pdf patterns Archives - Page 2 of 2

P4P University – plackets

September 13, 2017

Ohhh….plackets! Why are you so scary? Today on the blog I’m hoping to change that perceptions of them and help you face this fear.

What are plackets?

Plackets are basically just a slit or an opening in the fabric that allows for garments to be easily put on or taken off. Sometimes plackets are purely decorative. You can find them on sleeves, on pants, back of skirts and neckline. You can have a placket on the back of the neckline or on the front. The most common neckline front plackets are for Henley or Polo style shirts. On this blog I will be using the new Brunch Blouse placket but you can certainly utilize the same principles for a Yo Ho Henley or a Women or Men Henley shirt too.

Interfacing? Yay or nay?

My first tip/recommendation is to always use light weight interfacing for the placket piece. Simply fuse a piece of interfacing to the wrong side of the pattern piece. You can get away with not using any if you’re making a woven pattern but even so, the result will be so much better if you do add it. Interfacing will help stabilize your piece which in turn will make it a lot easier to sew. ALWAYS use interfacing for knit plackets!

Mark and press!

As you can see in the video above, I use a tailor chalk to mark the pressing and sewing lines on the back of the placket piece. You can use a soluble fabric pen or a fabric marker too.

If you have a tailor clapper now would be a good time to use it. It will defiantly come in handy and help keep those pressing marks firm. Spray starch will help too!

Sew slowly!

Make sure you pin a lot and catch any notches that need to be enclosed! This may be the most tedious part of adding a front neckline placket so it is well worth paying extra attention and sewing slowly.

Enjoy the fruits of your labor! 🙂

Now that you took the time to create the perfect placket, show it off! Be proud of your achievement and don’t let sewing techniques intimidate you! Speaking of showing off…don’t forget to brag about your Henleys and Brunch Blouses in the P4P group.

Pattern Storage- Sew it, Win it, Build it- from P4P

October 22, 2016

We see the question, “How do you store your printed patterns?” all the time in the P4P FB Group! So, as we’re celebrating hitting 30k members in the group with our “Sew it, Win it, Build it” Giveaway we’re hoping to answer that question today!

We’ve been discussing all about planning, building and organizing your sewing room this week as one lucky member will win a Sewing Room Make-Over Grand Prize! Pattern storage is one that has been really tricky for me as I am planning my new sewing room! I’ve changed my mind a few times and I’m still not 100% certain with what I’ll have in there!

Currently, I use a file folder and standard filing cabinet. It works very well for youth size patterns. I usually only have to fold them a bit to fit nicely into a file folder and I have each drawer labeled as boys, girls, ladies, mens, ect. So, they’re very easy to find, throw back in, and keep fairly tidy. My only complaint is that my adult patterns do get folded quite a bit and I often have to re-tape and work at flattening them back out when I pull out and go to cut.

It’s currently in our garage since we packed up our house to show/sale, so excuse the packing tape and packed garage behind it 😉

So, I was wanting something that I didn’t need to fold- at least not as much- on my bigger adult patterns. Kelly hangs her with a little hole punch and ring:

This is a good solution for not having to fold, but I don’t have any closet space in the new room. So, I’d have to either do a curtain rod, wardrobe or something like this to use this method. I’ve been on the hunt for a beautiful antique wardrobe to hang them in, but they’re hard to come by! And I don’t have too much time to spend hunting, but maybe one will fall into my lap! I can hope, right? Patty hangs hers with clips onto a mobile wardrobe hanger.

Another option is big shallow drawers. I’ve found a few horizontal file cabinets for engineers or photographers that are pretty big that would work pretty well. The only pull back to this is how many drawers can it have? Not enough for each pattern to have a drawer that’s for sure 😉 So, I would have to think of a way to keep them organized even within the shallow drawers, which could be difficult! Plus, the couple I have found have been very high priced!

A lot of ladies use big envelopes to store their patterns. Patty has them with the pattern cover on the front and fabric requirements on the back. Then she has them sorted by categories in magazine holders.

Erinn stores her traced pattern pieces in binders. She has the pieces in a clear paper protector with the pattern and size labeled. She also keeps the bigger master copy just on the very top of her bookshelf if she needs to retrace a new size.

We’ve heard members rolling their patterns and slipping them into toilet paper/paper towel cardboard to store! Some use milk crates to keep slip each pattern into and hold it in place too, seems like a great way to keep the big master copies!

