Barbara's Sewing Studio

How to Bustle a Wedding Dress Train with a Train Pin Our Train pins are the perfect way to keep your dress safe, practical but also looking good through the duration of your wedding day. With two ways to pin yo...

More prom dresses and better pic of that pink one.

One more time - when you come for a fitting to have a dress shortened, PLEASE bring the shoes you will be wearing with the dress.
And, if you are wearing spandex, etc., you need to wear them for the fitting. The dress will be longer if your body is slimmer.

More to do

Some dresses I've altered

Gal wanted feathers on her prom dress. So here we go.

If you have spent thousands on your wedding dress, I recommend you get it altered someplace that can give you all these bells & whistles. Rooms with mirrors, seamstresses that sew on beading, those that do only pressing, etc. I can do all this but in a VERY small space and not as confidently. I know the big places charge $300-$700 for alterations and I try to keep it under $150. BUT.......you spent a lot on that dress. Include alterations in your budget.

What you NEED to know about fitting into your wedding dress! tips and tricks for your wedding dress, plus how to bustle your bridal gown! WATCH MY PREVIOUS VIDEO: https://www.youtu...

How to Fix a Broken Bustle With Bustle Parachute aka Safety Pin Be ready for your bustle to break?I know it seems like bad juju to jinx the bustle, but I would rather you be prepared vs caught off guard!Here are other vid...

BRIDES: check out this video from Ava's Bridal. In the future I will put pins in the seam allowances and explain them to the brides.

How to Fix a Broken Bustle With Bustle Parachute aka Safety Pin Be ready for your bustle to break?I know it seems like bad juju to jinx the bustle, but I would rather you be prepared vs caught off guard!Here are other vid...

Different Types of Bustles for Wedding Dress This week we are going over 3 main types of bustles for your wedding dress!Every seamstress & alteration business has their way of teaching. When it comes t...

This is a bubble bustle. It's not perfect but as close as I'm going to get. 13 points!!!

Baby quilt gal asked me to restore. Funny part is I found a 2000 date on it. Which was yesterday for me, but lifetime ago for her 🙂

Couple reminders: 1) If you purchase pants with the flare leg and need them shortened, the flare will decrease as you go up the leg. A pair I'm hemming today starts out with 28" bottom leg circumference, and will only be 23" after I hem. 2) Inseam on pants - when you hand me a pair and say make them 32", I flinch. Not all inseams are the same. Think dress pants vs. jeans. In the case for pair I'm working on, they have a leg turned up to 2" because the tag says inseam is 34". The inseam only measures 33.5". So do I shorten them 2" or 1.5"?

This one uses front of shirt to make apron.

Turning dress shirts into aprons - a sewing tutorial Looking for a unique and stylish apron? Look no further! These aprons are made from a my husband's dress shirts, so you know they'll be one of a kind. Not on...

This one is back of shirt to make apron.

Recycled Men's Shirt Apron with Amy Barickman: Easy Craft with Vanessa of Crafty Gemini Creates http://bit.ly/recycledmensshirtapron - Recycled Men's Shirt Apron with Amy Barickman: Easy Craft Project with Vanessa of Crafty Gemini Creates. Vanessa teams...

Every December I get last minute request to monogram Christmas stockings. Now would be good time to plan them for this year.

Some wedding dresses I've worked on this Summer

FREE Play Tent Tutorial | Sewing 4 Free Good news! You can now make a play tent for your little ones and it would only take 2-3 hours to make one. Because this project is easy to make, it is perfect for beginners and for those who have kids at home. Materials needed: 3 twin flat sheets- 2 of the sheets should be of the same pattern.1 ...

The people are located in Wi******er but have shops in lexington, cincinnati, louisville, nashville, atlanta. The lady I talked to (Betty) is friend of Jeanie Simpson (retired Carroll Co teacher). Check their page. Think their work would be much more professional than mine, just saying.........

Your Special Day Alterations Specializing In Bridal Gown Alterations and Customizations. 30 Years Professional Sewing Experience. Call or TEXT to schedule appointments.

Please do not bring me soiled garments to alter. I worked on something earlier in week that I knew I'd have to laundry before working on but there were reasons why I was willing to do that. Just went to hem something (from someone else) and they are nasty at the hemline.

How to Make the Howdy Christmas Boot Stocking | a Shabby Fabrics Tutorial Have yourself a Howdy Christmas with Bethany as she demonstrates how to make a stylish boot stocking for your favorite cowboys and cowgirls! Using the festiv...

No letterman jacket? No problem! We can take your varsity letter and make a cool keepsake pillow to show it off. You can mail them to us if you’re not local.

Yesterday, I shared this on my personal page, instead of here. Comments were made leading me to believe some of you'd like one. Kitchen Boa. When I get caught up (I foolishly agreed to alter 4 wedding dresses this summer), I'll make some and let you know.

https://seekatesew.com/how-to-sew-a-scrunchie-easy-tutorial/
I use to always make a scrunchie from hem scraps. Don't know if anyone still uses them.

how to sew a scrunchie - easy tutorial How to sew a scrunchie with free pattern download. Make this hair scrunchie pattern for all your friends! Big scrunchie and regular templates

This little girl's dress is the cutest. Much more so in the size 4 I worked on than this pic. If you have little ones you might want to check the site: joyfolie.com. They have the cutest things.
I think she may have got it at Macy.

I like this bridesmaid dress. Bridesmaid is size 0. Beautiful on her.

A different style bridesmaid dress

What I'm gonna work on this week

Isn't this pretty? It's for a wedding

This was posted in one my sewing groups. Thought it might explain some things about sizing. The original post was about a gown 14" too small. Below is quote from a lady:
"14 inches that’s more like 6 sizes to small. There’s only about 1” in between each size until you get to a size 20 and then there can be about 3”. I have worked in bridal all my life selling and doing alterations. One of the main things that happen is that the wedding gowns are made from original size charts and all designers use the same one. In bridal you need to buy 2 to 3 sizes bigger than you think. It’s so hard telling a size 8 girl she needs a 14. Many times they will not go for that and when their dress comes in and they wanted to keep their size 8 the gown will not fit. Also a size 16 girl who has worked hard to get to that size and we need to order he a 22, she is not happy. The girl who love a size 8 dress that is no longer order able and she buys and I had to make it fit her I’m not sure what size she was. I added 22”. She loved it so that all that matters. I tell them I can try but I’m not a miracle worker."

One more time for those that thought it didn't apply to them......you MUST wear the same undergarments and shoes when we do a fitting, as what you will wear with the dress! A sports bra will not work. If modesty is the issue get someone to pin it for me.

A wedding dress I altered recently. Needed up on shoulders so had take sleeve out.....

Some of you know how I dislike the V piece fabric put in a gown to hide cleavage.... this lace insert was used by a fellow seamstress....I like that better....

Had a lot of bridesmaid dresses recently, but they were same ole, same ole, so didn't post. But these two are little different than what I've seen before. The back on the one and the other with the ruffle is different.

It's hard to find a Script "S" to embroidery that looks like an S. Think I found it for this table runner for a favorite customer.

Potholder made totally in hoop on embroidery machine. Too much work for 'a potholder'.

Kitchen boa done my way. Towel gathered rather than pleated. I know fruit is running wrong way, but didn't have enough fabric to run other way