Sometimes, you just want to finish an edge really really fast – you don’t care if it looks pretty up close.  (Like, say, you’re working on a show where everyone seems to wear a veil that the audience can see through, but the characters mysteriously cannot… Not that that ever happens.)  The zig-zag stitch on your sewing machine is the poor man’s serger… Read the rest of this entry »

“Stay Stitch inside the seam allowance” is a fairly common instruction in patterns.  Generally, stay stitching is used to make certain that the fabric of a garment will not stretch out during the sewing process.  It’s also a dandy cheater hem, which will fray (but only so far – it’s a controlled fray).  Sometimes, that’s exactly the look you want. Read the rest of this entry »

The “selvedge” (not “salvage”, which is what I always thought my mother was saying) edge of the fabric is created as the fabric is woven on the loom, as the weft is taken back and forth.  It’s a completely finished edge.  Wise use of selvedge edges can make your costuming life much easier, but you need to know when you can and can’t use it. Read the rest of this entry »