OK so I'm a newbie sewer and don't have any fancy gadgets or tools to do my sewing, but this week's "This is..." from Amelia got me thinking. What have I learnt in the past few months of sewing? So here goes a couple of "trade secret's" I have learnt..
1. Whenever you pause your sewing, whether to take out a pin, ease around a corner etc., make sure when you stop the sewing needle is still in the fabric. It seems to make my sewing lines straighter as there is no chance of the fabric getting bumped out of line.
2. When cutting out pieces that are similar in shape ie. pant legs for kiddies, use a water soluable marker to mark which is the front and which is the back. Makes it easier than trying to remember, especially if you're a late night sewer like me! Hey everyone else may think this is "standard" but when I figured it out I stopped stressing my kids were going to walk around with their pants sewen back to front. That would have been embarrasing.
3. When threading elastic through a waistband or having to turn a tube of fabric like a bag handle, a big safety pin works wonders. Just make sure you put it in about 1/2-1 inch from any edges so it doesn't pull at the fabric's weave. The bigger the pin the better, it means you can grab the end not the actual pin which can make it come undone and that creates a whole bunch of grief.
4. The good old wooden chop stick is great for getting corners nice and "pointy" and is thick enough to not pierce most fabric unless you are impersonating the Incredible Hulk.
And that's it. But I'm reading everyone elses "Trade Secret's" so hopefully I can get some "real" ones.
5 comments:
I love all of your trade secrets - they are great. I laughed when I read about the possibility of pants being sewn back-to-front. That so sounds like something I would do! I just read an article where the author said she had sewn the pants up-side-down (ie. crotch as the leg line and vice versa). Hilarious!
Those are all good tips! Don't you love how you can see your progress in sewing. I would not guess you were a newbie.
Good one with the chopstick - will have to remember that would be good for pulling summer dress straps out too.
Those were really real trade secrets! haha
I like the chopstick idea!
Everyone for your comments! I don't feel like such a dag now!
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