by Dave | Apr 30, 2016 | Beginner Tips, Blog, Lucy's Sewing Lab, Tools and Technique
The Serger
I’ve been reading, and reading, and reading about the this toy/machine. I read so much I decided I can’t live without one. So, I purchased this beautiful piece of machinery. [envira-gallery slug=”juke-serger”] I threaded it, on my own, and actually sewed some old Levi jeans as a test run. Do not try to sew over the seams. I broke my needle and to replace it, which I’m working on right now; you have to use the teeniest allen wrench known to man.
I would recommend getting a Bachelor’s degree in sewing with a serger before doing anything fancy. While studying I found you some really great sites:
Crocheting with Your Serger This is a bit advanced, but since it’s my favorite I had to post it first.
How to unpick Serger Stitches I promise, this is the best part of owning one!
Gathering on a Serger Some sites tell you how many feet you need for your already expensive machine. This one does NOT!
Four Signs you should Invest in a Serger
Flat locking One of my very favorite posts!
MUST Print I promise, you will be so thankful you printed this. Every word you need to know, and it is FREE, well expect for the ink and paper.
Best Stitch Guide EVER
TEN best Serger Tips
National Serger month Great make and takes and wonderful advice.
Please before you embark upon this journey, read up on the machine and make it less scary. This list is less intimidating than you may believe at first. Just relax and soon it will be your friend and you will wonder how you ever made anything without this machine. Do not listen to those telling you how many feet are needed to properly use this machine. I promise there are ways around everything.
by Dave | Apr 9, 2016 | Blog, Lucy's Sewing Lab
Where are the Newsletters?
I am really feeling bad about my subscribers. I feel like the newsletter programs out there just do not do the job. I have a suspicion they use our subscribers as their new spam list. If this is happening, please understand I have nothing to do with that.
One program I used, sent out two emails. It was months before my husband told me he wasn’t getting emails. This site thrives on visitors. I guess my subscribers must follow my Facebook or million other social media networks. My numbers did not begin to drop until this week. WOW!
Again, I am working as hard and fast as I can to fix this issue. If you need anything at all please contact me at lucyssewinglab@gmail.com.
I would love to give you the names of the plugin I used, but that is just not good business. I assure you Lucy Lou is working day and night to fix this problem. I hope, like you, my subscribers the problem is fixed soon. ENJOY some sewing!
by Dave | Apr 7, 2016 | Beginner Tips, Lucy's Sewing Lab
I had no idea how easy it was to learn to sew learning from your television. The longest running show Nancy Zieman is on PBS for learning to sew. I have apple TV. There is a choice for PBS television. It’s Sew Easy Sewing show on PBS. Fit to Stitch is on the channel but, an easier way to watch this show is to use You Tube, which is also tv compatible. The video series with Peggy Sagers is complete on the Fit to Stitch YouTube channel. It’s incredible the topics that are covered in this show. I’ve listed just a fraction of the topics covered.
Another great TV tool for learning to sew is the It’s Sew Easy Sewing show on PBS as well as the videos the videos are on Vimeo and located on the site is a chart
![Anthropologie and Victoria’s Secret on the Cheap]()
by Dave | Mar 29, 2016 | Blog, Lucy's Sewing Lab
I sew therefore I refuse to pay for ready to wear! So, I’ve been working on a few Anthropologie and Victoria’s Secret hacks. Anthro has some of the best fashion out there. They must, everyone is trying to hack it. Well, I jumped on the bandwagon too, why? The styles are really pretty straightforward and pretty easy to duplicate on the cheap. Thank you again Anthropologie. 🙂 
This is a perfect example! Let me break it down for you, it’s a yard of fabric, folded in half, with side seams and a v neck. There are several tutorials out there. It’s made out of rayon spandex jersey. Which can be found here for about $6 or $7 a yard.
Anthro seems to have a love affair with peplum tops. Just do a pinterest search. I found this one 
I love it! It’s too early here for tank tops so I’m working on a short sleeve version out of knit. I’ll hopeful finish it today and post the finished product and some hints on how to do it. For a little teaser….hint number one is find a bodice pattern you love and make it fit you perfectly! From there the options are endless!
