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Welcome to the last week of the Irina Sew Along! I can’t believe we are here already. If you’re in New Zealand or Australia don’t forget that you still have time to finish your dress and post photos on Facebook or Instagram to be in to win the prize pack! Check out the intro post for the full details. You’ve got until 12th August 2024.
Week 8 of the Irina SAL is all about finishing touches. If you’ve been sewing along with us weekly, you will have a finished dress by now but I always like to go the extra mile and add some fun finishing touches to my garments.
There are so many fun clothing labels you can buy and sew onto your garment these days! And I do love a good sewing pun so I have definitely used a few of those on previous garments! But ever since I started making machine embroidered labels for my quilts, I thought why not make my own embroidered labels for my garments. I’ll give you the run down below with a few tricks I used to make and sew in labels.
Another finishing touch I like to do for dresses and garments that I’ll store on a coat hanger is to add hanging loops. Cue the groaning about how annoying they are and how you always cut them off garments you buy! Haha! I hear ya. Sometimes they are annoying but I believe hanging loops help a garment last a lot of longer and keeps the shape of the neckline from stretching over time. If you really don’t like the feel of the loops when you’re wearing the garment you can attach them with domes/snaps so that they can be removed whilst wearing, and reattached when you need to hang it. Of course you don’t have to do this if you don’t want to but I’ll show you how simple they are to add.
I also have one more decorative hem to share with you! I forgot to include this on in last weeks post so I’m adding it here because it would make an excellent finish touch. It is using the fabulous BERNINA Spanish Hemstitch attachment so stick with me until the end to find out about that too.
Sew in Labels
Sewing a label on your garment is not too tricky. Choosing which label to use and where to put it, much more difficult! I had quite a few labels to choose from but I chose this cool leather look label which is from the BERNINA #ABIGDAY campaign. It seems appropriate because it feels like a big day for me, getting to the end of hosting my first sew along on the BERNINA Blog. So q quick thank you for following along with me 🙂
I can’t help you choose your label or where to put it. It is completely up to you and what you like. I decided to put my label on the outside at the centre back neck. I can however tell you my trick for sewing them on… glue! Especially when it is a leather look material or a thick woven label, it can be really hard to put pins in. So just use your favourite fabric glue to hold it in place.
Step 1:
Choose where you will put the label and find the centre if that’s where you want it. I place a pin or put a chalk mark above and below.
Step 2:
Pull back half of the label and put a few dots off glue on half the label. Then put it back down.
Step 3:
Pick up the other half and put a few more dots of glue and put it back down. Doing it this way mean you won’t accidentally put the label upside or something silly like that.
Step 4:
Stitch it in place. Go nice and slowly, and stitch all the way around your shape. Pull your thread through to the back and tie them off when you’re finished. 
Make Your Own Label
I made my own label for the dress “Made by me”. I’m pleased with how it came out and I’m going to stitch out a few extras ready to use in future garments. I created this using the BERNINA Embroidery Software 9 – Creator and I stitched it out on the B 770 QE and embroidery module.
I started by designing my label in the embroidery software. The pins and needles are some designs I had created for a different project. And I chose a fun font to add the “Made by me” and “#IrinaSAL 2024” words. Added a triple stitched border and I ended up with these 2 designs below.
First thing to do after creating a new design is to do a test stitch out. So I grabbed my calico and tearaway stabliser and stitched this out. After stitching it out I thought that the “#IrinaSAL 2024” bit was too hard to read so I decided to took it off in the end.
Once I was happy with the design I went ahead and stitched it out with my final fabric and thread colour.
Then I got so excited about putting my new label on that I forgot to take pictures of the rest of the process! Haha. After stitching the design out, I ripped off as much tearaway as I could. Trimmed around the stitched border leaving approx. 1cm. Folded all the edges in and ironed them. Then I pinned the label onto the dress and used the machine the stitch very close to the border edge. beautiful!
Hanging Loops
Hanging loops are definitely not as exciting as pretty labels but I think they’re very helpful. I’m a big advocate for sustainability. I believe in slow-fashion and using second-hand materials where possible but I think what a lot of people forget is that sustainability is also about looking after our belongings so they last as long as possible. Things like washing and storing them correctly. Mending them when they start to wear and generally treating them well. Especially if you have spent hours lovingly sewing your garment from scratch!
Hanging loops don’t have to be anything special because they’re not going to be seen from the outside when wearing the garments. You just want something quite fine. I found a few scraps of skinny ribbon so I decided to use that. If you want to make detachable hanging loops you can use any ribbon you like and a couple of sew in domes or snaps.
There is no really a special technique to adding loops. Hang you dress on a hanger that you will use to store your dress. Get a length of ribbon and put it around the hook of the hanger. Measure the length to about 1cm past the neckline and trim your ribbon. Cut another ribbon to the same length.
Pull the inside shoulder seam of your dress to the outside. Position the cut ends of your ribbon on the seam allowance and stitch in place. I did a couple of backwards and forwards straight stitches.
If using domes/snaps, sew one half to the seam allowance and the other half to the ends of the ribbons.
Repeat this for the other shoulder. And that’s it. A simple step to keep your neckline from slowly stretching out of shape over the years.
BERNINA Spanish Hemstitch Attachment
If you haven’t heard of the Spanish Hemstitch before it’s when two pieces of fabric are joined together with thread, often leaving a gap in between. This creates a lovely lacey effect that can be delicate and pretty or bright and bold depending on what stitch, fabric and thread you use. The BERNINA Spanish Hem stitch attachment makes it really easy to keep the fabric an even distance apart while sew.
You can also use it add cords in the gap and stitch over top of them. You can see in the picture below that the Spanish Hemstitch attachment has a clear plastic insert that sits in the middle of the foot. You can then use either side of it to guide the outside fabrics and inside groove can guide a cord if you wish to add that too. I think this would be such a fun way to add a border hem to the bottom of the Irina dress. In either the same colour fabric or a contrast. Check out the Spanish Hemstitch Attachment in action on our Facebook page or on the BERNINA You Tube Channel
Irina Sew Along Complete!
After 8 weeks of sewing fun we have come to the end of the Irina Sew Along. Thanks you for joining me on this journey and I hope you’ve enjoyed the ride and learnt a few tips and tricks along the way. What’s the best thing you’ve learnt from this Sew Along? Let me know in the comments.
Thanks to those who have shared photos already. It makes me so happy to see that people are enjoying the process. Please share any more photos of your dresses, doesn’t matter if they are finished or not.
Don’t forget the prize!
If you’re in New Zealand or Australia, you’ve got 3 weeks from now to finish your dress and post photos on Facebook or instagram to be eligible for the prize packs in each country. Check out the first intro post for the full details of the prize packs. And don’t forget to have to tag us @berninanz or @berninaaustralia cause otherwise we can’t see your posts. 🙂
Big Thank You & Happy Sewing!
Love Anna
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