Top 12 How-To Tutorials from 2012

2012 has been a wonderful year at S4H. The number of visitors we receive everyday has gone through the roof! We are so pleased and proud to know so many people from across the country and around the world find the projects and articles here at S4H inspiring and useful. We're also grateful to have such strong support from our sponsoring partners who allow us to continue to provide all our content free of charge! As is the case with many sites and media outlets, as the year winds down, it's time to look back at the highlights. Today we bring you the Top 12 How To Tutorials from 2012.Our goal is to give you the tools to make sewing easier, which will make it more fun, which will make it something you want to do more often, which will make you want to come back to Sew4Home more often to get great project ideas. It's really a win-win situation!

Take a look back through these favorite tips and techniques. Then, leave us a comment below and let us know what you'd like to learn about in 2013.

12. Sewing Successful Curves from 6/12/12

11. How to Fussy Cut Fabric Motifs & More from 9/11/12

10. Working with Velvet and Velveteen from 12/5/12

9. How To Do Shirring from 4/3/12

8. A Complete Step-by-Step For Binding Quilts & Throws from 3/5/12

7. How To Make a Rolled Hem With Your Sewing Machine from 7/19/12

6. Bias Binding: Figuring Yardage, Cutting, Making, Attaching from 9/19/12

5. How to Sew a Corner (aka Mitered) Hem from 6/21/12

4. How To Make Wave Tucks from 6/14/12

3. Successful Sewing With Laminated Cottons (And Other Sticky Stuff) from 4/5/12

2. How To Box Corners from 8/8/12

1. How to Install an Invisible Zipper from 11/8/12

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Interviews & Inspirations

Comments (15)

Carol Barringer said:

I would like to know why clothing patterns use a 5/8" seam allowance -- often then saying to trim to 1/4". As a quilter, I am most comfortable with the 1/4" s/a. Even with a seam allowance marker, I "drift" from the 5/8" to 1/4" while sewing. And I hate wasting the fabric on the wider seam allowance! A quilter friend who took an advanced class on garment-making said the instructor advised using a 1/2" seam allowance, even when the pattern says 5/8". How can this be OK? Can you shed some light on this confusion? When and why is it important to ever use a seam allowance greater than 1/4"?

Liz Johnson.Editor.Sew4Home said:

@ Carol Barringer - I don't consider myself a textile history expert, so I think a Google search would do more for you than my small brain. In general, patterns are fitted with the standards in mind: 5/8" for garments, 1/2" for home decor, 1/4" for quilting. If a pattern has been created with specific seam allowance in mind, the pieces may not fit together properly if you don't follow that measurement. And, in garments, having a generous seam allowance provides just a little more room for fitting and adjusting. If you need to add just the tiniest bit at the sides, you can using the space in the seam allowance.

Randi Daeger said:

I am just now trying out applique. My stitches are riding up onto the appliqued piece, my pieces often look "chewed up" around the edges....lots of little things that keep my effort from looking like the picture of what I am making. Got any help for me? I love this site! Thanks for being 'there' for us all.

Liz Johnson.Editor.Sew4Home said:

@ Randi Daeger - here are two recent tutorials we've done on applique. The first is our own, and the second is by our friend Vanessa Christensen.

http://www.sew4home.com/tips-resources/sewing-tips-tricks/how-appliqué

http://www.sew4home.com/tips-resources/sewing-tips-tricks/simply-color-v...

KathrynGagne said:

How about sewing with selvages? I really love how your tutorials are inspiring and so easy to understand.

Thank-you so much

Z. Ági said:

You have fantastic tutorials, easy, understandable and sooo colorful. :)

I wish many-many bag tutorials, for notebooks, for business look, for the beach, gym etc. :)
And I intend to make my own bikini for next summer if you have some tips for this...

Thank you and happy new year!

labriek said:

Do you have suggestions for some basic projects to build skills so that I may move on to more difficult things? I love to sew, but really need to work on my skills.

Liz Johnson.Editor.Sew4Home said:

@ labriek - take a look at our article titled: Spread The Love: Teach Someone to Sew -- there is a list at the bottom of easy first projects.

http://www.sew4home.com/tips-resources/interviews-inspirations/spread-lo...

M Elizabeth Young said:

Glad I found this site. Sew many projects, sew little time.

Jane Coombs said:

Such a terrific gathering of tutorials. I am still looking for the perfect swim bag, which means sewing with mesh. Just a suggestion. Thanks for the sewing education, and no tears!

JT said: