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Autumn Leaves Jacket — Vogue 1817
Hard to believe, but this is the 6th rendition of this pattern that I’ve made! The minute I tried on the finished garment I breathed a sigh of happiness. It feels like a second skin, feels great, soft and smooth, has the vibe of a sweater, is flattering, hangs close to the body and will work as an indoor garment or an outer layer. Makes a good layering piece too, can slide a thin vest under the jacket and could slip a coat over it. The print adds a quiet wash of color and will work with all my black basics, so I know this will become a cool weather at home, out and about and travel basic. Does not show spots or wrinkle either.
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Inside and Outside Curves — Simplified
Here is a simple technique for sewing concave and convex curves together. I'm working with lining; two opposite sides to sew together. It could be frustrating, but super simple if you know the tricks of the trade. Please leave me a comment and let me know if you tried it.
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Free Reign With Liberty — Butterick 6521
The feel of silk with the breath of cotton —much to love — that’s Liberty Tana Lawn for you. Plus a myriad of colors and patterns to choose from. I love my jeans (or black pants for a little dress-up) so blue is always a good choice for me, especially if there’s a little black thrown in. I chose 4 Liberty fabrics — Felicity, Emily, Carlisle and Portsmouth Liberty Cotton Woven and used one yard of each (2 units).
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How to Add a Separating Zipper to a Jacket Step
Prominent zippers sewn into garments are a trend we see in European clothes and all over, really. In this first of three videos, I share ideas for choosing just the right zipper, and the best way to prepare a jacket before adding a zipper. Much of your success in this process will depend on getting the zipper positioned correctly, right from the beginning. I find when I do a lot of fussing over these kinds of details, the result will be a garment with a certain 'finesse'. When machine stitching, you'll want to use your fold line as your guideline. You'll find it isn't much quicker to machine stitch this than it was to sew it by hand in the last video. It's one of those funny little tasks that I don't do a lot, so I wanted to figure out an easy way to make it work without too much hassle.
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How to Add a Sleeve & Lengthen a Dress or Top
Join me in my studio as I demonstrate how to add a sleeve to a sleeveless dress (or top), add length to an asymmetrical hem, and piecing tricks (if you need them.) I've had many requests asking how you would do this for my Cirque Dress, Vogue 9112. After auditioning many possible fabrics, I settled on a Japanese cotton double gauze.
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Fall Jacket & Vest — Vogue 1817
I am thrilled that my Fall Jacket, Vogue 1817 is on the catalog cover this season! The pattern is fun to make and wear and both jacket and vest lend themselves to a wide variety of fabrics and the styling can be interpreted for any season and will flatter nearly all figure types. Make it in jacquard, brocade, linen, denim, cotton, taffeta, cotton flannel, silk, ponte, wool suiting.
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How to Carve Fabric Stamps
I want to show you how easy and fun it is to carve your own rubber stamps. Once I realized how quick and simple it was, I began searching for and collecting images.
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How to Create a Mitered Corner with Gwen Spencer
How to make a mitered corner, in The Studio with Marcy and Gwen Spencer. See Gwen's fast and easy, foolproof method for making a mitered corner.
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Paris Strip T-Shirt — Vogue 8582
I love the trend of using fabric as a trim, and I often see the French using home sewing techniques like this in design. In this first of three videos, I review different design strategies for this technique, cutting strips and sewing them on to the fabric of the garment. In this video, I demonstrate variations I've created using Vogue Pattern V8582. In this second video of three, I demonstrate the steps to follow when cutting strips and positioning them on to the garment. I also include tips on cutting on the grain, working with the stretch of the garment, and other guidelines for measuring, cutting, and positioning the strips onto the garment. In this third and final video in the series, I go through the steps of sewing, pressing, and other design strategies for adding material strips to a T-shirt or any garment. It's best to build your strips, one or two at a time, press, and then move on to building the next. That allows the design to evolve as you go. Also, should you have a problem with fabric stretching, you can add stabilizer and then tear it away when you're finished.
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