DIY A Silk Flower!

This silk flower is fun to make and it’s a great way to use unwanted neckties!

Supplies needed are: 

one silk twill or silk brocade necktie, (The best is a wider tie made of silk twill. A silk brocade tie also works but it is a stiff weave so it’s a little more difficult to work with.)
all-purpose thread,
2 feet of embroidery floss or yarn,
2” square of craft felt,
standard long hand sewing needle for the thread
large( doll-making sized) needle for the floss or yarn,
seam ripper,
fabric scissors,
large safety pin if you are making a brooch or a barrette if you are making a hair accessory.
Before you start, pre-wash the necktie if needed, with water and dish soap and hang to dry.

Step 1

Step 3

Step 3

Step 4

1.  Deconstruct the necktie by removing all the threads, interlining and lining.      

2. Determine the widest width of the tie narrow end of the tie and trim the rest of the tie to this width.

3. Hand sew ¼” long running stitch or machine sew a basting stitch down the center of the tie.

4. Pull the thread so it gathers the tie tightly. Don’t cut the excess thread yet.

Step 5

Step 6

Step 7

Step 8

5. Roll the gathered tie strip so the stitching runs down the center of the roll.
6. Wrap the excess thread tightly around the center of the roll so it covers the stitches.
7. Thread some of the excess threads onto the long sewing needle and make several stitches through the center of the roll.
8. Cut about 2 feet of yarn or embroidery floss. Wrap the yarn or floss around the tip of your index finger several times leaving 3 or 4 inches of excess yarn or thread on each side of the wrapped circle. Now wrap the free ends through the center of the wrap a few times to secure. Tie the free ends together.

Step 9

Step 10

Viola!!

9, Thread the ends of the yarn or floss circle through a yarn or doll needle. Push the needle through the center of the flower until the yarn circle is flush with one side of the flower. Take a couple of stitches with the yarn tails near the center back of the flower to secure it in place.
10. Center a safety pin on the back of the flower. Cover with a small square of felt. Hand stitch the felt all the way around the edges to secure the safety pin in place. You could also use a barrette if you’d like a flower for your hair!
Voila!! You have a beautiful accessory.

Video Feature: Pants Fitting Secret!

Martha West and Gail Kelley discuss an important tip and how to apply it when fitting pants.

At The Sewing Hive, one of our classes is put together to create a pants pattern that fits you perfectly, called Pants Fitting and Sewing. You will learn wha...

A New Sewer’s Journey!

Winter White Wool

Meet our most determined, joyful client, Linda I! She truly is one of the funniest, happiest people I have met.

Linda is finishing her FIFTH coat/jacket to be started and completed in the last 18 months. To flesh out the picture, I met Linda about two years ago when she was taking a pants class at a fabric store and I was the instructor. She came with the pants already cut out and I really thought maybe a raccoon had nibbled the fabric away. (Sorry raccoons, and yes, Linda has already read this before I published.) After a few hours I asked if she was left handed, so that explained the tortured fabric and her tortured left hand using a right handed scissors.

Linda became one of our very first customers. Not one to be happy just to stick her toe into the water, Linda plunged right in to learn everything she could about sewing outstanding garments. Recently retired, she had a beautiful white wool fabric, purchased many years ago while she was working, and she wanted to make a jacket. After seeing the beautiful fabric, we talked about maybe working on some linen first.

The very next project was the Kelly Anorak trench with lining. Never one to shy away from a tough fabric if that was the correct fabric, Linda sourced a water resistant material from Seattle Fabrics, and the lining from Liberty of London. Zippers, snaps, grommets….she gamely tackled it all. She has a beautiful light weight trench she wears proudly.

Test Jacket

Pink linen: she loves pink….check out the glasses

Kelly Anorak with Lining

Water resistant fabric from Seattle Fabrics, lining from Liberty of London

Next she felt confident to tackle the Winter White wool jacket, shown at the top of the page. She used the same basic jacket pattern from Vogue. The jacket is beautiful, including gold metal buttons with her monogram. A little expense that goes a long way to making something special and distinctive.

Next project was a white wool winter coat, belted, with fake fur buttons that add flair and Linda’s distinctive style.

White Wool belted coat……the photo does not do it justice.

Linda is a shirt and jeans kind of laid back girl, so project five was a shirt. We believe that a woven shirt is a great skill builder: topstitching, buttonholes, fitted shoulders, plackets, collars, cuffs. The results are pretty great, with rounded pearlized buttons. Her next shirt material is waiting at home, a reversible pink (of course) and baby blue jacquard.

Along with three other ladies, Linda is finishing her French couture jacket. Up next, pants!

Here is what working with Linda has taught us…..it is a great idea to take a basic sewing course if you are a beginner, but never be afraid to dive right in and learn by just SEWING.

The Cambria Duster by Friday Pattern Co.: Loungewear or Outerwear?

By Martha West
I’ve been seeing so many posts about people making robes during the pandemic.  I’m not a robe person but I started looking at robe-like patterns after seeing so much on social media.  I decided to make the Cambria Duster by Friday Pattern Co. because I could easily see it as a luscious robe OR a lightweight jacket. 

I have been operating under a number of self-induced sewing rules during the pandemic.  The most successful and satisfying has been one to use my stash and make do with what I already have.  So, I went up to the closet that has been storing a beautiful light blue wool crepe for 15 years.  I bought it to make a suit for work just before my department went business casual.  It has waited a long time for the right project and I was so certain that I had 5 yards of it that I didn’t even check before ordering the pattern.  Err, it turned out to be 2.5 yards.  In spite of 90 minutes of trying, I could not make it work for Cambria.  So, I located two different double knit fabrics that seemed to work together and decided to go for a slightly Boho look.  Sew News Magazine’s Aug/Sept 2020 issue has a gorgeous boho version of the Suki Robe by Helen’s Closet (a lovely and very popular pattern) so I thought it might work for my version.The sewing was challenging due to the very different stretch percentages of my gray cotton double-knit and the blue print polyester/nylon double-knit.  Particularly since the blue print fabric had 60% stretch on the straight grain…but only 40% on the cross grain.  Huh?  I wish I would have noticed that before cutting out!  I would have cut out on the cross grain instead.I used my walking foot to help tame the beast, particularly the front collar/facing where the two different fabrics were sewn together. It helped quite a bit but, I was a little concerned that it would still turn out too wonky to be wearable.  In the end, I was very surprised by how much I like the robe/duster and I have worn it as both loungewear and outerwear since the temperatures have become more fall-like.Overall, the robe was surprisingly easy to sew and quick!  I made some modifications:

• Shortened the robe by 3” (I’m 5’6”)

• Understitched the front of the robe as far as it was possible.  Definitely necessary due to my two different fabrics.

• Put a huge 2.5” hem in the sleeves because they were too long on me but I like the look of the large cuff folded back.

• I didn’t add extra width across the back as a broad back adjustment and I didn’t need it in my stretchy fabric, but I recommend taking care if you aren’t using a stretchy fabric.  I think the back is quite narrow…and I’ve never had to do a broad back adjustment on any pattern.

• Widened the sleeves by ¾”.  They are very narrow for a winter garment that you might put over a sweater.  If this were a lightweight summer duster, they’re probably fine but I was aiming for something cozy.We’re considering putting a robe class together at The Sewing Hive. 
  Please let us know if that’s something you are interested in by sending an email.