.A DIY Resource.Pretty easy huh???
Sooooo much stuff!!!
What to do first?????
Again thanks to Annie of
Zippers
There is something called a zipper foot. Use it! It probably came with your sewing machine, and it makes sewing zippers a lot easier, so that you don't have to jam the zipper into your machine.
Sewing machine making weird noises?
There can be several reasons that your machine sounds weird. If it sounds like it is chopping the fabric when it sews, make sure that your needle is very sharp. If it is dull, change it because it could be ruining your fabric. If your sewing machine is making a crunchy noise, it might need to be oiled. Buy some sewing machine oil at a fabric or craft store and look in your manual to find out where the machine needs to be oiled.
Using Patterns
Patterns are not always right. Usually, the directions that they offer can be simplified a lot to save you time. Sometimes they will even tell you to do something wrong, so always read ahead of the directions and try to work out in your mind how the garment is going to be put together.
Thread
Always use good quality thread. If you buy something cheap, it will most likely break a lot while you are sewing and drive you crazy. My sewing teacher told me that the best thread to use is Gutermann.
Sewing Difficult Fabrics
1. Stretchy fabrics can be very hard to sew if you don't have a serger. If the seam that you are sewing needs to stretch, stretch the fabric while you are sewing, or else the stitching will probably break. Also, some fabrics stretch more one way then another. If you need to make a really stretchy top, first test the fabric to find out which way you should cut out the pieces. Most fabric stretches the most when you stretch it diagonally. If you cut our your pattern pieces like this, it is called cutting on the bias.
2. Sheer fabrics are usually not very strong. If you want to iron them, be careful because different fabrics need different iron settings. I once set my iron too hot while ironing sheer fabric, and it ended up melting and sticking to the iron.
3. PVC is very difficult to sew. I don't recommend it if you are new to sewing because it will drive you insane. PVC sticks to your sewing machine foot, so it is best to do most of your sewing on the cloth side of the fabric. Also, pins will poke permanent holes in pvc so be very careful with where you put them.
4. Home decor fabrics should not be used for clothes. They will mostly likely fall apart at the seams. What if my handmade clothes fall apart while I'm wearing them?
Test all of your seams before you wear your garment. Just pull on either side of the seam, and see if it is in any danger of coming apart. You should especially do this if you are sewing with very stretchy fabric. Also, try to keep your seam allowances at least half an inch, or the fabric may start to fray after a couple washes and then cause the seams to split unexpectedly. A safe way to keep your seams from fraying on the inside is to either serge them or do a ziz zag stitch over the edge of the seams.
Making your DIY creations look professional
The best way to do this is to buy a serger, so that you can sew very neat seams. If you don't want to buy one, there are lots of other things to do to make your clothes look like you didn't make them yourself.
1. Top stitch your seams. This makes them look great.
2. Make sure there are no frayed edges, and hem everything.
3. Don't make ziz zag stitches visible. This kind of stitch is never used in clothing production, and will automatically make your stuff look homemade.
4. Don't be afraid to spend a long time on something, and keep your sewing machine speed at a reasonable pace so that all your stitching is straight.
5. Use good quality supplies like thread and zippers.
6. Keep hand sewing to a minimum.
Jo-ann is not the only place to buy sewing supplies
In fact, it is extremely expensive and I barely ever go there, except for when they have fabric clearances. Most sewing supplies can be bought in bulk, if you just know where to look. Ebay is a great place to find discounts. You can find bulk supplies by just adding "lot" to the end of your search. (example: zipper lot) So far I have been able to find zippers, thread, elastic, needles, pins, and much more for a lot cheaper then Jo-Ann's prices.
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What to do first?????
Again thanks to Annie of
For her wonderful
Sewing tips
I'm not going to tell you how to sew, I'm just going to offer some tips that I wish I would have known when I first started to sew. The only way that you can sew better clothes is to just keep practicing and teaching yourself (or getting lessons!) but I hope that these tips will help you a bit. A lot of them are very simple, even though it took me years to realize them.
There is something called a zipper foot. Use it! It probably came with your sewing machine, and it makes sewing zippers a lot easier, so that you don't have to jam the zipper into your machine.
