10 Clever Techniques to Help You Sew Like a Pro

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Sharlene Fields
6 years ago
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MY FASCINATION WITH SEWING & LEARNING NEW TECHNIQUES Even though a lot of my time is spent teaching more complex aspects of creating garments, such as fitting and patternmaking, nothing gives me more

Plus, I just love to sew. I really enjoy handling the fabrics and stitching at the machine.

1 MY FASCINATION WITH SEWING & LEARNING NEW TECHNIQUES Even though a lot of my time is spent teaching more complex aspects of creating garments, such as fitting and patternmaking, nothing gives me more pleasure and satisfaction than spending time sewing. I m endlessly intrigued with the process of taking a two-dimensional piece of fabric and turning it into a three-dimensional garment. Plus, I just love to sew. I really enjoy handling the fabrics and stitching at the machine. I even find hand sewing to be peaceful and relaxing, though I will say that this attitude toward hand sewing took a little bit of cultivation many years ago. Along with my passion for sewing, I have always been an experimenter. Even when I first started to sew, I d regard most pattern instructions as simply suggestions, and I d often find myself thinking: There s got to be a better way to do that than what they re suggesting. So I d take scrap fabric and try to figure out a better method. Although I often taught myself ways to do things that I d later see described in a sewing book or magazine article, what my penchant for experimenting did was to make me a thinking sewer. One of the benefits of being a thinking sewer is that approaching sewing like this helped me to understand why certain ways of doing things produced better results. Being a Thinking Sewer In making the videos for this class, not only have I described the how-to steps required to execute the techniques, but I have also tried to explain the whys. In some cases, the why might be a description of a sewing situation, i.e., identifying the problem that the Page 1 of 5

2 technique addresses. Or the why might be an explanation of what the technique itself accomplishes. For me, if I know why I should be doing something, I m much more inclined to do it. Somehow, just being told I should do something isn t what motivates or convinces me. And understanding the theory behind a technique in conjunction with becoming proficient at executing the technique allows me to own the technique. This is when learning something new becomes really exciting, because then I can apply the information to other situations and not be limited to using it only within the context I learned it. You ll see an example of this of using a technique in a different situation than it s normally used in the first video on Thread Chains. Thread chains are often used to form lingerie carriers so that your bra straps don t show. I had a situation where I needed to keep a slippery shrug in place over an evening gown, and the concept of lingerie carriers worked perfectly! REVIEWING TECHNIQUES YOU RE ALREADY FAMILIAR WITH You might already know how to do some of the techniques I present in this class. If you do, I encourage you to still watch that particular video. I hope the information that I provide helps you to better understand and use the technique. Also, how I execute a technique may be different from how you have learned to do it, or vary from what other instructors do. If you prefer your method or another instructor s method, then by all means, use your preferred method. What I have done is to present what works for me. And in my conversation about the techniques, there will often be bits and pieces of information about why it works for me. I hope this in turn helps you to understand not only the technique, but also perhaps why a certain method of execution works for you. Page 2 of 5

3 PRACTICE Becoming proficient at any skill takes practice, and this is true in sewing as well. If your hands feel awkward the first time or two (or three or four) you try a technique, just keep practicing. A lot of sewing requires fine motor skills, and with practice, you develop muscle memory. That s when doing something starts to feel natural. When I practice doing a particular sewing technique, the repetition also gives me time to think about what it is I m doing, and this in turn often is what helps me to develop a greater understanding of the technique. For instance, to practice the technique described in the video on sewing corners, you might choose to make four or five samples, varying both the number of stitches you sew across the corner and the thickness of the fabric you use. I bet afterwards it would be clear to you that thick fabric needs more space for the seam allowances to sit within when the work is turned right side out, and that taking more stitches across the corner provides this space. SOME TIPS ON HAND SEWING Problems with Thread Knotting when Hand Sewing If you have trouble with your thread knotting when hand sewing, the following tips should help you. You probably don t need to do all of them, but one or a combination of two might do the trick. Press your thread before you begin to sew literally just iron it out straight. Page 3 of 5

4 If you are sewing with a single strand of thread, periodically stop and unwrap the thread tail from around the part of the thread that is between the work and the needle. Whether you are sewing with a single strand or double thread, you can also periodically let the needle dangle down from the work, and it will spin and untwist the thread. What I do so that I don t interrupt the flow of my handwork is to rotate the needle counter clockwise about one revolution after every stitch. To do this, I roll the needle between my thumb and middle finger as I am pulling the thread taut after I come out of the work. It might be awkward at first, but with practice, it just becomes second nature. Choosing Hand-Sewing Needles Hand needles vary a great deal in quality, and I enjoy handwork much more when I have a nice needle to work with. Part of the difference in needle quality is simply the steel needles are made from. Also, how smooth the needle is affects the quality. The needle size also impacts what it s like to work with a needle. I like a needle with a thin, fine shaft for most hand sewing rather than a big thick needle. Although it can be more difficult to thread a needle with a small eye, you don t put as large a hole in your work, and the needle tends to glide through the fabric more easily. I sell very high quality Japanese-made hand sewing needles on my website. Page 4 of 5

5 Threading a Needle If you are having trouble threading a needle either a sewing machine needle or a hand sewing needle give the thread a fresh cut and make the cut on an angle (not perpendicular or straight across the thread). THE VALUE OF LEARNING NEW TECHNIQUES One of the wonderful things about learning new techniques for me is that it gives my sewing a boost. Even when I have felt that my sewing was fairly proficient, learning a new technique gets me excited about my sewing and gives my sewing new vitality. I want my garments to look better, and I become eager to take my work to the next level. And this surge of enthusiasm is infectious it carries over from technical sewing into all aspects of my sewing, especially my creativity. What could be better than that! Page 5 of 5

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