by Sherri Sylvester | Sep 29, 2016
We’re doing something totally new-to-Thread Riding Hood today! Take our Quiz to find out “What’s Your Maker Style?” This is a super-fun look at different sewing styles, coinciding with the release of the new Janome M Series of machines and the M Series Look Book full of “ideas, projects and techniques for the Maker in you.”
This post is sponsored by Janome Canada. Thank you for your support!
As part of the M Series Look Book I sewed-up a series of Maker Aprons – 3 different styles for 3 different types of Maker. I’ve got lots of tips, tricks and a new free pattern download planned for the next 3 weeks, but first we need to find out What Your Maker Style is!
Take the Quiz!
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So! What is Your Maker Style? Let us know in the comments. Did the quiz get your style right? Were you hoping for a different answer? (P.S. Share it with your friends to find out what kind of maker they are!)
Design Diva? Get your Free Apron Pattern Here
Workshop Wizard? Find your Apron, Must-Have Tools, and a Leather Label Tutorial
Eco Expert? Upcycling Goodness – Tips and a Round-up of great Projects You Need to Try
Whatever your style, this is the first in a 4-Part mini-series. Each of the next three weeks I’ll be talking in detail about all of them, including how you can make each of these aprons yourself! The series will end just before Creativ Festival in Toronto, where you can find lots more sewing inspiration. (I’ll be there with Janome, speaking and doing a workshop, you can find out more in this post.)
Be sure to check out the M Series Look Book. It’s not just about the new machines, it includes tons of free content from Canadian Janome Artisans and more fun ideas, tutorials and inspiration. Plus, you can download the York pattern from Seamwork magazine – totally free!
Enjoy sewing! I’ll see you next week.
by Sherri Sylvester | Sep 27, 2016
Wow, these photos are from 2 years ago! I’m switching to a new, much faster (Thank goodness!), computer right now and am in the process of sorting files. Yup – super fun! (haha) But, there’s a silver lining! I found this tutorial, all photographed and ready to go. Easy Peasy! In the middle of all of the excitement and preparations (re: yesterday’s post) I am happy to have less to do!
My girls love skirts and dresses and I love the modesty that shorts provide – so the faux skirt front is a great mash-up for both of us. My oldest is still wearing them – though they are quite a bit shorter now!
This tutorial is a bit more summer- related – but if I wait another year to post it you might not even recognize my kids in the photos! Also, it seemed a better time to write it up when I was planning last week and it was still warm outside. Today is a bit less hospitable – with rain and chilly-ish fall weather. Oops!
Either way, here’s a full tutorial on how to add a faux skirt panel to the front of any shorts pattern, assuming the shorts have a side seam and separate waistband. Depending on your part of the world, you can get a jump on your summer sewing, next summer’s sewing, or pin the tutorial for later! Of course, these would look great in a nice wool plaid with tights underneath. #justsayin
For simplicity’s sake, I have referred here to the free Oliver and S Sunny Day Shorts pattern. To prepare, download the pattern and cut out all pieces according to the instructions. Make sure to leave excess fabric for the faux-skirt front. If the pattern pieces look a little different, it’s because I usually lower the rise on the front of my kids’ shorts – it tends to fit them a bit better. Here I’ve lowered the front rise by 1 1/2″.
Draft and Cut the Skirt Front
1) Fold Skirt Front fabric in half. Place Center-Front pattern piece near the fold as shown in photo. The Shorts Side is parallel to the fold. Leave 1/2″ or so before the top of the Center-Front to add ease for movement to the front of the skirt. (The curves on the top of the pattern will make it easy to ease this fabric back in later on.) Trace the top of the shorts pattern to mark the top of the skirt front – the excess at the Center-Front is free-hand marked at 90 degrees to the fold.
2) Pivot the pattern piece so the bottom of the Shorts Side is 1-2″ over from it’s original placement. The top of the Shorts Side matches up with your line from step 1. Trace the Shorts Side, including the notch placement.
3) Draw a line from the bottom of the Shorts Side to the fold. The line is at a 90 degree angle to the folded edge.
