NANCY Z I E M A NS

Sewing Ato Z
YOUR SOURCE for SEWING and QUILTING
TIPS and TECHNIQUES

FEATURING 80+ TECHNIQUES

 contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Techniques A to Z . . . 12
A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Anchor Cloth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Appliqu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Satin Stitch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Inner Detail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Freezer Paper Technique . . . . . 22
B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Basting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Belt Loops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Bias . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Binding (single-fold) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Binding (double-fold) . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Blanket Stitching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Blind Hem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Bobbin Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Buttonholes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
C . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Casings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Chain Stitching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Circles: Cutting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Circles: Sewing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Clipping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Collars & Cuffs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Cutting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
D . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Quarter-Square Triangles . . . . . . . . . 95
Darts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Decorative StitchesMachine . . . . 49
Double Needle Stitching . . . . . . . . . 50
E . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 Stencils . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Easing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Edgestitching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
ElasticTypes and Techniques . . . 54
F . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Ripping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Fabric Tubes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Facings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
 NANCY ZIEMANS Sewing A to Z by Nancy Zieman
Fusible Web . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
G . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Gathering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Grading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Grainline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
H . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Half-Square Triangles . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Hemming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Hooks and Eyes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
InterfacingTypes and Uses . . . . . 68
J . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Jackets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
K . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Knits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
L . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Layering/Quilt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
M . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Marking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Mitering Corners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Nap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Needles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Nips and Notches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Organizing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
P . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Pintucks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Piping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Pivoting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Pleats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Pocket FlapsMoving Seam . . . . . 90
Patch Pockets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Q . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Quarter Mark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Quilting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Tying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Stitch in the Ditch . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Free Motion/Stippling . . . . . . . 99
R . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Ribbing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Rod Pocket . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Seam Finishes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Seam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Serging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Overlock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Flatlock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Rolled Edge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Chain Stitch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Cover Stitch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Shoulder Pads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Sleeves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Snaps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Squaring a Quilt Block . . . . . . . . . . 115
Stabilizer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Staystitching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
StratasQuilt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Stripes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
T . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
TensionBalancing . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
ThreadsTypes and Use . . . . . . . 126
Topstitching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
U . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Underlining . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Understitching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
V . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
Velcro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
Vinyl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
W . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Waistbands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Wrapped Corners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Y . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Yo-Yos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Z . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Zigzag Stitch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Zippers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Single Lap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Double Lap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Mock Fly Front . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
Exposed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
Invisible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Shortening . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
Books of Interest . . . . . . . . . . 144
 Darts

Darts have you in a dither? Stitch a straight dimple-free dart

in seconds using your thread as a stitching guide.

Figure 1

1 Mark the dart.

Make short " clips at the cut edges
Figure 3

4
of the dart. Lay the thread on top of the fabric to
Use a washable marking pencil or mark the stitching line between the
chalk to mark the point of the dart nips and the dart point.
(Figure 1).

5 Set the machine to straight stitch and

sew the dart, following the thread guide
(Figure 3).
D

Figure 5

8 Attach the tail to the dart. Sew two

or three stitches; then cut the threads
(Figure 5).

Figure 2

2 Fold dart, right sides together, meeting

the " nips (Figure 2).

3 Before lowering the presser foot, pull

the top thread slightly longer than the
dart length. Place the fabric under the
Figure 4

presser foot, lower the presser foot, and

stitch one stitch.
6 At the end of the dart, turn the
machines wheel by hand, just barely
catching two or three stitches along the
dart fold.

7 Tie the thread by chain stitching,

sewing off the fabric and allowing the
threads to lock together
(Figure 4).

 Your Go-To Guide from A to Z!
Whether youre a novice sewer or a skilled seamstress, who better to go to for sewing
answers than expert Nancy Zieman! Nancy Ziemans Sewing A to Z will quickly
become every readers go-to guide for all of their sewing questions.

features
> Readers will love the wire-o binding, allowing the book to lay flat
for ease of reference while working.
> Over 80 topics, ranging from buttonholes to quilting, provide
readers with tips and techniques for sewing projects of all kinds.
> Each topic is fully illustrated, showing the reader precisely how
to achieve their desired result.

Making a fabric tube.

Readers will love Nancys easy-to-read, simple and straightforward
instructions. Having Nancy Ziemans Sewing A to Z on the worktable
will make readers feel like Nancy is working right alongside of them!

About the Author

Nancy Zieman is the producer and host of the popular show Sewing With Nancy, which appears
exclusively on public television stations across the United States and Canada. Broadcast since Sep-
tember 1982, the program is the longest-airing sewing series on television. She has written numerous
books including the popular Confidence series and the forthcoming Nancys 101 Favorite Notions.
Nancy also designs patterns for the New York-based McCall Pattern Company. Her distinctive pat-
terns are found under the Sewing With Nancy collection. She founded Nancys Notions, now a divi-
sion of Tacony Corporation.

ISBN 13 . . . . . . . . . . 978-1-4402-1429-5 Category . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sewing Publication month . . . . . . . . . July 2011

ISBN 10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-4402-1429-8 Price . . . . . . . . . US $29.99, CAN $33.99 Word count . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30,000
UPC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 74962 01278 4 Trim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.25"w x10.875"h # of color illustrations . . . . . . . . . . . 300
EAN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 781440 214295 Page count . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144 # of b/w illustrations . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
SRN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y0005 Binding . . . Case/plc w/ concealed wire-o Interior color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4c

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