just found out i am pregnant, and want to embroider a 'big sister' shirt for my 16th month old. i want the letters to be rather large and plainly obvious, so something more than just backstitch. what i am looking for is something along these lines (1, 2) but i assume these are both machine embroidered. can i accomplish something similar by hand? thanks!

i want to make a shopping cart cover but have no extra room in my diaper bag. i would like it to be at least slightly padded and have seen multiple ways to make them. any idea how to make it fold into a pocket or bag and have handles maybe?

definitely the second one. i like how it looks like scales and it would be waaaaay easier to work with. plus it's cheaper!

yeah i used a stretch stitch and its way too in there to seam rip. i'm going to start over completely. i did just find that adjustment you were talking about when fooling around with the twin needle so i'm glad you mentioned it. hopefully that and the twin needle will be good enough.

i am using burda pattern 7825 to make a maternity shirt. its basically a t-shirt with gathers up the side to make room for the expanding belly. this is made with a 2-way stretch knit. my problem is with the neck. there is a pattern piece for the neckline, and basically i am to use this similar to how i would bias tape. sew right sides together, turn, topstitch. i am also instructed to trim the necks seam allowance to 3/8 in before i do this, and use a twin needle. when i tried this the first time, i forgot to use the twin needle. the neck is now all stretched out and i have to start over. my question is, will using the twin needle solve this problem in itself? should i have not trimmed the seam allowance like it said? the neck looks overall large and it folds outward, if that makes sense. any help would be very appreciated, i am very hesitant to try again only to fail.

so i used the DIY maternity jeans tutorial on here to transform one pair of jeans and one pair of khakis. unfortunately, i think i cut the khakis a bit low and now they fall down. i did not fit the panel part tight enough to hold up on its own, its more for support and coverage. but the jeans stay up ok because they fit around my hips better. any ideas how i can salvage these pants?

i really love this! i have wanted to try making a sackboy (or sackgirl!) but haven't had the guts to try yet. crocheted looks just as good as knitted!

great idea, it so much more crisp and smooth that stenciling with paint

the fabric is just cotton fabric. that particular piece is on the bias but thats not the only time that its happened. its a normal needle size, 14 maybe? polyester/cotton thread, and my stitch length is on 3 out of 5.

when sewing only one layer of fabric i noticed the tension is off so i tried to fix that. the waviness is not as bad at the moment but it is almost as if the tension is too loose on the top and bottom and thats why its wavy. is that even possible?

looking at your article, what is happening right now seems to be what is illustrated by your drawing. but what i have shown in the above picture is different. the thread actually is loose between the stitch coils. and that is what causes it to look wavy i think. is that a tension problem?

hello. i have been having a problem lately with my straight stitch coming out wavy looking. its only on one side and not constant. i have changed fabrics and rethreaded. i'm not sure if its a problem with the machine, or thread, or the way i'm doing something. here is a scan of what it looks like. i couldn't get a picture because my camera kept focusing on the pattern instead of the stitches. any ideas?



also, is this problem going to result in low quality stitches? in other words, do i need to redo that hem or do you think it will be ok? thanks for any help!