Sewing Doll's Clothes

We have several naked princesses about the house...it seems that the thing to do when you're little and you get a new doll is to take her clothes off as soon as she's out of the box!  So I decided to use some scraps of fabric and make them a new wardrobe.

Pop over to Craftiness is Not Optional to find all the tutorials on how to make some cute outfits.

Hey girlfriend!  

Pocahontas is rocking a lovely strapless (gasp) pink polka-dot sundress.

(I would totally wear this...if only it was as easy to make in my size)

Here's Cinderella modelling her casual skirt and cap sleeved top...well, you can't wear a ball gown everyday can you!

Finally, a small (wingless) fairy in a yellow mini-dress.

These were really fun and easy to make; the tutorials are so easy to follow.

Think I was reacting to having just finished a massive 12 meter fabric sign and felt I needed to sew something small scale. 

I've always been a bit nervous about sewing clothes, I think I have an aversion to handling large amounts of fabric.  Funny, don't feel like that anymore!  So, having conquered doll's clothes, I upscaled a bit and sewed up this little skirt....

This skirt wasn't complicated at all...it's a Lazy Days skirt from Oliver + S (free tutorial here).

So now I'm feeling confident, I've got a couple of patterns to make.

Do you have any tips for sewing children's clothes?

All Around Zip Tutorial

I've just finished making a travel wallet with an all-around zip as part of a custom order and I thought you might like to know how to add this kind of zip.  What do you think?  Shall we give it a go....it's not as difficult as you might think...fiddly, yes, difficult no.

So here is what you will need (this tutorial only refers to how to add the zip and not how to make the wallet.)

- The lining of your project all made up and ready to go
- Outer fabric
- 1 x zip long enough to go all around your project (plus a few inches extra)
- Bias binding
- Your usual sewing kit

OK, here we go....find the centre line of your project either by measuring or iron a light crease down the centre.  Take one side of your fully opened zip and starting at the top of your lining, pin the zip along the edge so that the teeth are facing inwards.  Fold under the end of the zip and leave a gap between each side of the zip, this helps to get a neat finish.

(Ignore my overhanging lining - I was adjusting the length of my finished wallet!). 

Corners can be tricky.  Clip a notch into the zip tape to make it bend around the curve.

Pin your zip around both sides; when you reach the centre bottom, fold your extra length of zip into your lining and pin it to keep it out of the way.  It's worth taking the time to get this step right so that things look even.

With your zipper foot attached, sew all around your zip starting at the top.  

I sewed close to the outer edge as I wanted to create some width in the wallet to hold several passports; you can adjust this depending on the needs of your project.

Take your time with this step - especially around the corners, pivot your lining around whilst the needle is down to sew around the corners.

Once you've sewn around both sides of the zip, check that your project closes!

Now to attach the bias binding to your lining.  Open out the top fold and sew down the crease onto your zip (again, go slow!  Make sure your zipper teeth are out of the way!)  I started the binding at the bottom of lining and overlapped the ends for a neater finish.

Now flip your lining and the binding over to the other side; slot your outer fabric on top (right side up) - you may need to trim the fabric or cut the corners slightly to get it to fit.  I found it useful to have a little (teeny tiny!) overhang to make sure that the stitches caught the fabric.

Fold your binding into a nice neat edge and sew all around.  I found it useful to add a couple of basting stitches to the zip corners to keep the teeth down and out of the way.  Again, go super slow and keep checking that you're not sewing the zip teeth.  Take your time with the corners.

And there you have it...fold in half and you have an all around zip. 

Are you going to give this a go?  Let me know how your projects went!

How to sew a Zip Tutorial

I may have mentioned that I'm not a super-experienced sewer...for ages I was wondering how to sew a zip without all the seams showing.  Surely anything that needs a separate foot must just be really difficult, right?  Wrong!  Sewing a zip is SOOOOO easy!

Here is a little tutorial for a simple little purse, useful for coins, cards, keys, anything!  And the best part is, once you've done it once, the zipped world is your oyster.

You will need:

2 x outer fabric
2 x lining fabric
2 x fusible interfacing
1 x zip

Tools - zipper foot, your sewing box.

1/2" seam allowance

You can make this to any size as long as your zip fits, mine is 6.5" x 4" and I use a 7" closed end zip.

1.  Cut all your fabric and interfacing pieces to the same size and iron your fusible interfacing onto the wrong side of your outer fabric.

2. Now, we need to make a zip sandwich.

Take 1 of your outer fabrics and lay right side up and place your zipper wrong side down across the top, like so:

Take 1 of your lining pieces and place right side down on top of the zip, pin to keep everything in place.

3.  Attach your zipper foot - now this is where I always got confused, which side do you attach!  You want your foot to nudge right up to the zip so you can sew close to your zip.  You can see in this photo, my foot is attached on the left side to get a nice close stitch.

You will need to undo your zip a little, sew down a few inches and then (with your needle down) do your zip up again as it won't have room to pass under your foot.  Backstitch at both ends to secure.

Once sewn, fold over your lining so that the wrong sides are together.  Press away from the zip.

