finishing serged edges

Here's a little technique on tucking in those threads that are left when you serge something. You can tie them in knots, but this is much cleaner looking. Using a large needle with a big eye, slip the needle back into your serging and pull the threads through. You can thread the needle after slipping it in when it's short. To make a really tight finish, repeat the whole technique to wrap the thread twice.

Right now I'm dreaming of a new serger...

Happy serging!

sewing 101 - basic troubleshooting

Your stitching is all off and your machine sounds funny. First thing to do is:

Rethread your machine.

that's it, just that easy.

Rethread your machine.

After you've done it a few hundred times, you'll be so speedy that you'll be back to sewing in no time. I'm amazed how much time I have wasted trying to figure out what's wrong, when all I had to do was this, and the problem solved itself in one rethreading. You'll find it here several times to help you remember...

Rethread your machine.

Rethread your machine.

Rethread your machine.

hemming jeans tutorial

keeping original hem intact!

I just used this on a pair of little pants, removing the cutesy stuff and reattaching the hem. It worked great!

My absolute favorite sewing tool, custom made by my dad!

Let me start by saying that I have broken a lot of sewing tools. I've also sewn through my finger, but let's not talk about that, it's painful to remember.


What I do want to talk about is this metal point turner. It's heavy duty, tested over the last ten years on a lot of bags , heavy upholstery fabrics and a little bit of recycled leather. Most point turners are made from plastic or bamboo and are so delicate that they break when you try to do the things you need to do when making a bag. So, rather than resort to using your sewing scissors (who would do such a thing?) and poking out the corner, try this awesome tool instead. I'm guessing it will become your favorite tool for making bags, dolls and all kinds of other things with corners.

And my dad is working with me to make them. A family enterprise. How cool is that?

cutting corners

All our lives we've learned that cutting corners means doing a little less than is expecting. But when you are sewing, it's all different. Cutting corners means there's less, but in a good way. There is less bulk, so your finished corners, whether on a bag or garment, are nice and smooth. Hopefully.

wind an extra bobbin while you're at it!

You are right at the crucial moment when all the pins are removed and you are sewing things together, when you realize that you've been sewing for about 12" without thread!

After this happened to me about a hundred times (probably not an exaggeration), it dawned on me that I could outsmart this system by winding two bobbins. Not at the same time, not like this crazy photo, but you will probably remember now that I showed you this bizarre image. Wind two before you thread up your machine again and you've saved threading time! Or even wind three if you know you'll need them. Then you can just pop in a new one and stitch on.

Here's to more efficient sewing!