Beads on a Gown…..Removing and Reattaching

Many of you out there have been asking me how to take off beads and reattach them.

I don’t have a “rocket science” answer, but I’ll tell you what works for me.

I just begin by assessing the area where they are to be removed.

If I am taking in the side seams or bust of a dress, I will start by removing the beads closest to the seam line.

On this dress, the beads are huge and vary in size and shape, so I need to remove them or my presser foot will not be able to move over the surface of the fabric when I take in the dress.

As I assess the area, I look to see if the beads are sewn on individually with a long thread or if they are attached onto a separate piece of fabric, like a netting.

This dress didn’t have the netting.

The beads were sewn on individually, but probably done by a machine.

I can usually follow the thread with my eye, even while it is still sewn in, to figure out which beads should come off.

 I use either my seam ripper or a pair of small pointed scissors to clip the first thread.

Once that is done, I pull the bead off and store it in a small bowl or baggie.

Now, I gently pull on the thread to see where the next bead is coming from.

I try to keep the thread as long as I can without cutting it because I may be able to use that same thread later to secure the beads that are not going to be removed.

We’ll talk more about that later.

Once all of the beads are off, I do the alteration.

Then, I find a needle that is narrow enough for the beads to slide over.

Thread the needle with thread that matches the color that was used originally.

Tie a knot on the end.

I come up through the dress from the back, or if that is not possible, or I don’t want the knot to show on the underside, I come up through a spot where I will later attach a bead so that the knot will be hidden:

Anchor the bead down with several stitches. The bead above needs to be sewn by coming up through the middle of it and then down the outside of it.

Sometimes, you’ll have to go through the middle of the bead like this:

And sometimes, you’ll have to sew it on the edge of the bead like this:

Just continue to sew beads on. If there was originally a pattern or sequence to how the beads were sewn on, then follow that sequence. Sometimes you won’t be able to match it exactly, but do what you can to make it look as good as possible. In this case, the beads were sewn randomly all over the dress bodice, so I will do the same and fill in the open spaces until it looks good:

When I get to the end, I will pull the thread to the back of the dress (if that is possible).

Remember the long thread(s) that you had from pulling beads off at the beginning?

Thread those onto a needle one at a time:

Then pull it to the back of the dress and tie the two threads together into a knot that is secure:

If you’re not able to pull them through to the back of the garment, then tie your knots under a bead or in some spot where they can’t be seen.

And that’s all there is to it!

When you’re finished, it should look the same as before you started.

French Bustles…Making Them Even Easier Than Before!

A big thanks to Christy, at Alterations by Christy, for telling me about an even easier way to put French bustles in your gown!

Many of you have seen the post I wrote on Putting Bustles on Your Wedding Gown. Christy saw it too and wrote to tell me about a step in the process that will save you lots of time.

Please refer back to the original post and then come back here for the short cut.

This time I am using a red formal gown that came with some bustling on the back already as part of the design.

Don’t let that throw you, if your dress back doesn’t have this poofing.

Your dress can have a simple plain train or a fancy one. The technique is the same.

This dress needed three bustles to keep it off the ground and the dress had three seams in the back, so it worked perfectly.

I always try to pin along the seams so I can hide the mechanics of the bustles under the dress.

Here is one of the bustles I pinned up.

Then I put pins to mark the upper and lower parts of that bustle, carefully took out the original pin, and laid it out flat:

Then, I transfered the pin marks to the underside of the skirt where I need to work on the bustles:

Instead of creating the loops like I did in my first post, Christy suggests using these instead:

Brilliant!

I found them at my local Joann Fabric store for about $2.00. They were in the section where the snaps are.

Ideally, you want the ring to sit above the top pin’s mark.

However, sometimes, that isn’t possible, as in this case:

Because of a previously sewn in bustle, my ring can’t sit above the pin mark.

You may find that this situation arises if your zipper tape is in the way as well.

So, let me tell you how to adjust for this problem.

