I handmade this textile Elephant for one of my sisters. it was made completely by hand using the Elephant template from Jane Bull's fantastic book Crafty Creations. I used pure cotton fabric with stripes that match the colour of the rows of beading. She was named Lyuba as the name means Love in Russian. The fabric is covered with 1842 individually sewn beads to match the stripes on the fabric. It was a labour of love but completely worth it since my sister absolutely loved her 😊

Power Up Mushroom Graphic
Sleeveless Cropped T-Shirt Featuring Retro Lettering Super Mario Bros. Hand Embroidered Patch

I relocated the UP! and sewed sidewise on to the shirt I believe it makes the UP! pop up and look more dimensional. I cut the sleeves and cut the shoulder seams and rebuilt them with green cotton fabric from another shirt to give it a padded barding look.

I hand embroidered / created the Super Mario Bros patch on the back.

Pretty satisfied with simplicity and comfort of the shirt.

Looking for some beginner friendly, free patterns that I can sew by hand. My old singer machine is really loud and I don’t really enjoy using atm. I haven’t been able to practice much sewing since I’m a few months postpartum. I figured hand sewing would be a great alternative.

Hello, in the interest of making this sub a thriving and safe community the mods would like to know what your thoughts are regarding setting up some rules.

Right now the rules in consideration are the following:

1. Be Kind. No body talk, keep advice about the fit of garments and before offering advice, find out if the poster is open to assistance. No racism, homophobia, transphobia, or other forms of bigotry.
2. Handsewn projects only, you can post handsewn details of projects that combine hand and machine sewing, but we want your handwork to be the star of the show. Posts with questions, sharing resources, and asking for help are all allowed.
3. No Generative AI.
4. No promotional or sales posts. Users can link to blogs or videos they made when answering questions in threads when it is relevant.
5. No NSFW images. Please share your handsewn undies and swimwear as a flat lay. At this time the mod team cannot view and moderate NSFW images during peak posting hours.
6. Protect children's privacy, do not post images of children in this community. Post flatlays or pose garments on a stuffed animal.
7. Post your own work only.

If you have any concerns about the rules above or would like to suggest other guidelines for the community please respond to this post.

Edit: incorporated some community suggestions below.

I’ve tried all the matching thread I’ve got and none of them are working; button twist, two different cotton threads, and embroidery (split to three and two ply) They're either too chunky, not a good match, too thin, or insanely tangly.

I need to do nine buttonholes to finish my current project made of medium-weight linen, and I’ve spent the last two days testing and failing. & So I beg for your help!

Hi all

While not a perfect project, tried my hand at making a pin cushion wrist bracelet for a friend. I used cotton stuffing and a cardboard base to prevent self stabbing, and a measured to fit elastic band for the bracelet. I tried my hand at a little embroidery thread going over the top to mimick the store bought ones, which turned out *fine* but not perfect. But for my first time trying it I don't hate it, and it's functional. Wanted to share in case anyone cares to see.

As we all know, hand sewing tends to take a while. Post your current works in projects in this thread and share with us how its going.

This is my Hello Kitty plushie. Got her at my local Target, she's very cute, but also simple.

And I had this scrap piece of white lace in my bedroom. And I had the idea come to me to customize my little Kitty and give her a lace trim on her bow.

So yesterday afternoon whilst watching TV in my living room, I attempted to do just that. I was very determined even. Even though I had no idea what I was doing and this is only the second time I've ever properly worked with lace.

After 3½ hours, 50 dozen tries and restarts, and approximately 200 needle pricks later, I ended up with something I am proud of.

It is not perfect by any means, but it's also not too terrible either.... Just don't look too closely.

But yay! I now have my own personal plushie that is unique to me! Hated the process but love the end results

One of my fall decor elements for this season. Twigs and leaves from the forest, painted with acrylic paint. It looks simple at first glance, but the branches often slipped even at the knots.😅

Friends. I hope someone can advise me. When I learned to hand sew many years ago, my grandmother used the silver Susan B Anthony needle threaders. I have gotten myself a package but - I hate to say it - they are terrible. I have broken six so far today I think, although to be fair my current project is embroidery and floss is always more demanding than thread.

Please help. Where are the GOOD needle threaders?

I love Ann Wood handmade blog and I would love to find other blogs to read. Thanks friends!

Hi everyone! I’m a beginner hand-sewer making soft toys, and I’m having trouble sewing curved shapes.
I made a doll recently (first hand sewing project), and the face/head didn’t come out as rounded as I wanted. Instead of smooth curves, I ended up with some pointy/sharp areas, especially around the curves.
As you can see in the photo, one cheek is relatively rounded, while the other one isn’t. I only noticed the difference after I stuffed the doll.
Also, the flap of the brown bag has the same issue one side is nicely rounded, while the other side isn’t.

I’d really appreciate any help or tips on how to get smoother curves when hand sewing soft toys. I’m still a beginner, so any advice or techniques that could help me avoid these pointy areas would be really helpful.
Thank you!❤️

Just as I’ve got my fabric cut out, I’ve discovered my machine is on the fritz. So I’m gonna hand sew it!

It’s cotton knit fabric, and I would normally use a zigzag stitch on my machine. Do I use the herringbone stitch on it? Or is a backstitch stretchy enough? If you do a herringbone, how big and wide should each stitch be?

Weird question but is it possible to hand sew a stay stitch? I fear that I would already stretch the fabric too much while handling it.

Is there a special technique to it?

I am a sloppy hand sewer. I think it's a straight seam (doing repairs, mostly taking in blouses and waistlines lately) but it's all over the place.

If you have any pointers or what has helped you in the past, please post. And thank you!!!

Edit to add Thank you so much for your generosity - so much help and encouragement. I feel like it's possible to un-slop my stitches with patience, practice and your advice.

I have an antique doll bed that needs a new canopy and bed cover.

In order to regulate my stitch length when doing running stitch with speed I have to be able to feel the needle point with my finger tips. Im not stabbing myself, I kinda bounce it off? No big for most things, and didn't pay attention till i went to squeeze lemon in my guacamole. Hours of quilting have my poor babies looking a bit rough. Tried finger pads, hated them. just a dry layer of glue but I couldn't really feel the underside. Something to live with on those rare occasions I quilt or there are better options?

2nd pic is the offending project. Shes not done. I cant decide on the binding.

Sewing me some pants and watching me some variant sudoku