There can be several reasons that your machine sounds weird. If it sounds like it is chopping the fabric when it sews, make sure that your needle is very sharp. If it is dull, change it because it could be ruining your fabric. If your sewing machine is making a crunchy noise, it might need to be oiled. Buy some sewing machine oil at a fabric or craft store and look in your manual to find out where the machine needs to be oiled.
Patterns are not always right. Usually, the directions that they offer can be simplified a lot to save you time. Sometimes they will even tell you to do something wrong, so always read ahead of the directions and try to work out in your mind how the garment is going to be put together.
Always use good quality thread. If you buy something cheap, it will most likely break a lot while you are sewing and drive you crazy. My sewing teacher told me that the best thread to use is Gutermann.
1. Stretchy fabrics can be very hard to sew if you don't have a serger. If the seam that you are sewing needs to stretch, stretch the fabric while you are sewing, or else the stitching will probably break. Also, some fabrics stretch more one way then another. If you need to make a really stretchy top, first test the fabric to find out which way you should cut out the pieces. Most fabric stretches the most when you stretch it diagonally. If you cut our your pattern pieces like this, it is called cutting on the bias.
2. Sheer fabrics are usually not very strong. If you want to iron them, be careful because different fabrics need different iron settings. I once set my iron too hot while ironing sheer fabric, and it ended up melting and sticking to the iron.
3. PVC is very difficult to sew. I don't recommend it if you are new to sewing because it will drive you insane. PVC sticks to your sewing machine foot, so it is best to do most of your sewing on the cloth side of the fabric. Also, pins will poke permanent holes in pvc so be very careful with where you put them.
4. Home decor fabrics should not be used for clothes. They will mostly likely fall apart at the seams.
When you first start sewing, you should use fabrics that do not stretch very much. This will make things much easier for you.
Test all of your seams before you wear your garment. Just pull on either side of the seam, and see if it is in any danger of coming apart. You should especially do this if you are sewing with very stretchy fabric. Also, try to keep your seam allowances at least half an inch, or the fabric may start to fray after a couple washes and then cause the seams to split unexpectedly. A safe way to keep your seams from fraying on the inside is to either serge them or do a ziz zag stitch over the edge of the seams.
The best way to do this is to buy a serger, so that you can sew very neat seams. If you don't want to buy one, there are lots of other things to do to make your clothes look like you didn't make them yourself.
1. Top stitch your seams. This makes them look great.
2. Make sure there are no frayed edges, and hem everything.
3. Don't make ziz zag stitches visible. This kind of stitch is never used in clothing production, and will automatically make your stuff look homemade.
4. Don't be afraid to spend a long time on something, and keep your sewing machine speed at a reasonable pace so that all your stitching is straight.
5. Use good quality supplies like thread and zippers.
6. Keep hand sewing to a minimum.
In fact, it is extremely expensive and I barely ever go there, except for when they have fabric clearances. Most sewing supplies can be bought in bulk, if you just know where to look. Ebay is a great place to find discounts. You can find bulk supplies by just adding "lot" to the end of your search. (example: zipper lot) So far I have been able to find zippers, thread, elastic, needles, pins, and much more for a lot cheaper then Jo-Ann's prices.
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And now some more of my DIY adventures!!!
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Shirts:
ZOMBIE TANK!
take a piece of fabric and fold it in half (makesure it is long enough to cover you how you wish and wide enough to be cut to fit). cut a hole for the neckline, remember you can make the neckline in a variety of shapes, square, lo-cut, triangle, oval, boatneck, even off center or some absrtact shape will work well if you think you can pull it off. cut the side to change the fit if you like,that way it acn be looser/tighter in areas you prefer. then sew up the sides (leaving holes for your arms of course!!) here's what mine looks like:
horay for crappy sewing!
THE NAKED AND THE DEAD TEE:
(image uhhh disappeared...)
This is one of my most prized achievements, a the naked and the dead tee, i think i did pretty well on the humanesque figure and the lettering ain't too bad either.
