Piping Tutorial by Aimee G

(Originally Posted on the Dis: http://disboards.com/showthread.php?p=30451561#post30451561)

Download as a PDF here: http://www.box.net/shared/c1lij93lv6

A few people asked me about how to sew piping. Today I finished up my DD’s Minnie Mouse Birthday top. I was going to put store bought pink piping on the shirt but then decided I should show everyone how easy it is to make piping. I do have a piping foot but you can use a zipper foot as well. I first cut my two inch strips. (*** I did not do this the correct way. You really should cut your strips on the bias- 45 degree angle.)

Next I gathered my supplies. I have my cording, piping foot and fabric strips. Also, here is a close up of the piping foot. You can see there is a little half circle groove that the piping/cording settles into as you sew.
Place your cording in the center of the fabric strip, close the fabric to make a little taco. My strips are two inches wide. Place the cording (surrounded by fabric) then sew along the edge of the cording. Since the cording sits in the groove it is super easy.

Now your piping has been made. I next trim the extra fabric. I trim the piping so it is about the same size as commercial piping. It is just easier with a little extra fabric.

Now it is time to sew your piping to the bodice. I just line the piping to the edge of the fabric and let the piping foot guide me along.

Here is the end result. Now you can see on the corners why you should cut your fabric along the bias. By doing this the fabric will move and stretch nicely.

I added my straps and hooks to the bodice. Then I pinned my lining fabric to my bodice right sides together. Next I flip the bodice over and sew the lining to the bodice. I like to sew on the back of the bodice because you can use the piping stitching as a guide. Again, I use my piping foot so the piping is just guided through.

Next, I changed back to my regular foot and stitched the sides. I snipped the corners and clipped the curves of the bodice. I turned the bodice right side out and top stitched around the seams.

Here is the finished product!

(Thanks Aimee!)

Felt Coffee Cozy

Cute Coffee Cozy on this site: http://www.amberdusick.com/woodmouse_loves_crafts/2007/11/tutorial-felt-c.html

Reversible Super Hero Cape by Jham

I used about a 1/4" seam allowance and left an opening at the bottom big enough for my hand so I could turn it right side out. Then I used a little piece of stitch witchery to close the opening without showing any stitching. When I put the velcro on I just remembered to put one side on one color and the other side on the other color (before I stitched around the edgs) to keep me from messing up.

Chart for Sizing DOWN a Pattern by CarlaC

Origianally posted by LouiesMama (CarlaC ) Thank you Carla!!!
http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=27480030&postcount=1950 My patternmaking book only goes down to size 3, so I used the size charts
in "Simply the Best Sewing Book" by Simplicity.
Their measurements for each size (chest/waist/hip) in inches are as
follows:
0.5 - 19/19/20 (six months)
1 - 20/19.5/21
2 - 21/20/22
3 - 22/20.5/23

If you are using a commercial pattern, you might want to check the
measurements they use for each size just to make sure they correspond (if the
measurements aren't on the pattern, you can find them in the pattern book or on
the company's website). So here are the numbers I came up with:
Size 3 down to size 2 - scaling set to 95%
Size 3 down to size 1 - scaling set to 91%
Size 3 down to size 0.5 - scaling set to 86%
Size 2 down to size 1 - scaling set to 95%
Size 2 down to size 0.5 - scaling set to 91%
Size 2 down to size 0 - scaling set to 86%
Size 1 down to size 0.5 - scaling set to 95%
Size .5 down to size 0 - scaling set to 90%

I based the newborn size 0 on a chest measurement of 18" (this one is for
you, T ). So it seems like (at least for the tiny sizes) the general rule of
thumb is:
Shrinking 1 size - scaling set to 95%
Shrinking 2 sizes - scaling set to 91%
Shrinking 3 sizes - scaling set to 86%

Percentages for scaling up a pattern! By CarlaC (LouiesMama)

Origianally posted by CarlaC (LouiesMama)

