Favorite Tips
 

There seems to be a lot of new(er) designers and sewists here,so I was wondering if those who've been creating for a while would mind sharing a tip,trick or shortcut that they find just really makes things easier or gives that "Wow,would you look at that- how did they DO that!" or "Wow,I would never have thought of that"
Not asking for anything top secret just things that you would want to share.:)

I'll share one of mine:
I use a mug-tree to hold my scissors & snips. Keeps them organized but I can grab whichever ones I need.

Nuts, I just donated a mug tree and set of mugs to a charity, lol! Great idea.

I've shared a few techniques here, but there are more to be found on U-Tube. I usually read instructions 2-3 times and watch a few videos before I even attempt a new technique...:D

LOL,after I hit "send" I thought about youtube and all the tutorials. :rolleyes: My favorites list is growing all the time.:D

But say 6 months from now when someones ready to tackle scallops or piping if your tutorials (or anyone else's) have moved down they might be hard to find. I was hoping that a mod might make them a sticky.

We shall ask....:D

Ok, I have a tip for those just starting out, or an everday dress..If you find a after holiday doggie tee shirt in your baby's size, buy it...then you take one of your favorite blouse or skirt that you no longer want to wear, (or a strip of fabric) and cut a ruffle or strip off of it....then you sew the ruffle to your little doggie shirt, and whala, a new dress for her to wear!

This dress I bought at Ross Dress for Less for $4.99 and it looks exactly like the tip above....this dress looks like the latest fashion where girls layer tee shirts....I think it is cute.

That remake is TOO CUTE!!:thumbup:



Here's another thing that might help:
I have several patterns that I use a lot so rather than ruin them I trace & cut the pattern out of our empty cereal boxes and use weights instead of pins. :)

I always shop the sales in the infants dept for cute newborn, 0-3 month, 3-6 month dresses. For a really quick doggy dress, I cut off half the skirt and attach it over the half left on as a ruffle... In the photos, the dresses on the left hand side are untouched:


Attachment 366699

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oh I love it Kathy!!:D

Cool Kathy! I always look at the infants dept for new ideas but was afraid to admit it, LOL.
I also buy -at the Goodwill-thrift stores-stuffed bears etc., that have beautiful clothing, then remake the dresses..............

I love your little T-shirt + skirt idea! And yes, thriftstore addict here! Last time I went to Kohl's, I found a big little girl dress that came with a matching doll dress.... which just so happened to fit Sapphire (with some minor adjustments), and I have enough material from the bigger dress to make 2 more dresses for my other two girls!

Great ideas. I buy baby clothes at yard sales and thrift stores and remake them. They are darling and easy to do.

Wow Kathy, what a great idea.

What else can you make from different baby clothes?

You guys are so great! Wonderful tips!!! So many of you have helped me as I learn all of this and I am very grateful!!

oohhh, I have another tip that I thought of today. Since I am the cheapskate Queen, I always envision new ways to save $$$$..and have fun. Last Halloween I made dresses for the girls out of Halloween fabrics in hopes an idea I had would work. I bought cheap clearance tee shirts at Petsmart- military green- then I cut them open on the underneath so they would lay flat. I had already sewed fabrics into skirts BUT they were not circular, they were flat! I then pinned the fabric onto the shirts, then sewed them onto the shirts. Then I sewed up the slit on the underneath....they didn't have to be excellent as they only wore them Halloween Day, but it was much fun, and it was a way to save fabrics where you have just a little bit left....I want to try buying newborn tees at the thrift store and doing this again!

Love them!!:D

I'm always checking Goodwill,I've picked up some really nice adult clothes for the fabric. LOL,I tell my friends that it's a "one of a kind" outfit;)

Great tip-I'd love to see pics of your remakes!:)

Thats why I asked for tips etc.,I've been sewing for 20+ yrs and if it hadn't been for my Mom,Grandmother & Aunt all sharing their knowledge I don't think I would have ever started. I love learning new ways to do things and especially time savers!

Thank you all for sharing with us,please keep the ideas coming!:D

Wow those are all great ideas. Thanks!

I have done a shirt or two by instructions that have been posted here on YT.

I do buy from the baby consignment. Preemie sizes work good for mine. I have found like little sweaters and jackets that either zip up or button work good since I am not really good at hand sewing. I put the zip side on the top then I can pull their harness through that.

I have tried using the stuff you iron on for hemming and that was way too hard cause for me the shirts were so small. I can sew an hem but to me my hem looks bad. My mother would really get me if she seen my hems. She was a seamstress and I would not have nothing to do with it when I was younger. I regret it now, and she is passed.

I love the ideas I get here. Thanks to everyone.

Have you tried using those tiny little irons that are sold in the crafting sections of Walmart,Joanns etc.? I want one just for that reason. :)

I just ordered one today... my regular iron is smashing all my scallops! Joann's Online has a sale on them! And I bought 25 of those comic book board/bags.... the bags are perfect to store a pattern...

And I made my first topknot bow today to match one of my dresses... but my cat stole it! Lol! Back to the drawing board!:D

I was thinking too that one could use baby onsies in this manner, just cut the bottom part off and add a skirt to the top. I bought a bunch of Easter themed sets with onsies and I hadn't quite figured out what I was going to do with them... but now I'm getting some ideas!

Great tips

I always run a zig-zag across the ends of my fabric before I wash it. Rather than use up my good thread I keep several spools of the bargain thread to use just for this.:)

percentages of yards of fabric
 

Here's a tip I use: when buying fabric, if I see one I want to try for a dress, or for a bow, I buy only 1/2, 1/4 or 1/8 of a yard....then if I like it and it turns out well, I go back and buy more!

The yellow/pink paisley dresses with the scallops I have made... well I love that material and went to buy more.... but now it's out of print :( I did find it in blue and in green on Ebay so I ordered those. Kicking myself for not buying more of the yellow originally.... If anyone sees it anywhere, please let me know! TIA!

Pic of dress: Attachment 367557Attachment 367558

Can you give us a quick How-To on making fabric bows? Mainly, what do you do to the fabric before shaping the bow? TIA!:D

Fabric bows
 

OK will try if I am understanding what you need to know....if I'm wrong, tell me. Let's say you bought 1/4 yard. Wash and press the fabric. Fold the fabric in half so you have a fold. Then I use a ruler (in my case a quilters rule) to measure out 2 inches wide, and draw a line on the fabric for 2in wide. Start on the fold. Usually 8 inch long is good. So when finshed you have a 2 X8 long strip. Cut this out, and then you have a 2X16 strip of fabric.

Do another, then sew the two together, leaving a section unsewn in the center. Turn the bow from outside out to right side out and then sew the open section by hand so it will be invisible. Press.

To tie it, since my hand co-ordination is lacking, I place a infant hair rubber band in the center to scrunch it up into a bow. Then I lap it around and around like you are putting the band into a Yorkie's topknot...

THEN, after I sew it to the dress, I use STIFFY to harden the bow. Not too much..

Another way I used to do all the time was sew a simple rectangle, like the one below, and put the little band in it. I used to match a ribbon to it, and then tied the ribbon on to make streamers. Cute I think. Easy.

Because of my hand I cannot tie the beautiful bows you girls do, but they are so lovely. My little way is simple for me.
Was this what you wanted?

Could the original manufacturer point you to who carried the fabric?
How about fabric.com?