Category: Tutorials

1. Pick your design. Trace it or sketch it out on thin paper of your choosing.

2. Trace over your pencil markings in fine-tipped marker ink.

3. Flip the design over and trace it again in marker on the other side. (You’ll be working with the mirror image of your original design.)

4. Place your double-sided fusible web product (I prefer Wonder Under) on top of your mirror image. Trace each element of the design separately onto the smooth side of the fusible web. As you’re tracing, try to think about which pieces will be layered under others and include a little extra there. For example, I knew my pirate’s coat would go under his beard, so I extended the coat a tad. You want to layer the pieces where they meet.

5. Be sure to include each element. It’s helpful to label the colors of each piece.

6. Roughly cut around each piece of fusible web and iron it onto the wrong side of your knit fabric according to the product’s directions. (I was making two shirts here, which is why you see two of each piece.)

7. Cut around your traced lines for each piece.

8. Peel off the backing of your fusible web to reveal the other sticky side.

9. Arrange the pieces on the shirt, making sure pieces are layered just how you want them.

10. Once your pieces are arranged to your liking, iron to set the fusible web according to the package directions.

11. Stitch around the pieces. I prefer to use a straight stitch on knit applique. (I use a ball point needle.) This part can be tedious, especially if you have several pieces and change out your thread for each color. Just take it slow and enjoy the process. (Ha. Or just listen to Hunger Games on audio to distract you from the tedium.)

12. For tiny pieces (like eyes), I use the manual wheel on my machine to help with accuracy.

13. To get all those threads from the front to the back, flip the shirt inside out. Pull on one of the exposed threads. A loop will appear.

14. Use the dull end of your seam ripper (or a needle or something), insert it into the loop, and pull the thread through from the front of the fabric.

15. Tie off. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. (Seriously.Audio books are the best thing to happen for my sewing life.)

17. I prefer to iron lightweight fusible interfacing onto the inside of the shirt over the tied threads. They can get scratchy.

18. Embroider details that can’t be appliqued – like eyes, eyebrows, hooks, etc. It’s pretty easy to find instructions for basic embroidery stitches online.

The possibilities are endless with this type of applique! It takes some time for complicated ones, but the end result is pretty awesome.

Here are some others I’ve unabashedly knocked off from Boden. I blogged about the hedgehog t-shirt and the train t-shirts if you’re interested.

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So, you’ve got your skirt pieces ready to attach to the bodice.  First, you’ll sew two parallel rows of long (gathering) stitches around the top of the skirt.

Now, mark the center front and center back on your skirt and your bodice, and pin the two together, right sides facing, with your skirt piece facing out (so you have easy access to those bobbin threads and you can see the gathers while you’re working) Four pins total – front center, back center, side, and side.  Now, start pulling your bobbin threads.  Work on one section at a time.  Press your gathers and shoot them with some steam while you’re working.  You’ll see how this helps you to gather the fabric without it folding down and without the gathers overlapping.  

Now, pin the gathered skirt to the bodice.  The more pins that you use, the more even your gathers will stay when you sew the pieces together.  Add more steam as needed to make sure that all the gathers are lined up nicely.  Then, you’re ready to stitch the bodice to the skirt.  Line up your needle so that you can stitch directly in the center of your two rows of gathering stitches.  You’ll see how the two rows of stitches hold everything in place.  Go slow and make sure that your gathers stay even and then your raw edges stay aligned. 

When you have stitched all the way around, pull out all the pins, then remove both sets of gathering stitches.

Serge around the raw edge if you wish.

Now, press your dress open (press the seam up toward the bodice) and admire your perfectly gathered skirt!  I like to finish the dress off by top stitching around the base of the bodice (not shown).

Use this gathering technique for perfect ruffles added to anything!  It’s not necessarily limited to attaching a gathered skirt to bodice. 

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But first, you need to know how to make bias tape.  You can buy it…. but that stuff isn’t so great, it tends to be crunchy, comes in a limited number of colors and designs, and can be difficult to find the exact width that you want.  There are a gazillion tutorials for cutting bias tape and debates between continuous and pieced.  I tend to do pieced bias tape since I don’t often need more than a yard or two.  So google, find the tutorial you love and cut your strips.

Now comes the fun part – pressing!!!!!!!!!!!  I just want you all to know that you can make bias tape without any special tools.  All you need is an iron and your fingers – just don’t touch the two, cause that hurts!

Lay out your strip on your ironing board.  Fold the edges in towards the center and press.  Keep your fingers running at least 2-3 inches in front of your iron and work along the length of tape.

By pressing the edges in towards the middle, you have created SINGLE FOLD bias tape.  Single fold bias tape  is perfect for hems or to cover an exposed seam at a collar.  It can also be used decoratively in a number of ways.

Now I probably use double fold tape the most.  To make double fold bias, take your single fold tape and fold it in half along the length and press well.

I love using double fold bias tape to encase seams, to bind facings, to hem skirts or sleeves where I want a pretty edge or a contrasting pop, to finish the top of a decorative pocket, and so on.

So what am I going to use this pretty bias tape I have just made on???  Well a new pattern of course.  I thought it appropriate to show off this pattern for the first time here at PR&P becasue this pattern was first created while I was sewing for season 6, but the timing never came together for me to draft it out for real until now.  The sleeves and neck are both bound in double fold bias tape for a delicious finish.

So get that iron out…. whip up some bias tape, and watch the professional finishing on your garments come to life.

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