I was looking at the size charts in my patternmaking textbook, and it seems
like the larger "tween" sizes increase pretty proportionally. I did the math
to
get the differences in the sizes so that the pattern pieces could be
scaled up
on a copy machine.

to go from an 8 to a 10, scale up
103%
to go from an 8 to a 12, scale up 106%
to go from an 8 to a 14, scale
up 110%
to go from a 10 to a 12, scale up 103%
to go from a 10 to a 14,
scale up 106%
to go from a 10 to a 16, scale up 110%

You'll want
to go to a place like Kinko's that has nice machines so you can
adjust the
scale to whatever you want, and also so you can select a larger paper
size
(I think you can go up to 11X17 in most machines).I haven't tried this
personally (I just do the scaling in my drawing program), but these are the
percentages I would use. This should work for most patterns (not just mine)
that
are free-fitting like the peasant top/dress. With more fitted styles,
keep in
mind that as girls develop, the hip/waist ratio changes, and also
the bustline
changes. So for something like the a-line, scaling up might not
work. Boys are
easy - they stay pretty much the same until they either get
big muscles or a
beer belly !

Adding Pictures to the Group Photobucket account

You will need your own personal Photobucket account to add pictures to the Group Album.

Click on this link found in the first post of our thread and put in the password you will also find there.

If you are not signed into your own personal Photobucket account, do so now.
After you sign in, it should take you back to the our Group Album. If not, just put in the address again.
To the left side of the screen, underneath where it says, "Where's This Album": click on "Add to Favorites".

When you log in to your account the next time, there will be a category called "Favorites" on the left side of your personal page screen, our group show up there. Just click it, and VOILA! you are at the group page! (you may have to put the Group password in again)

OK, so now you are all logged in, time to add some pictures to the Group Album!!!
At the top of the page, you should see this:

Fist, decide where you want to transfer your pictures from. If you already have the pictures in your own personal Photobucket account, you can just transfer them to the group account from there.
Click on the dot that says, "My Album"

A list of the albums in your personal account will appear in the drop down window.

Click on the album name where the pictures you want to transfer are located.

Itybitty little thumbnails will appear in the box:

Click on the "+" next to the picture you want to add to the group album (the pictures will stay in your personal account as well)

When you have clicked on every picture you want to add, click "copy files" and wait for the pictures to transfer, very easy!

To Copy the files from your computer, you would just click on "my computer" a pop up will appear allowing you to chose the pictures from your computer.

To select multiple files, hold down the "CTRL" button on your computer.

When you have selected the pictures, click "open"

The pictures will then be transferred to the group album.

You can also move the pictures from a URL, that's pretty simple, so I won't go into detail.

Now that your pictures are on the Group Album, you will need to tag them.(please, pretty please with sugar on top, tag your pictures :-) )

If you look to the left of the main page, you will see a list of tags that we have already made. Try to use the ones that we have already made, if they fit. Such as if you have a Tinkerbell outfit, please use the tag "Tink" instead of making a "Tinkerbell" tag.

If there is no tag for your outfit, feel free to create one that fits.

We are trying to tag the pictures with the character and pattern. If you look at the tags, you look at the list of tags, you will get a feel for what we are doing. Each picture can have up to 20 tags, so feel free to use several.

To actually tag the pictures, Click on "Add Tags & Descriptions" which is just above all the thumbnail pictures. This will open up a new page.Here, you can put a Title, description and tags in. Click on "Click to add Tags"This will pop up only, it will be your picture, and not Heather's ;-):

You will notice a little box over your picture. If you want to tag different parts of your picture with separate tags, just move the box to the part you want to tag. (this is good if you have several different outfits in your picture)

Type in the name of the tag in the box and click "save"

You can then repeat the process until you have added all the tags you want for that picture.

Repeat for the next picture.

At the end of the page, click "Save and Continue"
If you accidentally create a duplicate tag, do to spelling or capitalization differences etc... you can click "remove" next to the tag and retype it.