I went ahead and stitched in the ring by hand onto the seam allowance only.

Then I measured the distance between the bottom of the ring and the pin mark:

In this case, it’s only 1/4″, which may not seem like enough to bother with, but I do anyway.  If yours is a greater amount, you’ll want to make the adjustment or your dress will hang too low when bustled.

So, I take that 1/4″ measurement, and go 1/4″ lower than the bottom pin mark and stitch the ribbon to the seam allowance only at the new mark:

Now, just thread the ribbon ends through the ring…

and tie in a bow like you tie your shoelaces, and you have it!

This bustle will stay put all through the reception and dance!

Thanks, Christy; you saved us all alot of time!

Taking in the Waist and Center Back on Denim Pants and Skirts

One of the more common alterations I do is taking in the waist and center back on pants and skirts.

Most people try and solve this problem by just making a dart or two in the back of the pants.

That doesn’t work too well if your pants or skirt is made of thick fabric and has double stitched seams.

This is when this alteration comes in handy and it works on pants and skirts alike.

For this illustration, I have a skirt:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pin how much you need to take in and record the amounts along the waist and the center back seam as I did in the second photo of this post.

Or use your favorite method of transferring markings.

This skirt has a belt loop at the center back. With a seam ripper or a pair of small pointed scissors, take off the belt loop, making sure you pay attention to how it is attached because you are going to reattach it in the same way after you make the alteration:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Remove any tags that are sewn in:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Open up the horozontal waist seam by about four inches or more (2″ on either side of the center back) with your seam ripper or scissors:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If there is stitching along the top edge of the waistband, take out about 3 inches of that (1 1/2″ on either side of the center back seam).

Now, this skirt does not have a center back seam. Most pants and jeans don’t either.

If yours doesn’t have a center back seam, don’t worry, we are going to put one in and it won’t show, as I’ll illustrate later.

This skirt needed to be taken in 3/4″ total in the waist. So, that means, I need to take in 3/8″ on both sides of the center back.

I took a ruler and marked the skirt 3/8″ away from the center back (make sure you mark to the left of the center and to the right of the center), one  at the top of the band and one at the bottom of the band:

See the blue pen mark in the photo above? Well, you probably don’t want to use a blue pen, but I thought you’d be able to see it better than my marking pen.

Make these marks on the outside waistband and the inside waistband because you have to take in both!

Just to clarify, your markings should look like this:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As you can tell in the photo above, if you don’t have a center back seam, you can draw one with a washable marker, or press it in, or eyeball it.

When you don’t have a center back seam, you are going to create one to take the waistline in. Don’t worry, it will be covered by the belt loop. The best way I’ve found to insure that my seam is hidden under the belt loop, is to sew it to the right (or left) of the actual center back seam that you see double stitched below the waistband. See how it doesn’t line up exactly? That’s what you want. In this case, I moved it over about 1/8″ inch.

To take in the waistband, fold the waistband along the new imaginary seamline, right sides together. (If your garment came with a center back seam, of course you’ll just stitch a line parallel to the seamline.) Match the blue dots to each other and pin them in place:

Stitch in that new 3/8″ seam:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Most of the time, I cut the fold and spread the new seam out flat to reduce bulk in the waistband area.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

However, if this is your first time with this alteration, wait and make sure everything is going fit together well before you trim it. If you have taken in a small amount, you may just want to leave it alone and not trim it. It’s up to you.

Now, we’re going to move to the skirt (or pants) for a few minutes, so leave the waistband until later.

Turn the skirt or pants to the underside. You need to take out the topstitching next.

Sometimes, the manufacturer will stitch the topstitching with a chain stitch. These are great because you can grab one thread and pull and the whole seam will come out. Just make sure you don’t pull out more than you meant to!

