3 sewing DIYs every beginner should try!
If staying in has one upside, it’s that we’ve started to try more new things. And if one of those things you’ve just started to pick up is sewing, we understand that it’s not the easiest craft to get into and a sewing machine can be pretty daunting. But just like riding a bike or learning to swim, once you get a hang of it, you can only continue to grow and improve. To help you practice, we’ve prepared a list of beginner-friendly DIY projects you can start with!
Pattern weights
Image from https://www.sewcanshe.com/
This project is a twofer: a practice DIY and as another important tool for sewing. Pattern weights hold the fabric still while you’re tracing and cutting your patterns.
Materials you need:
- ¼ yard of fabric
- Thin card
- Aquarium gravel
How to make Pattern weights:
- Draw a grid of 9 x 9cm squares on your fabric. The fabric should give you about 15 pairs of squares.
- Taking your electric scissors, cut the squares out along the lines. Pin two squares with the right sides facing each other. Sew them together all the way around, leaving a 1-inch turning gap in the center of one side. Trim the corners.
- Draw and cut out a square template from a card measuring 2 x 2 cm.
- Place this card in the center of your square fabric and trace.
- Sew around the square through both layers of fabric. Use small tight stitches to make sure the contents won’t leak through.
- Fill your square with the gravel or any other small weights you want to use.
- Sew the opening close using small neat stitches so the gravel can’t escape. Repeat this to the rest of your square to make as many as you need!
Hair scrunchies
They say fashion history repeats itself and that’s exactly why your 90s scrunchies are making a big comeback! Follow this DIY to make unique statements with your own scrunchie designs. The best thing about this DIY is not how easy it is, but that you can use your scrap fabrics and make a cute hair (or wrist) scrunchie!
Materials you need:
- 2.5 x 20-inch lightweight fabric scraps
- 1/4-inch-wide elastic
How to make Hair scrunchies:
- Take your fabric strips right side up and fold the bottom upwards with the right side inside the fold. Straight sew the edges, leaving a ¼ inch allowance. Turn the fabric inside out.
- Cut your elastic into 8-inch strips and insert one in your fabric tube. Gather the fabric to the middle and take out both ends of the elastic. Sew the ends together to form a circle.
- For the fabric tube, pin and sew the right side of the edges together. You can choose to hand sew this for easier navigation of the tube.
- Viola! You now have your own scrunchie.
Circle skirt
The circle skirt is exactly as the name says: a skirt that’s made of a circular piece of fabric. It’s simple, yet when done well, could be very pretty and elegant.
Materials you need:
- 1-2 yards of fabric (cotton, rayon, polyester, light wool)
- 1-inch-wide elastic (depending on the desired waistline)
- Measuring tape
- Pins
- Iron
- Manila pattern paper
- Pink Power Electric Scissors
How to make a Circle skirt:
- Start by measuring the waist. Give yourself about an inch allowance. Then measure the widest area around your hips, add 2” (or 1” if that’s what you prefer) for allowance. Divide the number by 6.28 for your inner circle’s radius.
- For the length of the skirt, measure the desired length from the waist and add 2 inches for the seam. From these measurements, you can now create your pattern.
- For the pattern, taking the number from step 1, mark your pattern paper from the upper left edge to the number you came up with. Do this at 25, 45, and 75 degrees from the corner. Connect the end points into a quarter of the circle.
- For the bigger circle, take the length of the skirt (step 2) and mark them on different points of the smaller circle. Don’t forget the 2-inch seam allowance!
- Using the Pink Power electric scissors, cut out the inner and outer circle and trace the pattern onto your fabric 4 times to form a donut. Next, cut fabric with your HG2304.
- Serge or zigzag stitch the inner circle or if you prefer, fold down the edges twice by ¼ inch.
- Grabbing your elastic, cut off the exact measurement of your waist and add an inch for allowance. Take the two ends and sew them together at a ½ inch seam. You should have a circle when finished.
- Pin the elastic to the top of the skirt with the garter on top of the skirt seam. You can use a straight or zigzag stitch.
- Finish the bottom edge of your skirt, by pressing an inward fold using your iron (size depends on you) and stitching to the rest of the skirt, and you’re done!
Easy-peasy! Anyone can master sewing with enough practice and the right tools. The Pink Power HG2034 electric scissors we’ve featured make your cuts cleaner and easier, even with the most complicated patterns, both on fabric and on paper. Get yours today!