One of the new trends for 2016 is a high cut bra. The lace shows through the top of your tank. Check it out. They are calling it the new eyelash lace collection. The bonus here is you can make your own tank to display this sexy bra on the cheap. I found some free patterns at Sew City. They seem to be the Victoria’s Secret of the sewing world. I imagine these can be created for under $10. ENJOY!
![Anthropologie and Victoria’s Secret on the Cheap]()
by Dave | Mar 20, 2016 | Blog, Lucy's Sewing Lab
Happy Anniversary Lucy! Look how far you’ve come from your first, now removed blog post. Content is missing, but overall, I still love the photo.
Sewing with knits, published just a day later gained a great deal of popularity. 
Excitement for me grew as people began to respond to my blogs. Growth in popularity, users and subscribers catapulted me into challenging myself to post increasingly informative blogs. The topics were varied. Capsule Wardrobe drew great interest, close to 200 hits in just a little over six weeks.
I covered fashion, sewing, style, and sewing with two broken arms. That was hard! The more serious I became about sewing, the more you loved the blog. Subscribers increased quickly. Another favorite blog about muslins was a Huge hit. 
Muslins are so important but such a pain in the butt to do the sewing for one dress two times, ya know? It’s worth it though, I encourage everyone to make muslins before making the garment.
You went MAD about Mad Men fashion and so did I! Mad about Mad Men remained the top post for a long time. You can search to catch the blogs or you can visit the first one here.
Lucy’s Sewing Lab
Lucy’s took on several “looks” before she came up with the perfect fit. But I think I’ve found it. It’s not easy deciding who you want to be, you know?
BEST OF LISTS
I had best of lists. 
Finding a machine is here
I have a photo journal page, Lucy’s Photo Journal and added my own Pinterest and more! I look forward to the next year, it will bring many new changes I hope you like. 
There is a link to all archives on the left of my home page. ENJOY!
by Dave | Mar 7, 2016 | Beginner Tips, Blog, Lucy's Sewing Lab, Tools and Technique
Color Theory (history of fashion)
Not the most entertaining part of creating apparel, but the most crucial when designing and sewing garments.[envira-gallery id="2923"]
[envira-gallery slug="primary-colors"]
- Can you believe the first color wheel was invented by associating each color with a note one a musical scale? This was accomplished by Newton.
- 100 years later psychological studies began on the effects on colors.
- Goethe divided the psychological effects of colors into two groups.
*Plus side (red, orange, yellow) colors producing cheerfulness and excitement
*Minus side (green, violet, blue) colors of weakness and unsettled feelings.
THE REAL DEAL (COLOR RULES)
- Any two colors opposite each other are harmonious.
- Colors spaced around the wheel forming a triangle, or rectangle are also harmonious.
- Color schemes——also known as harmonies remain so no matter what the rotation angle is.
BASIC COLOR SCHEMES[envira-gallery id=”2926″]
- Monochromatic Color Scheme-The use of color tints and saturations of one color.
- Analogous Color Scheme– This color scheme uses colors next to each other with one color ore dominate to enhance the color scheme.
- Complementary Color Scheme- One of the most used schemes, the colors are opposite each other on the wheel. This scheme is used best with a cool color with a warm color.
- Split Complementary Color Scheme- Uses three colors. One color is chosen as well as the two adjacent to the first color, providing a high contrast.
Triadic Color Scheme
The triadic color scheme uses three colors equally spaced around the color wheel. The triadic scheme is not as contrasting as the complementary scheme, but it looks more balanced and harmonious.
Tetradic (Double Complementary) Color Scheme
The tetradic (double complementary) scheme is the most varied because it uses two complementary color pairs. This scheme is hard to harmonize; if all four hues are used in equal amounts, the scheme may look unbalanced, so you should choose a color to be dominant or subdue the colors.
http://www.color-wheel-pro.com/color-theory-basics.html
