Women's Shrug Sewing Pattern - TESTERS NEEDED

Women's Shrug Sewing Pattern

by Seamingly Smitten

Calling all sassy ladies...our WOMEN'S SHRUG sewing PATTERN will debut soon! 

I am looking for 3 pattern testers - (sizes Small,  Large and X-Large). Comment below or email me at seaminglysmitten@gmail.com if you are interested. Sews up in less than 45 minutes - many embellishment options given. Will send the pattern to you by Friday for you to sew by next Friday.

Super easy and super chic!!

CLICK HERE to view or purchase our other Women's sewing patterns.

 

Looks beautiful with a brooch!

 It can be plain and simple - or as embellished as you can imagine.

This shrug can spice up your wardrobe in less than an hour.

I cannot wait to see what you women sew with this one!

Happy Sewing!
~Jenny

TUTORIAL: How to hem jeans

Have you ever tried on a great fitting pair of jeans only to look down and see they are WAY TOO long? This happens to me all the time since I am petite. I used to shy away from long jeans and would simply keep looking for another pair, figuring I would wear boots all the time to give me a boost and not have to hem them. Well of course that only works for so long, right? Nowadays with skinny jeans being so "in" I had no choice but to face my fear and figure out how to alter jeans. Believe me, once you cut into your first pair and alter them yourself, there's no going back! You won't need to get them professionally altered, rather, you can do it yourself every time!

Here goes!! Don't be afraid to cut your jeans, girls!

Tutorial:

How to hem your jeans

Gather materials:

*Jeans that need altering / hemming

*Pins

*Scissors

*Denim needle for your sewing machine (or a size 90/size 14 needle...see below)

*straight edge ruler

*thread (I usually go with a goldish color)

1. Figure out how much shorter your jeans need to be and subtract 1 from that.

*These jeans needed to be 2 inches shorter, so 2-1 = 1 inch.

2. Using your straight edge draw your cutting line at this new number. (I am drawing my line at 1 inch.)

I always use a sharpie.

3. See the line? Repeat for the other jean leg.

4. Cut along the lines - don't be scared, just do it!!

I figure I won't wear these jeans as long as they are now anyway, and definitely won't roll them!

So what have I got to lose?

**Save one of these pieces to test your needle and thread tension in a few steps.

5. Fold up a 1 inch hem and press with an iron. Do not pin yet.

6. Take the top (cut end) of the jeans and gently fold it down with your fingers to meet the fold you just pressed with an iron. This will give you a 1/2 inch folded hem.

7. Continue and pin all around. Repeat for other leg.

8. Insert your denim needle (or larger sized needle since denim is thick).

9. Test your bobbin and thread tension on the scrap you saved. Sew on it in a straight line.

Play around on the scrap until you feel comfortable with the tension and stitch length. I use a 3.0 stitch length.

10. Sew along the pinned edge and remove the pins as you sew. Use a 1/2 inch seam allowance, or simply stay as close to the folded edge as you can. Repeat for both jean legs.

 HINT: when you come to your side seams you want to keep your presser foot flat as it sews. If it tilts up and then down your stitches will not be even. I just lift the jean material behind the presser foot as it goes over the "bump" of the side seam. This keeps it flat on the material and it keeps sewing smoothly.

You did it! They may not be perfect the first time, but you definitely won't be stepping on them anymore!

Go sport your new jeans and don't be afraid of long jeans ever again!! You can hem your jeans!

Enjoy and Happy Sewing!
~Jenny

Tutorial: How to sew a pillow

Even if you are a true beginner sewer, you CAN sew a pillow!

If you know how to thread your machine and bobbin and sew a straight stitch you have all the skills you need to sew a pillow! In fact, when I started sewing my very first projects were making pillows for my couch. My husband and I lived in a tiny apartment and were on an even tinier budget. But the wonderful thing about making pillows is it does not take much fabric but makes a huge impact on your home decor. You can take a very bland couch and spruce it up with some throw pillows in a day! It takes about 30 minutes max to make one pillow if you are a true beginner and after making a few you can whip them up in no time!