That's your first side all done.

4.  Now to attach your other side.

Lay your second outer piece right side up.  Take your zip (with attached fabrics flipped over so that wrong sides are together), and lay the un-attached zip edge across the top of your second outer piece so that your 2 outer pieces are right side together (are you still with me?).

Your second lining piece is then laid on top across the zip as before - try to line up the top edges.  Pin and sew as before (you don't need to change anything about your zipper foot).  Backstitch at both ends to secure.

You might need to fiddle a little with the zip again but remember to keep your needle down!

Flip your fabrics over and you should now be all attached....you've done it.  You've sewn in a zip!  

5. Press the lining and outer fabric away from the zip and with your purse all laid out flat (each side has a lining and an outer),  topstitch on both sides along the side of the zip (you  can use your zipper foot for this bit too!)

Make sure your lining is gently pulled away from your zip when doing this to avoid it bunching up and getting in the way of your zip when you try to open it.

6.  Now, to sew it into a purse.  Open your zip at least half way - don't forget!!

Change back to your normal zigzag foot and flip over your fabric, so that your outer pieces lie right sides together and your lining pieces are right side together and your zip open in the middle. Pin; you will notice that your open zip teeth can lie towards either the outer or the lining - you get cleaner corners if you make them lay towards the lining!

Sew all around the 4 edges leaving a gap of a few inches in the bottom of the lining for turning.  Backstitch to secure at start and finish.

Clip the corners and trim the ends of the zip; turn through the gap in the lining and push the corners out.  Press, sew up the gap in your lining with matching colour thread.

There you have it...a cute little zipped purse.  Once you have got the hang of it, you can knock up quite a few little purses in an evening.  

Even better, you can start using zips in all sorts of things...very handy!

Fabric - Amy Butler, Lark Souvenir Lemon

Zips - Bright Button - zips in huge choice of colours and lengths, great prices too! 

Fancy a new business card holder?

Once upon a time, I had a real job which involved travelling up and down the country, meeting with lots of people and handing out my business card.  I hated doing this because I had this awful little blue plastic card holder, the type that comes free with your order - in fact I still have it and (shamefully) still use it. 

Well no longer...I used the same envelope method I posted a tutorial about yesterday (Handy pocket tutorial) and made a couple of business card holders in some funky fabrics - only thing, I don't know which one to choose now!

I used exactly the same method as the handy pocket, with the following exceptions:

- 2 lengths of fabric and interfacing - 10 x 5 inches
- I used a 2/8 inch seam allowance. 
- I also shaped the flap before sewing the exterior and lining fabric together as I thought this looked more "professional".
- I top stitched around all four sides of the card holder.

I'll be dishing out my cards left, right and centre with these lovelies.

Handy Pocket Tutorial

A quick trip into town to pick up a marker pen turned into a purchase of some lovely new fabric for my stash..ooops!  Motivated by some bright colours on a grey afternoon, I made up this cute little pocket to keep Little Miss L's bits and bobs in when we go out - big enough for a pack of wipes, colouring book and other essentials. 

It's really simple and quick to make - here's how...

1. Cut your exterior fabric, lining and interfacing to 46 x 28 cm (18 x 11 inches); a 1cm seam allowance is used.  Iron the interfacing onto the back of your exterior fabric; you can also add some padding if you want your pocket to be more substantial (just bear in mind that this will take up some stashing space!)

2. Pin your two pieces of fabric right sides together and mark a 1cm seam allowance with a fabric vanishing marker all around the 4 edges of your fabric.  I like to add the loop part of the hook and loop closure onto the lining at this stage to avoid the stitches showing on the outside of your pocket.  Unpin 1 end of your fabric and sew an 8cm (3") length of the softer 'loop' halfway across and 2.5cm (1") up from the edge of your fabric.

3.  Repin your fabric together and sew around your seam markings - remember to leave a gap of a few centimetres to turn your fabric through; backstitch at the start and finish to secure. Clip the corners so that they are easier to turn.

4.  Turn your fabric through the hole (this is the best bit!), use a chopstick to point out the corners.  Give your fabric a good press with the iron and then fold the end without the 'loop' fastener up towards the centre to create your pocket - I turned mine up to about 16cm which makes a nice deep pocket.  Press the pocket crease.

5.  Add the 'hook' part to the outside of your pocket - halfway across and about 2.5cm (1") down from the top pocket seam.  The longer part is on the lining so that if your pouch is full, you can still close it.

6.  Now for the topstitching - almost there!  Unfold your fabric and topstitch along the top of your pocket (the edge above the smaller 'hook' fastener).  Fold your pocket up again and pin.  Topstitch along the three edges (not the folded bottom pocket edge) - the topstitching holds your pocket in place.

And there you have it - a handy little pocket to stash all the essentials.  I'm hoping this means I can return to carrying my grown up handbags....everything Little Miss L needs in the lovely pocket and I can move it from bag to bag without forgetting anything.  Goodbye, Peppa pig back-pack...hello Hermes Birkin ( well, I can dream).