SewLSC

  Scarves and belts are great accessories that can elevate an outfit. Both are also easily made from leftover fabric from your sewing projects. Designing the Scarf A scarf can be any size or shape you want. Typically scarves are made as small or large squares or as long rectangles..... but the size is really limited to your imagination and how your want to use it. I recently made a scarf to go with an off the shoulder dress I made from Vogue 1674. The purpose of the scarf was to convert an evening to day look, to add modesty to the dress when needed and to provide warmth if the room was cold. I decided I wanted a large rectangular scarf instead of a large square.  I made my scarf a rectangle so I could tie it and wear it in a multitude of ways.   Cutting the Fabric for the Scarf To make the scarf, I cut a piece of 26x44 inch silk and then used my serger to make a rolled hem. I had between 1/2 and 2/3 yard of fabric leftover from a blouse I had made years ago, so the si...

Pattern Review just introduced a feature called My Top 10 List as a feature of the pattern stash. Last year alone I sewed over 200 different patterns. I can pick only 10? Challenge accepted. I began by listing patterns be type. Then I evaluated how often I sewed the pattern and even more important, how often I wore the garments.  My most sewn, most worn patterns are all dresses. Not a surprise. Dresses are my most worn garment. For business. For casual. For travel. I love how I can put on a dress and be done. I also love how I can vary my look by changing shoes, scarves, jewelry and toppers. In a world where there is too much to do, I like easy decisions when getting dressed. Pardon the bad pun. Since I had a difficult time confining my list to just dresses, let alone 10 patterns period, I present my favorite patterns by type: Tops: I have 41 tops reviewed on Pattern Review. Of those, these are the patterns I've sewn and worn again and again: Simplici...

Patternreview is sponsoring a contest requiring participants to use "What Was I Thinking?" fabric.   Hmmmmm. I just discovered I have an abundance of “what was I thinking fabrics.” There’s a pattern. Not enough fabric. The fabric was expensive but stunning. No particular project in mind but it was a have-to-have fabric. I did not buy enough. What was I thinking? Too much fabric. I bought a bit of extra fabric for an important project. Now I have leftovers that are not quite enough to make something. What was I thinking? Disappointing fabric. Ordered online for a planned project. The fabric arrived and was not as expected. Many reasons for this category. Could be color was off. Or fabric hand was wrong for the project. Or stretch was not as described. Or just looked/felt less lovely than it did online. Ugh. Disappointing purchase. What was I thinking? Seduced by type of fabric or designer . Example. Sale on silk. I love silk. This is reall...

Is there any style more elegant than a classic sheath dress?  For years I could not wear a sheath dress because I found few in petite sizing. Once I started sewing, I could make the styles that I want. TNT McCalls 7085 Sheath dresses are comfortable to wear and easy to sew. I often get asked what are my favorite patterns for making a sheath dress. I have a few. Only two are currently in print:  Butterick 6624 has lovely princess seams. I've made this pattern up in stretch cotton sateen and denim with lycra. McCalls 7085 has great shaping with darts. I've made this up in cashmere, wool, cotton sateen, batik and silk. I've sewn both in different hem and sleeve lengths to get very different looks from a basic pattern. A number of my very favorite patterns are now out of print but can frequently be found on Amazon, Ebay and Etsy. Here are my favorite out of print patterns for making a sheath dress: OOP McCalls 7714 This pattern has a straight and a-line skirt options. I've...

 I love T shirt dresses. They are soft comfortable and make dressing decisions easy. Pull on your dress and you are ready for the world. TNT Vogue 8663 I prefer to make my T shirt dresses with 100% cotton interlock or silk jersey. You can use any interlock or jersey fabric. It's your T Shirt dress, so you can choose your favorite fabric to make it. I often get asked questions about favorite T shirt dress patterns. I have a few. For a classic T shirt dress, nothing beats TNT: OOP McCalls 6886 . It has only three pieces total: a front piece, a back piece and a sleeve. Although M6886 is now out of print, it has been replaced with McCalls 8058 . TNT McCalls 6957 For an A-line dress, I have three favorites. I recommend: McCalls 6957 or beginner basic pattern McCalls 7122.   I also like McCalls 7348 , which includes an option to have a handkerchief hem. I almost always make a self belt to wear with this style dress to add shaping at the waist.... but you do not need to do so. Like ...

Silk Georgette Gown  Silk is wonderful to wear but it can be tricky to sew. These are my favorite tricks when sewing with silk (based on experience with silk chiffon, silk charmeuse, silk dupioni, wool/silk blends and silk jersey): (1) Be sure to have a very sharp rotary cutter and/or scissors. When I sew with silk I always sharpen and/or change blades. Silk slips. A lot. So sharp tools make precision cutting easier. (2) Use a presser foot designed for a straight stitch. (3) If that is not adequate, use a presser foot designed for slippery fabric. I use a plastic roller foot. I've tried my walking foot but I find the walking foot cumbersome when working with slippery fabrics. (4) Start with a fresh needle. Sharps needles work best. (5) Use a fine needle. I typically use Schmetz universal size 70/10 (6) If the fabric is really fussy when cutting, you can tame the silk by laying a piece of tissue paper over it. (7) Press with LOTS of steam. Finger pressing with a stea...

Linen Jumpsuit I love linen. It is soft and comfortable. But linen wrinkles. Badly. There are ways to prep the fabric prior to sewing so linen will wrinkle a bit less. A tip I learned from Sandra Betzina was to iron linen fabric with a very hot, dry iron BEFORE washing the fabric. After ironing, put the machine wash the linen in very hot water. Tumble in the dryer on the highest heat setting until the linen is completely dry. The linen will shrink during this prep ... but the shrinkage will create small, soft folds in the fabric rather than the typical stiff creases that give linen that badly wrinkled look. After sewing the fabric, machine or hand wash in cold water. Hang dry on a wide hanger immediately after the wash cycle stops. Or tumble dry on very low heat taking care to remove the fabric from the dryer as soon as the machine stops.  The results: less wrinkled linen. Magic. Happy Sewing!