Saturday Sewing Tip

Today's tip: double up! If you have a versatile pattern that you love, why not cut out two at the same time? Just lay your two different fabrics down so they match along their folds, and pin your pattern pieces through all layers. (This wouldn't work with heavy fabric like fleece, unless you happen to have the longest pins in existence.)

By using two fabrics with similar color backgrounds, you can use the same thread for both garments and sew them assembly-line style.

More double-up tips:

Always have two bobbins threaded--one for the machine and a spare. It's a good idea to start with a fully wound bobbin before you do buttonholes! Having the bobbin run out in the middle of a buttonhole is really, really frustrating.

Always have two hand sewing needles threaded if your garment has buttons. This way, when one needle runs out of thread, you don't have to stop and rethread to continue sewing.

Hope today's tips are helpful! Happy Sewing!

A Sewing Tip for Saturday

Here's a great tip I learned a long time ago regarding bias tape:

If you look at double-fold bias tape, you'll see that one side is wider than the other. If you pin the tape around your garment's edge with the narrow side on top and the wider part underneath, you can sew both at the same time. Sewing on the narrower side guarantees you'll 'catch' the underside!

Speaking of bias tape, I decided to use pale lavendar rather than yellow on the dress. I tried yellow that matched the centers of the daisies, and it just looked too 'homemade.' I didn't like pale yellow, either. So I switched to lavendar, and that seems to do the trick.

Do you have any good sewing tips to share? If I can remember to do it, I'd like to start a "Sewing Tip Saturday"--uh, what do you call it? Thread? Carnival?