Just because you are a beginner sewist doesn't mean that you have to settle for amateurish garments. As a beginner, I found that it's the little touches that make all the difference in how polished and expensive a handmade garment looks
I made this purple satin blouse not long after I had returned to sewing. It was inspired by a runway design and I found a comparable fabric in an inexpensive but pretty polyester fabric. I was careful in making and pressing the blouse, but not quite skilled enough with my sewing machine to manage understitching the facing or topstitching the cuffs with a good result. Instead, I put the handsewing skills I had learned as a Girl Scout to work.
The facing was narrow and the front bow kept pulling it to the outside of the blouse. Rather than understitch, which, in my opinion always has dubious results
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Hand-finished facing. |
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anyway, I opted to turn the facing under and handstitch it down. Normally, this would not work for a neck facing, but in this case I was very careful to pick up only the smallest thread for minimum show-through to the front, and the bow covered the stitching. If the bow did slide to reveal the stitching, it looked like a hand-picked couture touch.
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The inside of the cuff is
handstitched. |
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I also opted to handstitch the inside of the cuff, rather than topstitch per the pattern instructions. I think the result was much prettier and made the blouse feel extra fancy.
In addition, I bought special faceted buttons for the blouse. Nice buttons can make all the difference in taking a garment from so-so to gorgeous. I also like to collect vintage buttons, so that I am adding something beautiful and unusual to my project.
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A pretty button makes a big difference. |
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If you are a beginnner, I urge you to make what you love. If you love the fabric and the pattern, you will be more willing to take the time and care that a garment you will keep forever needs. I always recommend taking on an inspiring challenge as I did with this blouse over a traditional "beginner" project. You will learn and develop creative solutions and with a few tricks like these, get a nice result that you will be proud to sport!
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Do you have any tricks you would like to share with your fellow sewists? Let us know on the Sew Daily blog.
Happy stitching!