Sunday Sharing

(photo source)

I found an interesting site called WhatTheCraft.com that offers free DIY (do it yourself) sewing and craft tutorials. This site is run by Alexis of SmarmyClothes.com. She is a self-taught seamstress and crafter, and is willing to share her knowledge and patterns with us. Her wares are featured in the darker vein of Goth and Punk, but if that is not your bag, you can easily adapt fabrics and patterns to suit your taste. Her background is purple with safety pins all around, and the site is very professional and easy to navigate.

She has a wonderful list of tips and guides for beginners, such as what tools and materials you might need when beginning, as well as how to get straight seams and make seam allowances. She discusses stitch types, needle selection, button holes, sewing on trim, and making your own patterns. The photo at the top of this post is from a zipper tutorial offered on her site.

The Directory section highlights links to many other sites where you can find fabric, notions, crafting supplies, handmade, other tutorials, and crafting and sewing resources. There are even links to messageboards and other blogs. I think I could spend the better part of a day poking into the corners of this site and still not get through it all. I have marked it for future (daily?) visits, and you should as well.

The site and all information and tutorials are free, but Alexis does offer an easy link for you to make donations or to pay for advertising on her site so she will be able to keep it free for all to use. If you find it useful, as I have, you might wish to support her with a small donation. In this economy, we are all more pinched financially, but every little bit helps with domain hosting and site maintenance.

Don't wait; follow the links here and check her out today!