There are all sorts of reasons for wanting to learn to sew. You might want to make your own clothes, create attractive furnishings for your home, or simply patch up and repair old items to give them new life. Here at Start Sewing, our aim is to help you master the basics and move on to a range of exciting projects.
There are a few things more frustrating than discovering that one of your favorite pieces of clothing has been chewed by your pet – or even by your child! Fortunately, if you know what to do, you can still rescue such items most of the time. You will need to …
Thanks to the success of the Twilight books and films, werewolf and vampire costumes are enormously popular with children and teenagers. They’re always a good bet for fancy dress parties and they can be fun to wear for adults too. If made well, they can last a long time and …
Great for seating, games, toys or even soothing away your aches and pains, beanbags have dozens of uses around the home. They’re easy to make and are a great choice of project for beginners. They also make great gifts and are especially popular with children. For most beanbag projects you …
What makes the difference between a stylish garment and an ordinary one? Ultimately, you will have to develop your own sense of style, but understanding some of the underlying principles of design will help you with this. Unlike fashion, style is something that remains consistent over time, so stylish clothes …
When you’re doing a lot of sewing you will inevitably find yourself with scraps of fabric left over. These may seem too small to do anything with, but in fact there are many ways you can put them to use. These inventive solutions can reduce waste, save you money and …
One of the hottest things in modern fashion is reconstruction. Ironically, the best way to get a totally new look is to wear something old – but remade. Fashion is a fickle beast but one thing that will always sell is the opportunity to look unique, and there customised clothing …
You may be disappointed by this, but the secret of shape wear is that there is no single secret! There are actually several different fabrics used for this purpose. Good shape wear has to do two things well – stretch/hold and breathe. Because of the latter factor, fabrics like nylon …
To put it simply, a fabric without nap is a fabric that looks the same whatever way you turn it. A fabric with nap looks different, though this difference may be quite subtle, and not easy to detect at first glance. Strictly speaking, nap refers to the texture of a …
Getting to grips with sewing can be quite a challenge, but with hard work and dedication, it’s possible to achieve things you might never have thought yourself capable of. Saffron Greenwood, from Oxford, tells us how she Learned to Sew. “I started knitting about three years ago and that was …
One of the most exciting things about learning to sew is discovering the vast range of fabrics out there. But how much do you really know about them? Find out with this fun Fabric Quiz. 1. The weather has been cold recently and you’re looking for a practical fabric to …