoulders and should select a size that accommodates them, while others have a tummy to include in the game. If you have sewn some in the past you may have an idea on how the rest of your frame fits into patterns? If not. Do measure your "high bust" measurement instead. That is putting a tape measure under your armpits, around your back and OVER your bust (as opposed to across your widest part). Then measure your waist, hips etc and select the size that is closest to fit. For myself I've learned that my shoulders are pretty average and usually fit into patterns without alteration so I just go by the waist measure and that's my size. The boobs will be taken care of soon. My measures: High bust (as described above): 36 inches Waist (my skinniest part of the torso): 30 inches According to the pattern back table those measures are exactly a size 10. Meaning that if I had a B-cup, a size 10 would fit me like a glove. For reference my real bust measurement is 39 inches = 3 inches larger than the size 10 of the table. So, I will now trace a size 10 exactly as is and cut it out. Size 10 straight from the pattern. Darts in yellow. #2 Find your apex and make sure the darts point to it. This step is more important than you might think, you'll see why in a minute, so don't give this a miss. If you look at the pattern, all darts usually point towards the same point - the apex. Apex being the highest point of your chest (for most people, the nipple). If you run right into a wall, your apex is the point that hits the wall first, unless your nose beats you to it ;-) Mark your apex on the pattern. Is it in the same place as pattern wants it to be? Congratulations, move on to #3. If not, go to a plastic surgeon and have your nipples moved into the correct location. OR, you can alter the pattern, which is what I prefer. It is cheaper too. Original apex marked yellow. My apex marked blue. As you can see in the picture my apex is quite far off the original location. Now I need to make sure the darts point towards the blue X instead of the yellow. The easiest thing is to move the waist dart. Just put a piece of paper over the yellow one and copy it. Then put the copy in the position you want UNDER the pattern sheet and then just trace a new one. My pattern now looks like this: Blue is my new waist dart. Now there are two ways of changing the bust dart so that it points towards YOUR apex. You either just start at the side markings of the dart and adjust the angle of the point, then true up the dart legs. The reason I don't prefer to do it this way is because you then change the design of the garment (if you're picky). The bust dart will then, in my case, be tilted slightly downwards instead of more upwards. The other way to do it is to lower the entire dart the same amount as your apex is lowered, in my case 3 cm. Before you do that it is wise to fold up the current dart and mark the sideline of the "sewn" garment so that you know what it should look like after you have moved the dart. Blue is new bust dart, 3 cm lower than the yellow. Cut off the paper between the yellow dart legs (marked blue line) and fold up your new dart to verify the shape of the side seam. Okay, so why was all this hassle important again? Well, now that everything points towards apex you can go crazy in the next step and still be sure that you add fabric only in the right places - without adding to your waistline, armpits or other places!!! And it kind of looks shitty when a dart points in the wrong direction too. And this goes for other types of FBAs too! As long as you keep your FBA in the middle of dart and/or tuck markings you are not distorting the design - it doesn't matter from what place or angle the dart/tuck originates!! Beautiful! So, NOW we can actually start doing the FBA! #3 - the actual FBA!!! If you remember from #1 above, I needed to adjust the front piece by 3 inches = 1,5 inch (4cm) on one pattern half. A rule of thumb in adjustment is 1 cm per cup size (counting from B), which would in that case suggest that I wear a size F, which I do :-) But - another aspect to take into account is the "finished measurements" of the garment. For my bust, being 39'', the ready measures for the garment around the bust is 43'' which is more ease than I like, even for a loose fitting blouse. Therefore I'll do an FBA of 2cm on a half front, instead of 4cm. Time to cut up the pattern! For this step I strongly advise working over a grid since it makes life so much easier. Remember I said we want to cut within of our darts to not distort the design. The first cut is vertical from the bottom, through the waist dart, to the apex The next cut is from the apex to the armpit. Aim for anywhere on the lower 3rd of the curve - but DO NOT cut all the way through!! Leave just a tiny piece of the paper. The next cut is from the side through the bust dart up to the apex - but NOT all the way, leave a little just before reaching apex. The last cut is a horizontal cut from the waist dart to the centre fold side. Cut all the way through. All the cuts are marked in red on my pattern: Now remember for my FBA I wanted 2cm on the half front. When I cut and spread I want 2cm space in every direction: Shove a new piece of tracing paper underneath and draw the darts again and true up the legs: Note! Your new darts will be way bigger than the old ones (compare the blue bust dart with the old yellow one). This makes total sense - try fold a paper into a cone. I tall cone means longer dart than a short cone, right?! The waist dart now is extended all the way down, because I don't want to add width to the waist, but you can shape it differently if you like. And if you wanna be fancy then trace the whole thing on new paper and there you go!! The finished piece!! No go sew! The result will look something like this (the blouse has been worn for a couple of hours in the picture if you wonder why I haven't ironed it properly). Still quite roomy and comfy but skims off the body nicely. Compare with the non FBA'd pic from the top... I rest my case. /Alexandra

Learn how to successfully fit an armhole by using a muslin. Adjust the bust, back, and shoulder—and your armhole almost takes care of itself.