The trick i used to paint the figure is I painted the basic outline of the body and smoothed it with my finger lightly so that I didn't press the paint into the fabric. for the face i painted the ouline and filled it except for where the eyes would go, i then used a safety pin to fix any details
My main "ingredients" In this are simply fabric paint, a black tee shirt, a pin, and an image to use as a reference. this is the image i used:
So you can see, it's not by any means perfect... sadly i'm not really too skilled with fabric paint : but it's an average skill project and it was worth my time :) my only regret is finding out that i had actually used glow in the dark paint for the figure... i can cover that for the most part :)
RUDIMENTARY PENI TOP:
(another missing image file :/)
I had the hardest time trying to get the fetus just right that i pretty much said to hell with it after a while. I wasn't too worried about the lettering after working so hard on the fetus, so it's definitely not perfect! the safety pin helped a lot with the details!
Once again for this project i used fabric paint, a black top, a safety pin, and this image for referance:
CINEMA STRANGE:
(image is lost)
This was probably the easiest one i made that day!!! I just took this image and did my best to clone it:
It looks pretty horrible : at least i tried!! haha maybe next time i'll use chalk to draw it on first!!!
BOTTOMS:
DRAPING SKELLY SKIRT:
So The skirt is a little big on me... and isn't complete in this pic!! Same idea here as it is for the pixie skirt above (actually, it's NOT there is it?), except this time i didn't have layers to hide the seams, so instead I just added them randomly like blotches of paint, there are torn edges everywhere!! I need to sew up some of the seams but i think i' either going to "black stitch" it, or pin it instead
And that's my cat....
Meow...
SOMETHING FOR HEAVY USAGE!!!
FROM BOOT LEG TO PEG LEG, AND MORE:
(image goooooooone)
So how do you take the flare out of your jeans??
First of all, i want you to know that these were a dumpster dive find! but they had a boot leg cut to them, and i'm not to keen on that... for the most part anyways. so what do you do when the leg is too wide? measure around the biggest part of your calf. now add 3 inches to that, mark off where the biggest part of your calf sits while you are wearing the pants, with chalk or whatever. now you know where you need the most slack. you find out exactly how much slack by marking in an inch on either side, or equivalent depending on your pants. from there you will need to make two straight parallel lines, no slanting in, since you might fuck it up by doing so. cut just outside the lines and turn the pants inside out to stitch them, make sure you have a strong stitch and that it is not too far or too close to the fabric's new edge.
Paint, bleach, thrash.. now you can do what you want to your peg-legs!! I used fabric paint to write "Greed is Government", and more fabric paint to put stripes on the other leg.
ASF PIN:
Cow print fabric button,
25 cents at the thrift store,
ASF (Alien sex fiend) painted on it? priceless
RUBY SOHO:
Really no work here, just cut and sew...
stop staring at my boobs....
So I found a rancid shirt on sale for 10$ at TRAILS (a "paraphernalia" store, no i'm not a pot head, or anything else for that matter, but i do like the occasional clove and i do like incense and cheap fishnets :D) What does a grrrl like me do with a new tee? well, she cuts it up!!!
Unfortunately, when you cut the sleeves off of a mens tee, it leaves gaping holes under the arms, and you have to stitch up the sides.. perfect...
Remenant skirt, directions by:
Be sure to check out the site for more cool projects!
A bunch of your coolest remnants
Black thread
Waxed tissue paper (to make a pattern)
Enough 1 1/2" non-roll elastic to go around your waist
 | First thing to do is make three pattern pieces. Using the shape seen on the left, they should basically be rectangles with a pointed bottom. Take your waxed tissue paper and draw a five inch width with a 31" inch length. Do it again with a 34" length and then finally 37". |
Taking the remnants, cut 18 pieces randomly from the three patterns. You want 18 total, not of each. The combination is completely up to you, maybe you just want to do six of each. Doesn't matter, the fun part of the skirt is the randomness of the length and the variety of fabrics. So go crazy.
