Here is our course platform and the beginning sewing classes we are offering to teach people how to sew. Like from the very beginning. There's a workbook, lessons with videos, and a practice project at the end. Its available at an an early release discount while I'm still developing the course, but should be fully live by the end of February 2021!
I've been putting together sewing classes and I've always thought it would be great to offer a kit of items I use DAILY, but a kit probably isn't useful for everyone because they probably have some or all of what I would put in the kit. So I thought of a next best thing.
In full disclosure, these are affiliate links. The products won't cost you any extra to buy them, but if you click through and buy from these links, I'll get a few pennies for it. Having said that, I picked all of these things because I use them daily.
If you plan to buy from amazon, please use my links to help me stay active in my amazon account so I can bring you items like this in the future!!
I've often thought about how nice it would be to hire employees in our Alterations shop, but it's just so hard to find people that know how to dissect what needs to be done on anything they approach and then alter it. In Southeastern Minnesota, the older crowd of sewists that do alterations are retiring, which means an influx of phone calls for our business because of mom's 30 year reputation.
So the wheels have been turning. If I were to take on an employee, what are the things I want them to know and how could I train them while still being able to sew on my own work. When you're a small business as small as we are, stopping to train someone slows your productivity down so much that there's no profit to be made in the business. After many conversations with other business owners, over the summer it occurred to me that I could record the sewing I'm doing in the shop and turn it into courses, as if they were training videos for someone I'd hire.
So I bought a camera and started recording.
I've been recording since the middle of the summer. The thing about economy changes, when people are strapped for cash, they have us mend their clothes and people still get married (pandemic rules or not). So I might have a day where I patch stained pants for a local dairy farmer because he can't afford new and then turn around and hem a $3500 USD wedding gown. I might replace the zipper on a coat for the ambulance crew and then repair a horse blanket for one of the ranches. So I've been recording. Everything.
I found a course platform that I love and I am working behind the scenes on a very beginning class on the basics. I'm not quite finished with it, although I plan to open it soon for pre-order. For those who are interested in checking out my freebies, the website is
https://sewingbycarolyn.vipmembervault.com/
https://www.katmakes.com/blog/2019/6/12/tutorial-tailors-boob-ham
Bra maker Grace Horne made 2 versions to have two shapes for pressing. Here's the first one, with 6 panels for a more round shape than a 4 panel.
Here's the second version:
"I made mine with a wool (green) outer, a cotton layer and then wool felt layer. Because I didn’t want the bulk in the seams, I cut the black felt at the seam lines and tacked all the layers together close to the edge."
"I sewed three sections together and retacked the seams opened to hold the layers. I gave it a good press and then zigzagged over the seam to keep it flat and secure the internal felt layer."
"The two halves got sewn together, pressed open and top stitched too."
"I zigzagged around the edge of the black felt on the bottom edge of the dome and around the felt on the base piece. When I sewed the base on, I left 1/3 open and again tacked the seam allowances to each side and turned it right side out."
"I used three pieces of thin (Amazon book envelope) card in the base. They have to be folded and then stuffed in and turned and flattened. You want the grain (folds) to go across each other."
"And then you stuff and stuff and when you think that you’re done you give it a massage and stuff it some more."
"And finally stitch it up. And clean up all the wood chips that the dog has spread around the house! 😁"
Many thanks to Grace Horne for sharing her process!
I stumbled upon this channel today and thought I would share it. I've been sewing zippers for many years and I learned a few things. She works with zipper by the yard and shows how to put a slider on the teeth in almost every video.
I picked this video to feature because it is another way that a lingerie bag could be sewn for laundry and has the added skill of a zipper.
https://www.thezipperlady.com/
https://www.youtube.com/user/thezipperlady
I picked this video to feature because it is another way that a lingerie bag could be sewn for laundry and has the added skill of a zipper.
https://www.thezipperlady.com/
https://www.youtube.com/user/thezipperlady
So many bra making experts out there have covered this topic well, so this will be more of a roundup of my favorite links on the subject. The first is this page by Orange Lingerie. Click the picture to see their post.
Jennifer, owner of Porcelynne, has a video on learning the parts and threading your machine. This is sort of a crash course and she uses a lot of sewing terms, so it may be good to watch this a couple of times to get a sense of what everything is called.
But I've Never Sewn Before, Where Do I Start?
So many people say to me, "I wish I knew how to sew!" and all the time I tell them to just "go down the rabbithole" of YouTube and search for sewing videos and tutorials. It's great for the visual and audio learners and if you keep it by your machine and pause as you go, it's great for the kinesthetic learners too!
I didn't learn this way, so I didn't have links to share, but I feel the need to include some great how to videos because I don't want to assume that everyone wanting to sew bras already knows how to sew.
About 12 or 13 years ago, I went through a pretty hard set of circumstances in my life and one of the bright spots in my world was reading Gertie's blog. She was pretty new to the things she was working on and building her skill and I got to watch as she went from vintage patterns to teaching, authoring, and designing her own patterns. I was so pleased to find this delightful video, that I just had to share. This video below is pretty excellent on how a sewing machine works and a great first project to get some skill.
I searched high and low for a drawstring bag tutorial to present to you a project to practice skills that will relate to sewing bras. One should always wash their bras in a sink with gentle soap and spend time being very careful not to damage handmade goods. However, most of us have a never ending to do list and find ourselves throwing bras in the washer. I strongly urge the use of a lingerie bag and making one is an excellent way to prepare for sewing bras. I chose this video because it teaches French seams, and the casing for the drawstring is topstitched the same way you will topstitch channeling on a bra.