My sister only keeps her very favorite patterns she uses over and over. For those she makes a giant “file folder” from poster boards and labels them, slips the pattern pieces inside! And if you’re super cute like my sister you can even decorate them with hearts <3!

We saw a great share in the P4P Facebook Group that she likes to roll her big printed copies up and labels them with paper towel or toilet paper rolls!

I hope seeing all these option for storing your sewing patterns helps you find the perfect solution for your craft room! Don’t miss out on the rest of our posts this week and to enter into our “Sew it, Win it, Build it” Giveaway!

Sew it, Win it, Build it- A Chance to Win a Sewing Room Make-Over from P4P

October 11, 2016

I’m so excited to announce that we’ve hit another milestone in our P4P Facebook Group of 30,000 members! I’m so very honored to have so many ladies interested in P4P it makes my heart (and maybe my eyes) swell!!

I brainstormed on how we should celebrate for a LONG time! In the past we’ve done free patterns for group members, big giveaways, sales… but I kept thinking about how much fun I was having planning and designing my new sewing room at our new house we’re in the process of building. Here I am in my soon-to-be new sewing space!

I get giddy every time I think about that new bigger space! So I came up with the idea to give away a new sewing room for one lucky member!

What is included in a Sewing Room Makeover?

We all thought long and hard about what we love in our current sewing rooms (and what we’d love to upgrade in them if we had the opportunity) and here is what we thought you needed for a brand new or upgraded sewing room!

We included an Ikea gift card to help furnish the space. I’m planning on doing a big U shape for my machines in my new room from Ikea! I will share some more on how I planned my room as well to help you!

We also included a Joann’s gift card to help get those supplies like scissors, good lighting, notions, and whatever else you may be missing that don’t have those extra funds for! Don’t worry if that sounds a little daunting to pick out- we will be sharing some of our favorite things this week during the contest to help you plan and pick!

We added a Hobby Lobby gift card so you can pick up some cute decor for your new space as well! Grab one of those signs, clock, mirror and jazz up the place 🙂

We will be sending a few things straight from Amazon to the winner to help fill out your new room! How about a great new printer and ink? Need some paper? I love this extra large Alvin Cutting Mat I’ve been eyeing for my room and I can’t wait to get a new iron too! And of course a brand new machine- a Brother 420, which is what I sew on! You will LOVE that automatic cutter ladies!! (*These are affiliate links*)

Last, but not least, is an ample fabric stash for your room! Thanks to all of our wonderful sponsors, which we will be highlighting with links to their shops this week, we have a HUGE stash for your new room. So make sure you get some great storage pieces from Ikea!

Speaking of storage, we will be sharing some of our favorite sewing storage tips this week as well to help get those sewing rooms organized and tidy… well, as best we can, creative minds can be messy right ladies? 😉

****Note**** With a prize this large, P4P will need a W9 filled out by winner prior to prizes being sent. Winner must claim prize on taxes per US law. International winner will have to remit up to a 30% tax withholding of prize winnings and subject to US tax/treaty agreements.

So, are you ready to enter? Here is how:

A few rules to highlight:

The item sewn up and shared must be a P4P pattern.

You need to sew it up as is, with only fit changes (so no hacks or mods ladies). Adding embellishments is great, just no major changes.

Your picture must be in your current sewing space showing off where you sew currently.

Share your pictures on one or all of the social media networks for more chances to win with hashtag #P4PSewWinBuild — it must be EXACT to come up in our search for the winner!

Let us know what P4P pattern you sewed up and what you’re most looking forward to winning or changing about your sewing space!

You can share as many sews as you can for more chances to win–but ALL items/images shared must be sewn AFTER the giveaway starts 10/11/2016! Any older sews will be disqualified from winning the grand prize. Last entries accepted will be Sunday 10/23/2016 at Midnight US Central Time.

Since you might need to grab a new pattern to get motivated we have a SITE WIDE SALE through the end of the giveaway! This will be the last site wide sale this year so grab them up while you can 😉 !! Sale ends Sunday 10/23/2016 at Midnight US Central Time.

Winner will be random lottery winner! So everyone has a chance from a beginner who might be sewing their first P4P to a seasoned apparel seamstress!

We will have a few more posts throughout the week to keep reminding you to sew up your P4P contest entries AND to help you plan your new sewing room or your sewing space makeover!

connect with me