Ready to learn?

Tutorial: How to sew a pillow

1. Gather materials: a 12 x 18 inch pillow insert, scissors, straight edge/ruler, pins, 5/8 a yard fabric

************************************************************************

Helpful Hints:

*Since home decor fabric is 60 inches wide you can actually make 3 pillows this size with the fabric.

*You can also use poly fill. Get 1 bag to make one pillow this size.

*If you are on a budget start by looking in the clearance section for fabric. Usually at Hancock's fabric I can find a yard of home decor fabric for $5 or LESS when it's on sale! Think if you are only using 5/8 of a yard and the yard of fabric is $5.00 then you will only spend around $3.25 for the fabric for 3 pillows!! Score!

*If you want to cover a pillow form you can also check the clearance section at a store such as TJ Maxx, Marshalls or Homegoods for throw pillows. Your measurements will be specific to those pillows, but no worries! Just figure out the pillow's size and add 1 inch around all sides to get your measurements. Cut your fabric and begin!

***********************************************************************

2. Cut 2 pieces of fabric 14 inches x 20 inches. One piece is for the front and one piece is for the back.

 This leaves you a one inch seam allowance on all sides.

3. Lay them right sides together and pin around all 4 sides. 

4. Starting at the top right corner, measure 4 inches to the left and place 2 pins.

Repeat for the left corner.

(*You will leave the space between the 2 sets of pins unsewn. This leaves an opening for turning it right side out and for inserting your pillow form later.)

5. Using a 1 inch seam allowance start sewing at the 2 pins on the top right. Sew towards the nearest corner, down the short edge, across the bottom, up the opposite side and across the top but STOP sewing when you reach the other set of 2 pins.

*Remove pins as you sew.

6. Clip your corners. I cut off the corner of the pillow and clip up to the sewn line, but not through it. This will ease the tension in the fabric to allow for neater corners when you turn it inside out. It will reduce the bulk of the fabric which will also make it easier for turning.

7. Turn inside out. Press with an iron.

Use a turning tool for the corners if needed.

8. Insert your pillow form (or fill with poly fill).

9. Pin the opening closed. Turn the fabric down with your fingers carefully so the edges match up nicely.

10. Hand-sew the opening closed.

You're DONE!!

Toss that pillow on a couch, bed or chair and be proud of what you made!

Then make another one with the leftover fabric! And you will smile everytime you walk into the room and see the pillows that YOU made!!

*Coming soon: Envelope Pillow Tutorial

(I love these because there isn't any hand sewing!)

Happy Sewing!

Jenny

New PDF Sewing Patterns for beginners and Beth Gold Photography

New PDF Sewing Patterns for Women and Children coming soon!

All photos by: Beth Gold Photography

Ruffled Pinafore Sewing Pattern - revamped - coming soon!

Girl's Ruffled Collared Cape sewing pattern          The Miss Mod Top sewing pattern

on sale now                                                                  on sale now

Happy New Year! I hope you all had a wonderful 2011 and are ready for 2012! Seamingly Smitten is gearing up to debut some fabulous NEW sewing patterns this year! We've partnered with Beth Gold Photography and some amazing models to show off the patterns we have and the patterns that are coming.

Here is a sneak peek from our photo shoot with Beth...

Classic A-Line Dress sewing pattern -      Girl's Ruffle Collared Cape sewing pattern -

                on sale now!                                          on sale now!

               Ruffled Pinafore Sewing Pattern - out soon!   Classic A-line Dress sewing pattern (on sale now!)

Besides the sewing patterns that will debut....10 in all...the blog is going to be a better resource for you! Is there something you want to learn? A specific tutorial you would like to see? Let me know and you might see it on here!

Want to learn to sew?

These sewing tutorials are coming soon:

How to alter your jeans

How to make a pillow

How to make an envelope pillow

Here is to a Happy New Year and to Happy Sewing!
Jenny ~ Seamingly Smitten