4) To make hemming easier, we need to straighten out the angle at the bottom of the Skirt Side. Line up the bottom of the Shorts Front with the bottom edge of the Skirt. Trace the side of the shorts, making a 1 1/2″ line 90 degrees up from the bottom edge.
5) Cut out the faux Skirt panel.
6) Hem the Skirt Panel. Follow the instructions for the Sunny Day Shorts – “Finish the Shorts” Step 1.
7) Sandwich the Shorts Front, Skirt Panel and Shorts Back as shown. Shorts Front and Skirt Panel are right-side-up. Shorts Back is wrong-side up. Align the straight side edge – this is the wearer’s right side seam. You can use the notches to line everything up properly.
8) Pin the side, making sure all three layers are aligned. Fold the skirt panel out of the way. match and pin the inner leg, matching the Shorts Front and Back. Stitch as indicated in the Sunny Day Shorts instructions – “Prepare the Shorts Front and Back” Step 1.
9) Repeat step 8 for the wearer’s left side. Fold the other shorts leg and skirt panel out of the way and stitch the side and inner seam.
10) Follow “Prepare the Shorts Front and Back” Step 2 to sew the rise. Be sure to fold the skirt panel out of the way while stitching! Pin the raw edges of the Skirt Front to the Shorts Front. Ease in the excess Skirt fabric and baste with a 1/4″ seam.
11) Continue to follow the Sunny Day Shorts instructions to attach the waistband and insert the elastic.
12) Fold up and press the shorts hem as per “Finish the Shorts” Step 1.
13) Open the skirt panel and pin the hem where it meets the skirt panel. Stitch the hem, beginning at the pin and ending where the hem meets the skirt panel on the other side.
All done! Enjoy your new skirt 🙂
Let me know what you think! Or even better – post some photos? I’d love to see them! Share your photos on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram using the hashtags #alongforthreadride and/or #threadridinghood. Thank you!
by Sherri Sylvester | Sep 26, 2016
The past year has been full with preparation. I’ve been working behind the scenes and can finally share them with you. It’s so hard to keep a secret and I’ve been allowed to be a part of some super amazing projects since last April!
First off, I’ve been fortunate to work with Janome Canada as one of their Artisans for almost a year and a half now and I’m thrilled that they’ve just loaned me the next in their series of Skyline machines – the Skyline S9 – a combination sewing and embroidery machine! This baby has above and beyond the bells and whistles. (And I thought the S7 had them all!) Lots more to come about the machine later this year.
The photos above are a sneak peek at one of my first projects – a pillow with an embroidered butterfly using one of the Anna Maria Horner designs included with the machine. My girls have kept me busy with requests for embroidery on everything as I practice and prepare a new post series, coming later this year!
Creativ Festival is coming again soon – October 27-29 in Toronto – and I’ve been invited back! This time I’m speaking and teaching a Janome-sponsored workshop too – eeek! (Sooooo nervous, and sooooo excited!)
Remember the Fat Quarter Skirt tutorial above? I’ll be teaching a 3 hour hands on workshop where everyone will sew one! This is a great beginner project. And I’m thrilled to fuel lots of new sewists’ passion with the ability to sew a simple cute skirt! Of course if you are an advanced sewer and want to sew 1 or 3 of them, please come out too! I’ve got lots of tips and tricks planned, plus handouts and pattern information for sizes 2-6 available only with the class.
The Fat Quarter Skirt Workshop is at the Creativ Festival, Thursday October 27th from 9am – noon. Sign up today – the class limit is 20 people!
Be Brave and Sew – a Trunk Show
Also at Creativ Festival, I’ve been invited back to continue the series “Be Brave and Sew”, Part II! New projects, old projects and tons of tips and tricks. All to hopefully inspire everyone on the fence to become as stash-crazy as me! Or at least maybe to sew something once in a while *wink*. #sewistswillconquertheworld!
Be Brave and Sew – Part II is on the Creativ Festival Fashion Runway, Thurs and Fri at 2:30 and Saturday at 1:30. There are lots of free events planned, you can see them on the event schedule.
