Category: Londa’s Sewing Projects
Stretchy Carpenter Knee Patch
Check out this STRETCHY Knee Patch I came up with for my MOST AWESOME son-in-law! Having tried Duck fabric in the past, only to have it rip again, thinking about it, I decided perhaps good old 'iron' polyester double knit with some GIVE might be the solution. So far, the verdict is YES - it's great. While I now have some ideas for making future mends even better (more onRead More
Classic Children’s Clothes to Cherish – and To Pass Down
Classic Children's Clothes to Cherish - and To Pass Down - something I'm finding I'm pretty passionate about. Though dear Daughter turned her nose up at many of her smocked little dresses, saying she'd never use them on her own kids, these 2 garments my heart just HAD TO KEEP! I freshly laundered and pressed them and guess what? She NOW thinks they are just pretty precious and said sheRead More
Ponte Vogue Knit Jacket – Part III
To catch up, read Part I of the Ponte Knit Vogue Jacket Sewing HERE and Part II HERE. INSTALL FACINGS that HUG the BODY Facings that are drafted and applied properly can really help a garment HUG the body, rather than bag away from the body. Recall in Part I, that I do this by simply cutting the facing smaller at the neckline edge. (Please go back and read that ifRead More
Ponte Knit Vogue Jacket Sewing – Part II
To catch up, read Part I of the Ponte Knit Vogue Jacket Sewing HERE. STAY-STITCH STAY-STITCH!!!!!!! BEFORE starting to construct a garment, STABILIZING edges is VITALLY IMPORTANT! Boring...but important. For this garment, the back neck of each of the upper back pieces, and the front angled edges of each upper front NEED stay-stitching. Stay-stitching is stitching through a single layer of fabric, a tad inside the seam line - WITHOUTRead More
Ponte Vogue Jacket: Step-by-Step Sewing Technique
A simple jacket. A pattern that caught my eye' as a 'new-looking' basic. A simple sewing delight for a weekend. Could I stitch it up as directed in the pattern? Without ANY embellishment? Probably not. After over 50 years of sewing, most of those as a professional, and now a blogger, I started in - of course, with camera (phone) close by. A friend in the industry, Nancy Nix Rice, wasRead More
Sewing with Sentiment via Up-Cycle Sewing
A Day Stitching with Mom I had a precious memories of my Mom in my Sunroom Sewing Studio today. Though she has been in Heaven for 5 years now, working with this sweet cotton print dress she made me when I was around 8 to 10 years old made it feel like she was in my Studio with me. While cleaning through EVERYTHING in our house in prep to move,Read More
Transform a T-Shirt into a Cascade Vest
[caption id="attachment_4926" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Inspiration-Improvement-End Result[/caption] OK - Transforming a T into this cascading vest tickled my brain! Cruising on Pinterest for up-cycle fashion ideas for my upcoming Kids Fashion Sewing Camp, I came upon the photo seen at the left in the image above. Since I lost a night's sleep on this, let me explain... HOW THIS WORKS The Neck Hole (see my improved shaping) turns into the backRead More
How To Alter Wide Leg Pant to a Skinny Capri Pant
Once again, I have narrowed some pants to be more 'in style'. [caption id="attachment_4840" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Leg silhouette change.[/caption] Before the HOW-TO's let me get on my Soap Box. I maintain my opinion that the 'Leggins' look must be VERY VERY carefully worn - by women in general. That being said - here is proof from a fashion show I recently attended. If your legs are toned and look likeRead More
How To Morph Your Basic T Sewing Pattern
Changing your basic T pattern is truly LOTS of FUN! As with this project, that may mean some 'morphing' and RE-DOING, but in the end, it's really worth it. I let my students see the process as I work on it to encourage them to PERSIST (talking to myself as well!). Walk with me through the process to see how I got to this flippy Tunic. FABRICS USED What IRead More
Cold Shoulder Tops: Thoughts on the Fashion Look