Sewing Tips and Techniques

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Sewing Tips and Techniques

Sewing is really considered an art form since the works of talented hands can be made into beautiful pieces of clothing, home decor, beddings and many more. And with today's penchant to show off creativity via fashion, a renewed interest in sewing is seen.Learning how to sew takes time and effort. It may not be rocket science but a certain learning curve is definitely required. If you start a sewing project without even knowing the basics of sewing, then you are almost certain to fail in your endeavor. To prevent this, it pays to know a few basic sewing techniques.

Sewing Steps for Beginners

The following tips will help you get your feet wet in the world of sewing.

1. Prepare all your materials before anything else. If using a sewing machine, prepare your machine and be sure to thread it properly to avoid any hassles during the actual sewing process.

2. Prepare your pattern and guide. Read the instructions before you try anything. Understanding the pattern and guide is essential prior to cutting the fabric as you cannot re-do the cutting once it's done.

3. Prepare your fabric by washing and drying it first. You would want to wash your fabrics prior to cutting to ensure that it will not shrink after sewing the entire clothing.You should also dry and iron your fabric. It is much easier to cut fabrics that have been dried and ironed.

4. Securely pin the pieces of your pattern on to the fabric. Cut the fabric with sharp scissors to ensure that the edges are cut evenly.

5. Baste the pieces of pattern using longhand stitches to make it much easier for you to piece together the edges of the fabric. You may use bright coloured thread to baste your pieces together.

6. Sew your pieces on the edges and then remove the basting thread once you are done.

Sewing is a fun hobby to start and once you get the hang of it, you will soon be sewing different patterns from the simplest to the more complex. Just remember to be patient as it takes time to learn the basics of sewing, but you will always have fun while doing it!

The team behind Sew Sew Simple has served the local community as a High Street retail shop, providing an extensive range of Haberdashery and Soft Furnishings for the last 44 years. Sew Sew Simple stock a large assortment of threads, bindings, buttons, haberdashery, and many more sewing products at discount prices.

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Sewing Tips for Fleece

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It's a treat sewing with fleece -- the edges don't unravel, so there's no need to finish seams. Fleece is kind of stretchy, plus fleece garments are normally a little loose, so fitting isn't a big issue.

Even though fleece is easy to sew, there are two sewing tricks that can make your fleece experience much more pleasant!

First, you want to use a longer stitch length when you sew fleece. Rather than your normal setting of 2 or so, you may want to go up to a 4 or a 5. Some people even suggest a basting stitch for fleece!

The reason is that fleece stitches can pull through the fabric if the stitch length is too short. Longer is better when you sew fleece. The plus side of this is that it makes your sewing much faster!

Next, you want to make sure of your "right-side/wrong-side" when you sew fleece. Some people are surprised to find that fleece has a right/wrong side -- the print usually appears the same from both sides. Solid colors have the same color depth regardless of the side. How can right/wrong side come into play?

The catch is that fleece will always curl to one side or the other. The side it curls towards is the "wrong" side! When you cut a piece of fleece, you'll not the cut edge will always curl in a certain direction. Take careful note of this when you assemble fleece garments or projects; match your right/wrong sides carefully to up the quality of your finished product!

To make this a little confusing, the selvedge edge of fleece doesn't folow this rule! The selvedge edge normally curls towards the "right" side! For best results, don't leave your selvedge edges raw -- trim them instead. After all, fleece edges won't unravel, so there's no real need to keep the selvedge edge.

Keep these two tricks in mind when sewing fleece and you'll find your sewing experience much more pleasant -- and the results more enjoyable!

Joey Robichaux operates Sewing Machines and Sewing Projects -- offering free sewing projects and reviews of older mechanical sewing machines -- as well as Sewing Stash, an extensive sewing and crafts directory.
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