Every time you slice a button hole, do you worry about cutting through the button hole and slicing into the garment?  One way to prevent this is to insert a pin at one end of the button hole, and slice towards the pin.  That way if you do miss, the pin will stop you cutting […]

Try hanging your wedding dress in the bathroom when you have a shower.  The steam from the shower should help to take out creases in the dress.
 Happy sewing
Judith aka genie

For those of us with eye sight challenges, here are a few tips for threading your needles:-
1.  Instead of cutting the cotton straight across (blunt) cut the cotton on an angle.  The thread slips into the eye of the needle easier.
2.  Use a pair of tweezers to thread your sewing machine needle.  Once you get […]

One of the quickest ways to take in a garment is to put a dart in.  Have you ever tried to sew straight through sewing a dart in a skirt or dress?  Its difficult to get both lining and outer fabric to stay together.  Heres a easy technique.
Once you know where you want the dart, sew […]

Buy yourself a good quality pair of scissors, because they will last you a lifetime if you look after them.  I get my scissors sharpened about every three months at a knife sharpening place.  They guarantee that the scissors are sharpened using a diamond sharpening disc.  I have found that if my scissors are sharpened […]

When letting down pants or school uniforms, you are usually left with a fold line from the original hem.  There are a number of things you can do to eliminate the crease.
1.  Unpick the hem and mark the crease with soap on the front and back then wash
2.  Attach a false hem and stitch through […]

You want to shorten a pair of pants, but have run out of chalk.  Please never use pens or pencils to mark a garment.  Some pens are impossible to get out.  Would you believe I have people bring in pants that has a line from one side of the side seam to another using pen […]

Most of us have a steam iron, and if you are like me you hit the steam button constantly to get a smooth iron.  Wrong………  Did you know that by constantly steaming the garment you are more than likely keeping the creases in the garment.  Hit the steam button once, then go back over the […]

When sherring elastic looses its elasticity, you need to unpick the old elastic and replace.  If you are using an industrial machine, you can wind on to the bottom.  If you are using a domestic I find it easier to wind the elastic on to the bobbin by hand.  Make sure that the elastic is […]

How many times do you prick your finger when you are sewing a garment?  Well it doesn’t happen all the time, but it does happen.  Blood on a garment that is white or a light colour is even more troubling, because you have to get every bit of blood out so that it doesn’t stain.
So what […]