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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

Shortening Long Sleeves

Are the sleeves on your shirts too long?
Shortening sleeves is a quick alteration.
This technique will work for mens or ladies shirts that have cuffs on them.
Let me show you what I did on this purple shirt:

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
There are two rows of stitching on the top edge of the cuff

 
 
It’s a little hard to see in that photo, but you [...]

Changing a Garment From Zippered to Buttoned

I have a customer who loathes zippers in her robes.
So, she asked me if I could take the zipper out and put in buttons.
No problem, I answered.
It’s no problem because I made sure that she understood that she was going to lose some of the width in the front.
Putting in buttonholes and buttons means one side will overlap [...]

Shortening a Zipper From the Top

In all my years of altering clothes, I had never thought of altering a zipper from the top.
Usually, when a dress doesn’t zip all the way up, I try to let out the side seams at the bust area.
Often, I sew in gussets. Gussets are pie shaped wedges of fabric sewn into the side seams [...]