Free Patterns from Indie Pattern Companies: Outerwear and Layers
Outerwear can feel like some of the more complicated garments to sew. So many structural elements! So much hardware! So much interfacing and lining and piping and casings!
Clothing + Fashion
Free Patterns from Indie Pattern Companies: Dresses, Jumpsuits and Rompers of All Kinds
This week, we’re focusing on entire ensembles that you can sew–all the dresses, all the jumpsuits, all the pajama sets, all the rompers. And ALL from the free patterns offered by indie pattern companies.
Free Patterns from Indie Pattern Companies: Underwear and Accessories
Everything on this list is from one of my favorite indie pattern companies. The patterns I’m pointing you to are free, but I’ve also included plenty of suggestions for other patterns you can purchase from these companies. It’s important to show these indie companies some love!
Free Patterns from Indie Pattern Companies: Tops and Bottoms
Here are some of my favorite free patterns from those indie companies! We’re starting big with tops and bottoms, ranging from easy basics to add to your wardrobe to fancier styles to dress you up nicely.
18 Projects to Upcycle Tights
Fortunately, those stained, snagged, or simply outgrown tights don’t have to go into the wastestream! Here’s how to upcycle your old tights in a myriad of ways.
How to Replace the Zipper in a Pair of Pants
Be warned: pants zippers are tedious and painstaking to replace. What they are not, however, is difficult. If you’ve sewn with zippers before, and you’re comfortable using a zipper foot, you can make this repair.
You Should Reclaim the Zippers from Your Old Pairs of Jeans
If you sew, and especially if you enjoy refashioning clothing or upcycling pieces to give them new lives, you should be reclaiming the zipper from every single pair of pants that wanders through your workshop.
20 DIY Hair Accessories to Make from Materials You Already Own
And homemade hair accessories, especially when they’re crafted from the scraps and stash of your craft supplies, or upcycled from other items, are an easy, fun way to add some personality to your wardrobe.
Upcycled Hair Accessories: Stashbust a Scrunchie
Scrunchies are one of my favorite stashbuster projects. Like the other projects that I mentioned, scrunchies are very forgiving, so you can fudge fabric dimensions as needed to fit your scraps.
DIY Dancer: Upcycled Hair Ties Made from Tights
If you, too, are beholden to a continually evolving set of brand-new tights all year, every year, this little hack won’t cure your heartbreak, but it might make you feel maybe 3% better, at least if you or someone you love also has hair that occasionally needs to be tied back.
Why Shein Sucks, and What You Should Wear Instead
But alas, Shein is yet another imported fast fashion outlet, even more insidiously unsustainable than the other imported fast fashion outlets.
So if Shein is so unsustainable, why is it so popular, especially with young adults who should know better?
The Second-Hand Wedding Dress, and Other Eco-Friendly Wedding Choices
Want to have a meaningful wedding that doesn’t cater to the multi-billion-dollar wedding industry? Want to have a personalized wedding that celebrates your love as well as the ethical standards that guide your life? Want to wear and decorate with and eat and share only things you love, and that love the Earth?
This Mend Will Stay Mended! The Forever Fix to Thigh Rips in Your Jeans
Reinforcing that entire thigh area, both the rip and the surrounding real estate, with a denim patch, as well as quilting the snot out of that patch, stops the rip.
Clothing Refashions: 18 Projects to Bring the 1970s Back
Whether you’re prepping for the next in a line of 1970s parties or just getting a head start on Halloween–or just love 1970s clothing!–check out my list of my favorite DIYs of 1970s fashions.
Clothing Refashion: Another Way to DIY Bell Bottoms
This method results in a pair of bell bottoms that are wide and blousy and flowy. You couldn’t get away with wearing them in all circumstances, but they’re also super dramatic and super fun for every bell bottom-appropriate occasion.
How to Add a Zipper to a Hoodie
Fortunately, it’s really not hard to add a zipper to the front of a hoodie, and what you get in return is a comfy, zip-up hoodie that will leave your glasses, headphones, and sensory sensitivities intact.