On this skirt I had one row of chain stitch and one row of regular stitching:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Take out the topstitching with a seam ripper or scissors.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Take in the skirt or pants the desired amount, tapering the seam towards the original seam like this:

Again, I don’t just guess on how much to take in, I have pinned it first and then transferred the markings so I know exactly where to stitch the new seam.

Once you have the new seam stitched, turn the garment to the right side and topstitch the seam just like it was originally:

In the photo above, you can tell where the old seam was, but don’t worry, that will fade quickly and most people don’t notice it anyway.

Here is where you want to reattach the belt loop.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stitch the labels back on:

Now, topstitch to top of the waistband:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stitch the waistband to the skirt (or pants). I usually topstitch this area closed:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Topstitch the top of the belt loop and then the bottom to hold it in place:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s a look at the inside:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is what it should look like on the outside. It should look the same as before you started, only smaller!

Altering a Bubble Dress and Other “Closed” Lined Garments

This year, I’ve seen alot of Bubble Dresses for Prom and Homecoming.

Here is one I altered yesterday:

 

They have lots of pouf all over them, don’t they?

The hem and the lining are usually sewn together at the bottom of the dress.

So, instead of opening up the hem area, I leave that alone as often as possible.

So far, no one has asked me to hem a short bubble dress.

I have had to hem a bubble bridal gown.

Say that fast three times!

But, on this gown, I needed to take in the bust area at the side seams.

So, instead of opening up the hem area and doing the alteration from there, I opened up the lining on a side seam about two inches longer than the area I wanted to alter:

On this dress, I needed to take in the side seams from the top of the bust down to the waist.

Once I had the side seam opened, I reached in and turned the dress inside out. That made it possible to take in the side seams.

To do that alteration, read this post.

You can do other alterations as well, but this is the most common one I do on formal gowns.

Once I was finished altering the dress fabric and the lining, I folded back the edges of the opening and stitched it closed:

I sew the stitches very close to the edge so that I don’t lose any noticeable width in the lining.

And that’s all there is to it!

I use this technique when I am working on any garment where the lining doesn’t hang loose. In men’s jackets, I tend to open up the sleeve area because it is more hidden than the back or sides of the jacket. The same is true for women’s jackets. On jackets, I tend to do alterations such as shortening sleeve length, taking in the center back seam or shortening the jacket’s length.

I like this technique because it saves alot of time and I don’t like to hand sew something together if I don’t have to!

How To Sew a Partial Hem

There are many instances where you may need to sew just part of a hem. Maybe you have a skirt that is uneven, too long in the front or back, or maybe you have pants with the same problem.

Today, I am going to use this bridal gown to illustrate how to sew a partial hem.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The bride asked that the entire front edge be hemmed up, but that I should leave the train alone.

So, you’ll need to pin up the amount of fabric on your garment that needs to be raised.

Many times, the transition from front to back is no big deal.

But, sometimes, you’ll be raising four or five inches of the hem and you wonder how to make that smooth transition to the back of the skirt.

In this case, I am not raising the hem too much, but I still need to taper the fabric so that it has a smooth transition front to back.

For most long dresses, I like the front edge of the dress to be one inch off of the floor to give the customer enough clearance to walk without feeling like she is going to trip on her hem.

At the side seams, the hem will almost touch the floor, and then I’ll gradually taper the hem back to the train.

So, to do that, I took out the stitches for about two inches beyond the side seams and into the train area:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You’ll need to do the same. Take out about two inches of stitches into the hem area that you are not going to alter.

Fold the fabric back along the new foldline and press the new edge:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next, press the rest of the hem, taking out pins before you get to them:

 

 

If you look at the photo below, you’ll notice that the underside edge is finished with a serger (stitching on the right) and the right side of the fabric was topstitched (the stitching on the left).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When I go to finish the hem, I’ll do the same to it.

Take note of how your hem is finished because you’ll want to finish your new hem area the same way that was originally done, if possible. (Sometimes, you can’t duplicate what has been done, but you can come close enough.)

Next, trim off any excess fabric and finish the raw edge.

