Video Tutorial: Men's tailored shirt collar

Video Tutorial; Inserting a yoke in a men's shirt

Chimney Placket Demo

Hey everyone, here is a little tutorial on how to sew chimney plackets. Enjoy!

How to Shorten a Zipper

We just received a fresh shipment of zippers and this prompted me to do a few zipper tutorials here on the blog. I thought I would start by showing a short demo on how to shorten a zipper. I have a ton of zippers that I've picked up here and there over the years and I've always found that its best to have long zippers on hand because you can shorten them whenever needed to be the length that a sewing project calls for. Here I'll show my preferred method.

You will need:
* a zipper to be shortened
* thread
* hand sewing needle
* a pair of scissors

Step 1: To start, determine how long you need the zipper to be and then mark the place where the new zipper stop will be stitched.

Step 2: Thread a needle, double stranded and put a knot in the end. From here, take your freshly threaded needle and begin to stitch a bar tack around the coils where your new zipper stop will be. A bar tack in this particular sense is just stitches that wrap around the coils of the zipper. No need to try and actually put your needle through the zipper coils, just stitch the bar tack around the coils, through the zipper tape. About 5 - 8 wraps of thread around the zipper coils will do ya.

Step 3: From your newly formed zipper stop, measure down about 1 - 1.5 inches and cut the rest of your zipper off. I like to cut my zipper off with regular old paper scissors instead of my sewing shears, just to ensure that I keep my shears as sharp as possible and don't throw off the hand balance.

And Voila! That is how you shorten a zipper. The zipper pull and slider will now stop at the new thread tack, your new zipper stop location. Easy as pie!

Note here that I've used an invisible zipper but the same method translates to traditional zips, metal zips and really, every other type of zipper.

Enjoy friends!

4-Tier Skirt Tutorial

Our resident designer, Elizabeth, teamed up with Leena to create this bohemian chic maxi skirt. During this last gasp of summer hotness we call August - it feels a millions degrees in Utah! - these easy going skirts are great to wear with a tee and flippy sandals and great to dress up with a chunky necklace for a night out on the town. Dontcha think? Here's easy step by step instructions for how to create your own:

To give you an idea of how to make a 4-tier skirt, this pattern includes measurements for a skirt measuring 45" in the hips and 36" inches long. Please feel free to widen or shorten the strip widths and lengths to individualize the skirt. The stated yardage requirements are based on the given measurements in this pattern. You’ll need less fabric for a smaller size and more fabric for a larger size.  

Preparation:Prepare fabric (either wash and dry or dry clean). All seams are 1/4". Seams allowances are included in pattern dimensions. Measure the widest part of your hips/waist to determine the width of the first tier, then add three inches for wearing ease. Tear or cut all fabric strips to measurement.

Fabric Requirements: First tier measurements: 45" x 9 ½" (This includes casing for elastic waistband) Yardage requirements: 1/4 to ½ yard.
The following tiers are 1 ½ times wider than the previous one (example: 45 x 1.5 = 68).
Second tier: 68" x 9" Yardage requirements: ½ to 3/4 yard.
Third tier: 102" x 9 1/2" Yardage requirements: 3/4 to 1 yard
Fourth tier: 153" x 10 1/2" Yardage requirements: 1 1/8 to 1 1/4 yard

Sewing directions:For construction ease sew skirt flat, then sew one side seam when all pieces are joined. Iron each seam, then serge. Mark each tier bottom and top (but not waist band or hem) at 1/4, ½, and 3/4 points to help when joining each layer. Set sewing machine to longest stitch length. Sew three parallel basting seams 1/4" apart at top of 2nd, 3rd, and 4th tier. Pull basting threads and pin it to the bottom of the smaller tier, then sew seam. Do this same step for each tier. Remove basting threads that show on right side. Sew side seam. Optional: Add trim/ribbon to cover seam lines between tiers. Turn under and sew waistband, then insert elastic. Hem skirt. Gather hem into pleats approximately the same width as waist and press the entire length all around the skirt to set pleats for a casual look.

These lush and colorful skirts remind me of a two week stint I spent in Italy! I had a similar skirt that I picked up in the market place there and I wore it to death - it was so comfortable. Come into the shop and pick out some fabric and trim to make your own version!