Sewing & Embroidery How-Tos

How To: Make a homemade wallet

Making your own homemade wallet can be a fun and rewarding hobby. Get your sewing machine out and you can add your own style and personality to your wallet. Learn how to make a homemade wallet from a professional seamstress in this free sewing and crafts video series.

How To: Make a rag doll

Rag doll making is a fun and creative project that incorporates basic sewing and other craft techniques. Learn how to create handmade rag dolls with tips from a seamstress and craft expert in this free doll making video series.

How To: Hem a pair of suit pants

Hemming a pair of dress pants is no longer a mystery. Karen Schmidt demonstrates step-by-step what is needed to get professional looking results. Measure the length that you would like to trim and pin the new hemline in place. Use an iron to mark the new pant length with a crease. Then unfold and rip the seam out of the original hemline. Cut away excess fabric sew a protective zigzag seam along the trimmed fabric. Refold the new creased hemline. With a matching thread, sew a single line to ho...

How To: Hem your own pants

Here's how to hem up a pair of pants so they keep the original look but are the right length. By cutting the pant leg above the original hem line, you can keep the original hem of the jeans you bought. Measure carefullly to remove the excess length of pant that you will not need. This process will only work if you need to shorten your pants by at least one inch. You need one half inch seam allowance to re-attach the original hem onto your newly shortened pair of pants.

How To: Use a knit edge foot on a sewing machine

Watch this video sewing tutorial and learn how to use a knit edge foot on a sewing machine. A knit-edge foot is great for sewing sweater knits and imitation fur. Select an overlock stitch pattern appropriate for the fabric, right the sides together, place under the special knit edge foot and stitch. Use a knit edge foot on a sewing machine.

How To: Use a sew on button foot on a sewing machine

Watch this video sewing tutorial and learn how to use a sew on button foot on a sewing machine. Mark where the button will be placed. Insert button between the black metal piece and the presser foot. Make sure that the two holes are positioned in the cut-out of the presser foot. Position the fabric and lower the presser foot. Select the button sew-on or zigzag stitch. If using the zigzag stitch, lower the feed dogs. Select the width to match the button holes. Manually turn the handwheel to ma...