I used a serger to both trim the edge and serge it. This saved me a step and some time:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you serge it and you have the loose thread tails, you can weave them back into the serged edge or tuck them into the hem when you topstitch the edge.

 

 

 

Now you can see that all I have to do is fold over the finished edge:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Notice that the transition isn’t really noticeable.

Now, you’ll need to topstitch the edge.

I like to topstitch from the right side of the fabric (hem):

Since the original stitching is really close to the edge, I move my needle all the way to the right and then stitch:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When you get to the other side, just meet the original stitching and backstitch to hold it tight.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is what the new hem looks like at the side seam:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pretend I pressed it before I took the photo!

Keeping Your Notions Handy

Last week I showed you my sewing room.

Today, I ‘d like to show you how I organize it.

I was raised by a very organized mother.

She taught me well. When you are finished with something, it goes right back where it belongs.

But I’m not as good as I used to be. I certainly don’t have things back where they belong here. 

What is a map doing in my sewing space, you ask?

Well, my husband and I went on a trip two weeks ago and I am journaling the trip in that small blue notebook and using the map to remind me of the places we went and the things we saw.

I bet you multi-task in your sewing room too.

We all have clutter.

And we all have to move it out of the way if we are going to sew.

So, here it is after I’ve put things away:

Do you see the gray square storage unit in the photo above?

Well, my husband used to use it for storing nails, and nuts and bolts in the garage.

But, he “graduated” to a different storage unit and asked me if I wanted this for sewing.

It has 25 small clear drawers in it and I thought it would be perfect for all sorts of notions.

The inside holds various sizes of sewing machine needles, all sorts of buttons, snaps, bridal beads, trims, my jean-a-ma-jig, etc.

I use the top of it to hold a small clock, seam rippers, the tomato pin cushion, and small scissors.

The black mesh container on its left is a pencil holder my husband bought me at Walmart or Target.

I used to use an empty cocoa container, which worked just fine, but this has lots of compartments, which is nice.

The two ends hold all my pens, seam guage, rotary cutter, crochet hooks, fray block and markers.

The middle section holds my most often used “feet” for my sewing machine, and some “post-it” notes.

Below the counter, on my right, I have several matching wicker baskets. The two top baskets hold all my sewing machine thread.

In one basket, I have spools of blue, purple, grey, black, and white. In the other, there are reds, oranges, greens, yellows and browns.

This isn’t the best solution, because I have to dig through the baskets to find the shade I need. The thread ends work their way off of the spools and get a little tangled from time to time.

I used to have a rack on the wall for my thread. It holds each spool individually so you can see the colors at a glance.

In this sewing room, I didn’t want too many things on the wall, but I think I may go back to that idea.

One basket on the lowest shelf holds my scissors:

Not sure how I got such a large collection. I don’t think I bought any of them. I think they were all given to me as gifts. Some are for fabric, some are for cutting paper, and one is a pinking shear.

The other baskets hold patterns, notions and other gizmos.

The point is, I like to have most everything at my fingertips so I don’t have to get up and go hunt something down.

In my last sewing room, I had a peg board and I was able to hang all my scissors, needle packages, mini iron, marking paper and wheel, etc. Then, all I had on the counter was my grey storage unit and my pencil holder.

You probably have a combination of things on your counter and things hung up.

You may have your iron right next to you.

I like to get up and go iron (especially with the big wedding dresses) because it gives me a chance to move around a little.

There are other reasons I get up and move around.

Sometimes, I get things out of these drawers:

They hold serger cones of thread, patterns and books.

They’re the perfect size for what I need them for.

I spotted them both as I was driving past a garage sale.

They were in perfect condition and I only paid $15 for the pair!

I also get up from the sewing machine to meet with customers downstairs.

When I do, I carry this small basket of 4 items with me:

It has my long tape measure, my seam guage, and both magnetic pin cushions.

And it’s always ready to go at a moment’s notice.

