Today’s post is a deep dive into how to make bust adjustment to a pattern with a side dart. The objective of the bust adjustment is to make the dart bigger or smaller so that the shaping fits your body better. I share details on what a full or small bust adjustment is, what you might want to make one and how to do it. I show how to calculate a bust adjustment and how to make the adjustment to your pattern. I’ve included illustrations, written instructions and videos for how to do a full bust adjustment and a small bust adjustment.

Hello sew-friends! Today I'm excited to round out this month's celebration of the Miri Tank Top pattern with a new hack. In case you missed it, this month I created a brand new step-by-step video sewalong for the Miri Tank. Click here to catch up on all the posts.

The Miri Tank is an A-line shaped tank top, fitted with a bust dart and cropped to end at the high hip. It comes with both a scoopneck and a v-neck. The neckline and armhole are finished with an all-in-one facing, sewn with the burrito method. It's a really clean finish, completely covers bra straps and feels very stable (no shifting or falling out of place). This pattern is size 0 to 32 with three cup size options for EVERY size. The cup sizes are A/B, C/D AND E/F. So you're less likely to need to make a bust adjustment.

This month (June 2025), I’m featuring the Miri Tank Top with a brand new sewalong. Today’s video is the final installment for sewing the top. You can see all Miri Tank related posts on the sewalong page.

In today’s video, I share how to sew the side seams and tack down the facing. I'll show you how to tack down the facing by hand or by "stitching in the ditch". Finally, I'll show you how to press and sew the hem. Let's get started.

This month (June 2025), I’m featuring the Miri Tank Top with a brand new sewalong. I’ve already shared two new posts for getting ready to sew and the first of three parts actually sewing the tank.

In today’s video, I share how to sew the facing to the neckline and the armholes using the burrito method. If you’re following along with the instruction booklet, we’ll be sewing steps 7 and 8. This part of sewing the top is a bit repetitive but you’ll get a lot of good practice. If you’re a beginner sewist, you’ll learn how to grade and clip the seam allowance and how to understitch—all key steps for sewing a flat facing. Let's get started.

This month (June 2025), I’m featuring the Miri Tank Top with a brand new sewalong. Last week I shared posts on Fabric and Supplies and Selecting Your Size and Printing the Pattern. In today’s video, I share how to cut out the fabric, how to fuse the interfacing and all the first few steps of sewing. If you’re following along with the instruction booklet, we’ll be sewing steps 1 through 6. (In the next video, I’ll show you how to sew the facing to the neckline and armholes.) Let's get started.

This month (June 2025), I’m featuring the Miri Tank Top with a brand new sewalong. In today's post, I’ll show you how to measure yourself and select a size. Then, I’ll show you how to print the pattern on your home printer, how to assemble the pattern and prepare it for cutting out your fabric. Plus, there are also links to tutorials for common pattern adjustments. Let's get started.

This month I’m featuring my Miri Tank Top pattern with a brand new sewalong. Today, we’re going to be talking about fabric, notions, tools and supplies. I’ll share my favorite fabrics to use with this pattern, the fabrics used in the samples and a few ideas from my favorite online shops. This woven tank top pattern is designed to be beginner friendly with a minimal amount of notions and supplies required.

Hello sew-friends! Today we're talking about how to make a shoulder slope adjustment to your sewing pattern. This is a simple adjustment that makes a BIG difference in the fit of tops, blouses and dresses with a shoulder seam. I didn't discover this fitting adjustment until many years into my sewing journey and now I'm kind of obsessed with it.

I have rather square shoulders, meaning my shoulders extend from the neck at almost a 90 degree angle. Most patterns are built with some downward slope to the shoulder seam so on my shoulders, tops would jut up at the neck. There was one shirt in particular that would stand up away from my body when I sat down that made me realize how ill fitting it was at the shoulder.

In this video, I'll be sharing the step-by-step process of sewing an all-in-one facing to a tank top. An all-in-one facing is a facing piece that is used to finish both the neckline and the armhole with one piece of fabric, as opposed to a separate facing for the armhole and a separate facing for the neckline. This method of finishing the neckline and armholes of a top or dress, creates a very clean finish and when you take it one step at a time, it's really fairly easy as well. (This method is also known as the burrito method, because we will roll the top when sewing the facing to the armholes.)

In today's video, I'm going to be showing you how to understitch. Understitching is a technique that is most often used when sewing woven fabric garments but occasionally with knit fabrics as well. It's mostly used when you are sewing a facing, a lining or an in-seam pocket. The purpose of understitching is to keep those parts of the garments hidden and out of view.

This week's video tutorial teaches how to sew gathers. I've heard that sewists are sometimes intimidated by gathers, so I'm sharing my favorite methods for sewing stress-free, evenly spaced gathers.