 | Next, on a flat surface (I used my bed) place the pieces randomly next to each other. Stand back and look at what you've done. Do any of the pieces look out of place? Do you have two pieces of the same fabric too close together? Rearrange until you are happy with your combination. |
 | Pin the pieces together front to front. I find it easiest to do this by piecing the first two, sewing, adding the next piece. Otherwise you're holding a lot of pins in your lap and things shift around. Sew the first two pieces together, only as far as the shortest piece. Add the next piece and do the same. Continue until you have all pieces sewn together. |
Open this wrong side up and press the seams open. Trim close to the seams, especially at the top where elastic is going to have to pass through. If you have any shear panels, make sure you iron both pieces of the seam towards the opposite piece so that this doesn't show through. After everything is pressed, pin the final two pieces of skirt together and sew shut. You could do the ironing after that step, but I find the process easier to do with the skirt flat.
Press the waist of the skirt under 1/4" and then 1 1/2" to create the casing for the elastic. Measure the elastic around your waste. Sew this all the way around, but leave an opening large enough to put the elastic in. Pull it so it is comfortable but not tight and add 1/4" before cutting. Thread the elastic through and then slip stitch the opening shut.
 | Finally, the tricky part... the hem. Press the edges of the skirt under 1/4" all the way around, and then repeat. Basically, you just want to sew the hem slowly because you have pointy edges. Each time you reach a point, raise the needle to the highest position and lift the presser foot. Shift the fabric so you are once again headed in the right direction. Continue all the way around the skirt until the hem is complete. |
MAKING A SLIM SKIRT FULL
First of all you need a skirt, and a few yards of fabric, you'll also need scissors and a sewing machine.
take your skirt and cut it into strips:
.the gaps between are the parts you going to add the fabric to, so make sure that
1. you have enough fabric for the gaps
2. you cut the gaps per how full you'd like the skirt to be
^It would look like this from an overhead view^
Now to your fabric ( i love projects that start with cutting!!!)
let's say this is your fabric:
you're gonna need to cut it like this: (it's yellow.. deal with it...)
these triangles are going to be what you put in those gaps:
INDIVIDUALIZE!!
TIPS and IDEAS:
Best ways to slash your top:
get mauled by a wolf or:
horizontal slashes that reveal the front,OR back,OR sides.it never looks good to show off everything, unless you're at a fetish ball :) then it's just sexy.
ramdom holes: in a trianguler shape at one corner of your shirt, big hole starting at that corner and smaller ones to fade it down a bit as it goe, also looks pretty decent with a side-wrap shape having bigger holes in one area than the rest of the area.
Make it a halter tank!!
take any type of ribbon or lacing cut the shrt as if your making it in to a miniture bbq apron (you know like "kiss the cook" and shit).. tear holes in sides and add lacing through them to have it corset-like, or just add two laces to either side , then add laces to the top of the "apron" tie it back, tie it up and if it's a white shirt? wear a black bra
a strapless top
cut off the top sew up the sides.. simple right? uh uh, there's different ways to do this too! instead of sewing the sides lace 'em both, or just lace one side, or after you cut off the top just add the lacing to the back.
Add lace!! like a dead bride
seriously, it works on any project i've added lace detail to alot of my projects (with no regrets afterwards) try the hem of your skirts, the neckline of a shirt, the hem of a shirt, the top or bottom of some arm warmers or leg warmers.
FISHNET
okay, if your anything like me you have at least three pairs for all different purposes, probably a couple pairs that aren't black and a few pairs that aren't traditional fishnet but have still the same kind of look. now i shouldn't have to say this, you probably already know, but you can wear a torn pair as arm cover. i got a bit more created with it a few years ago, and pinned together two pairs in a tornup patchwork fashion. i also had this pink hoodie (and i hate pink) which i pinned fishnet to the kangaroo pockets (it made the pink suck a bit less) . when it comes to fishnet, or any other fabric and materials for that matter, be creative, you can do whatever the hell you want!
special details to consider:
zippers, lace, ribbons, chains, ribbons INSTEAD of chains, ribbons AND chains, studs, grommets, fishnet/lace overlay, patches, o-rings, d-rings, button tape, hook & eye tape, beads, etc. etc. etc...
Blood looks great with any outfit.... x)
bravenet.com