Pattern cutting is like writing a recipe for a cake (for me that's a chocolate cherry roulade at the moment!).

Le budget vêtement pèse lourd dans les dépenses d'une famille. Alors, autant prendre soin de ses habits ! Et les garder le plus longtemps possible. Pas question de les jeter au moindre accroc ! Si vous voulez faire des économies au quotidien, il faut savoir entretenir ses habits. Il ne faut pas grand-chose pour augmenter la durée de vie moyenne d'un vêtement. Et ça, nos grands-mères le savaient bien. Réparation, lavage, petite couture

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In this sewing tutorial, I will show you how to sew corners and curved seams. Although sewing straight lines is relatively easy, sewing curves and corners can be more challenging.

Well, as far as storms go, God was very good to us, and we got off rather easy. We lost power for a day and a night (a very hot and muggy day and night I might add!), and the yard is rather trashed, but other than that, no damages. Funny how the loss of electricity always shows real quick just how spoiled we are! It'll probably take a decade for things to dry out around here, it's one soggy world outside my window. Okey doke, now that you've gotten a weather report...lets move on to the real post! It's no secret that sewing is my thing, I enjoy it completely. One of the purposes of this blog, is to help folks understand that sewing isn't as complicated or hard as people like to think it is. One way to make sewing easier is to have the right tools to use to do it. In this post, I'm going to show you some of my favorite tools of the trade...some of which you may already have, and some you may not have thought would be helpful. A sewing machine. Get the best one you can afford, and know how to use it, 'nuff said. I have a Bernina sewing machine (which I love), and a Kenmore serger (which I'm hoping to upgrade soon). By the way, don't assume a brand new model is better than an older used model...do your homework. Sometimes the older models, although they have less bells and whistles, are actually of better quality than the new. A cutting board with a measuring grid. I have a hard one that can be used with a rotary cutter, and this card board one. The card board one is very inexpensive, less than $10 I believe at any local craft or fabric store. I use it every time I sew. The reason being, the grids lines save me from having to do more measuring and marking than is necessary. I can cut by following the lines on the board. 3. A measuring tape. This is an absolute must. A sewn product will only be as good as the measurement you took to start with. Numbers are everything, and you need accurate ones. Again, this is not an expensive item to purchase, it is well worth the few dollars. 4. A GOOD pair of scissors to cut fabric, and a small pair for snipping threads. Scissors are not thing to scrimp on, cheap ones will not do the job. I went for a long time hacking fabric up with the $10 pair of scissors. When I finally broke down, and bought a decent pair I saw the affects in my sewing immediately. I have several pairs of the small size that I keep wherever I work, I hate threads hanging out of things. Nothing screams handmade like hanging threads. 5. French Curve Ruler. This isn't a "must" per say, but I highly recommend getting one. See this post if you want to see why I think they are so helpful to have. 6. Marking utensils. I use tailors chalk (found at any fabric store), and a China marker (found in craft stores). The trick with a good marking tool, it to find one that doesn't require you to press down hard to get it leave a mark. Delicate fabrics, like chiffon, will slide everywhere if you've got to press hard to mark on it. The China marker does not wash off, so you if you use that, you need to make sure you cut the line off as you are cutting out the fabric. 7. A note book. If you use patterns, using a note book will help you organize any changes you made to the pattern as you sewed it. If you don't use patterns, than the notebook becomes your "pattern book" to allow you recreate something you've already made. I use mine like this. I draw a sketch of what I want to make. Then I draw it out how I plan to cut it on the fabric. I figure out all the measurements of each piece needed for the garment on paper. I adjust the measurements for each size I plan to make of that garment. I make any notes about cutting or constructing on the paper to remember for next time. I try to make all the mistakes on paper first, before I've done it on fabric. I also give it a style number for organizational purposes, if I plan to sell it. It doesn't matter how messy the paper is, or the bad spelling, as long as the garment works out correctly. 8. A calculator. This goes hand in hand with the above. There is a lot numbers involved with sewing, and my little head doesn't work just perfectly. The calculator is my trusty sidekick to help keep me from stupid mistakes. 9. Guides. This is a matter of preference for me. I like to save myself time whenever possible, so I cut neckline guides out of empty cereal boxes. I know for example, that when I want to make a boat neck top out of knit fabric, I need to use the guide that is 4 inches across and 3 inches down. 10. Lastly, tweezers, a small screwdriver, and a stiff bristle brush (not pictured). Sewing machines are just like any other machine, they break, need adjusting, and need basic maintenance. Tweezers help me thread my serger and pull jammed threads out of small crevices. The screwdriver is needed to change out parts, or tighten loose ones. The brush is needed to clean out all the fibers that collect in the machine parts, which if left, will cause the machine to malfunction. Obviously, a lot could be added to this list. I hope that pointing out a few of the less obvious sewing tools might be helpful to someone. Do you have a favorite thing to help you when you sew? 1 John 4:19 We love him, because he first loved us.

