How To Add Trim To Any Hem

July 20, 2017/0 Comments/in News, Pattern Hacks, Sewing Tutorials, Tips & Tricks /by Sheila Sisco

Have you ever looked at a pattern and thought a really cute lace or pom-pom trim would look fabulous on it? Not sure how to accomplish that? Let us help you! Today, we’re bringing you a tutorial on how to add any of these embellishments to any hem! It might just add the perfect touch to those Tess Tulip Shorts (in Ladies and Girls sizing!) that you’ve been eyeing.

How To Add Trim To Any Hem

While this might seem like a tricky thing, it’s actually pretty simple. And once you’ve done it once or twice, you’ll be a pro at adding trim to just about any pattern in your arsenal to make it extra special!

Step One: Create a Memory Hem

Using the pattern’s instructions, fold your hem and iron it in place, creating creases where the hem will eventually be. In the case of the Tess Tulip shorts, that hem is two 1/4″ folds, pictured.

Step Two: Place and Pin Trim in Place

With the hem folded, place your trim (here, my lace) where how you would like it to lay on the wrong side of the garment. Carefully unfold the hem and pin the lace (or pompoms or ricrac) in place through a single layer of fabric. The trim that will be peeking from beneath your hem should be pointed toward the main body of your garment. Carefully sew along the edge of your trim through the single layer of fabric. These stitches will keep it perfectly in place for the final step.

Step Three: Adding the Hem

Now that you have the decorative part in place, the rest is easy peasy. Just fold along the creases you created in step one and stitch into place like you normally would! I personally love lace but have seen some amazing pom-pom and ric-rac added to hems for some phenomenal pieces as well. Be creative! Have a blast! And make everything beautiful and uniquely yours!

Gabriella’s Winter Coat Sew-A-Long: Day 8

October 17, 2016/0 Comments/in Pattern Hacks, Sew Along, Sewing Tutorials, Tips & Tricks /by Rose

Gabriella’s Sew Along Day 8: Final Details, Button Holes, and Buttons

Today is also a catch up day.

Welcome to Day 8 of the Gabriella’s Winter Coat Sew-A-Long! Are you still with us? Day 5 was a mid sew-a-long catch up day. If you need to go back, here is where you can find Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 6, and Day 7.

Today will be fairly quick to finish. If you have never sewn button holes before, don’t worry, I will be showing you how in detail. Today will be steps 35-39 of the pattern instructions.

Final Details

Follow steps 35 & 36.

With the main side up and beginning at the bottom of the right front placket (the right when you are facing the coat), top stitch at 1/4″ up the placket, around the neckline, down the opposite placket, and around the hem of the skirt.

TIP: Since the layers are a little thick, use a medium-long stitch length for top stitching. If you have to lengthen your stitch even further when going around the neckline due to there being more layers there, do so.

Make sure to move the hood out of the way of your stitching so you don’t sew it down.

Gabriella’s Sew-A-Long: Day 2

October 11, 2016/1 Comment/in Pattern Hacks, Sew Along, Tips & Tricks /by Rose

Gabriella’s Day 2 – Cut Material, Create Hood Pattern, Interface, and Prepare Bodice

Welcome to Day 2 of the Gabriella’s Winter Coat Sew-A-Long! Find Day 1 here.

Today we will be cutting our material, creating our hood pattern, interfacing the pieces, and preparing the bodice for construction. These are steps 1-5 in the pattern.

Cutting the Material

Cut your main, lining, and interfacing pieces for Gabriella’s using the instructions on the pattern pieces. Compare the pieces you have to the cutting guide on page 11 of the pattern to be sure you have everything. There are a lot of pieces to this pattern! Take your time cutting out all of the pieces. Accuracy when cutting leaves less room for error when sewing.

TIP: If your material is dark and you are having difficulty tracing it, rub chalk off the edges of your pattern piece to create an outline. You can also use baby powder on a sock to rub the edges. Another use for chalk is to write on your mirror image pieces in order to more easily see which is which. It should all come off when shaken vigorously.

Gabriella’s Sew-A-Long: Day 1

October 10, 2016/7 Comments/in Pattern Hacks, Sew Along /by Rose

Introduction to Gabriella’s Sew Along

Welcome to the Gabriella’s Winter Coat Sew-A-Long! The weather is starting to get quite chilly up North, so we thought it would be a great time to sew some winter coats for our little girls. Stay tuned for a hood hack tutorial too! Gabriella’s is rated as an Intermediate Plus pattern in our shop and includes sizes from 6M to Girls 12. A sew-a-long is the perfect time to attempt a pattern like this that has a higher difficulty rating since there will be many people available to help if you run into any trouble.

