Mrs Bowden’s top tip – magnetic strip pin collector Use a little strip of self-adhesive magnet and stick it to your machine. You can easily collect pins as you go along and stop them rolling underneath the machine as you stitch away. In stitches, Amanda xx Ps – magnetic strips available from good craft/haberdashery shops…
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When you are preparing to cut fabric it is useful to know the ‘direction’ of the print. A one direction print has a clear and regular pattern. The fabric can only be used in one direction or you will have upside down sections in your product/garment. In this example the hedgehogs and mushrooms all face…
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Cones can be an economic way of buying good quality thread, particularly if you are working on a project which requires plentiful stitching…all you patchworkers/curtain makers out there! However, accommodating the height of the cone can be awkward on a domestic machine. Please have no fear – grab a wide necked tea cup and use…
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Mrs Bowden’s top tip – using embroidery transfers I really enjoy collecting sewing memorabilia and clothes from the 1940s and 1950s and have built up a considerable collection of vintage embroidery transfers. Hand embroidering a motif can add such interest to your clothes and other things you make. There is a whole host…
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I adore this excerpt from a 1949 Singer sewing manual and frankly agree with much of what is advised. However, this week’s top tip deals with more achievable and realistic preparations you can make prior to sewing. Scissors – keep them handy by stringing them onto a length of ribbon and wearing them around your…
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Mrs Bowden’s top tip – how to avoid a wrinkly neckline Finishing details can improve your home dressmaking and provide a deep level of satisfaction! They make all the difference between an ‘ahhhh did you make that?’ to a ‘wow, did you make that!’. This week’s top tip deals with the potentially tricky issue of…
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Mrs Bowden’s top tip – joining bias strips You may find you would like to make your own bias binding to finish the edges of your seams (Hong Kong finishing) or to add a decorative effect to armholes, collars, pocket edges etc. There are plenty of lovely commercial bias bindings available but…
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Let’s start at the root. When fabric is woven on a loom there are two threads. The WARP thread which travels along the length of the fabric and the WEFT thread which travels from side to side – this is the moving thread on the bobbin. As the bobbin moves it creates loops at the…
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Mrs Bowden’s top tip – avoid twisting! An indication that a skirt doesn’t fit you correctly or is off centre when you put it on is a twisted feeling with the side seams sneaking around. This week’s top tip is to help you sort this out without awkwardly having to contort in a mirror to…
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Mrs Bowden’s top tip – a few charming ideas It’s World Cancer Day today (Thursday 4th February 2016). As you may know St Elizabeth Hospice are running a very splendid event based on the popular BBC programme ‘The Great British Sewing Bee’. You are being encouraged to purchase a garment from one of their wonderful…
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