When it comes to designing, I somehow have an inclination to add elements that have some form of curvature at the hem. For that reason, I’ve spent years sewing and clean finishing curved edges. I feel that soft curves flow nicer, feeling softer and looking more organic. In dressmaking, materializing a design means applying sewing techniques that are often a bit more tricky than others. Clean finishing a curved edge, while it may seem and sound simple, is one of those  sewing instances that can actually be quite tricky.

Fun fact: Curved edges misbehave. They tend to defy folding and require a lot more patience in the clean finishing process. For years, I’ve patiently turned curved fabric edges by hand, attempting to keep them smooth and tension free. Even with using and iron and hand basting, folding and topstitching curved hemlines is nothing more than a roller coaster ride. Recently however, I came across a simple technique that saved me from hours of crouching over the ironing board. It is called easestitching and in its pure simplicity, solves some of the most complex sewing challenges.

What is easestitching? A machine basting stitch that is applied along curved fabric edges and then pulled as much as necessary to gather up the seam allowance into even, smooth curves- Beautiful.

Easestitching serves as the perfect tool for manipulating curved folds and evenly distributing excess seam allowance. In the steps below, I’ll show you a techniques for folding curved edges with easestitching used on hemline finshes, as well as curved patch pockets and folded edge appliques. ​

​I have a problem with loosing things. Yes, I’m the person that spends a good 10 minutes looking for car keys every morning. The smaller the objects the easier they are to loose and more difficult they are too find. Since old habits die hard, I have a similar issue in my sewing studio where over time, pins have disappeared into oblivion never to be found or seen again.

There is no denying the fact that the sewing process requires the use of lots of pinning. While I genuinely attempt to collect each fallen pin at the end of a work day, some fall through the cracks both literally and metaphorically speaking. In an effort to replenish my sewing pin collection, I ran over to the fabric store for what was supposed to be a five minute shopping session. Instead, I spend a good 20 minutes trying to decide what sewing pins I should get. Something as simple as sewing pins can impact sewing speed, comfort and functionality. If you are at the beginning of the road, I encourage you to start with the right set of sewing pins as this will help you optimize your construction process!

​Here are 4 main factors to consider:

​Whether you are familiar with the word “mitering” or not, chances are you have definitely come across this finish at some point in the dressmaking process. Clean, professional and angled to perfection, a mitered (new word to me by the way) technique is one applied to straight or angular fabric corners to form a diagonal seam that encloses all fabric raw edges. It is a high quality finish very often used with tailored items like coats, blazers, and tailored skirts/dresses to  form sharp, clean edges at the garment opening’s hemline or at slit and vent corners.

Mitering is one of those techniques that is very simple once you know its basic steps but somewhat confusing if you try to figure it out yourself from scratch- speaking from experience here. I have tried to clean finish fabric corners by mitering angular, asymmetric hem edges and let’s just say the experience left me feeling frustrated. The other day I was browsing an old sewing book and found it! A simple 3 step method to clean finishing fabric corners using the mitering technique.  Here it is: ​

I've been wanting to write this little tutorial for a little while now. I'm not exactly sure if it was my fear of sewing a fly front zipper or never quite finding the time, but it has been put on the back burner for about a year now. Now that I'm finally getting down to it, I'm feeling pretty inspired.

It is true, all zippers can feel a bit intimidating. However, a fly front style in particular is its own spices, or shall I say, beast. I was forced into sewing one recently when I created some custom outfits for two (super talented) musicians (I'll show you more later!). This particular fly front zipper belonged to a pair of jean-like mens trousers. Needless to say, it had to look the part and function by the book. ​

In the steps below, I'll show you the steps for sewing this exact zipper, including an intro to the pattern pieces you need and how to put it all together. Although the zipper in this tutorial is sewn into a pair of pants, an identical process will work for sewing one to a skirt, given that there is a seam able to house it, of course. ​

What is a fly front zipper? As the name suggests, this style is sewn to the fly of women's or menswear trousers (although conventionally used for almost all men's bottoms). There is a directional rule to differentiate between womens wear and menswear: In women's clothing, the fly placket is positioned right over left while in men's clothing it is left over right (shown in this tutorial). 

I've had a personal obsession with pockets for years. I love them all regardless of style and find them to be one of the primary functional elements in a garment. Today, I'll show you how to sew one of my all time favorites: the welt pocket. A classic, tailored pocket that is conventionally used with men's trousers, suit jackets, vests and other menswear and womenswear tailored items. Although they seem to be more prevalent in menswear, I love seeing a welt pocket as a design element in more casual women's wear. 

The clean, high quality finish of a welt pocket can elevate a garment's look and function regardless of whether this a business-appropriate style or a pair of casual shorts. 

There are two main types of welt pockets: single and double welt, although these derive other styles.

Naturally, the single welt pocket has a single welt (rectangular tab) while the double has two, usually equal width taps or welts. As you might have already guessed, the single welt is easier to sew simply for the fact that there is less stitching and measuring involved in comparison to a double style.

