DIY Convertible Tote Backpack - Maywood Totepack by Klum House

DIY Convertible Tote Backpack - Maywood Totepack by Klum House

A few weeks ago, the lovely folks over at Klum House asked if I’d like to try out an advance copy of their Maywood Totepack kit. I’ve been a fan of their patterns and kits for a while and love the look of the Maywood so I of course said "yes please!”. This bag has all the features that I look for in a travel bag. First, it is actually a tote and a backpack in one bag; a design that I love to carry when traveling because backpacks not allowed in some locations and because it’s nice to be able to change your bag’s position when your shoulders get tired. The bag is big enough to fit a laptop and has some extra space so that I can put the laptop in a protective case. And, last but not least, the main part of the bag is zippered so that things won’t fall out.

Psst: if you get all the way to the bottom of the post there’s a discount code :)

Six Tips for Sewing with Knit Fabrics Video

Six Tips for Sewing with Knit Fabric - Video from Sew DIY

Today I’m excited to share a new video with my top 6 tips for getting started sewing with knit fabric. When I first wanted to start sewing knits over 10 years ago, I was really intimidated because I didn’t know what to do. Over the years, I’ve done a lot research and had a lot of practice and now I love to sew with knit fabric. I’m planning a whole series of videos about sewing knit fabric so after you watch this one, make sure to subscribe to my channel on YouTube so you won’t miss any future videos. 

Six Tips for Sewing with Knit Fabric

  1. Find the straight of grain by holding up the fabric with the selvages of the fabric aligned. Shift the selvages to the left and right until the fabric hangs straight and doesn’t have any drag lines.

  2. Use a rotary cutter for better accuracy.

  3. Use a stitch with stretch (more on that down below)

  4. Use a walking foot or, if you don’t have one stitch with tissue paper under your fabric to help it feed through the machine.

  5. Use a ballpoint or jersey needle. This will prevent holes from being made in the fabric during stitching. Bonus tip! Test your stitches and needle on a scrap of fabric.

  6. Jump in and practice. Every machine and fabric will behave a little differently so it’s important to practice and figure out which techniques work best for your machine.

I hope you enjoy this video. Let me know in the comments if there are any sewing topics that you’d like me to cover.

Start Sketching with My Body Model Custom Croquis

Start Sketching with My Body Model Custom Croquis

I have a bit of a confession to make. Despite going to design school and having taken lots of art classes, I am not confident in my sketching skills. Especially fashion sketching. Granted, I’ve never studied fashion drawing specifically. But still. Shouldn’t I just be really good at drawing clothing? I want to be really good at drawing the clothing ideas I have in my head but they usually turn out looking like lopsided lumps.

But here’s the thing. Drawing and sketching takes practice. And most of the time I’d rather be sewing. So, I’ve been satisfied with my lumpy drawings as long as I can record my ideas and get to sewing.