Sew

Sewing with sheer fabrics like chiffon can seem tricky, but with a little self-education, you can tackle sheers like a pro.

I can sew woven cotton with my eyes closed (and perhaps with a child wielding a popsicle on the chair behind me) but sheers are another story. They sometimes have a mind of their own and any sewist is wise to realize they are a different beast entirely than your standard quilting cotton.

Because I am willing, I am often asked to hem bridesmaid or formal dresses for gals I know and I always agree but hemming the beautiful sheer layer has always resulted in a hem I wasn’t totally happy with, lots of unnecessary stress, and cursing.

This post may contain affiliate links. All opinions are my own. 

Because I work, have small children, and live rurally, taking an in-person sewing class is impractical and very unlikely. Enter Craftsy. I’m a huge fan of this site because they have TONS of classes that are free or reasonably priced on topics I care about. Each class has beautiful videos (no wobbly YouTube tutorials!) and very clear instructions on whatever your heart desires. I have a very long list of classes I want to take (Um, French Cooking? Yes please!) but sewing sheers made it to the MUST list in short order this wedding season. I hated doing a mediocre job on dresses and frankly I have plenty else to stress and curse about so this class was a huge help. And these classes don’t have homework, deadlines, or detention. It is a self-paced, learn at your leisure type of thing. You always have access and you can watch and rewatch over and over.

The class, Sewing Sheers with Sara Alm, was awesome and taught me in a few lessons the big mistakes I was making when sewing sheers. Here are the tips I was able to employ immediately but I can’t recommend the class enough to you sewists out there. Enroll and you’ll be a sheer pro in no time, pun absolutely intended.

Tips:
Use a little washi or masking tape to cover the hole in your throat plate (where your needle goes down). Washi tape is actually preferable because it is less sticky than masking tape. Cut a tiny piece, just a bit bigger than the hole and place. This helps prevent your machine from ‘eating’ your bridesmaid dress. This one little tip prevented the most cursing in my home, which is why I listed it first. Get some washi tape or masking tape, Wildflowers! If you are as late to the washi tape party as I was, here’s a link to some cute rolls that you can use for lots of other things besides on your throat plate.

Use a needle designed for sheers. I was using my regular ol’ standard needle and it was too big. A needle that is too large will blow through the delicate fabric, making the seam weak and giving the seam the appearance that it may tear apart. Here’s a link to the needles I used.

Use a rolled hem foot for hemming. The class demonstrates LOTS of ways to finish (another way to say ‘hem’), but this is a way I use often for hemming formalwear. Your sewing machine very likely came with a rolled hem foot, even if your machine is older. Check the compartments where the feet are stored and see if you have one. Practice on a scrap of sheer beforehand and you will see how the front of the foot rolls the fabric into a tiny hem.

If you follow these simple tips, you will likely end up cursing a whole lot less and if you enroll in this time and headache saving class you will be a wizard with sheers.

What do you think, Wildflowers? Share in the comments below if there’s another Craftsy class I should add to my list. Happy Sewing!

Messenger Bag Pattern from Palindrome Dry Goods

I made this beginner friendly messenger bag using a pattern from the Palindrome Dry Goods blog and Etsy shop using easy-to-sew cotton that I purchased before I had my first child, over 4 years ago. Once you have been sewing a while you may experience the thrill of finding fabric that you forgot you have purchased and/or forgot how much you love the way I did. This bag was also easy enough to whip up while the children were awake, and in between stirring supper on the stove. I used a super stiff decor bond interfacing that the pattern designer didn’t call for but I had on hand and used on a whim with good success. Read on for the super easy tutorial!

First: Get your pattern here at Palindrome Dry Good’s Etsy Shop. Blogging this short while has helped me “meet” several superstars and this gal Hannah is one of them. She found me and nominated me for the Very Inspiring Blog Award, about which I blushed and blogged about and then we kept communicating and discovering things we share in common. We are both Chico State alumni, we both are lovers of power linemen (which ultimately means lots of denim mending) and are from smaller places in California. Her taste in fabric is top notch and I doubt any of you can visit her Etsy shop without swooning over her darling aprons or pillowcases.