This week for Camp Fire we are looking at textile arts and trying our hands at a few projects that fall under this category. I hosted a small weaving project with our troop. It is a very simple project requiring very little in materials yet a great little project that is easy, colorful and as Holly has informed me - a bit addictive! She did one yesterday at our Camp Fire meeting and then came home to make one more and this morning asked to make even another. It is artistic, requires focus, patience, hand eye coordination and good fine motor skills - all great skills to use! To create a small loom I hot glued four popsicle sticks together to create a square. Then I tied on a solid color of yarn and wrapped the loom about five times and tied off. You now have a very simple loom! With a great assortment of yarns, scissors and little fingers - you are set to create! Tie onto the bottom corner thread and weaving in and out, back and forth. Change yarn by tying it off and keep weaving. When you are all finished you tie off on the last rows final thread. Trim and tuck all little knots you have. A sweet, simple mini-weaving project!

Bed sheets are way more versatile than you think.

Knowing how to correctly thread your sewing machine opens up a world of creative possibilities. The process might seem intimidating, but once you get the general idea you can apply what you know (give or take a loop or twist or two) on any machine you come into contact with in the future. It’s a two-part process in which you’ll learn how to wind the bobbin and then thread the machine. So dust it off, plug it in, and start practicing! Most sewing machines basically look the same.

I think this fabric twine from My Poppet looks so fabulous and colourful, and it would be a great little project for using up any scraps of fabric you have leftover from other DIYs. You could use it to wrap a gift (instead of string or ribbon), make a necklace, coil it up and sew it into a bowl or placemat, you could braid it together for bag handles, or anything else you can thing of!

The Epaulet Sleeve The epaulet sleeve is a wonderful sleeve that offers lots of design possibilities. The center shoulder seam is eliminated and the sleeve and the shoulder portion of the jacket, dress or blouse become one pattern. In the above picture you see the front of the sleeve. In this picture you see the back of the sleeve. (And an ink smudge, sorry about that) The above picture shows how the sleeve now extends into the shoulder. To draft this sleeve, begin by trimming the seam allowances away from your pattern. It could get a little confusing if you leave the seam allowances on the pattern. Match the shoulder seams as you see above. Extend the shoulder seam. Match the center grain line of your sleeve to the extended line from the shoulder. The top of the sleeve should just touch the seam line at the shoulder as you see above. Do not overlap the two as it will cause the shoulder to cave in and be a little tight against the shoulder. Now draw in the lines of the epaulet extension. At the armseye, the lines should be no more than 1 1/2" away from the original shoulder line. The lines will look a little nicer is you taper them a bit toward the neckline as you see above. If your sleeve does not meet exactly with the bodice, redraw the curved line as you see above. Before you start to cut the pattern pieces apart, be sure to add notches as you see above. Cut the front and back bodice away from the sleeve. Find the midpoint of the shoulder. Measure down 1/8" at the midpoint and draw in a slightly curved line. This will allow the shoulder to lay a little nicer. The final pattern for the sleeve. Be sure to add seam allowance!!! As you can see in this picture, the corner should be very crisp. Be sure to mark the corner and clip the corner. Once you know how to do some of the drafting, sleeve variations are really quite easy and they make your outfits really pop. I hope that you are enjoying Sleeves On Saturdays. I am, except, I'll confess, this was not the sleeve that I wanted to show you today. I am working on a piece that I would like to send in for a contest. ARGH!!!!!!! The sleeve has pleats that radiate from the underarm seam and I'm just not quite getting it. I will and when I do, I'll share it with you. Hope you're having a lovely weekend. Rhonda

This list shows you what you really need to start creating and pattern cutting your own sewing patterns