Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Sewing is a Great Skill!

Practice and experience make sewing so much easier!  I used to groan and struggle with everything I chose to make for my children.  Sewing was truly a chore.  But I kept at it making an outfit here and there and apparently learning a lot along the way.  It paid to have all of that experience this spring when my daughter's birthday came around.  She has been in need of clothes.  We work hard to find things that are of good quality, long enough for her height, and modest.  Not to mention, affordable.  So for her birthday, I found some fabric on sale and I made her 3 outfits for her and 3 matching outfits for her doll.  And they were surprisingly easy to make! Following are some sewing tips and websites for you.


Local Sewing Businesses

Hancock Fabrics- Often has 99 cent sales on patterns on 3 day weekends.  You can sign up for their e-mail and they send coupons and a sales flier to your e-mail.   Also, if you are a teacher or homeschooler, they have a discount card.  Some locations are not as friendly to homeschoolers as others.

JoAnn Fabrics and Crafts - They also have 99 cent sales on patterns on 3 day weekends.  They also have a place to sign up for e-mails where you can get coupons and sale fliers.  Also, if you are a teacher or homeschooler, they will give you a card for a 15% discount.  You need to have a teacher ID.  Talk to your church school about obtaining one if you don't have one, or talk to me about other options.  I like that they have some children's sewing crafts to choose from.

Hobby Lobby - I have not shopped here yet, but I've heard good things.  Definitely a good local place to check out.

Walmart - Some Walmart stores have fabric and craft items.  While convenient, they have a very minute selection.  It is better to go to a fabric store and buy their items on sale.  On occasion, Walmart will have something that they have at a better price than the fabric stores.

Never buy patterns at full price unless you absolutely have to!  Most stores have them at least at 40% off, but it is even better to wait for the patterns to go on sale for 99 cents or $1.99.




Learn to Sew Websites

I am sure there are others, but here are a few to look at.  You can also type in different things into YouTube and get all kinds of great how to videos. That's how I learned to darn a sock.  This skill will work for sweaters too.   
Sewing.org
You Can Make It
Craft and Fabric Links
Cyber Seams

2 comments:

  1. These are cute. Where did you get the pattern for the min versions?

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  2. Simplicity 2302 for the shorts and 4654 for the shorts. The shirt is just a t-shirt and they said to just Velcro up the back, but I sewed it up leaving about 1 1/2 - 2 inches open at the top and used a snap to close it and it fit the doll just fine. The shorts, I made about an inch longer because the pattern I used for Sarah's shorts was long (just the way I like them). I had to add 5 inches to Sarah's shirt and it was just a perfect length.

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