essential h h Reference tool • Tools & Supplies • Stitches & Seam Treatments • Ruffles & Bias Tape • Zippers & Buttonholes • Sewn Accessories S • Home Dec • Garment Making e w • Sizing Charts for All Ages i n • & More! g All-in- One Visual Guide CARLA HEGEMAN CRIM CARLA HEGEMAN CRIM essential h h Reference tool • All-in-One Visual Guide • Tools & Supplies • Stitches & Seam Treatments • Ruffles & Bias Tape • Zippers & Buttonholes • Sewn Accessories • Home Dec • Garment Making • Sizing Charts for All Ages • & More! Text copyright © 2013 by Carla Hegeman Crim Photography and Artwork copyright © 2013 by C&T Publishing, Inc. Publisher: Amy Marson Production Coordinator: Rue Flaherty Creative Director: Gailen Runge Production Editor: Joanna Burgarino Art Director / Book Designer: Illustrator: Mary E. Flynn Kristy Zacharias Photo Assistant: Mary Peyton Peppo Editor: Liz Aneloski Cover photography by Nissa Brehmer; Technical Editors: Doreen Hazel, Instructional photography by Diane Teresa Stroin, and Ann Haley Pedersen, unless otherwise noted Published by Stash Books, an imprint of C&T Publishing, Inc., P.O. Box 1456, Lafayette, CA 94549 All rights reserved. No part of this post an up-to-date listing of corrections work covered by the copyright hereon on our website (www.ctpub.com). If a may be used in any form or reproduced correction is not already noted, please by any means—graphic, electronic, or contact our customer service department mechanical, including photocopying, at [email protected] or at P.O. Box 1456, recording, taping, or information Lafayette, CA 94549. storage and retrieval systems—without written permission from the publisher. Trademark (™) and registered trademark The copyrights on individual artworks (®) names are used throughout this book. Rather than use the symbols with every are retained by the artists as noted occurrence of a trademark or registered in Essential Sewing Reference Tool. trademark name, we are using the names These designs may be used to make only in the editorial fashion and to the items only for personal use. Donations benefit of the owner, with no intention of to nonprofit groups, items for sale, or infringement. items for display only at events require the following credit on a conspicuous Library of Congress Cataloging-in- label: Designs copyright © 2013 by Publication Data Carla Hegeman Crim from the book Essential Sewing Reference Tool from Crim, Carla Hegeman. C&T Publishing, Inc. Permission for all Essential sewing reference tool : all- other purposes must be requested in in-one visual guide - tools & supplies writing from C&T Publishing, Inc. - stitches & seam treatments - ruffles & Attention Teachers: C&T Publishing, Inc., bias tape - zippers & buttonholes - sewn encourages you to use this book as accessories - home dec - garment making - a text for teaching. Contact us at sizing charts for all ages - & more! / Carla 800-284-1114 or www.ctpub.com for Hegeman Crim. lesson plans and information about the pages cm C&T Creative Troupe. Includes index. We take great care to ensure that the information included in our products is ISBN 978-1-60705-860-1 (soft cover) accurate and presented in good faith, but no warranty is provided nor are 1. Sewing. I. Title. results guaranteed. Having no control TT705.T775 2014 over the choices of materials or pro- cedures used, neither the author nor 646.2--dc23 C&T Publishing, Inc., shall have any lia- bility to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused directly or 2013024144 indirectly by the information contained Printed in China in this book. For your convenience, we 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Contents TOOLS AND SUPPLIES Sewing Machines 6 Sewing Machine Feet 7 Cutting Tools 10 Pressing Tools 12 Marking Tools 13 Sewing Machine Needles 14 Straight Pins 15 Thread 16 Elastic 17 Other Notions 18 STITCHES AND SEAMS Stitches 20 Seam Allowances 23 Curved Seams 24 Simple Seam Finishes 25 Couture Seam Finishes 27 Hems 29 ZIPPERS Zipper Length 58 Stitching Zippers 59 Centered Zipper MATERIALS Installation 60 Fabric 32 Lapped Zipper Interfacing 34 Installation 62 Other Fusible Invisible Zipper Products 38 Installation 64 Stuffing 38 BUTTONHOLES AND BUTTONS Batting 39 Buttonholes 66 EDGE TREATMENTS Buttons 70 Gathering 40 HOME DECOR Ruffles 43 Bed Coverings 72 Bias Tape 45 Pillows 76 Piping 52 Bed Skirts 82 Trims 55 Curtains 83 Table Linens 87 SEWN ACCESSORIES Belts and Key Fobs 94 Bags 97 4 Essential Sewing Reference Tool C o n t e GARMENT MAKING NUMBER CONVERSIONSn t Making Darts 102 Decimals to s Fractions 123 Adding Facings 103 Yards to Inches to Linings 104 Decimals 123 Sewing Casings 105 Yards to Centimeters/ Sewing Set-In Sleeves 106 Meters 123 Patterns 108 Ease 112 Index 124 Adjusting for Height 113 About