sewing tip

Headbands with Buttons for Face Masks

April 1, 2020 by Jessica 15 Comments

One of my most popular patterns on my blog, the double sided headband pattern, is now being used in such a great way! I was first made aware of this project by Stephanie of Steph Jacobson Designs (see the headband she made here). With the spread of COVID-19 there are many who have to use a face mask constantly and the masks with ear elastics can really irritate the skin when worn so much. These headbands are helping provide relief from this. I have added these pictures and more to the original post (linked above) so you can have an idea of where to attach the buttons if you would like to make some for those who could use something like this. If you are not a sewer, you can attach buttons to already made headbands as well.

Thank you to everyone who is doing what they can to help out during this time. No act is too small! We are all in this together and you are all in my prayers. -jess

Fabric Label DIY

July 26, 2016 by Jessica 44 Comments

I have been sewing up some kids clothing lately and needed some more labels to sew in them. I decided it was time for me to go ahead and share this process with you as I have had such great success with it over the years. There are a few methods I have tried, but this is my favorite fabric label diy hands down and they have lasted for everything I have made so far (through multiple washings!).

What you need:

Tightly woven light colored fabric (ex: quilting cotton; and I do nothing to fabric to prep it except iron it)
Scissors
Piece of paper that fits your printer
Printer (I use an HP Deskjet F4280 and use the HP ink for it; I cannot speak for other printers/inks, but if you can please share your results in the comments)
Freezer paper (found in the section with aluminum foil/saran wrap/etc)
Iron
Design to print (I made a simple page of labels in Word, but you can create yours however you like)

Start by ironing your fabric to get any wrinkles out. Then take the piece of paper and use that to cut out the same size from the freezer paper.

Place the freezer paper on top of the fabric, shiny side down. Make sure to turn iron to “no steam” and iron the freezer paper to the fabric.

Cut around the freezer paper and iron edges one more time to make sure the fabric and freezer paper is connected well.

Place it in your printer with the fabric side facing down (or other way if your printer prints differently). I usually put a regular piece of paper on top as I’m putting it in place just to make sure it goes in where it needs to. Then I take the paper out so only the fabric/freezer paper combo is there. When you go to print labels, make sure to choose the best ink option so it takes its time to print. Now, I have had the printer not catch the fabric properly and it got jammed, but it doesn’t happen often. Just watch and if it seems like it’s starting to not catch properly hit the cancel button on your printer and pull it out. I can’t speak for all printers, but I rarely have problems with this method. Just give it a try and see if it might work for you.

Tip: Be mindful of the colors you are choosing to print with. I have only used darker colors as I feel confident they will show up well.

Once printed, you can cut your labels out. But if it’s your first time trying this, I suggest putting the fabric in the wash after the first print so you can see how the ink holds up. Mine always has held up wonderfully well so I hope yours does too! Besides that, I leave them attached to the freezer paper until it comes time to use them as it keeps them nice and crisp and it’s easy to store them. Below is an example of them sewn in (and you can get the free skirted sweatshirt pattern here as well). -jess

Learn to Master Zippering

June 20, 2013 by Jessica Leave a Comment

Hello all you sewers out there! I just wanted to share with you real quick about a FREE class that Craftsy is offering right now. Being a self taught sewer, I learned a lot from this class. There have always been a few things that “scared” me about sewing. Things like buttonholes and sewing sheer fabric. But zippers were another thing I stayed away from for so long. I admit that I still try to avoid them, but I truly feel better prepared to deal with them now after this. You can go here to take the class. You will need to sign in or quickly make an account (which was just an email and create a password) and you get access to it. They have a ton more sewing classes available as well. The zipper ones were very well done and you could really see everything she did. I’m a visual learner so that was great! Hopefully this might help some of you who have stayed away from zippers too. Turns out they aren’t so scary after all 😉
-Jess

How to Make a Ruffle Zig Zag Style

May 23, 2012 by Jessica 26 Comments

Before we moved and my oldest was in school, I would have time to catch some of the craft shows that PBS offers every now and then. One day I was watching a quilting show and found out about a way to ruffle I had never seen before. The lady said this is her most favorite way to do ruffles, and I have to say, I agree. Although I do think a ruffler foot does the best and easiest job of it all, but if you don’t have that this is a good way. It just might not be a good option if you are putting the ruffle right on top of the fabric, as the zig zag stitch wouldn’t look so pretty (unless you picked it out afterwards…too much time for me though!).

You start by pulling the top thread out and making it a few inches longer than piece of fabric that you are going to ruffle.

Just hold your fabric in front of machine as an easy length guide.

Next, put the long thread over to the side with the bobbin thread and sew just 1-2 straight stitches.

Now change your stitch over to a zig zag stitch.

Put your needle in the down position (so it’s through the fabric) and put the sewing foot up. Pull the long top thread over the piece of fabric so it’s on the edge where you are going to ruffle.

Put the foot back down and hold the top thread in place and begin to zig zag stitch overtop of it.

Once you get to the end, cut your sewing thread and then just pull on the piece of thread you zig zag stitched over.

You can pull it as tight as you need to. I liked how much more secure this way was. I have broken threads many times with the “make a long straight stitch line and pull on the bobbin thread” ruffling method. But you don’t have to worry about that this way.
Give it a try next time you need to ruffle and see if you like it or not 🙂
-Jess