How to use a side cutter (cut and hem) sewing machine foot

Sewing Bee Fabrics Tutorial

How To Use A Side Cutter (Cut and Hem) Sewing Machine Foot

The cut and hem sewing machine foot is a brilliant little gadget. It converts your standard sewing machine into a basic overlocker for a fraction of the price and storage space. You can buy one of these HERE

To use the side cutter, first you need to unscrew your standard sewing machine foot.

Line the prong part up to cradle your needle screw so the cut and hem is able to move as your needle does. It is easiest to line it up if you sneak up on your sewing machine from behind!

Now pivot the foot so that the claw looking part lines up with the screw hole, and screw into place.

Pull your thread into the gap in the centre of the side cutter then out behind.

You need to make a snip of a couple of centimetres in the fabric to get started. This is because the material needs to pass through far enough inside the foot for the needle to pierce the fabric next to a raw edge to begin an overlocking action.

To feed your fabric into the side cutter, pass your material over the plate closest to you, but under the part that looks like a standard foot. The bumped out black section in the centre is the blade, so be careful not to get your fingers too close to this as you sew. Push the cut edge of the fabric gently up to the the edge of the blade.

Most sewing machines come with a couple of stitches designed to be sewn over the edge, so either select one of these, or a wide zigzag. Double check that the stitch you picked avoids the centre bar by manually moving the needle up and down first.


Now your ready to start sewing like you own an overlocker! I would however recommend that you have a practice on some scraps before you attack your favourite expensive material, as once fabric is cut off, it is very difficult to undo any mistakes. For that same reason, I would also suggest that marking a line on the wrong side of the fabric and sewing this way up will limit your chance of errors too.


As you sew, you will notice that the blade cuts at the same speed as your stitches are sewn, and the stitches wrap around the centre bar. It does this to maintain the perfect tension before sliding them off and around the edge of your fabric. This stops the edge getting pulled out of place.

Once you are finished, you need to slide any remaining stitches off the centre bar, so gently pull the fabric backwards before pulling away.

You can leave your edge like this, but for most projects, you will want to turn the edge up out of sight, so I rolled up the bottom, pinned in place, and with a quarter inch quilting foot that has a handy little guide for lining the fabric edge up against (also available from our SHOP), I quickly can stitch a perfect line 1/4 inch from the bottom.

The finished result looks neat and professional and took me all of 5 minutes!

We hope you enjoy our tutorials and love hearing what you think so please leave us a comment or send me an email to linda@sewingbeefabrics.co.uk

Draft your own strappy top

Sewing Bee Fabrics Tutorial

How To Draft Your Own Strappy Top

 

What you will need:

Approx 1 metre of cotton and some thread
(Don't forget to browse our SHOP, for your supplies!)

How to make it:

First, you need to take a few measurements so you can draft your own pattern. You want to know your hip or bust measurement - measurement 'A' (use the largest of the 2). The distance between your bra straps at the front - measurement 'B', the distance between the highest point on your bra and the under bust band going over the cup - measurement 'C' , and the length of your bra strap.

Your dart size will depend on your bust size. I would recommend somewhere between about 2-5cm with a 'C' cup about 3cm, so scale up or down as required. Dart height should be approx. under bust to just under nipple. Plot your measurements on some wrapping paper or parcel paper or similar to draft your own pattern like so (back piece on the left side on, and front pieces on the right):

You will be using your left over material for your straps and bias binding later.


How to sew it together:
First you need to transfer your markings for your darts on to the wrong side of your fabric. To sew the darts on your front top section, simply fold the fabric right sides together down the center of your dart markings. Place a pin or 2 diagonally to mark your line to sew from your bottom mark to your top mark. Sew with a running stitch then press your seams as you go. Depending on the size you made your dart you may want to leave the extra fabric and just press it to the outside, or trim and sew an over-edge stitch (a zigzag stitch very near to the edge will work too). Your top section should now be the same with as your middle front section. 

Sew the bottom of your top front section to the top of the front middle section by putting them right side together. Sew together with a 1/4 inch seam allowance and over stitch the edge.

