The Pico Edge On A Knit

The Pico Edge is a lovely finish on knits and it's easy to do.

Fold the fabric under as directed to make the neck edge or hemline.

Select a knit stitch as shown above.

Do a little "test" strip to make sure you like the look.

When you stitch the needle will go off the fabric on the right

creating the little "bump" that forms the pico edge.

Trim away the excess hem from the back close to the stitching.

Knits don't fray so this little edge is completely finished.

We are using the Gingher Pocket Scissors to get nice and close.

Products for Sewing With Knits

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The "Instant" Apron Pattern

This is just fun!  Enjoy.

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Adding 5/8" or 1/4" To Patterns © laboursoflove.com

A simple little trick to add 5/8" or 1/4" to your pattern pieces.

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Laminate Your Own Fabric © laboursoflove.com

Laminating your own fabric is fast and easy.

You can choose the fabric you like and laminate it 
piece by piece to avoid any waist.

Our favorite brand is Heat n Bond

It doesn't bubble and it's nice and soft.

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Wire Edge Ribbon Pansies

These are Wire Edge Ribbon Pansies

Real French Ombre Ribbon is prefered but hard to find.

You can get a 1" wide wire edge ribbon from Offray.

Cut two pieces of 1" wide Ribbon 4" long

Cut one piece of 1" wide Ribbon 12" long

Pin as shown.  Be mindful of the shading on the ribbon.

The centre section on the 12" piece of ribbon measures 4"

Do a running stitch along the ribbons as shown.

Gather the ribbons up and this is what you will have.

To get the yellow centre simply tie a loose know in

a piece of yellow ribbon as shown and stick it through the hole.

The ribbons are placed and stitched to a piece of crinoline. 

Since crinoline is hard to find any firm fabric will do.

To use them to embellish a garment, stitch the edges down here and there, then fluff them up after washing the garment on gentle (inside out).

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Mitered Corner With The Hot Hemmer © laboursoflove.com

The "Press & Sew" Mitered Corner with the Hot Hemmer

Measure and press:  straight hems, round corners and mitered corners.  The ruler is thin, accutate and most importantly heat resistant.  Use a dry or steam iron direcly on the ruler with no problem.  The unique, non-slip surface hold fabric in place for precise results.

You can purchase one here.

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The Best Bias Tape Method Ever

When you purchase bias tape, in the darker colours you

might notice press lines like these.

Nothing will make your project look more "homemade" than

these over pressed seams.

You would think the bias tape factory would know that pressing from

the right side will leave a horrible shine.

This is why you need to learn to make your own bias tape.  And you will be pleased with how personalized your projects will be with your

custom choices of fabric.

We love this tutorial on how to do just that, the easy way!

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How to Use A Seam Ripper

You can use a seam ripper as a pick and pull out stitches one by one.

If you're brave you may have run the seam ripper

right up the seam, with mixed results.

If you use the seam ripper correctly, running it up a seam is not scary.

All you do is flip the little red ball down to the underside as shown.

This technique protects the fabric from getting slit and you can see the point from the top side so it doesn't get caught as you rip.

This is the lovely Deluxe Vintage Style Brass Seam Ripper shown in the photo's.

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The Vintage Magic Bed Jacket

It's just cute isn't it?

How to Hem Any Knit - Fold, Sew, Trim

Everyone wears knits, and they are never the right length.  You can easily hem them so they look finished just the way they were in the store.  This could be the bottom of a t-shirt, the bottom of yoga pants or even a slip.  It doesn't matter what the knit garment is that needs hemming, this is how you do it.  So let's pretend this pink fabric is the bottom of a pair of yoga pants. (You can click on the pictures to enlarge them.)

"Fit" Really Is Everything

Imagine one of the happiest days of your life - your wedding.  After the ceremony, outside the church, with all your family and friends - camera's flashing capturing the moment as you release doves to celebrate you're love.

We hardly know what to say except "fit really is everything!" Any kind of an alteration would have been better than this.  Oh dear.

This would be on Facebook and Twitter circulating around the world

before you were in the car on the way to the reception.

Le Petit "Miss Dior" Flower Dress

This kind of loveliness, is breath taking.

See the construction of the "Miss Dior" Flower Dress here.

Sewing Lessons By Email - The Hemmer

Sewing Lessons By Email were delivered today!

Sewists everywhere are learning to use The Hemmer Foot.

Join the fun.  It's a great day to sew!

Match Thread, Needles and Stitch Length Vintage Style

This is "sew" good to know!

The perfect size to print out, and pin up.

Vintage Sewing Valentines

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The Sewing Basket Cake

This cake won first prize at the NC State Fair for cake decorating.

I plan to do one just like it in my spare time in about 10 years.

Image from Flickr

Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts

This is a page out of a volume of The Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences Book, Published in Scranton, PA, with a copyright of 1936. I have eight volumes and just love them.  They are on all sorts of sewing and were used as text books. This particular page is from the volume on Children's and Maternity Garments. I don't know about you, but my maternity body didn't look anything like these girls.

I don't know how many volumes are in the whole set but the ones I do have are:  Ribbon and Fabric Trimmings, Cutting and Fitting, Principles of Tailoring, Sewing For Profit, Dressmaking - Trimming - Finishing, Children's and Maternity Garments, Harmony in Dress, Tailored Garments and Decorative Stitches and Trimmings.

If you wanted to track them down I would think a search in google with the key words of  "Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts & Sciences" would be a good place to start.

This is a sample page is from the volume on
Ribbon and Fabric Trimmings.

The China Teacup Pincushion

I got a few really lovely china tea cups when my mother-in-law passed away. This was my favourite. I didn't want it to just sit in the cupboard so I made it into a fancy pincushion that I could see and enjoy almost everyday while I was sewing. I don't really use it, but I have it on my shelf and think it's very cute. I hope it's not some sort of a rare antique because I did glue gun the cup to the saucer and there is a little dab of glue here and there. I filled the cup with polyester fiber fill and tucked a piece of heavy silk over top of it and glued it in place about 1/4" below the inside rim of the cup. I finished off the edge with a pretty pre pleated ribbon. On the saucer I tacked a piece of antique lace, that sort of looks like a lace napkin. I love it even if the cup turns out to be worth a fortune I love it just the way it is!

The Pretty Heirloom Nightgown

Well here it is our lovely my new seafoam Heirloom Nightgown.  It turned out lovely.  It's an example of how you can fancy up any fabric and then cut the pattern piece out.  Don't think about how to get the tucks, ribbon and the lace in.  Add the embellishment whatever it is to the fabric, then cut it out.  This could be a blouse, skirt, pillow - anything.  Any sewing project will work with this technique.

A tuck here and some "puffing" there...

It's so pretty!

You can do this!

Pattern and Supplies available at Labours of Love Sewing Supplies

Gramma Irene's Little Heirloom Dress

Oh to be a little girl in the 1900's...

This is Grandma Irene little heirloom dress.  I got this the same day she gave me her christening gown and Grandpa Clive's christening gown.  Little dresses like this make me want a little girl.  It's a very basic square yolk dress made out of batiste, not the greatest quality - but it's still here after all these years so it held up well.

If you click on the pictures a new window will open and you can get a good close up look at them.

On the back there are twill tape ties to close the dress and one mother of pearl button you can't quite see at the bottom of the yolk. All the lace on the dress if cotton and made in France.

The sleeve detail shows lots of lace and pretty layers. Notice that there is lace edging on the edge of the collar and sleeve, you can also see some insertion and then the flounce of Swiss edge under the collar.