Next: Choose 3 coordinating fabrics. She lists needing a ¼ yard of fabric A, a ¼ yard of fabric B, and 1 ¼ yard fabric C. I appreciate how her pattern uses up almost every bit of fabric. I hate having ⅛ yd left over that I hate to keep and hate to toss. Waste not, want not, Wildflowers!

Cut: Follow the pattern directions to cut your fabric into a few simple rectangles.

Sew: Sew the rectangles into a set of three stripes, thus forming the basis for the outside of the messenger bag. Sew the lining of the bag and apply the pocket (which uses up the bit of fabric you didn’t use in the strap: Smart!

Iron: Interface the outside of the bag and the strap. I used Decor Bond, available by clicking the picture below, and found it to give serious substance to the bag. The difference between this interfacing and regular interfacing is a bag that will stand up on its own if you use Decor Bond. It gives body to the bag and when I open it up to dig my yoga clothes out of it, the opening stays open. Regular interfacing won’t give a bag that is as stiff and it won’t quite stand up the way Decor Bond does. It is a matter of personal preference and truthfully, if the regular interfacing wasn’t absent from my stash, I wouldn’t have thought about the really cool Decor Bond option. If you don’t find Pellon’s Decor Bond in your local sewing store, you can purchase it on Amazon by clicking the photo below.

Sew: pin and sew the straps to the sides of the bag outside. Match right sides with right sides of the outside of the bag and the lining and sew around the top of the bag, leaving a 4 or 5-inch opening. Turn bag right side out and sew the seam closed. I chose to continue sewing all the way around the top of the bag, topstitching and giving the top edge a nice, finished look.

Impress: Friends, classmates, family, and fellow yogis with your super cute homemade messenger bag.

How to Sew an Ironing Pad

In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to sew your own ironing pad and avoid hauling out a cumbersome ironing board next time you need to iron. This ironing pad tutorial is beginner friendly, and the result is space saving and customizable.

When I was brainstorming this post, I thought a lot about how infrequently some people iron. Ironing can be a pain for a few reasons and one of which is the ironing board. They are big, awkward, and mine is so noisy I would never iron when my kids were napping, ever, for fear of waking them. This little sewing project will result in an ironing pad that you can use (quietly!) on the floor, on the top of your washer or dryer (thanks to the magnets sewn in) or on the dining room table. You can roll it up or fold it like a blanket when you are done and stow it away. I think it would be a great gift for a college student. Sew on, Wildflowers!

This post may contain affiliate links. All opinions are my own. ​

Feeling inspired? Sign up for weekly crafty tutorials!

Yes, PLEASE!

You will need:
Quilted ironing board fabric. This is critical because of the reflective fabric needed to iron properly. You could throw a towel down and iron away and it will largely be a waste of time because the heat is warming the towel, not being reflected back up to smooth your fabric. Head to the utility section of your nearest fabric store, or click the affiliate photo link below to order some from my favorite sewing store, JoAnns.

The amount you buy is up to you. I bought a yard and a half because I didn’t know what my plan was exactly and when I got it home I realized I could cut it to fit on top of my washer and dryer exactly but then I’d be wasting an awful lot of fabric. While you could use the left overs for potholders and cute, quilted trivets, I thought it would be more useful for my ironing needs while sewing to keep it nice and big.

Whatever you decide, you need a piece of backing material the same size. I may never say this again, ever, but I have to advise you to NOT purchase cute colorful fabric. Ugh. I hated typing that. Choose white fabric, an old white or cream sheet, or unbleached muslin. If you chose a super cute red print for the other side, time plus the heat and steam of the iron could result in the dye seeping up through the silver fabric and staining your ironing project. I know it seems unlikely but it could absolutely happen. And of course, it would happen when you were ironing a white button down to wear for a job interview happening in an hour. Choose wisely, Wildflowers.

If you are shopping online, you can order this bleached muslin from Joann’s.

The final bit of fabric required is binding. This is where you can choose something cute and colorful. I used less than a quarter yard to create 2-inch wide binding that went all the way around the yard and a half of ironing board fabric.