This piece should now be the same length as your back piece (If it isn't quite then just trim them so they are level - a good tip here is to place one on top of the other so you will get the edges to exactly to same height. There is nothing worse here than trimming it only to find you took too much off).

Leaving them right side together, sew only 1 side seam to join your front and back pieces.

Next you want your long strip to make a slightly ruffled base. To give a neat finish to the bottom hem of the top, I folded the hem up, then folded again to conceal the raw edges inside the hem and pressed in to place before sewing.

On the raw edge, you want to make a slight ruffle. I passed mine through a ruffler foot quickly on the sewing machine with it set to ruffle every 6th stitch at a depth of 2.5 and a stitch length of 2.5.

I then joined it to the base of the top with right sides together, quarter inch allowance running stitch just below the line created by adding ruffles, followed by an overlock stitch. If your brave, you can pass the top under the ruffler as you ruffle to stitch them together, but I prefer to do them separately for more control as it is such a large piece. Without a ruffler foot for your sewing machine, you could always pin your seam, creating the ruffles as you go by bunching and folding small segments of fabric evenly along the length.

 

I like a bias binding finish to the top edge, so with your remaining fabric, cut strips 5cm wide on a 45 degree angle to the grain on the fabric. For a smooth attachment, join your pieces so they sit with 1 horizontal and 1 vertical, and your stich at a 45 degree angle so that the join lies across the fabric. For more details on how to make bias binding, check out the tutorial link HERE

I like to attach bias binding quickly and easily with a bias binding foot (available in our SHOP). If you are attaching it by hand I would recommend pressing a centre fold in it to help make sure you are keeping it perfectly central as you sew. Simply push your fabric up inside the edges. I like to reinforce mine with a zigzag stitch over the edge.

To make you straps, decide how wide you want them, double it and add enough to allow for a tuck under of the edges. The length will be the same as you bra strap length plus 2cm. Press the raw edges in, then fold in half. Press again then sew down both sides of the strap with a zigzag stitch. I like to do this over the edge to make sure it is fully enclosed. Do the open edge first to make sure it doesn't slip out of place. Overlap slightly and sew over the base of the strap as well as level with the top edge of the top. If you want your stitches not to show, you can always sew this part by hand.

To make the back sit close, you either need to add a small length of elastic or pleats. I added 3 pleats after my bias binding in the centre to make a more decorative look but if you'd like it to look more subtle, just do it before adding your bias binding.

Sew up the second side seam in a straight line down the body part but flare out a little at the ruffle to hold it's shape. Then try it on inside out. You will find it probably gapes a little bit around the armpits. To sort that, simply pin diagonally at the top to your desired fit on both sides. Sew then trim the excess before fixing with your over edge stitch.

Turn it the right way around. Press any seams you haven't already done, then go enjoy showing it off!

We hope you enjoy our tutorials and love hearing what you think so please leave us a comment or send me an email to linda@sewingbeefabrics.co.uk. Don't forget to visit our SHOP for all your project supplies.
Happy Sewing!

How To Make An Easy Cushion Cover

Sewing Bee Fabrics Tutorial

How To Make An Easy Cushion Cover

 

Having been asked to make an unusual cushion cover for a birthday present, this was the really easy-to-make cover I came up with. This project is perfect for beginners and experienced levels alike.

What you will need:
Half a meter of cotton for the outer pattern ( I used Michael Miller for the hedgehogs. Check out our range of Michael Miller fabrics HERE)
2 squares of 27cm x 27cm of the centre pattern in cotton

How to make it:
A cushion is typically about 45cm x 45cm,  so allowing for 1/2 inch seams I cut 5 pieces 27cm width x 22cm height and 2 pieces 47cm height x 42cm width from my half meter piece.

I joined both the 27cm x 27cm squares with a smaller rectangle piece placed above and below, by placing them right side together and sewing 1/2 inch from the edge. I pressed seams open as I went to give a neater finish.

On one side you will need to make an opening to get a cushion in, so pick a back and a front. On the top sewn rectangle on the back, I folded the top edge, then folded again so the raw edge was underneath itself and sewed the hem so that all raw edges were completely enclosed. I did a matching hem on the bottom of the 5th smaller piece (the last small rectangle piece that isn't attached to anything yet).