the Author 127 Adjusting for Girth 115 SIZE CHARTS Infants’, Toddlers’, and Little Kids’ Sizes 116 Infants’ and Toddlers’ Vertical Measurements 117 Little Kids’ Vertical Measurements 118 Girls’ Sizes 119 Boys’ Sizes 119 Girls’ and Boys’ Vertical Measurements 119 Misses’ Sizes 120 Women’s Sizes 120 Misses’ and Women’s Vertical Measurements 121 Men’s Sizes 122 Men’s Vertical Measurements 122 Contents 5 Tools and Supplies h h Sewing Machines BASIC MECHANICAL SEWING MACHINE Simple, motorized machine that makes straight, zigzag, and usually a few decorative stitches. Stitch settings are controlled manually with knobs. COMPUTERIZED SEWING MACHINE Makes a wide variety of utility and decorative stitches. Stitch settings are controlled by buttons or a touch screen that is connected to an internal computer chip. EMBROIDERY MACHINE Stitches digitized embroidery design files. It can be a stand- alone machine or a module that works in combination with a computerized machine. 6 Essential Sewing Reference Tool S u T pao pno ldl ie s s QUILTING MACHINE OVERLOCK MACHINE Features a larger Also known as a serger. Utilizes work area and more multiple threads to simultaneously advanced feeding stitch and finish seams. Features mechanisms than a include a blade for trimming edges standard computer- prior to stitching and a stitch finger ized machine. for creating rolled hems. Sewing Machine Feet STANDARD FEET For general stitching FOOT FEATURES/PURPOSE Exclusively for straight stitching. Gives even Straight-stitch pressure for fine or thick fabrics. All-purpose foot for straight stitching, zigzag Zigzag-stitch stitching, and most decorative stitches. Allows for needle position adjustment. Open on one or both sides to allow for variable Zipper needle placement and stitching close to zipper coils or bulky embellishments. Photos on pages 7–9 courtesy of BERNINA of America Tools and Supplies 7 FLANGED FEET Feature thin, smooth blades called flanges that act as guides for stitching placement. FOOT FEATURES/PURPOSE Aligns with a fold, so the appropriate stitch barely catches Blind-hem the fabric (see Machine Blindstitched Hem, page 30). Sews a perfect 1/4˝ from the raw edge with a right side flange on the outside of the foot to maintain the 1/4˝ seam. 1/4˝ piecing On the inside of the foot a notch is cut out as a guide for ¹⁄8˝ seams. Allows for precise edgestitching, topstitching, and in-the- Edgestitching ditch stitching. Gives a clean edge finish on most fabrics. Especially good Overcast for knit fabrics that tend to curl on the edges. GROOVED FEET Facilitate centered passage of trims and thick specialty stitches. FEATURES/ FOOT PURPOSE Wide passage allows for more visibility and flexibility than a Open-toe or standard foot. The groove on the bottom accommodates a Satin-stitch thicker stitch mound. Works in conjunction with a twin needle to make raised Pin-tuck tucks in the fabric. Cording For centered attachment of one or more cords or thin trims. For side or centered attachment of thicker trims such as Piping piping, gimp, and pearls. Invisible- Gives precise stitching placement for installation of invisible zipper zippers. BUTTONHOLING AND BUTTON-SEWING FEET Designed to automatically make identical buttonholes (see One-Step Buttonholes, page 68), and to attach buttons by machine (see Tip: Attaching Buttons by Machine, page 70). 8 Essential Sewing Reference Tool S u T pao pno ldl HEMMING AND RUFFLING FEET B ies s Direct one or more layers of fabric into the proper position C for stitching. A D FOOT FEATURES/PURPOSE Rolled-hem Rolls the fabric edge into a narrow double-fold hem of a (A) specified width. Equipped with a funnel that facilitates the wrapping and Binding (B) stitching of binding around the fabric edge. Gathering Creates soft gathers in lightweight fabrics. The tightness of (C) gathers is adjustable. Ruffler A moving blade tucks fabric during the stitching process attachment and optionally attaches it to another fabric at the same (D) time. Pleat depth and spacing are adjustable. NONSTICK AND WALKING FEET Allow for smooth sewing of sticky, shifty, thick, or otherwise challenging fabrics (such as leather, suede, velvet, and oilcloth). FOOT FEATURES/PURPOSE Roller “Wheels” on the bottom of the foot coast over the fabric. Glides over plastic-coated fabrics such as oilcloth and Nonstick laminated cotton. Moves with the feed dog mechanism to evenly feed two or Walking more layers of fabric through the machine. FREE-MOTION FEET Allow for user-controlled stitching with dropped feed dogs. FOOT FEATURES/PURPOSE Used for simple back-and-forth stitching to repair holes. Darning Also works for free-motion quilting. Free-motion Similar to the darning foot, but with an opening cut out embroidery for better needle visibility. Tools and Supplies 9