I do have to admit that welt pockets can be a bit tricky for sewing beginners, but after you sew a few of them, they will definitely start looking more uniform and professional! So if you love welt pockets as much as I do, don't give up on the first try! I recommend that you don't move on to the double welt pocket until you feel comfortable with sewing a single welt.

OK, before we move on to the sewing steps below, here are a few things to keep in mind with regards to the construction and styling of welt pockets:

• Welt pockets can be positioned vertically, horizontally, diagonally and in any asymmetric direction on the surface of a garment. Most traditional welt pockets are positioned in horizontal direction. 
• The back side of the fabric surface housing the welt pocket should always be reinforced with interfacing both to increase durability as well as encourage the pocket to lay flat. As you'll see in the steps below, when slashing the welt opening, seam allowance excess will need to be cut very close to the actual stitch line in order for the final pocket to be uniform and lay flat. For that reason, having the fabric backed with fusible interfacing will maintain structure and strength in this cutting process. 
• On the topic of structure and durability, welt pockets are much easier to sew onto medium to heavyweight fabrics that have a bit more structure and area easily ironed. Wool, cotton, linen and various synthetic blends that are not flimsy or slippery are the best to work with. Fabrics that are fine and transparent will not house a welt pocket very well. Not only will the interface show on the right side of the garment, the actual pocket may have difficulty maintaining its structure and durability.
• It is highly advisable that you complete the welt pocket construction before sewing the rest of the garment together. The reason behind doing this is quite clever (and straightforward): If you make an irreversible mistake while sewing the welt pocket, you can always re-cut the corresponding fabric piece and start all over. As you'll see below, welt pocket construction requires that you actually cut into the surface of the fabric which puts you a little in the danger zone. When sewing the welt pocket to the surface of an already finished garment (which you've worked hard on!) and you make an irreparable mistake, you may actually have to redo the entire garment starting completely from scratch- unless you find another creative option to hide the error. 

This week's tutorial will be a very simple one. It has been inspired by a cute little sash I recently made for a cute little flower girl. To make the sash match the fabric of the bridesmaid dresses, I treated the construction of the sash as I would with any conventional waist tie. So this brought me to another thought: considering its sewing simplicity, wouldn't a waist tie make a really pretty addition to any old dress or tunic top that needs to be replenished a bit? In the steps below, I'll show you two techniques for sewing a professional waist tie: The self-finished folded method and the lined method. 

A waist tie can take on many styling challenges and serve a number of different functions. Yes, it's a great little bow builder for a flower girl, but it can also make a perfect stylistic element for any dress that needs an update. A tie waist look is classic, accentuates  the waistline, and can hide a majority of size and design issues.

If this sewing tutorial has already peaked your interest, here are some tips on how and where to start if you want to vamp up a dress in your closet with a waist tie sewn by you! Consider these three elements: Fabric, color and drape. 

Choose a fabric that either matches the weight, thickness and texture of the dress or vise versa, an opposite that compliments the dress' design and fabric. You could of course sew the waist tie out of any scrap fabrics you already have, but I suggest that you pay close attention to what also works with the dress both visually and functionally. If mismatched however, make sure the combo looks intentional. 
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For example, if you are adding a tie to a very lightweight silk dress, a waist tie made of stiff, textured fabric (like linen or wool) may not feel or look the part. Vise versa, if the dress is more structured, a very thin, flimsy waist tie may be overpowered or simply not withstand the dress both functionally and visually. So that being said, if you're rummaging through scrap fabrics trying to find the perfect tie material, keep these fabric-related elements in mind. 

On the topic of color: you can and should use your design eye. I suggest choosing a color that works in combination with the rest of the dress to ensure a cohesive look. Sometimes when it comes to color opposites attract, so you can certainly color block! What you want to avoid however, is making the waist tie look like an add-on that simply doesn't belong. Because it is a removable piece, color blocking doesn't always work as it can make the tie feel as if it is not intentionally part of dress. If you can't find a matching color, I suggest either staying within the same basic color scheme but choosing a darker or lighter shade, or making the separate tie in a neutral like black. 

Although drape goes hand-in-hand with fabric, I think it's important to consider it separately as it will affect the design and overall look of the garment. Consider how you would ultimately like to knot or style the waist tie. A lightweight fabric with high draping capabilities carries less bulk and for that reason, works well with a longer waist tie. 

Vise versa, if the fabric is stiff with no natural drape, you should almost look at it more as a belt. When styling a more structured waist tie, I suggest either making it shorter or wrapping it around the waist a few times so that the hanging ends are nicely contained at the waist. A tie made from drape-less fabric can look bulky and overwhelm a garment if the loose ends are long and left floating at the bottom.

Ultimately, it is really up to your taste and design eye to decide what fabric, color and drape is best suited for your waist tie addition (or sash)! But now that I got some of my own suggestions out of the way, let's get started on the sewing portion of this tutorial. As mentioned above, it will be a fairly simple and hopefully a fun one! I'll walk you through two separate techniques both resulting in almost the same edge finished style. Choose your method based on how much fabric you have available and what is most suitable for your sewing experience.

​Hint: You'll find that the first technique is more simple and has less steps to fiddle with.