Sewing, knitting, embroidery, easy and fashion blog

Laying a shoulder pad with sleeve head strip is a quite simple operation needing just two seams. Shoulder pads are very important for strengthening shoulders on jackets. They help you rounding the sleeve for a nice fitting. The shoulder pads used for jackets come in a rounded shape, made in felt. They will be located after seam between the fabric and the lining of the jacket.

The shoulder pad with sleeve head strip can well support the sleeve head and prevents the sleeve to be hollow in the shoulder pad. See for yourself in this before and after that marks the difference - without shoulder pad + sleeve head strip then with:

Nadine has concocted small explanations with images and video (at the end of the article) so that fitting the shoulder pad with cigarette becomes a breeze.

1 / Cut 20 cm of sleeve head strip (for each sleeve). Fold in half the strip and mark the middle with the shoulder line.

2/ Pin the strip on the sleeve side edge to edge with the seam allowance (which should be 1 cm)

3/ Stitching with a straight stitch, on the body side of the jacket, the needle exactly in the mounting sleeve seam. If sewing is done poorly, it can deflect the sleeve mounting and create irregularities therein.

4/ Fold in half the shoulder pad and make it coincide with the shoulder seam body side.

5/ Pin the shoulder pad edge to edge with the mounting sleeve seam allowance.

6/ Sew, this time, the sleeve side still following the mounting sleeve seam (for the same reasons as above).

And here is the result: a beautiful shoulder head.

And to facilitate fitting the shoulder pad, here is the tutorial video (you can activate the english subtitles by clicking on CC):

Find our felt shoulder pads here and the sleeve head strips here

It's official, A&A is a well-connected haberdashery!

It is important for us to keep you informed of the latest news in haberdashery but also to let you know the latest blog posts, or even to react or share information, bloggers, artists, events that we enjoy.

Social networks are widely developed in recent years and may allow us company, to be a little closer to you, our customers. That is why we chose to be a little more present on it.

We therefore propose to follow us on Facebook, sur Google plus, but also on Twitter, to see our videos on Vimeo, to see the latest news about haberdashery by images Instagram and share our pins on Pinterest !

Do not hesitate to react, give your views on our various articles, images, photographs, etc.. These reactions can help us serve you better!

When you get into sewing, we quickly need a space to exercise your passion.

For our sewing workshop, we dream of a separate room or when you do not have this opportunity, a part of the corridor, a piece of living ... with a table specially dedicated to the sewing machine, another larger to copy, cut patterns and closets, drawers to store fabrics and materials.

To give you ideas, we glean here and there fifty examples of sewing workshops as well as good storage ideas for sewing threads, fabrics, ribbons, lace and all equipment!

Discover our dedicated board on Pinterest:

The youngest of our sewing patterns is out! We propose, in line with the baby's vest Tangara, a small baby's set to make in organic jersey: The baby's vest and shorts Kiwi..

The set can be done with a sewing machine or better, with a serger. The pattern has been designed to make it easier for beginners: the cover of the pattern comes with two full size boards and corresponding explanation booklets. We made an illustrated step by step to easily and visually follow the explanations of each of the patterns.

The pattern of the baby Kiwi set can be achieved with organic taupe jersey et a green flowers bias, so it fits to both boys and girls!

Annabel creates jewelry "quickly made for her friends" (I quote her). Here she has chosen our gray blue (color 206), 30 mm width grograin to serve as basis for Swarovski crystals.

Recently, she emptied her closets of dozens of designs created by passion to give to a friend's association to finance the costly care that requires her little Alice's handicap (4 years old).

Do not hesitate to "like" her Facebook page"Tout c'qui brille" to encourage both in her creative process and her generous commitments.

Photo Credit in this blog article: Annabel D.

We just welcome many new organic fabrics on the website and we enjoy talking to you about them, but above all to show you these wonders! :

On the top you can see the simple knitted jersey or sweat-shirt in a beautiful flecked gray. Both organic knitted have color in harmony and may eventually be worn as a shirt/sweatshirt set. The sweat-shirt (on the right) is made of a very soft quilted fabric inside:

Then, we present the organic linen jersey natural, undyed and unbleached. This jersey is very soft, silky and slightly transparent. The flax used for this jersey is grown in France in Normandy and also knitted in France, making it a very local jersey!