During this sew-a-long, we will discuss things like appropriate materials and where you can source them as well as how to modify the coat for use in warmer weather. If you would like to join in the fun and sew-a-long with us, here is how to participate:

Box Pleat Hack for Rose Bubble shorts

June 30, 2016/0 Comments/in Pattern Hacks /by Melissa Prendergast

I really wanted to try to hack the new Rose Bubble Shorts and do a box pleat version. I am loving the look!

For those who want to give it a go, here is the tutorial:

You will need:

-Fabric (I used Orange 100% cotton)

– Your front shorts pieces

Are you ready?

Here we go!

BOX PLEAT TUTORIAL

Follow step 1 of the pattern tutorial to transfer all your pattern markings to your fabric pieces. This is a necessary step, don’t skip it!

2. Working on the wrong side of the front short pieces, follow step 2 of the pattern tutorial to baste your pleats in each marking.

Here is what the wrong side should look like.

Here is what the right side should look like.

3. To create an open box pleat you want to press the pleats flat from the back and baste them in place.

YAY! You are done!

4. Continue with step 4 of the pattern tutorial to finish the shorts! When you are done with the tutorial, your shorts should look like this!

It’s amazing how that one little tweak will give a pattern a whole new life, isn’t it?

If you love this hack, please share in the comments below! If you try this hack, please share it with us in the Bella Sunshine Facebook group! We’d LOVE to see it! If you have any other hack ideas you’d like to see us write about? Also comment below or let us know in the group! We can ALWAYS use fresh ideas!

Pattern Hack: Bow Tie Leggings & Shorts PDF Sewing Pattern

Pattern Hack: Snaps are your friend

March 5, 2015/2 Comments/in Pattern Hacks /by Melissa Prendergast

I’ve got to start this out by saying that I have incredible testers. Honestly, the people who help me perfect my patterns rock. Not only are they super opinionated (which is exactly what you want in a pattern tester), they are so creative and talented. Heidi Richardson of These Old Blues is one of those people. She made the cutest pair of Bow Tie Leggings in a neutral color and couldn’t decide which fabric she wanted to go with for the bows. So she did what any logical, creative person would have done. She decided to do a pattern hack and include both of them. Check this out:

Yep, snaps! How genius is that?!? Now you can make an amazing pair of leggings and have them match any outfit perfectly, just by swapping out the bows. And just because I love you, I’ve included a tutorial to help you figure out how to do just that.

Adding Snaps to Your Bow Tie Leggings to Create New Options!

Here’s what you will need:

A copy of the Bow Tie Leggings & Shorts PDF Sewing Pattern
Snap Pliers (I like KAM snaps)
Snaps
Knit interfacing (I used Pellon EK130 Easy Knit Fusible Interfacing)
Woven lightweight interfacing (only if you are using woven fabric for the bows.)

The Tutorial

First, cut out your pattern as you normally would. In addition, cut out 4 pieces of interfacing (or 2 pieces of knit interfacing and 2 pieces of woven interfacing if you are doing woven bows) using the bow center pattern piece provided in the pattern. The pieces you have will look a little something like this:

Next, you want to fuse the interfacing to wrong side of the fabric using an iron. You want to center the interfacing on 2 of the main bow pieces. On the pant leg, center the interfacing and bring it up approximately 2 inches from the bottom of the raw edge. You should then have something that looks like this:

Now its time to figure out where to put the snaps. Center your markings vertically and place them a half of an inch away from the edge of the interfacing on either side for the slim fit bows. If you are doing the smaller legging fit bows, you will need to do the same, but mark them 3/4 of an inch on their side.

Be sure to do this not only for the main bow pieces but also on the pant legs.

Next, add your snap per the instructions of the manufacturer of your snap press.

Isn’t it beautiful??

This is what you should end up with:

Now follow the pattern, and finish up the leggings just as you normally would with exception of skipping the step to attach them.

Ta-dah! You’re finished. And hopefully your hem turned out much prettier than mine! Now you just have to make a million more bows to match all the tops you’ve made for your little cutie.

Did you try this pattern hack?? If so, spam me with your photos in my Facebook Group. I’d love to see what you came up with.

How To Add Trim To Any Hem