Next I faced the 2 main sections right side together and pinned the long vertical sections to each side. This is easier to do by folding the main panels in half so the new pieces are central. Lay the 5th spare piece over the top of the other hemmed rectangle and pin down the edges with the rest of the seam.

This should create a letterbox effect with the 2 hemmed edges. This will be where you poke your cushion through.

Sew the vertical seams then fold the vertical panels in half so the smaller cotton pattern sits centrally. Press in place.

Pin and sew the top and bottom then turn right side out through the letterbox opening.

Now all you have to do now is stuff a cushion in!

We hope you enjoy our tutorials and love hearing what you think so please leave us a comment or send me an email to linda@sewingbeefabrics.co.uk
Happy Sewing!

More sewing tutorials available at www.sewingbeefabrics.co.uk

How to Sew Buttons and Buttonholes by Sewing Machine

Sewing Bee Fabrics Tutorial

 

How To Sew Buttons on By Machine

All our sewing machine feet are available HERE


Attaching a functioning button by machine really is simple. It just needs 2 little sewing machine feet, so start off by unclipping your current foot.

To make the buttonhole, you can use this presser foot with either a 1 step or 4 step buttonhole setting. A 4 step buttonhole setting on a sewing machine should look something like this.

First you need to decide how big you need your buttonhole to be for the button to fit through. To do that, place your button in the buttonhole presser foot (or if it is too big, next to the attachment) at the end which is closest to you. Note the markings on the side of the attachment are there to help you remember the size of your button. You don't have to only make buttonholes at a marked level. Don't forget that this is the standard way to measure for a flat button.  Raised buttons marry need more room, so it's always best to practice on a scrap of fabric first to make sure the button will go through.

A one step buttonhole does the whole buttonhole for you, but the 4 step
buttonhole needs you to manually change stitches. So I will show you how
to do that.

Set the attachment at the length of your button and select stitch 'a/c'. This will sew a side to side. You need this to be anchored in well or when you open your buttonhole it could break and the material could rip. So I would sew at least 6 times.

Next, select stitch 'd'. This sews a right sided zigzag stitch and brings you to the front of your buttonhole. Note that your stitch length will effect your zigzag. You will rarely find a satin stitch used on a buttonhole, but I would recommend a short stitch length.

Step 3 is a repeat of step 1, but this time you are just at the other end of the buttonhole.

Finally, select stitch 'b'. This is a left sided zigzag that will bring you back to where you started.

I prefer to always sew a buttonhole twice over so I know it can withstand heavy usage.

The only thing you have left to do is open up your buttonhole. Ideally using a seam ripper (or scissors) slide down the centre of the material being careful not to cut the end stitches.

Your buttonhole is now complete, so let's move on to the button itself. To use the button attaching foot you must either lower or cover your feed dogs depending on your machine type. This is because you need to stitch on the spot so you don't want your machine pulling your fabric away from you. If you have covered your feed dogs, don't forget to pull your bobbin thread up through the opening in the cover.

Select a zigzag stitch then by hand, lower and raise the needle until you have the stitch width needed for the needle to go into each buttonhole. You may need to jiggle the angle of the button under the foot to get it lining up perfectly.

Then start sewing. The amount of times you go through the button will depend on its use, but I would recommend again, a minimum 6 times into each button hole. If your button has to go through a thick fabric or lots of layers you may wish for your button to be freer from the fabric so that once it is pulled through, it sits comfortably on top. You are more likely to be able to do this by machine if you can lower your feed dogs as often the cover for feed dogs takes up too much space, so a spacing item wont fit. If you do have plenty of space under the button and presser foot, simply place something narrower than the width of the holes under the button between the holes (eg. A chopstick), to raise the button away from the fabric as you stitch. To reduce the chance of it slipping, lower the needle by hand for the first couple of stitches. I prefer to reinforce this by looping thread around the thread under the button a few times and tying a knot by hand immediately after removing the item, before it has time to slacken.


Your button is now ready for use!

We hope you enjoy our tutorials and love hearing what you think so please leave us a comment or send me an email to linda@sewingbeefabrics.co.uk