I’ve just happened upon this brilliant Hand Stitched Closures Guide from Burda and thought I’d share as this weeks Sewing Bee mentioned Snap/Popper Fastenings amongst others. Many of these should be sewn on using the same stitch used for making the Button Loop. With a little practice they look very neat, don’t they? I am sorely tempted to make up a …
A-Line Skirt hack: Make a Pleated Skirt!
Hello lovelies! Having been very inspired by The Great British Sewing Bee a couple weeks ago, here is my A-Line Skirt Hack based on my super duper popular Patternless A-Line Skirt Tutorial to make an Inverted Box Pleated Skirt as they did. The original Tutorial is amazingly simple, and I highly recommend it if you are learning to sew or want …
Notions: Top Stitching
Top Stitching- sometimes know as Edge Stitching- is as simple as it sounds however; there are a couple things you can do to make it a little easier and more professional looking. The first is to attach your Zipper Foot. This will allow you to see a lot more of what you are stitching and, as you can see from …
Notions: Basic Patch Pockets
Recently I seem to have been teaching students how to do various forms of Patch Pockets so I thought I’d add this little Tutorial and follow it up with some variants upon the theme including a Pleated Patch Pocket. Patch Pockets are super duper easy but care us needed when Top Stitching the Pocket to the Main Fabric. The more …
Notions: Interfacing Guide (from Amy Butler!)
Having just stumbled across this, I thought I would resume my occasional series of sharing Notions’ from other Blogs and this was just too good to not share!I am currently teaching a Men’s Shirt Course (click here to read more on that), so Interfacing is a hot topic for me at the moment! Below I have included the most common …
Notions: Troubleshooting Tips
I have just stumbled across this amazing Sewing Machine Troubleshooting Poster on Pinterest, so today’s Notions will concentrate on some of the many tiny issues you can have when Machine Sewing whether you are a new Sewer or experienced. Once you know how to deal with the little issues, you will find it becomes a part of the way you …
Best Tips, Notions and Tutorials of 2013
Roll up!, Roll up! The first Laura After Midnight retrospective is upon us! 2013 has been quite the whirlwind! Here are my favourite Blog posts from each month… so without further ado, and not a whiff of preamble take my hand and follow me down the yellow stitched road! January Book Review: The Handmade Marketplace by Cari Chapin As …
Errol’s finished quilt!
So, I guess I mentioned my Brother had a baby Boy last month, and I know I have shared pictures of the Patchwork Quilt I was making up for Errol but I finally finished it a couple weeks ago and thought I would share the end result! It’s turned out a little Blue-er than I had anticipated. I wanted …
Make Christmas Stockings
For a last minute gift idea, these cannot be beaten! If you are stuck what to get someone, a hand made stocking stuffed with a few choccies is absolutely the answer, and will be brought out each year to decorate their tree for ever more. Because they use such a small amount of fabric these are a wonderful quick, cost …
How to Make a Mans Tie inc. Pattern
So, I have been fighting with technology to bring you a wonderful Vintage Tie, Cravat and Bow Tie Pattern I inherited a while ago. Alas, it was not to be, and creating Patterns with PDF downloadables’ has now made it on to the 2014 list… which is exciting as I have a whole heap of ideas about new Patterns …