Sergers?…   uh oh!!

They are so FUN!!!!!  I don’t know why people hate sergers.  Every time we say the word “Serger” people give us “The Look”…  Now, I want to tell everyone that sergers are soooo much fun!!  They can do so much for your sewing projects.  Please take the time and get to know your serger! This year my Valentine is my Huskylock s21 serger. 

There are many different kinds out there, and they all have something different to offer you.  However, on this post I want to talk about my Serger, the Viking S21 model :).  I bought my Serger a few years ago, and I have to admit I was just like  you!…Yes! YOU…  I was very scared by my Serger.  Just to look at her gave me the blues… four to five different threads, five different needle positions, “21” different stitches -> My thoughts …. I AM NEVER GOING TO USE “21” different stitches! Yeah right!Today, I LOVE every single one of them!!!!  Especially my “Cover Stitch” option on my serger (usually you need to purchased a separate machine that ONLY does cover stitch). 

 Another favorite of mine -> The beautiful “Roll Hem”!  Yes!!  My Serger does the most beautiful roll hem . 

 And my latest favorite is the “Cover Stitch Binding”.  This presser foot is the latest creation from Husqvarna Viking specific to the Sergers.  You can use this foot on your S21 and S25 models.

Now, let me tell you about this beauty.  Like the name states, it is a “Cover Stitch Binding” foot, and Yes!!! you can now bind ANYTHING with a SERGER.  You read that right!  BINDING WITH A SERGER, and it does a beautiful job.  You name it! placemats? napkins? baby blankies, perhaps a quilt?  Why not?  You can bind anything now using your Serger.

A piping foot is another attachment you can use to quickly make your own piping.

Another exciting foot is the elastic foot. I should definitely use this more.

So, PLEASE give your Serger a chance. They are wonderful machines and I think people underestimate the “power” of a Serger. ;)  You are missing out if you have not given your Serger a chance yet!

Sew Happy Always!!

Daniela

Introducing the Fabiana Peplum

by Debbie Brooke Designs

I am so excited to finally introduce my third pattern the Fabiana Peplum to the world. Although this pattern was completed a while ago, I have been trying to perfect it one eighth of an inch at a time. Because the nesting of this pattern was so complicated it  I wanted to find a way to get it to you precut. This took a lot of research, phone calls and meetings. Lucky me, lucky you, I found a way to do it. I think you will find having a precut pattern saves so much time and energy. The top and dress version is a fast sew, making this a one day project!!!

Chloe Dress Violette Field Threads [Part Two]

Wow... I do not even know where to start. It took me awhile to write this post because I wanted her to 1. wear the dress first and 2. it took me awhile to think about what to say.

If you would like to see how I started and why I started this project check out my first post by clicking here.

Investing in notions and tools: What's worth it?

When you first learn to sew there a few things that you must have to get started. We sell these things together in a goody bag of sorts for our customers. Each bag includes Fiskar Scissors, a hem gauge, magnetic seam guide, fabric pen, pins, a seam ripper, and a measuring tape. But, after you get your first project or so under your belt, you're ready to branch out from basic projects and explore more

What resolution should be on every seamstresses list this year

It's that time of year when we're all taking a more critical look at ourselves, our lives, and our habits. For many of us, that includes being healthier, doing greater good, trying new things and kicking bad habits. But, what about introducing new habits?

12 Days of Christmas Deals and Giveaways!

We are so thankful to have such amazing customers and students. It's been a great year with tons of new students and happy sewers (most of the time :-/). To help you all complete your Christmas lists with something hand-made, we're hosting our first 12 days of Christmas sale! The 12 days of Christmas starts TODAY (December 10th) We will be sending out daily reminders of each sale (and possible bonus offers!!), but you can also keep this Calendar close by for easy reference.

This is the biggest sale we've ever had and are so excited to kick it off. Remember you can purchase all of these great deals online and pick them up in the store.

Happy Shopping!

Review: Built by Wendy: Dresses book

At Five Eighth Seams we pride ourselves on having a vast selection of patterns and pattern books. On our bookshelf, we keep everything from One Yard Wonders to books just for little boys. A lot of these books, like the beloved Sew What You Love that Laura tackled this summer, are project orientated. Meaning, they come with a variety of projects from clothes, to bags, to home decor. Built By Wendy is NOT one of those books.

20 Patterns in 10 Weeks

Many of our customers may remember when Laura took on a sewers dream challenge this summer. She set a goal of completing 20 sewing patterns in the 10 week break she had from teaching high schoolers.

