Choosing the Right Thread

When you first enter a sewing supply shop you may be amazed by the range of threads there are to choose from. It’s difficult for a beginner to know what to choose. For basic sewing it doesn’t matter too much, but when you start working with more challenging fabrics, or …

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How to Make Cushions and Pillows

Making cushions and pillows is a great way to add character to your home. It lets you develop your own style without depending on what you can find in the shops. But sewing cushions and pillows that will last, is trickier than many people realise. It’s important to know what …

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Patchwork and quilting

Are you tired of being restricted to plain colours or other people’s pattern designs? Patchwork provides a wonderful way to bring your visual imagination to bear on the items you make, and when you combine it with quilting you can create beautiful home furnishings – or even clothes – out …

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How to fix a handbag

Finding the right handbag can be a difficult business, so it’s no wonder we grow fond of them. They can cost a lot of money and many people treat them as collectors’ items. So it’s a real shame if they end up having to be thrown away as a result …

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Sewing with Children

If you’ve enjoyed learning to sew and discovered what a useful skill it can be, you’ll want to pass on your skills to your children. Starting Out It’s never too soon to get your kids interested in sewing, and you can start when they’re just babies. For an infant, the …

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How to reclaim and use fabric from old clothes

Sometimes our fondness for certain pieces of clothing outlasts our desire to wear them. You might still love the colour or pattern of a garment that no longer looks good on you or no longer fits. On other occasions, clothes get damaged beyond repair, but you may still feel sad …

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How to Repair Holes in Clothing

Developing your sewing skills isn’t just about making exciting new things. It can also, importantly, be about repairing the things you already have, so that you can save money and enjoy the clothes and furnishings you love for longer. It’s easy to adapt your skills to repairing seams, buttons and …

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Altering a Sewing Pattern

Shoppers frequently complain that all the clothes on the high street seem to be in the same narrow size range, and the same complaint can be heard about sewing patterns. Few of us have bodies that fit exactly into the standard shapes, but resizing a pattern isn’t just a matter …

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Sewing with Difficult Fabrics

It’s all very well to learn good basic sewing skills, but when it comes down to it, some fabrics are difficult and just don’t want to behave. How can you get these difficult fabrics to cut, fold and run through your machine the way they should? We take a look …

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Making Simple Waistbands

If you’re just learning to sew, one of the easiest garments to make is a skirt, but to do it successfully you need to know how to make a proper waistband. Though this is fairly simple to do, it’s also simple to get wrong, so – as always in sewing …

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