Grandma grew up during the depression, raised her 10 children on the salary of her plumber husband and as a result, she was a scrappy, creative problem solver.
Now had you had to sense to ask her for her secrets, she could have told you all her sewing tips and tricks. How she was able to make so much clothes with so little.
But you didn’t and so that’s why we’re here. Let’s learn some simple DIY sewing hacks.
—
00:00 — Introduction
00:31 — Drafting Paper
01:01 — Pattern Drafting
02:04 — Fabrics & Cutting
02:43 — Sewing Straps
04:07 — Sewing Thick Fabrics
04:44 — Overlocking Thread
05:27 — Conclusion
———
👩🎓 My Pattern Drafting Courses → https://cornelius.ooo/learn
———
💸 Patreon → https://cornelius.ooo/patreon
👥 Become a Member → https://cornelius.ooo/member
🪙 Share a few coins → https://cornelius.ooo/paypal
———
✂️ The Scissors I Use → https://cornelius.ooo/cut
🧵 Shop Sewing Essentials → https://cornelius.ooo/shop
———
📱 Website → https://cornelius.ooo
🖥️ See my Day Job → https://cornelius.design
———
✉️ Newsletter → https://cornelius.ooo/newsletter
🎥 Instagram → https://cornelius.ooo/insta
📹 Tiktok → https://cornelius.ooo/tiktok
🎞️ YouTube → https://cornelius.ooo/youtube
———
#sewing #howto #diyfashion
Gizmos and gadgets, not needed but those nasty sales pitch make we want especially gizmos. Waste of money so grandma was right but I have a full junk drawer, a thin wallet though.
A lot of these kind of tipps one can find in old sewing books from east of and before the fall of the iron curtain, if one reads one of these languages. I got a few off eBay from the former German Democratic Republic. It is amazing what they teach you to do with a straight stitch machine, an old blanket and virtually nothing else.
For the strap I just use sewing double sewing thread instead of a string.
Your grandmother was brilliant 👍👍.
Did she have tape
I knew about using sheets. Its much cheaper than buying from fabric stores
PetValu! OMG!
You can get proper fabric at thrift stores, no need to use bedsheets. Your hair looks great.
4:00 Cornelius my mom use to take the KNITTING pin (long ones) LOL i do the same but that string trick is super
Oh CQ, did you spend time w/ my grandma? Only thing you forgot was how she’d get our attention, quick thimble to the top of the noggin 😉
My mom use to do that with La Presse the big newspaper take our measurment on us… and cut out the pattern… she was an AMAZING fairy 🎇
Grandma here starting the video and thinking i probably know all five- hoping maybe not.
Might be my favorite video you e done.. it just great tips but who doesn’t think fondly of their Grandma, Nana, Mema and sewing. I know I do!
Grandma raised 8 on a farmers income.
Ha,ha.. love you grandma ❤ she was kind of brilliant..
❤😊
I think we had the same grandmother! Learned these tricks at the feet of my mom. She did not have the money to buy gadgets so she improvised and taught me to improvise also. Thanks for bringing them back!
Wow that strap trick! Mind blown! It’s always such a hassle to invert straps
Do you have some more of this grandma wisdom?
Do this is Plautdietsch please!
That cardboard trick to even the pressing foot is golden 🥇👍 I’ve had that issue so many times!
So true. You and grandma.
Do you ever draw threads? I do a lot especially when working with linen.
Make it work. My Gram and my Mom were amazing sewers.
Billy is going to slay in his denim waistband circle skirt with its strap/tie closure.
Boom! Wish I had met your grandmother. Thank you.
Raise your hand if your grandparents had the closet full of wrapping paper 🖐️
Newpaper Drafting paper is a revelation
I love grandma’s tips …any more ? Thanks so much
Your mom and your grandma were definitely special! Here are some of my money saving tips when sewing:
1. Water soluble markers for kids make great marking tools, they are very cheap and when you wash the item, it disappears.
