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Designer Kate Bashynski and Nancy demonstrate classic appliqued Dresden designs. After showing how to stitch and applique wedges to a fabric background, they add traditional or dimensional yo-yo centers. Then they showcase innovative design options using full, three-quarter, and half fan blocks, including a Patches & Plates Quilt, a Serpentine Table Runner, and a Poinsettia Table Topper.
Nancy teams up with designer Kate Bashynski to continue exploring interesting variations for the Dresden applique process. They show a never-fail method of shaping scalloped edges using fusible interfacing. They make four projects, including a Dresden Dahlia quilt, a mini Christmas Tree Skirt, a Peacock Table Runner, and an Eleven Pines Wall Hanging.
Transform a rectangle into a drapable spiral scarf, tuck and gather challis fabric for a cascading scarf, or create clever knit infinity ring scarves. Nancy and guest Donna Fenske share the simple process for making creative new fabric accessories-sensational scarves!
Designer Donna Fenske joins Nancy to showcase textured scarf creations using fabrics ranging from light and airy bridal illusion to a lofty fleece. Traditional techniques like making chenille give way to unique designs such as the no-sew Fairy Dust Scarf. Whether you're ruffling, tying, cutting, or felting, the results are dramatic!
Nancy demonstrates how to create a pattern from a ready-made garment with a reverse sewing process, using a front-opening jacket to illustrate. After discussing basic tools, she reveals the tricks of tracing. She shows how to transfer grainline, seams, seam and hem allowances, side panels, collars, buttonholes, and sleeves, as well as how to replicate a garment section with a center fold.
Nancy illustrates how to prepare a pattern from a purchased garment and add enhanced details. Learn how to transfer darts, pockets, tucks or gathers, pleats, collars and collar stays, and raglan sleeves. Using Nancy's technique, you'll develop a pattern that reproduces the style or fit of your best-loved garment.
Kay Whitt, author and designer, joins Nancy to create a dynamic duo as they share winning ways of combining fabrics, clever designs, and friendly techniques. Think outside the box as you learn ways of teaming appliqued ruching, invisible zippers, and ruffling with streamlined patterns and unusual fabrics.
Nancy and designer Kay Whitt begin with patterns with streamlined styling, and then they blend them with interesting combinations of fabrics and techniques. Adding details like rose accents, double collars, two-sided fabrics, simple tabs, and faux fur makes the finished results anything but ordinary.
Fiber artist Isabella Hoffman joins Nancy in showing how to creatively incorporate felting, shading and blending, and hand embroidery skills for a fiber art masterpiece. Machine felting makes the project quick, while fabric marker shading techniques and hand embroidery give it personality.
Embellish your felting with fabric markers and easy embroidery techniques.
Nancy and guest Mary Mulari use 2-1/2" strips to embellish a top with faced and folded stripes, and a fitted vest with staggered stripes that are pinked and fused to form cross bars. Then they serge and twist strips for a shaded striped vest, and make 3D bias vines and chenille blossoms the focal point on another top. These expressive tops and vests all start with sweatshirts!
Nancy teams up with Mary Mulari to make a fashionable cowl neckline by using the bottom ribbing in the Bottom to Top Sweatshirt. Then they trim the neck and cuffs of the Denim Do-Over with denim strips and buttons. A shirt and sweatshirt are recycled for the layered Calico Country top, while the asymmetrical Oriental top is styled with shaped hems, cuffs, and a V-neck.
Nancy and Maggie Ball, author and quilt designer, demonstrate easy to piece Bargello quilt blocks and twist them to yield a variety of designs. They teach a basic plan to select fabric, arrange and stitch the strips, cut strips into segments, and layout the blocks. Then they make a Tessellating Butterflies runner with 12 identical blocks and sashing strips. Maggie showcases several quilts.
Author and prolific quilter Maggie Ball joins Nancy to present her ingenious Bargello quilt block. Maggie and Nancy share the secrets for planning the blocks, choosing color and value, and making versatile designs by combining strip sets. They show how to make a one of a kind quilt using 24 identical blocks with various layout options. Maggie showcases several of her Bargello quilts.
Nancy explains the simple process of quilting in columns instead of the traditional squares, triangles, and blocks. The color flow is continuous with one color leading into another color. Learn to do reversible quilting using flannel or conventional batting, and how to transform a quilt to a larger size by simply adding length and more columns.
Use leftover fabrics to make an easy to sew Scrappy Column Quilt with dimensional inserts. Folding and pressing are the secrets to making this fun quilt with interesting shapes. Also learn new tricks with batting, and add bridging strips to traditional blocks to create a column concept.
Nancy and her quilting mentor Natalie Sewell show you how to cut, shade, paint, and stipple trees. Their landscape quilt designs feature light and dark plus distant and close-up trees. Learn "messy cutting," shading/highlighting with various mediums, and learn how to stipple in a way that adds dimension to the trees.
In the second episode of this mini workshop class, landscape artists Natalie Sewell and Nancy teach you to make gorgeous blooms, buds, and leaves. Shade and highlight blossoms, buds, and leaves for a 3D effect, and resize to add realism to your artwork. Stipple details, and outline petals, grasses, and leaves--let your fabric and design dictate how you stitch.
Nancy and Natalie Sewell show how to achieve movement and depth in ground cover by layering a multitude of fabrics in a random, unruly way. Enhance your designs by highlighting and shading with markers and oil pastels. Then stipple to your heart's content following the movement of the fabric.
Designer Mary Mulari joins Nancy to "zip up" functional and decorative projects! Learn easy zipper techniques for lanyards, picnic totes, cosmetic bags, storage for electronic devices and more. Plus, you'll find new options for using zippers in unique and unusual ways to make trim such as piping and appliques for all your projects.
Nancy and Linda Lee, fashion designer from The Sewing Workshop, share their penchant for sewing to create cool runway finishes such as mitered corners for hems, a trendy method for sewing a detailed Hong Kong Finish, baby hems for sheers, and a crisp shirttail hem on a classic shirt. The finishing steps are all simple, yet effective.
Linda Lee, pattern designer and author, joins Nancy to showcase runway raw edge finishes suitable for woven and knit fashions. They extend cool edges to home decor using bold fringe that effortlessly fits into seams. They also feature fuse and stitch underlays for couture garments, including a selvage with ribbon and fringed edges, plus a petticoat edge on a T-shirt.
Nancy reviews various types of elastics including braided, knitted, and woven, and then she teaches updated techniques for buttonhole and drawcord elastic. In addition, learn how to make a traditional elastic casing and a ready-to-wear technique for a no-worries elastic casing, especially nice for knit garments.
Nancy uses clear, narrow, and fold-over elastic plus elastic thread in conventional and creative ways. Stabilize shoulder seams and add stretch to neckline seams with clear elastic, use 1/4" elastic for stretchable gathers, elastic thread for smocking, and soft flexible foldover elastic to finish soft knits such as baby clothing and fleece.
Nancy takes a look into the past and compares sewing techniques from sewing books written in the 1920's-1950's to the same techniques sewn now. Among the techniques included in this 2-part series are stitching pockets, piping, hems, and zippers, plus many more comparisons between sewing "then and now."
Nancy demonstrates how easy sewing has become over the years. She compares the sewing techniques from decades ago with present techniques made fast and fun with one-task wonders and other tools made to simplify our sewing, quilting, and embroidering.