I also use this plastic container to carry all I need when I sew on my dining room table.

Sometimes the dresses or projects are just too big for my sewing area.

With this container, I only have to make one trip down the stairs with all I need.

Well, there you have a brief tour of the layout of my sewing room.

As you can see, there is nothing fancy about it.

And some things about it are rather frugal.

But  I  like to keep it simple.

What about you?

What are your favorite organizational tips?

I’d love to hear how you make the most of your sewing space and how you keep your notions handy.

My Sewing Room

Where do you sew?

Do you have a designated room where you can keep your machine set up at all times?

Is it in a bedroom, a basement, a dining room, an office?

If you don’t have a designated space, stay tuned. I will address organizational tips for you in an upcoming post.

Here is my sewing room:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It has lots of daylight streaming in.

Why is it stark white, you ask?

It all started at our former home when my sewing room was in the unfinished laundry room in our basement.

(See, now don’t you feel better about your own sewing space?!!!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It looked like a cave in there with a single naked bulb at the ceiling (hence the floor lamp for extra lighting.)

So, I asked my handy husband if he could craft me a sewing table and paint it white.

He questioned the color choice several times.

I said, “Just trust me on this.”

And he did.

He made the shelving unit you see in the bottom of the first photo. (Yes, he made it portable so that if we ever moved, he could easily take it with us.)

Then, he bought a laminate countertop and secured it to the shelving unit.

He also bought several sheets of pegboard and painted them white. (I bet you can find them premade in white at the hardware store these days.)

He secured them behind my counter so that I could hang most anything from hooks on the peg board.

 

 

And that worked really well. I loved having everything right at my fingertips.

We hung a long flourescent light above the counter which made for a wonderful light source.

I’m glad everything was white. I really did need it to be as bright as possible in that room.

I know the photo doesn’t do it justice, but with all that white and the light, it was a totally awesome space!

I thanked him profusely for years for making it for me.

Then we moved.

And he brought the shelving unit with us.

And it fit perfectly in the new sewing room.

This room has alot of natural daylight in it, but no overhead lighting.

 

 

 

So, I use a floor lamp occaionally at night.

Impressive, huh?

Well, I’m just too cheap to call the electrician and have him wire me an overhead light.

Plus, I’m not sure if an overhead light will help me see the tiny stitches up close, anyway.

So, in the meantime, the lamp works fine.

My husband bought the pre-made cupboards that you see above the counter, for storage.

Ninety nine percent of what is stored there is fabric.

I have already purged the fabric pile several times and what I have left fits perfectly in the cupboards.

I use it for making quilts and for any alterations that require a scrap of fabric to solve the problem.

Ok, so now, I’d love to hear your opinions on how I can perk up this space.

Is it too white for you?

What would you change to make it better?

I’m not gifted in the design area, so I would appreciate any help you can give me.

I’d also love to hear about your sewing space and why you like it or dislike it.

Send me photos if you’ve got them. E-mail me at thesewinggarden@gmail.com

This will be fun!

Writing Receipts For Your Customers

Some of you are sewing or crafting for other people.

If you’re like me, you don’t want to spend a lot of money on supplies.

I wanted to give my customers a recept, but I didn’t need them to look like a beautiful keepsake.

Chances are, most people throw theirs away.

In fact, some just tell me to keep it.

So, I hunted around at different office supply stores for the perfect receipt book.

And here is what I found:

 

 

I knew I wanted my receipt book to have carbon in it to make two copies…one for the customer and one for me.

This is pretty simple looking, but it gets the job done.

And the bonus is, that they are much cheaper than anything I could find at the big office supply stores. And, actually, I even looked at the little office supply stores and couldn’t find anything remotely close to what I was searching for.

Here’s what this one looks like on the inside:

 

 

There’s a place for the name, address, date, etc. There’s also a place to check off how they paid (cash, check, etc.)

By the way, I don’t accept credit cards and no one seems to mind one bit.