2. Old x-rays make great drafting paper for those small patterns you use again and again, like during COVID-19 for face masks, underwear, brackets, etc. They will last a lifetime.
3. You can make a lamp to hang on top of your sewing area with an old iron cable, and a couple of things from the hardware store. You can also use an extension and make it as long as you need it.
4. When I dispose of clothes, the good one goes to charity, the not-so-lucky one, I take away the buttons, zippers, decorations, then cut the remaining fabric in squares, put it through the serger and you use it for cleaning.
5. Cheap Tupperware or old boxes, makes for great organizing. Just label them and stack them one on top of the other.
6. An old big plastic container, like 114oz ketchup or Mayo one, is great to throw your bits and small pieces of fabrics. Keeps the space clean and also when you have enough, make a nice cushion for the living room or stuffed toys.
7. Save plastic containers of the same brand and size, cut them up like cups, add some decorations and use them to keep things like small tools and items you need to have around your sewing area but you don’t want the mess.
8. Fill up small cloth bags you can sew with rice, use them as weights. You can also buy cheap but heavy things at the hardware store and use them for weights.
9. Sew a utility belt to go around your sewing machine arm. Add your thread snip scissors with its case, a pin cushion and a retractable measuring tape.
10. Get a box, cut it into pieces of 10 x 6,5", wrap your fabrics on them, and organize your fabrics as books on a bookshelf.
I have a few more. Necessity is the mother of all inventions.
You are a very great and hilarious man. Definitely subbing!
I don’t know if you are aware of this trick with string. You can use by using a zigzag stitch on the string onto the fabric, you can gather it quickly.
I have definitely done a lot of repurposing and working with what I have !
I inherited white cotton machine thread on wooden sewing reels from the 1930,s
That was used for freehand embroidery on my great great grandmothers machine from 1901
she
my great aunt being her grandaughter
who used the machine and thread
to sew flowers along the train of her weddings dress in the 1930,s
The threads had been kept in the original cardboard boxes and rarely saw the light of day .
And we’re still usable when making a quilt for our daughter 29 years ago
And 12 years ago when doing a quilt for our first gran child .
Because they hadn’t been exposed to the light they were usable .
Since I made a dust cover for all my threads !
There’s so much value in
Looking after what you have
My aunt lived to 100
And passed the singer treadle to me as the only family member interested.
I still use my aunts pinking sheers , amongst other things,
And an old awl that is most likely older than her .
In 25 years I haven’t ever had to sharpen those scissors .
I remember my mother using newspapers to make patterns, and I am born 1953. She continued doing that sometimes until she died 1996. I do it sometimes too.
My mother taught me to use newspaper for pattern darfting. Nice big pages.
Grandma had a treadle machine not a serger! But she probably would have loved it….
Love your grandma
Don’t cross grandmacorn
Thank you to you and your Grandmother, this video is exactly what I needed!!
Now, I know your hair secrets….😅
I totally grew up making patterns on news print
The curlers brought a tear to my eye. I took my grandmother’s curlers out Sunday mornings and poisoned us with a half can of Aquanet. She passed when I was 12, I’m nearly 50 now.
Dang! That Memaw was a smart chick. 😊
It’s true! You can save a lot of money by using what you already have and making it work. Also, get things for free by telling people you sew and welcome donations of used sewing equipment. Many people have to dispose of the lifetime collection of a sewer who probably took good care of every item. It means everything to someone who will use it and is merely a problem to those who don’t sew.
I don’t remember Grandma sewing (but I know she did with 9 girls+a son on a carpenter’s pay! But, mom taught we 3 girls tips & tricks of sewing (5 kiddos on a brickmason’s pay).
Excellent camera work! I wish you continued success with your channel! Thank you for posting.
Fantastic tips!
But grandma didn’t have an overlock machine…. she had a Straight-stitch Treadle machine.
This is why I’m historically inspired, if not historically accurate – our grandmas knew stuff!
I use masking tape when I can’t or don’t want to use pins.