Author name: elizabethmadethis

Elizabeth Farr is the writer behind the Elizabeth Made This blog where she shares helpful sewing tips, step by step sewing tutorials and videos to help you explore your creativity through sewing.  She has written sewing Eguides and patterns, been a featured teacher at Rebecca Page's Sewing Summit and Jennifer Maker's Holiday Maker Fest and her work has appeared in Seamwork and Altered Couture magazines.  She also created a line of refashioned garments for SEWN Denver.  When her sewing machine isn't humming, she's playing and teaching violin, and hanging around a good strategic board game with her husband and 4 kids.

11 reasons why refashioning is awesome for all sewists

My deep dive into refashioning started when my sons were little. Packing them up in the car to drive across town to a fabric store that might not have had what I needed was really difficult. What I discovered instead was my local thrift store aka my weird fabric store. It’s 5 minutes away and […]

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Learn how to gather fabric 5 fail proof ways

Let’s talk how to gather fabric. Gathering fabric is one of those sewing tasks we often end up doing, but yikes, it can often be a headache! Threads can break and gathers can get all uneven on you. On the worst days, you might even miss sewing a whole chunk of gathered fabric into your

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button with toothpick

15 cheap sewing tools you probably have in your house

I have and always will be a person who lives by the credo–use what you have. With that in mind, I wanted to share this list of cheap sewing tools you may already have hanging around your house. The truth is that sometimes the fanciest gadgets and specialty notions don’t necessarily mean better sewing. The

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cotton double gauzes

The best summer fabrics to sew minus sweaty hot

Perhaps it’s the sting of sunscreen melting into my eyes inspiring me, but today my mind wanders to the best summer fabrics to sew. Maybe it’s just me, but I could totally do without the scorching sun aspects of summer. Thankfully for me and for you, dear reader, there’s lots of of summer fabrics that’ll

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tools for how to set snaps

How to set snaps: the no-sew notion of dreams

Let’s talk how to set snaps. Ooh, I love me some snaps. Snaps are a great alternative whenever you don’t want to use buttons. The truth is that some fabrics don’t make sewing buttonholes easy (knits!). And sometimes snaps make it easier for functional things like diaper changes. That’s why you’ll see snaps on baby

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drawstring bags

Make cute gift bags with this easy drawstring bag tutorial

We’re going basic today as I show you how to make a drawstring bag. I love simple drawstring bags! They’re a great leftover fabric project, they’re quick to make. Best of all, it’s simple straight line sewing, so this is an awesome project for beginners. Shoot, you can make them with your kids so they

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