Then comes the cotton piqué, a very popular jersey, particularly for making polo shirts. It is also available in a natural unbleached color (not dyed):

The organic fabrics arrival also contains this beautiful coating jersey. To sew an undersheet or in achieving washable baby diapers, this is essential. The organic coating cotton is waterproof on one side (and brilliant) and soft (matte) on the jersey side:

The organic cotton swaddling cloth, coming back into fashion lately, especially for making clothes, but again and again for cloth diapers. It is sold by 80 x 80 cm squares, just sew the four hems in order the swaddling cloth is ready for use:

So, did you enjoy this arrival? If you have fabrics yens, don't forget that you can order a 10 cm sample of all our fabrics (not discounted items), you will automatically receive a voucher for your future same fabric order.

Summer is on our doorstep which means: wedding season!

For the occasion, we prepared a small pinterest array of different decor ideas and tutorials found here and there on the net and on pinterest of lace, ribbons, wool, creations for weddings.

Whether for table decoration, the camera space, the wedding hairstyle or the bridal bouquet, everything is there to make an hand-made decoration!

In summer months, the novelty ... knitting! A big fat work, a pullover for men.

And yes, for this type of project, it is best to pre-empt:

We present you the pattern pullover for men "Manu" to knit with Ambiance of Fonty. It is available in sizes S - M - L - XL - XXL and can be knitted with 3,5 and 4 needles. A simple pattern with a touch of originality by its shawl collar. Ambiance wool is so soft that the pullover could be worn directly on the skin!

No more excuses for men, arm yourself with your knitting needles: now you can knit your own sweater!

For this tutorial, we thought of wedding hairstyles or parties This lace headband is very simple to make and adds a nice customization to a simple hairstyle. The tutorial can be adapted to the manufacture of any lace or ribbon headband, it just requires that the metal fastener width is adapted to the ribbon width!

At first, you need:

- about 45 cm of 35 mm cotton lace

- 2 antique silver metal clips, 3 cm width

- about 18 cm of black or white elastic, 3 mm width, 4 gums (according to the color of your light or dark hair)

- some sewing thread matching the lace (raw or white) and a needle

1 / Prepare your sewing needle with the thread and lace.

2 / Fold the tip of the lace once and then a second time to form a small hem and sew the hem with your needle.

3 / Sew stitching still in the second row of holes, with back stitches.

4 / Repeat with the second side.

5 / Then insert the black or white elastic in the remaining two large loops.

6 / Sew by hand or machine (with a zigzag stitching) the elastic previously 1 cm superimposed.

7 / Cut the threads and try!

We have a large selection of laces, ribbons, or even trimmings that can adapt to this tutorial, leave room to your imagination.

When you love to sew, sometimes we also like to dress. With the development of smartphones and associated applications, there are now tools that fits all situations, including help to create the look, but also to sort his things and plan her outfits. We wanted to share with you this find which can be handy for seamstresses.

We have discovered: Stylebook

This app allows you to organize your wardrobe:

• There simply to shoot each of your room, to remove the background, through the app, to keep only the essentials: clothing. Then store them virtually in your cupboards. It may take time, but can also save later.

In this way, we have a very clear vision of our dressing. We can find parts not worn for ages, decide to give some ... In short, it allows you to make a good sorting!

• With all the parts, the application can create looks, ie overlaying multiple pieces, either up, down, dress, jacket, bag or shoes to test outfits.

It can be seen visually and rapidly that some clothes are finally together well and then plan on a dedicated calendar each outfit. It is indeed handy to avoid wasting time in the morning, you have just to plan your looks ahead.

• Some Additional tools such as statistics, let you know how many times you have worn such clothes and "cost-per-wear" ie its depreciation (garment cost / the number of times worn). But also, the number of clothing you have, the top 10 most worn clothing and less worn! There is also the facilitator for suitcase, you choose the outfits that you want and it gives you all the clothes and accessories to be introduced for the holidays!

Stylebook seems very convenient to organize the fashionistas' wardrobe but also for keen on sewing. It helps to know what we wear in our clothes as hand-made and those we rarely put on (if ever!). And thus to have a clearer vision of what we like to wear really, and maybe sew pieces more suited to our usual outfits. Result: more optimization of our hand-sewn dressing! And you, what do you use to organize your "me-made" dressing? The application is available on the appstore currently 3.59 € for men and women.