How to Tie a Perfect Bow

How to tie a proper bow (with fully lined ties)

1.)Facing dress, take each tie in opposite hand- left tie in right hand, etc

cross the left tie over the right tie

2.)wrap it under right tie and pull up and to the right

3.)gently, but firmly take right tie (that is now on the left) and form "bent bunny ear"

4.)take left tie (dangling over on right side) and pull down and to left to wrap around bunny ear,

5.)as you come up behind bunny ear pull thru hole and to to the right-

adjust and tighten.
6.)So the right tie ends up at the left side of bow and left tie becomes right side of bow.

Sock Curls by Castle Creations

The sock curl is really easy. After washing your daughters hair, dry it until it's just barely damp, put in some hair product of your choice, gel, mousse, whatever...I usually use nothing. And you take a bunch of socks, and wind sections of hair around the socks and when you get up to her head, you just tie the ends of the socks together. It reminds me of when my grandmother used to do rag curls on us when we were little. The socks are great, because they absorb the excess dampness in the hair, and they aren't too bad to sleep on. In the morning....wa-la, curly hair...

How much should I charge for my items? by Ediebeedieboutique

This is how I determine the cost of my clothing as well, although you need to account for profit as well. This is different from labor. Pricing your clothing this way, you will always be able to account for using more expensive fabrics or if you make a difficult design that takes more time to complete. See below:

Cost Plus Pricing

The best way to determine the prices you will charge for your products or services is to use a cost plus pricing formula and combine this with your overall pricing strategy. To accomplish this, you have to figure out your fixed operating costs, your variable costs associated with the delivery of services, the manufacturing of products, or the wholesale costs of products, and add a profit. The formula therefore is:

Variable costs + Fixed costs + Profit = Selling price.

Assume you sell services. Just remember that the following information can also be used to determine cost plus pricing for products. As a rule of thumb, labor costs generally represent the largest share of expenses for service providers. So the first step is to figure out how much you want to earn per hour. You should base our decision on three factors: How much money you need to earn to pay your personal expenses? What is the industry average for the job? Do you have a premium if the service you provide is highly specialized or risky?

Once you have determined how much per hour you want to earn, the next step is to calculate your fixed costs, which are business expenses that do not fluctuate regardless of the number of sales you make, such as the telephone, rent, and insurance. Use the attached worksheet to determine your fixed operating costs.

The next step is to determine the costs incurred in the delivery of the service, which is referred to as variable costs. For instance, if you operated a dog grooming service, the costs to purchase shampoo and grooming supplies for each dog groomed would be the variable costs. The next step is to calculate and add a profit. Every business needs to generate a profit in order to stay in business and stay competitive in the market place. Most small business owners use a percentage to calculate a profit on each job, such as total costs plus 20 percent. The final step is to tie it all together. The formula used to arrive at a selling price is to:

1. Multiple your labor rate by the number of hours to complete the job.
2. Add fixed expenses.
3. Add variable expenses.
4. Multiple the total of the three by your desired profit margin.
5. The total is your selling price.

For the example below, we will assume that fixed business expenses are $1,000 per month, and there are 160 billable work hours each month; $1,000 divided by 160 hours equals $6.25 per hour fixed expenses, and that the total job required 25 hours to complete

Labor rate, $20 per hour x 25 hours = $500.00

Fixed expenses, $6.25 per hour x 25 hours = $156.25

Variable expenses for the job = $150.00

Total = $806.25

Profit 20% = $161.25

Selling price = $967.50

Easy Gathers by candicenicole19

If you want a nice even gather and you are not going for a SUPER twirl then what i do is crank up the tension all the way (Mine is 9) and the stitch length (Mine goes to 5) and slow down the machine to the slowest speed and you will have an awesome even gather! Works great for twirl skirts and jumper dresses! lol, It is my perferred method! Here is the only close up I can find of this method. it is a ruffle at the bottom of a pair of pants but you can see it gathers Nice at least!