In fact, in the last 20 years, I don’t remember any more than two people asking me about it.

Besides the personal information, I also write what kinds of alterations I made and on which garment.

This customer had only one garment that she brought to me at the time:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I covered up her name and phone number, but the main part says, “Take in neck straps and replace beads and trim, hook and eyes.”

I might even occasionally describe the dress on the receipt.

Of course, I gave her the top copy with a business card, if she hasn’t gotten one already and I keep my yellow copies attached to the book.

Sometimes on my yellow copy, I’ll write important info that I might need to remember, like an inseam measurement, a wedding or anniversary date, or something that is going on in their life. Later when they come to pick up their order, I can ask them about it.

It makes my job much more personal.

Then, at the end of each month, I put all my data into an Excel file on my computer so that if I need the customer’s information, I’ve got it on record and it’s handy.

You may have a favorite receipt book or other tool for this purpose.

If so, I’d love to hear what you have found to be successful.

Mending What the Dog Chewed Up (Part Two)

In the last post, we looked at a technique to mend practically anything.

But in that scenario, we used the first of two Vera Bradley bags that a customer brought to me to fix.

Her dog had chewed them both to pieces.

Today, let’s look at the other bag.

It has bigger issues.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This big bite came out of the pocket on the front of the bag.

Good job, Fido!

This one needs some serious surgery.

So, we go to Plan B (Technique #2).

First, I hand sewed the area just to draw the raw edges closer together.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Because there were holes all over this chew area, I had to cover the bite marks up!

I had some leftover seam binding in my notions box. You may find something similar in yours or you may have a scrap piece of fabric that you can use to cover this hole.

I like the seam binding because it comes with a prefolded edge to it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I cut it a little longer than the area I needed to cover.

Then, I trimmed the width, because it was wider than I needed too.

That’s the thing about alterations. You can use all sorts of odds and ends and make them work.

Then I stitched the long, unfolded edge of the seam binding to the edge of the bag.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I sewed it right sides together and then flipped the scrap fabric over to make sure I had covered the torn edge with my stitches.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then I flipped the fabric patch to the other side of the bag and pinned it in place:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then I stitched close to the edge. Then, using the stitching technique from the first bag, I tightly stitched the ends as shown.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you don’t like how the tight stitches look at the ends, you can always turn under those short ends before you sew on the patch and then the last step would be to stitch straight across those ends.

But, I felt this bag needed the extra reinforcement.

And do you know what?

The customer called and profusely thanked me for making the bag look so good.

Wasn’t that sweet of her?

That kind of consideration just makes your day, doesn’t it?

Now, go and fix that ripped and torn item you’ve had sitting around for weeks or months.

It will make your day!

Mending What the Dog Chewed Up (Part One)

A customer brought me 2 Vera Bradley bags (purses) that her dog chewed up and asked me if I could repair them.

She really didn’t have high expectations; she figured anything I could do was better than what they looked like.

But, she didn’t know that I have a favorite mending technique that earns rave reviews every time I use it.

This is some of the damage to one strap on the first bag:

 

 

To fix this, select thread that matches the bag and thread your machine and bobbin with it.

Now, switch your machine to a zig zag stitch.

Select the widest width of zig zag that you have.

The stitch length should be set at zero. (If you start sewing and the machine does not move forward, then move the stitch length lever just a smidge and try it there. You certainly don’t want it at “1″. The goal here is to have the stitches as close together as possible.)

Begin stitching along the edge of the strap like this:

 

 

You may need to go over it a couple of times.

This is how it turned out:

 

 

See how good that looks?

Most people won’t even notice that the bag was in shreds a few minutes ago.

Here’s another example of damage to the middle of the bag:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is what it looks like after the mend:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This technique has many applications.

I use it to mend jeans, jackets, sleeping bags and many other items around the house.

It only takes a couple of minutes and the right color of thread and you’ve got an instant solution to lots of problems.