Tutorials – Page 20 – WhatTheCraft

November 14, 2009October 18, 2018Tutorials

How to Make a Pixie Skirt and Other Circle Skirt Variations

If you don’t know how to make a circle skirt yet, check out the Circle Skirt tutorial first, because all of these skirts build on the basic premise of a circle skirt.

how_to_make_pixie_skirt — layered pixie skirt

Difficulty:

Variation 1 – double full circle skirt

Instead of cutting 1 donut with a center cirumference of 36″ (the number we used in our examples), cut 2 donuts with a center circumference that is half your desired waistband measurement. In this example, each hole should measure 18″. The desired length (16″ from our example) should stay the same.

Cut the donuts open (red line).

How to Sew a Raglan Sleeve or Baseball Style Top

Grab an old tee, some chalk, and a pair of scissors!

hello_kitty_stripe_top — top by SmarmyClothes.com

Difficulty:

Step 1

Pick a shirt. You can do this with the shirt you want to reconstruct, but if you’re new to making patterns, I’d recommend getting an old junk shirt and cutting it apart to make the pattern.

How to Sew Set In Sleeves (the harder way)

Set-in sleeves are kind of tricky, and there is an easier method.

wowhunter_01 — shrug by SmarmyClothes.com

This method is still good to know, because you might find yourself in a situation where you want to modify/add sleeves to a top that already has the side seams sewn up, or doesn’t have side seams.

Difficulty:

Step 1

Here we go. We’re starting with the side and shoulders seams already sewn, so we have a basic sleeveless top. The sleeves have also been sewn up and cuffed.

You can ignore the hood in the bottom right hand corner. That’s for later.

How to Sew Set In Sleeves (the easy cheater way)

Attaching set-in sleeves (the easy, cheater way).

Okay, so it’s not really cheating. It’s a perfectly legitimate way of attaching a sleeve, and it is way easier.

However, a set-in sleeve is a set-in sleeve because you’re supposed to be setting it in, and with this method, you don’t.

Anyway, I’m splitting hairs.

Keep in mind, though, that this will only work if you haven’t already sewn up your side seams. If your side seams are sewn, you’ll either have to cut them open, or use the other method.

And if your garment doesn’t have side seams that line up with the sleeve seams, you’ll also have to use the other method.

How to Sew a Hood

You can use this method for making a hooded shirt from scratch or for reconstructing an existing shirt.

If you are making your own pattern on the fly, I’d suggest finding a hoodie and tracing the hood, making sure to add a seam allowance. You may need to alter the hood to fit the top you want to sew it to- just remember that the bottom edge of the hood should be the same length as the measurement around the neck hole.

halfleo — Zip up hoodie by SmarmyClothes.com

Difficulty:

Step 1

Your hood pieces should be sewn together before you start, and the edges finished. You can hem the edge or trim it with contrasting fabric or lace.

You can also line your hood. Cut two pieces of lining fabric the same shape as your hood. Sew the lining together. Then sew the lining to the hood, right sides together. Don’t sew the “neckline” edge of the hood and lining together. Leave that edge open so you can turn the pieces right side out, and then baste along the neckline before sewing the hood to your shirt.