Sew Easy Elastic Skirt

I love quick projects and this one you can do in an hour no problem, with just a yard (or less) of fabric, and is custom fit to any body size. So, let's get started!


Step 1: Measure and Cut

Measure around the waist to get your waist measurement. To get your length measurement, measure from your belly button down to where you want the skirt to end. Usually, I can make this skirt for kids with just a half a yard or less  for adults you might  need one yard.

Cut the following piece of fabric and elastic:

Width =  Waist measurement X 2
(If you want a more gathered look multiply it by 3 or more if you want a less gathered look multiply it by 1.5)
Length = Length of skirt + 1 inch.
Elastic = waist measurement - 1 inch (so it is not too tight).

For example, I am using Braelyn's measurements. She wears a size 12 month snuggly and measures 20" around the waist. I want her skirt to be 9" long. So...
Width: 20" x 2 = 40"
Length: 9" + 1 = 10"
Elastic: 20" - 1 = 19"

If are using a chevron or an ombre that run the opposite way on the fabric you will need to cut two pieces and sew them together. If you using any other fabric you can just cut one long piece. If you are making a gathered adult skirt you may need 2 pieces.

Step 2: Sew ends together to make one large loop with a .5" seam allowance.
Because I am using the ombre dots I going to have cut 2 pieces and sew them together.

Step 3: Serge or Zig Zag all raw edges, including top and bottom. 

Step 4: Hem the bottom.

Fold it over twice about 1/4". Honestly, you can just do whatever hem length you are comfortable with (pattern allows for up to 1/2") just make sure you sew the hem near the top of the fold in the back so you catch the underneath. For a smooth finish turn your stitch length up a notch, a 3 or 3.5 on brother machines.

Step 5: Baste the top edge all the way around. 
Using the longest stitch on your machine go around the top edge of the fabric using 1/4" seam allowance. Do this again at .5" seam allowance. If you are doing a small skirt you only need to go around once. The larger your skirt the more likely it is that you will break the thread while gathering. Two gathering lines will save you a headache so go ahead and do two. DO NOT BACKSTITCH! Also if you mark the spot where the gathering stitiches start and stop, you can regather if you pull out too much.

Step 6: Change thread color...try to match your elastic as closely as possible.

Step 7: Sew elastic together by first zigzagging  the raw edge and sewing a straight stitch next to it. It is not a good idea to serge the elastic. You can but it is not good for your machine and the thread color might not match.

Step 8: Gather the skirt and pin to the elastic.
Holding the bobbin string, gather the skirt. I like to over gather then slowly pull it out while I match the skirt to the elastic. When pinning to the elastic it is good to match up a skirt seam with the elastic seam. If you've got two seams in your skirt like me, just choose one of them. I like to pin the skirt about 2/3 of the way down from the top edge of the elastic. You are pinning the right side of the skirt to the wrong side of the elastic with the gathers (wrong side of skirt) facing up.

Step 9: Sew the elastic on.

If you are using elastic thread in your bobbin (ideal) see below.
You want to sew about 1/4" away from the bottom of the elastic. Feel the elastic and line it up with the left edge of your foot. Use something (like a magnet (pictured above) or a piece of masking tape) to mark where the top of the elastic lines up. Use this as your seam allowance. You want your seam to look even on the right side. You will use a zig zag to sew on the elastic. This will help the elastic stretch. I like the number 3 zigzag on the Brother machines. If you think you will be stretching the elastic a lot, put two rows of zigzag.


NOTE: If you are using ELASTIC THREAD in your bobbin now is the time to change your bobbin. You will also have to sew on the right side of the skirt. So make sure you flip it out so the gathers are facing down. If you are using elastic thread you can use a straight stitch. Elastic thread is great because you get a clean look on the outside and a lot of stretch on the inside. Brother machines do not handle elastic thread very well. If you need help call or stop the store and we can help.

Step : 10 Cut your threads and take out any basting stitches that you can see.

That's it :) It's so simple, I went ahead and whipped up this one for our family's Thanksgiving festivities using Riley Blake's Brown Chevron and 1.5" orange elastic.

Children's Corner Louise pattern to make a Minnie Mouse Halloween Costume

Doesn't this face say it all?

I've sort of always been a Halloween person. I love dressing up and seeing everyone else's costumes. So, when I had my first child, I just knew this would quickly become one of my favorite holiday's. Instead of crafting a costume for myself I got my wiggles out by making an absolutely adorable costume for Braelyn. I mean, those store-bought, generic costumes never fit right, anyway.