Gathers are a common design detail found in a variety of garments. Most often, you’ll find them in skirts or sleeves. For my Miri dress hack, I made a simple gathered skirt using rectangles of fabric. It's a really easy way to add a skirt or peplum and is zero-waste friendly.

I’m sharing the traditional method of sewing lines of basting stitches with thread. There are other ways to do it but I’ve always had success with my tried-and-true methods. Scroll on to watch the video and read the written instructions. Happy sewing!

Hello sew-friends! Today, I'm happy to bring you another Miri Tank hack! A couple weeks ago, I shared the Square Neck Button Back hack and today, I have a gathered waist dress for you. I'm often wary of gathers and ruffles but I really like how they've turned out in this dress. It feels weird to say, but I actually like it more than I thought I would!

This hack is really pretty easy to sew (much, much easier than the previous hack). Plus, I have a few tutorials that will help. I think this is a great dress for summer and it can even be worn in transitional months with a cardigan or a t-shirt underneath. You may even be able to wear it in colder months with leggings and turtleneck.

Today, I'm very excited to share a hack for my latest pattern, the Miri Tank. The Miri is a woven tank with a slight A-line shape, a bust dart in the side seam and is finished with a facing. View A features a rounded neck and armholes and view B has a v-neckline and squared off armholes and back neck edge. The basic features of the tank make it great for hacking and modifying.

Today, I'm continuing my series of pattern fitting videos with how to lengthen or shorten the bodice of a sewing pattern. The same techniques can be used when altering the length of a blouse or shirt. In the video, I use my new Miri Tank pattern to show how to make the pattern adjustment. Plus, I share some tips for when you're lengthening a top into a dress.

In today's video, I'll be showing you how to fuse iron-on interfacing to fabric. Interfacing is an extra layer of fabric that is used to make certain parts of a garment thicker and more sturdy. You'll often find it used in button plackets, collars, waistbands and facings. In the tutorial, I'll share all my tips for how to adhere iron-on interfacing to your fabric and prevent puckering or separating.

In today's video, I'll be showing you a simple pattern adjustment that you can do to move along a side or waist seam. Darts are most often used to shape the bust or waist and are usually found in side or waist seams. Because we all have different bodies, you’ll sometimes get a better fit if you move the dart just slightly. In the video and diagrams, I'll show you how to move a bust dart up or down along a side seam and how to move a waist seam dart to the left or right. (Note, there are more complicated pattern adjustments where you can pivot a dart to move it to a different seam. I’m not covering how to do that in this post.)

Hello sew-friends! Today, I’m happy to bring you a video tutorial for how to mark and sew darts. Darts are most commonly found in fitted woven garments. They are simply a little wedge of fabric that is folded and stitched in order to make the fabric more three-dimensional and to fit the curves of the body. You’ll most often find darts to shape the bust and waist. It’s really a fairly simple feature to sew and it’s worthwhile to practice and become comfortable with it.

A facing is essentially a piece of fabric that finishes a raw edge. It’s especially useful if you want a stable edge or if you want a really unique shape. With a facing, it’s easy to create pretty much any shape you want from a scallop edged skirt to a sweetheart neckline.

Yesterday, I shared my holiday Dana Jumpsuit hack with a v-neck and today I’m going to show you how to draft a facing. The Dana Jumpsuit, like many other patterns, uses a facing to finish the neckline edge. So, if you want to alter the neckline, you’ll also need to alter the neckline facing. Fortunately, drafting a neckline is really easy. In fact, if you’re totally new to pattern drafting, this is a really good place to start. Watch the video below for all the details.

Today’s video is a big one! I share my top reasons why pdf patterns are awesome (just in case you’re not already convinced). Then I share my top tips for how to successfully print pdf patterns (including the printer settings you need to make sure the entire pattern prints on the page). And finally I show how to efficiently assemble and cut the pattern. I even show you the techniques I learned in design school for safely using an exacto knife or blade. I’ve never cut off a finger using these techniques so hopefully it will help you and keep your fingers safe too!

If you are brand new to sewing, interfacing might seem a little mysterious. You might even be wondering if you really need it to use it. For a lot of garments you don’t need it but for many it is essential for adding structure to the garment. It is often used on facings, collars, cuffs and button bands to stiffen and reinforce the fabric. Think about ready-to-wear clothing and the areas of the garment that are stiffer than others. These are parts that need to stand up (like a collar), be tough enough to take a buttonhole or simply lie flat along the neckline. Today I’m going to share some basic tips for adhering the interfacing to your fabric. It’s not a hard process but can be a little scary when you first start out.