Tips & Resources 
2013 is a great year to expand your creative horizons and explore new sewing projects and techniques. Here at Sew4Home, we've come up with our own New Year's Resolutions list, and we've been working with our fabulous sponsoring partners to plan a full year of fun. We hope you come back often to see, learn and do; and of course, when you come... bring all your friends! There will be plenty of inspiration to go around.
THIS GREAT GIVEAWAY ENDED 01/11/13. THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO ENTERED.
Earlier this year, we introduced you to It's Sew Emma, the sister site of Fat Quarter Shop, specializing in paper and pdf quilt patterns. We knew there were more exciting things to come from this creative team, and sure enough... recently, their first book arrived in our mailbox: It's Sew Emma's Simply Fat Quarters - Quilts with Comfort & Style. Today, we take a peek inside and give you a chance to win a copy.
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.
We're so glad you choose to spend a little of your precious time with us every day, and we hope the inspiration you find bolsters your creative spirit. We wish you a wonderful Christmas day surrounded by friends and family. And... we trust you remembered to put a little something under the tree for your loyal sewing machine - perhaps a new spool of thread or a fresh pack of needles.
Happy Holidays to you and yours!
THIS GREAT GIVEAWAY CLOSED 12/31/12. THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO ENTERED.
Visitors often wonder what happens to all our samples. We've even had a number of people ask if they can buy them or just have them! We use our pretty finished projects to decorate booths at trade shows. Often our sponsors ask to borrow them for the same reason or to use in displays at large retail outlets. So, sometimes they do travel around, but for the most part, they live in our S4H studios as beautiful decorations. However... you can have too much of a good thing. We decided it was time some of our samples found a new home for the holidays and beyond. Today is part one of Our Gift 2 You: your chance to win a set of S4H samples.
A number of years ago, we had a French intern working with us... the daughter of a friend of a friend - you know how those things go. She was a sweet girl with a lovely accent, and we had fun asking her for the translation of things we tag as "French": a French braid to her was an Indian braid; French cut was Brazilian cut; French fries were American! We didn't get into all the amazing sewing techniques influenced by fine French (or heirloom) sewing. There's the French cuff, French dart, French knot, French curve, French binding and today's topic: the French seam. Ready to give it a try? Wearing a beret is optional.
We've been busy-busy-busy lately in the Sew4Home studios, and so fell a bit behind on our public notification of two recent Great Giveaway winners: our Quilt Sticks winner from October and our Oh Baby! Fabric.com Gift Certificate winner from November. We congratulate these winners today, and thank everyone who entered. Of course, as always, our biggest thanks goes to our friends and sponsors who provide such wonderful prizes.
In sewing, there's a difference between stitches you use for construction and ones you use for finishing. When you’re first learning to sew, your immediate focus is getting all those pieces to fit together correctly. From the moment you cut the fabric, you’re concerned with maintaining the shape of the pattern pieces. You tediously concentrate on perfecting seam allowances, matching cut pieces end to end, lining up seams, and measuring hems exactly. When a project is finally completed, you’re so happy; your sense of accomplishment is overwhelming... but, what about the inside edges beyond where you sewed? One of the signs of a truly well-made project is that it looks nearly as good on the inside as it does on the outside. If you want your projects to look "handmade" but not "homemade," it's well worth it to give your seams a professional finish.
THIS GREAT GIVEAWAY CLOSED 12/24/12. THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO ENTERED.
We've just wrapped up our biggest series ever: five weeks of Holiday Happiness with Rowan Fabrics, FreeSpirit Fabrics and Ty Pennington Impressions. Eighteen tutorials plus five techniques plus today's Great Giveaway! Wow! During the series, we introduced you to three brand new collections from Westminster Fibers Lifestyle Fabrics: Amelie's Attic by Melissa White for Rowan Fabrics, Pirouette by Verna Mosquera for FreeSpirit Fabrics, and Alchemy by Amy Butler for Rowan Fabrics. Plus, one group from Ty Pennington Impressions: Ty's Fall 2012 Collection. It's been fab five weeks. We hope you've enjoyed seeing how non-traditional fabrics like these can be incorporated into holiday projects with absolutely beautiful results. The bonus is, you can keep them out year 'round!
THIS GIVEAWAY ENDED 12/24/2012. THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO ENTERED.
Velvet and velveteen are definitely members of the fabric world's Specialty category. But, that doesn't mean they're too "special" to be part of your sewing stash. All you need is a little help learning how to properly handle, sew and care for them. And that's what your friends here at Sew4Home are for, right?! As we've shown you in recent weeks, today's fabric collections no longer feature quilting cotton as the only available substrate (or fabric type). Westminster Fibers, through their FreeSpirit and Rowan brands, offers a wonderful range of options from the sheerest voile to heavy canvas to the rich velveteen we're using from Amy Butler's Alchemy collection. But like anything new, unique substrates, such as velvet and velveteen tend to be feared by many home sewers. And... when fear leads you to always err on the same (or safe) side of all these fun new choices, you can end up in a fabric rut. Below we’ve summarized what we know about velvet and velveteen, along with the proper techniques for cutting, sewing, pressing, and more. Spread your wings and try something new! Trust us, the extra care is well worth the finished product.