The importance of sharpening your sewing scissors

For seamstresses, having a nice, sharp pair of scissors is almost as important as having a sewing machine. Our scissors, when functioning properly, allow us to cut our clean, straight lines for quilts as well as navigate even the smallest curve for patterns. There's nothing worse than clipping away only to snag an edge and fray the raw edges of our fabric and there's nothing more frustrating than only having half of a good blade on our scissors forcing us to chomp, chomp, chomp away every couple of inches.

Beginner Quilting: Let's Strip and Make Half-Square Triangles

Week two of my Adventures in Quilting is underway. After so much success in the first class, I was eager to see what was next.

Turns out it was stripping...not that kind of stripping, obviously. You have a dirty mind! We are just a bunch of quilters, after all. Rather, it's piecing together long strips of fabric and then cutting them down to your square size. You didn't think we actually cut those teeny strips and sewed them together individually, did you?! Silly girl (or guy...I don't judge)!

We also learned to make half-square triangles, which take a careful and patient person to get the corners just right. I'll tell you, the people who made up those quilting rulers are genius. Have you ever noticed the diagonal lines running through them? Yep, those are for Half-Square (and Quarter-Square, too, I suppose) Triangles. The ruler did help tremendously in ensuring I didn't end up with a wonky-square triangle.

So, ready to see what I left with??

Strips (top), half-square triangle (middle), half-square triangle prep (bottom)

Ta-da! Aren't my fabrics coming together nicely? Everyone in class loves this Valorie Wells Cocoon- Butterfly cotton. It looks so cool when they are all cut up into little squares and triangles.

You can see I've still got a ton of work to do like cutting down the strips to size, making the last few half-square triangles (on the bottom), then actually placing all the pieces together into a block. But once I'm done with all my homework, I'll have what they call a Golden Gate block. It looks like this...

Golden Gate Quilting Block

Can you see the combo of the half-square triangles and the strips? I'm excited to play around with the squares a little. Your blocks can look very different just by rotating them around and flipping the backgrounds around.

See Last Week's Beginner Quilting Post where I talked about choosing fabrics.

Making it Maternity: How to Alter Patterns for Pregnancy

 

We all have our go-to patterns. For Laura, it's probably a great A-line skirt. For me, I've fallen in love with Colette's Iris -- a perfect-every-time-for-every-body short pattern. But, being pregnant for most of the past two years has changed the way I look at patterns and obviously how I sew them. So many of my shorts and skirts (purchased or hand-made) have wonderful stretch knit waistbands added to them. Today, I'm going to share how you can alter your skirts, pants, shorts, and other bottoms to allow for that wonderful belly expansion.

Making it with Minky

Everyone loves Minky fabric because it is soft and great to cuddle with. With sites like Pinterest and Etsy, making homemade blankets, car seat covers, changing pad covers, taggies, pants, jackets, skirts, pillowcases, and even stuffed animals have become very popular. The holidays are right around the corner and making gifts with minky fabric is a great idea.

Recommendations to start checking off that Christmas List

It is that time of year again whether you're ready for it or not. Truth is, Christmas is really just around the corner. And, as any crafter or seamstress will tell you, if you're making your own gifts this year, you need to start now.

Yes, it's daunting. It's overwhelming. It's freaking me out just writing this. Eeeeek! But, isn't it so much fun, too? Thinking about one particular person that you love and care about and imagining the perfect gift for them is one of the best parts of Christmas. Then, add tooling away at making their gift by hand to the mix and it can be a very joyous experience.

To help you on your journey of finding the perfect hand-made gift for your loved ones, we're suggesting two books. Each of them have lots of ideas to help you check off multiple people from those Good Boy and Good Girl lists.

The first of them we've talked about quite a bit on the blog already. It's Sew What You Love by Tanya Whelan.

Sew What You Love by Tanya Whelan

Laura raved about this book during her Summer Pattern Challenge and made a few items from it to help her reach her goal of completing the 20 patterns. Laura's "Everyday Tunic," "Apple Pie Ottoman," and "Easy Sling Bag," all came from this book and if you've read the posts, you'll know how simple and easy creating each of them was for her.

As Laura explained, the book is full of a variety of project options. From clothing and home dec, to bags and baby toys. The 30 patterns in this book really do run the gamut of project ideas and you're sure to find something perfect for the one you love.

Our second recommendation for your Christmas sewing is actually a series of books. It's the One Yard Wonders books by Patricia Hoskins and Rebecca Yaker .

One-yard Wonders by Hoskins and Yaker.

One-yard Wonders by Hoskins and Yaker.

Each of these books are packed with a whopping 101 sewing projects. As you can imagine you'll find projects for everyone in the family (including Fido) as well as home dec, clothing, seasonal items, and accessories. Anyone you know up for a custom umbrella? Or what about a gym bag? Who wouldn't want a new scarf? And market totes are the rage for the eco-friendly these days.

Seriously you can't go wrong with either of these books for this Christmas and every other gift-giving holiday you can think of. They are year-round go-to guides for every home sewer.

Be sure to check out all of our sewing books as these are just three of the many that would behold your loved one's perfect Christmas gift.

Football Field Table Cloth

 

I absolutely love football season! 

The weather, the food, the excuse to hang out all weekend...I just love it. Every year we go to at least one Clemson University game and one Cincinnati Bengals game. I have seen so many cute tablecloths on Pinterest that I had wanted to make one of my own for a while. When my sister told me she wanted a football themed bridal shower, I knew this was the time to do it. The idea of a football field tablecloth had been floating around in my head and now I had two excuses to make one -- for my tailgating parties and my sister's shower!

Finishing seams: Just The Basics

Finishing your seams is an integral part of sewing any garment. It can be a little tedious but it's important to do to ensure your piece looks professional and will last through a lifetime of washing and wearing.

Colette Iris: A Shorts Pattern Review

Sew Happy With My First Pattern Choice!

I was so excited when I awoke this morning to the sound of rain.  Being trapped inside offered the perfect opportunity to start on my first pattern.  I decided the new Colette Patterns that arrived in our store last week would be a great start since I have never used this pattern line before.  I picked the Iris shorts pattern because they looked adorable on-line, and I can always use a pair of cute summer shorts.

My only concern about making shorts was that I didn't want them to be this short because I am very self conscious about the appearance of my legs.  I also like the more sophisticated, mature look of longer shorts (at least that is what I keep telling myself when I enviously see how adorable Brooke and Elizabeth from the store look in shorter shorts).  I assumed that just adding a little length to this pattern wouldn't be too difficult.
The next challenge for me was to pick out my fabric.  Picking out fabric is so much fun, but I love all of our fabrics so much that the task becomes daunting.  I finally decided on seersucker, but then I had to choose a color.

I chose the brown and white seersucker to keep with the classier look of my longer shorts. 
When deciding on which size pattern to cut out, my waist measurement gave me one size while my hip measurement gave me a different size.  I hate when this happens, but the pattern made it very clear to choose the larger size if this occurs because these shorts have a more tailored fit.  I chose the larger size and cut out the seersucker, but the pieces looked really large so I went down a size. I also added 4 inches to the length of each piece to get the longer version I desire.  I also had to cut out lining since you would probably see through the white seersucker if I chose not to line.
For those of you who have never used a Colette pattern, let me give you a little idea about them.  I have used all types of patterns from the typical Simplicity and McCalls to the higher end Amy Butler ones.  The Colette pattern is by far one of the best I have ever used especially for the beginner sewer.  This pattern is packaged like a small book with simple, easy to follow directions on each page.  This was so much better than the usual fold out style I usually have to deal with, and like the maps they resemble, I can never get them folded back correctly.   It was so much better to flip page after page to get to my finished product.  This pattern had very clear illustrations along with most directions and even a glossary in the back like you would find in a textbook, a feature this school teacher really appreciated!  The pattern also lists websites that link the sewer to instant directions on putting in zippers, finishing seams, and other sewing skills the beginner sewer may not feel completely confident completing.  I did not go to any of these sites because I didn't need the help, but I definitely used the other tips and reminders found throughout the pattern like to finish the pocket seams before putting them on.
So, how does the finished project look?

I think they turned out really well considering it was my first time using the pattern.  Usually, I like to sew a pattern a couple of times before I am really happy with the results.  I would like to add, shamefully, that the size is a little tight, and I should have listened to the directions that clearly explained why I should have picked the larger size.  The pockets in the front pull a little to accommodate for my hips, and this wouldn't have happened if I had only followed the sizing suggestion!  Other important tips that may help you when using this pattern:

1)  If you are going to make your shorts longer like I did, you will need to taper the width of the leg.  The shorts do not look good if you simply add length to the width of the pattern.

2)  I chose not to use the buttons on the pockets, but I definitely will next time.  I think it will really make the shorts look fun.

3)  I will use a different fabric like some of the Art Gallery or Michael Miller fabrics (shown below) for my next pair.  It will make the shorts look more playful. 

I really loved this Colette pattern, and I strongly recommend to all of you to give this pattern a try.  The pattern is listed as beginner, and I will be tackling an intermediate one soon to give you feedback on those.

I can't wait to make the second pair of shorts in the right size and in a great fabric!  I may even ignore my hang-up with my legs and make them shorter!