20 Ways to Repair or Refashion an Old Coat or Jacket
Good, aesthetically pleasing repair work gives your outerwear longevity, allowing even that fast fashion or thrifted piece a permanent place in your wardrobe.
Can Your Varsity Letterman Jacket Be Saved?
Y’all, what would YOU do with a treasured letterman jacket that you won’t wear but don’t want to get rid of and is actively oozing toxic substances?!?
You Should Make Yourself a Dress Form
If you can sew at all, then, I highly recommend that you spend a couple of afternoons DIYing yourself a dress form to your specific measurements. It’s a little weird to have an exact model of your torso just standing there, yes, but I have found the ability to custom fit patterns to be quite remarkable.
20 DIY Cardboard Halloween Costumes
Cardboard is one of my favorite crafting supplies because it’s so accessible and so versatile. It’s easy to cut with a craft knife or a sturdy pair of scissors, it holds great with hot glue or duct tape, it takes paint like a champ, and it’s got great structure to support all kinds of weird, costume-y elements and accessories.
14 Techniques to Paint and Dye Silk Fabric
It can be tricky to think of ways to paint or dye silk fabric, if you’ve mostly worked with cotton, linen, or other plant-fiber fabrics before. You probably already know that silk takes dye differently, but how differently? Can you paint it? Transfer images to it? Dye it multiple colors?
Yes, You Can Tie-Dye Silk!
The materials and techniques that you use to dye cotton are necessarily different than what you use to dye silk.
Two Dozen Ways to Upcycle Socks That Have Lost Their Mates
Fortunately, that mate-less sock doesn’t have to live the rest of its life alone in my Socks Sans Partners basket, only to eventually be tossed out, years later, when I’ve finally admitted the truth to myself. There are SO many cute ways to upcycle orphaned socks.
How to Darn a Sock
A well-made sock can stand up to a lot of wear, and when a hole does finally work its way through, then you can darn that sock to make it even better than it was when it was new.
20 Ways to Refashion a Hoodie
Check out some of my favorite methods for upcycling a hoodie, and find your next favorite fashion!
DIY Tie-Dye: 10 Creative Projects to Subvert Big Fashion
Want a fun summertime project that highlights your creative expression, gives a second life to clothes otherwise destined for the waste stream, AND subverts Big Fashion?
You are going to love tie-dye!
How to Make a Broken Dish Pendant
It’s easier than you think to cut ceramics with a couple of standard tools, and there are loads of ways to finish off the pendant to your taste.
How to Sew a Button Back on Your Pants
Fortunately, sewing a button back on your pants is a super easy and low-fuss skill that requires only a basic amount of hand-eye coordination. Anyone can do it!
How To Make a Petticoat: 15 DIY Tutorials
A petticoat may not be the essential everyday wear that it once was, but it’s still essential to give the perfect silhouette to certain garments.
Three Dozen Free Vintage Dress Patterns
Even without the foundation garments, even without the advanced techniques, even without antique tissue paper patterns with an unreasonable waist to bust ratio, you can sew yourself a dress that LOOKS vintage.
20 DIY Cloth Masks
If you’re just getting started on creating your own cloth masks, or if you’re looking to switch up your go-to pattern–or add a handy accessory, OR make a matching cloth mask for a kid’s teddy bear!–then check out this list of my favorite DIY cloth mask patterns and tutorials.
How to Make a Hoop Skirt: 15 Projects
Do you want to look like Queen Elizabeth I or Marie Antoinette?
16 DIY Memory Quilts To Make For Your Loved Ones
For preserving memories big and small, DIY memory quilts made from your favorite clothing are both beautiful and practical.
Two Dozen Homemade Halloween Costumes for Adults
Don’t let the kids have all the fun this Halloween!
Two Dozen Homemade Halloween Costumes for Kids
Homemade costumes get more candy.