
Sew DIY Patterns Blog
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Hi! My name is Beth Wood and I'm the sewing-obsessed pattern designer and blogger here at Sew DIY. My goal is to make sewing an easier and more joyful experience for everyone. Covers tips, tutorials, downloads, and inspiration for designing your own DIY life. Get all the tips and tricks you need to learn how to sew your own handmade wardrobe with ease and joy.
Sew DIY Patterns Blog
1w ago
One of the trickiest things to tackle with any hobby is how to organize and store supplies so that they are protected during storage and easy to find when needed. Over the years, I’ve spent a lot of time organizing my sewing and crafting supplies. And when I move to a new place, I often have to change how I store things.
So whether you’re just starting out or looking for a change, below are a few blog posts with my tried and true tips for organizing my sewing patterns and fabric stash. Happy sewing!
I hope you find these tutorials helpful. You can explore more on my Tips & Tutorials page ..read more
Sew DIY Patterns Blog
1M ago
Hello sew-friends! This quick variation of my Quilted Slippers pattern is my final make of 2024. Ta-da!! Instead of using quilted fabric, I used a heavy sweater knit for the exterior and fuzzy fleece for the lining. Usually, I make my own quilted fabric (tutorial here) which is really fun but more time consuming. Skipping the process of quilting by using a fleece, sweater knit or pre quilted fabric makes the Slippers a very fast and satisfying project ..read more
Sew DIY Patterns Blog
1M ago
Hello sew-friends! Today, I have a simple variation on my Christmas Stocking sewing pattern. Last year, I found two quilted pillow shams and I decided to upcycle them into personalized Christmas stockings. The shams were a plain white color and I decorated them with freehand embroidery and chain stitched names ..read more
Sew DIY Patterns Blog
6M ago
Hello sew-friends! I hope that you are doing well. Today, I have another finished make for you. This dress has a very long and winding road to completion. It was at times frustrating and at other times exhilarating. In the end, I would give myself a B+ for effort, an A for determination and a B- for quality. Honestly, this grading might be a smidge generous. I wish it was an A+ on all counts, but I'm also totally ok with the fact that is beautiful dress is NOT perfect ..read more
Sew DIY Patterns Blog
6M ago
Hello sew-friends! Today I have a finished make to share with you—an oversized button down shirt that I have been wearing a ton since I finished it a few months ago. This is a 90s style Big Shirt with slightly dropped shoulders, long sleeves and a loose fit. I love this style because the classic button down details make it look polished but the oversized fit is super comfy and breezy. I love wearing a big shirt in the summer because the lightweight fabric isn't too warm but it provides coverage from the sun. And I love how it looks paired with shorts ..read more
Sew DIY Patterns Blog
6M ago
Hello sew-friends! Today, I have a new, very summery DIY to share with you. I used my own Eva sewing pattern with one minor, but significant adjustment. It's not quite a hack because it's so simple. It's more of a variation. I essentially made the Eva's view B, the peplum top, but I cut the peplum really short so that it's more of a ruffle hem or mini peplum. I think the ruffle hem gives a very sweet, cute look to the design. And it's a little more flirty than the longer peplum ..read more
Sew DIY Patterns Blog
7M ago
Hello sew-friends! This week I have a fun and simple hack to my Eva Pattern. Often pattern hacks can be more complicated than sewing the original pattern. But today's hack is actually easier and faster! In this version of the Eva Crop Top, I replaced the lacing at the center back with shirring. Not only is this hack quick to sew, it's really comfy too ..read more
Sew DIY Patterns Blog
7M ago
Hello sew-friends! Today, I'm sharing my top eight tips for sewing shirring with elastic thread. Shirring creates a stretchy gathered fabric that fits closely to the body. It's often used in the torso, bust, back, waist, neckline and wrist areas of a pattern. There are lots of possibilities! You can actually buy fabric that is already shirred along one selvage but when you learn how to sew your own, you'll have a lot more design opportunities. Shirring has a big design impact and is a great way to create a fitted garment that's also really comfy.
To create shirring, elastic thread is loaded i ..read more
Sew DIY Patterns Blog
9M ago
Hello sew-friends! Just a quick post today to share a knit top that I sewed a couple of months ago. I love the style of this top and it was really fun and quick to sew. The last few years, I've been wearing more loose fitting, very casual clothes and it's been fun to wear something more form fitting. I used the Seamwork Goldie, which features negative ease, a deep sweetheart neckline and puffed sleeves.
FABRIC
The fabric is a stretchy rib knit that I picked up from the remnant bin at Joann's. The weird thing about the fabric is that the ribs go horizontal to the selvage, instead of the stand ..read more
Sew DIY Patterns Blog
10M ago
I have an exciting new project to announce this week. But first I'll start with a little background. I started Sew DIY 10 years ago and while I still love designing patterns, I've been feeling disenchanted and uninspired. I've been spending a lot of time thinking about what kind of project I would be excited to work on and share about. And when the idea finally came to me it was half "ah-ha!" and half "oh, of course it's you, old friend".
The thing that gets me really excited is math. Well, math plus sewing and pattern drafting. I feel like I've done every sewing construction tutorial I can d ..read more