Sew it right, and find the shop when you cannot.
Plain-English guides on machines, fabric and technique, five calculators that do the arithmetic for you, and a directory of 29,945 US fabric stores, quilt shops, yarn shops, alteration tailors and machine dealers.
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From the sewing journal
New articles every week on machines, fabric, fitting and repair.
Buyer's GuidesCording and Piping Feet for Trims and Edges
Cording and piping feet have a channel or groove underneath that cradles a raised cord so your stitching lands right
Machine Maintenance and TroubleshootingWhy Your Machine Is Skipping Stitches
A skipped stitch means the hook missed the thread loop. Work through the causes in order of likelihood, starting with
Core Sewing TechniquesBias Binding: Making and Applying It
Bias strips stretch and curve because no yarn runs the length of the strip. That single structural fact explains how to
Buyer's GuidesWalking Feet for Even Layers and Slippery Fabric
A walking foot, sometimes called an even-feed or dual-feed foot, adds a second set of feed dogs on top so the layers
Buyer's GuidesFree-Motion and Darning Feet for Machine Quilting
Free-motion and darning feet are what let you quilt curves, stipple, and write with thread.
Buyer's GuidesZipper Feet and the Jobs They Quietly Handle
A zipper foot is narrow so the needle can stitch right up against a zipper coil, a piped edge, or any bulky seam the
Directory
Find a shop near you
Fabric stores, quilt shops, yarn shops, alteration tailors, custom embroidery and machine dealers, listed by state and city.
Free tools
Let the calculator do it
All five run in your browser.
Fabric Yardage Calculator
Yardage for a project at any fabric width, with nap, plaid matching and shrinkage allowances built in.
Free toolAlteration Cost Estimator
Build a list of jobs and get a realistic price range before you walk into the shop.
Free toolNeedle and Thread Picker
Tell it what you are sewing and it returns a needle type, size, thread, stitch length and tension starting point.
Free toolQuilt Backing and Batting Calculator
Backing yardage, how many widths of fabric, where the seams land, and batting size for any quilt top.
Free toolSeam Allowance and Measurement Converter
Convert seam allowances, yardage and pattern measurements between imperial and metric without the rounding errors.
Guides
Start here
The long reads, written to answer one question properly.
How Much Fabric Do I Need? A Practical Yardage Guide
Realistic yardage by project and fabric width, plus the four things that quietly add half a yard to every cut.
What Alterations Cost in the United States
Typical price ranges for the twenty jobs people actually bring in, what makes a quote go up, and when a repair is not worth it.
Choosing a Sewing Machine Without Overbuying
Mechanical against computerized, the features that matter, the ones that do not, and what a used machine is really worth.
How to Find an Alterations Tailor You Can Trust
What to ask before you hand over a garment, the signs of a shop that does real tailoring, and the ones that mean keep looking.
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Machines, sergers and parts from Sewing Machines Plus
A local shop is the right call for a service or a class. For a new machine, a walking foot, or a spare bobbin case at 11pm, an online specialist usually has the wider bench and the better price.