To determine the yardage for any binding, measure the perimeter. Divide that number by the width of your binding fabric. That number will be the number of strips you should cut off your binding fabric.

For example: My perimeter is 54+45+54+45 = 198 inches. I will divide that total by 44 inches (as that is the width of my binding fabric) to get 4.5. That means I need 4 and a half strips of 2 ½ inches wide. Then I can multiply 2 ½ by 5 (since I will cut 5 full strips and just have some left over) which = 12.5. Thus I need 13 inches of 45-inch width fabric to make my binding.

Procedure: Lay your muslin or plain cotton fabric on top of the white side of the ironing board material.

Smooth it carefully and make pin edges. Sew all the way around the edge at a quarter inch seam allowance. Trim any excess, including extra batting that may have escaped the inside of the ironing board fabric.

Optional Magnets: I wanted to add magnets to my corners for when I want to put the pad on top of the washing machine. These are the magnets I used, and I used 8 total.

I sewed a square in every corner of my pad, plus in the middle of each edge. I made the square about 2 ½ by 2 ½ inches, but you want there to be plenty of room for your magnet. Sew the square and then use a seam ripper to open up the outside edge just enough to slip the magnet in and then sew it back up.

Make your binding by cutting your strips, sewing them right sides together, pressing those seams open, and pressing the whole long strip in half hot dog style.

Binding: You will now be learning or practicing how to bind. I bind all my quilts this way and if you ran into trouble, a quilter friend could easily help you with this step.

Leaving a 4+ inch ‘tail’, sew the binding to the sandwich you’ve created of the ironing board cover and the muslin. All the raw edges will be facing the right, as indicated in the photo.

Binding a Mitered Corner: This sounds hard, but it isn’t. As you approach the corner, stop a ¼ inch from the edge and backstitch. Pull the pad out of the machine, cut the threads, and turn it a quarter turn counterclockwise, so you will be “driving” down the next side.

Pull the binding (which will be a really long strip, up and back, like in the photo above, so it is creating a straight line with the road on which you will be driving. The binding will be back behind your sewing machine.

Hold your finger on that 45-degree fold and with the other hand bring the rest of the binding toward you.

Press your fingers on top of that fold. Slide the corner under the needle of the machine and lower the presser foot.

Sew straight down the road. Repeat on all corners.

When you are nearly done, and you are approaching the ‘tail’ of the binding, stop about 6 inches from the tail. You will fold the raw edge under about an inch and tuck the tail inside. Sew to create a complete perimeter and backstitch.

Now, flip the pad over and roll the binding from the front to the back (or vice versa, it doesn’t matter which side you sewed it to initially) and sew it to the pad, feeling carefully with your fingers and trying to keep your seam either in the binding or in the ironing board fabric, but not both. In other words, be aware of what the other side will look like. It depends on how much extra fluff you have in the seam allowance; sometimes your binding can easily fold over and you have an easy time but if your binding is skinny and/or you have a lot of extra bulk in the seam allowance, it will be difficult to pull the binding around.

Sewing the mitered corner is a lot like wrapping a present. As you approach the corner, pull the extra toward you. Stop about a ¼ inch from the edge and backstitch. Cut the threads and pull the pad out and turn a quarter turn counterclockwise, just as you did the first time around.

To sew the mitered corner is a lot like wrapping a present. As you approach the corner, pull the extra toward you. Stop about a ¼ inch from the edge and backstitch. Cut the threads and pull the pad out and turn a quarter turn counterclockwise, just as you did the first time around.

Fold the binding toward the left, and scoot the corner under the presser foot. This can be tricky because there’s a lot of bulk in the corner. If need be, trim the excess in the seam allowance, and use your hand wheel to get the seam started.

There you have it! While going around the perimeter all three times may take a bit of time, the techniques you will use are fairly basic and the result is a very handy alternative to a heavy, noisy, clunky ironing board.

If you love helpful tutorials like this one, Subscribe and never miss a weekly post!

If you want to learn how to sew, check out the courses HERE!

Yes, PLEASE!

I’d love to hear what you think, Wildflowers! Please share in the comment section below other uses for ironing board fabric!