How to Sew by Hand

How to Sew by Hand

Sewing - Threading the Needle

Sewing - Threading the Needle

Sewing - The Running Stitch

Sewing - The Running Stitch

Sewing - The Back Stitch

Sewing - The Back Stitch

Sewing - The Whip Stitch

Sewing - The Whip Stitch

Sewing - The Slip Stitch

Sewing - The Slip Stitch

Sewing - The Catch Stitch

Sewing - The Catch Stitch

Sewing - The Button Hole Stitch

Sewing - The Button Hole Stitch

Sewing on Shirt Buttons

Sewing on Shirt Buttons

Sewing on Shank Buttons

Sewing on Shank Buttons

Sewing on Snaps

Sewing on Snaps

Sewing on Hook and Eyes

Sewing on Hook and Eyes

Sewing on Pants Hook and Eyes

Sewing on Pants Hook and Eyes

How to Sew by Hand

How to Sew by Hand

Simple Sewing Basics

Simple Sewing Basics

Simple Sewing Basics

Simple Sewing Basics

Beading Basics

Beading Basics

Beading Basics-How to Make a Simple Pair of Earrings

Beading Basics-How to Make a Simple Pair of Earrings

Beading Basics-Peyote Stitch

Beading Basics-Peyote Stitch

Beading Basics-Brick Stitch

Beading Basics-Brick Stitch

Beading Basics-Herringbone Stitch

Beading Basics-Herringbone Stitch

Needlepoint

Needlepoint

Cross Stitching

Cross Stitching

How to Quilt

How to Quilt

Crocheting Beyond the Basics

Crocheting Beyond the Basics

Crochet Chainless Foundations

Crochet Chainless Foundations

Crocheted Ribbing

Crocheted Ribbing

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Dawn Anderson

http://www.dawnandersondesigns.com  

Dawn began sewing when she was 5 years old and it has since become a lifelong pursuit. Dawn earned a B.A. from Shenandoah University and an M.F.A. from Indiana University, both in Theatre Costume Design. During graduate school she had the opportunity to study in England at Bournemouth University where she focused on corsetry techniques, traditional hand tailoring, and fashion history. During college she worked as a costume designer and patternmaker for theatre and dance, making custom clothing for performers, specialty garments, historic reproductions, corsetry, millinery, and taught basic to advanced sewing classes. After college, she went to work as a free-lance designer and cutter in Edinburgh, Scotland. She returned to the US and began her small ready to wear line and sewing pattern company in Washington DC and Northern Virginia. She currently sells sewing patterns for clothing and hats on her website and at tradeshows. She hand makes men's custom jackets and is expanding her women's ready to wear lines. Dawn currently teaches couture sewing and hat making at sewing conventions, local stores, and in her home in Northern Virginia. She is a member of the American Sewing Guild and leads her own group dedicated to Couture Sewing. Dawn has begun writing for sewing magazines and is working on a book on tailoring. She has also started filming sewing instruction videos and hopes to one day have her own TV show on sewing. Please feel free to visit her website for more information.

Sewing on Snaps

Sewing expert Dawn Anderson demonstrates how to sew on snaps.

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Dawn Anderson: Hi! I'm Dawn Anderson and I'm showing you how to sew by hand. Right now, we're going to sew on a snap. I've made just a little booklet here with a flap on top and then a flat piece of fabric on the bottom for the surface. There are actually two sides to a snap. There is a snap that has a prong in the center and then the opposite has a hole. This is usually on the top side and this is always on the bottom side and then they snap together.

Now, let's begin. I'd like to use double thread when I'm sewing on snaps so go ahead and thread your needle and tie a knot in the end. Choose the location for your snap and I'd like to use a pin to mark the center. Go ahead, put a pin through all the layers and then carefully open it up and you can mark it with a pencil and that's going to help you find the center of your snaps while sewing.

We're going to sew the top snap on first. So, leave your pin in the place where you marked it and drop the snap down. There is a nice hole all the ways through the center of the snap. Take up our needle and youre going to sew through the holes that you see in the snap. So, I work from the outside in, take up a small amount of fabric and then go through the hole on the snap and again we're using double thread so it's nice and strong and I give maybe two or three stitches for each side and then you're going to travel to the next side. So, go underneath and come up in the next hole and then again maybe two, maybe three stitches in each side, before you travel to the next.

Once you have at least two, possible three sides sewn, you can take out the pin which will make pulling the thread through a little easier and then continue to sew your first stitch, second. This third stitch, I'd like to use for the traveling stitch and then your final side. One stitch and then your second and then your final stitch. With your final stitch I go all the ways through, come back up, tie your knot right next to the snap and then before you cut your thread, take your needle back underneath the snap to hide your thread and then cut it and that's how you sew on the top snap.

Now, let's move on to the bottom side. You still have the marking here that we did earlier. Take your straight pin, work from the underside and then go ahead and drop the snap onto the pin. Tie the knot in your thread and then again working from the outside in, youre going to again go through two, maybe three times and try to keep your stitches neat. I'd like to work in a radiating pattern so that they don't get too clumped up. Then travel through to the next one and then, one, two, and then your third stitch and I'll go ahead and take my pin out. Then your first stitch, second and then third, you can travel and then the final side. Again, first stitch, second, and then third to knot off. On the bottom side, you can knot it on to the back side of the fabric. So, loop around, pull it tight and cut and that is how you sew on a snap. Now, let's move on to sewing on hook and eyes.

Hand stitching by Wkjtj at 01/18/11 03:10PM Flag

Hand stitching was my scare and fear with sewing. I have done many things but always machine stitch as a finishing instead of hand stitching. Dawn makes it look like it is not so scary, thank-you:)

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How to Use a Sewing Machine

How to Thread a Sewing Machine

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How to Change the Feet on a Sewing Machine

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Basic Sewing Stiches

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