Last but not least (sneaky intro for later this week!) Janome has just launched the M Series and I was asked to make a set of Maker Aprons to go along with it, there’s a new blog series starting this week as well! You can check out the aprons on pages 10-12 of the M Series Look Book – almost 50 pages of free patterns, tutorials and tips from lots of super talented people.
All of these crazy-amazing opportunities couldn’t happen without you! Thanks so much for being here through it all.
My favorite part is always talking to other sewists as passionate and crazy about sewing as I am. (That’s you!)
I hope to see you at the Creativ Festival! If not, leave a comment sometime and let me know if you have any questions, or just tell me what you are sewing right now! I’d love to hear about it.
by Sherri Sylvester | Sep 20, 2016
My daughters love their leggings, into the ground – literally! They get run into the asphalt school yard, sidewalk, brick walls – you name it! Take a couple of active kids, add in some biking and school-related spills and you end up with a pile of leggings with holes in the knees.
Every year I collect the fall/winter leggings and instead of giving up on them, turn them into bike shorts. The girls wear them all spring/summer under their dresses and tees. It’s a great way to re-purpose and reuse their clothes. Chances are they will still fit and it’s not as hard as it sounds!
If you’ve sewn with knits before, you are good to go. If you’d like some tips or a refresher – you can check out 12 Tips & Tricks for Sewing Knits – lots of easy steps to get you started, and some advanced ideas as well.
It’s almost fall here and our shorts-wearing days are fast becoming few and far between. If you happen to live where the seasons are getting colder, save yourself some work for next summer and mend this year’s leggings before they are packed away – they’ll be ready to wear when you unpack them in the spring! #organized #momoftheyear
How to Mend Leggings with Holes in the Knees
Tip: This will work with track pants too!
Use this tutorial to fix your child’s (or your own!) leggings, by turning them into bike shorts. If you want, use the bonus tutorial to add in a little extra detail with some ruching and buttons.
You will need:
- Ruined leggings (with a tear or hole at or below the knee)
- Matching thread
- Ballpoint/jersey or twin needle
- Iron and ironing board
- Sewing machine and your go-to sewing supplies
- Optional: Eight inches of ¼” elastic and six buttons
Happy mending!
by Sherri Sylvester | Sep 17, 2016
Whew – time flies when you are turning your house upside down and moving everyone around! I want to make sure I squeeze a post into this week though, and I’m excited to share a throw quilt with you today.
Waaaaay back at the Creativ Festival in April, Rita from Fabric Please gave my youngest the cutest bundle of Kate and Birdie fabric. Four fat quarters to use for her very own sewing project! We decided that it should be a quilt and off we went one weekend, her and I sharing the task of piecing it together on her Janome New Home 3/4 size machine.
I have to admit, when we got the bundle I was not sure how we could create something large enough to cuddle under. But with some thought and a brilliant 4-at-a-time-HST sewing tutorial, we succeeded! I added a bit of fabric from my stash to the ends,some stripey red for the binding and we were good to go.
What about the backing you say? Ummm yes – the un-matchy backing fabric… (insert blushing embarrassed emoji here) She chose the blue ice cream flannel on her last trip to the fabric store. I almost couldn’t go through with it… I mean it DOESN’T MATCH! And it’s permanent… argh – in a quilt no less! But she was five and it was “perfect” to her – so that’s what it needed to be. Don’t argue with the child that wants to learn to sew! (She was also adamant that the middle striped block should be vertical – and not horizontal…. *sigh*)
In the end, I did quite a bit of the sewing, we worked together on the fat quarter HST’s and she decided on the final layout. We sewed them together and then it was up to me to finish the borders, binding and quilting. Which, I LOVE! It is a simple diamond pattern and it turned out great! I made them as large as I could and used the HST diagonals as a guide for the stitching. I’m definitely going to do more diagonal quilting like this in the future.
By the way there’s a #momfail video of her opening her “surprise” (finished quilt) and not giving me quite the reaction I was expecting. Ooops! She’s a good sport about it anyhow 🙂
Do your kids like to sew? What do they like to make best?
Oh – and she sewed wearing my second most favorite dress make – ever! That she just outgrew…. argh. I may never, ever get rid of this one!
