#beginner sewing machine

[anielskaaniela]

How to Choose and Use a Sewing Machine for Your DIY Fashion Projects | sewing machine for beginners

In this post, you will discover the best sewing machines for beginners and advanced sewist and how to use them effectively. Do you want to create your own garments, accessories, home decor, and more with sewing? Do you want to learn how to choose and use a sewing machine that can help you achieve your sewing goals? If so, you are in the right place. In this post, I will show you everything you…

[hidefdoritos]

Today's Mending

It was another day in quarantine, but I feel like a human again, which was a blessing. So I sat up at the machine and tried to make some progress.

The machine gave me all sorts of trouble today, no matter how I fiddled with the tension and needle. The stitch lengths were twelve kinds of inconsistent and as skippy as a Labrador in a mud puddle.

I posted on Facebook, and a friend's grandma reminded me to unscrew the bottom plate and have a look at the insides.

Bleagh. Look at all that lint!

Anyway, turns out the feed dogs are a lot more consistent when they aren't fighting with felt compacted underneath them. I got the straps sewn up in short order, learned how to do that neat little x-box thing, and finished off the miniskirt tote bag!

I had a couple mending commissions that got procrastinated for ages because I needed to find patches and thread that matched. They took just a few minutes each when I actually got to them. Guess that's always the case.

My friend Isaiah had done a good job mending these, but all he had was light turquoise thread, and he was a bit self-conscious about having such a visible crotch mend. I put a patch of jersey under, just for stability's sake, and machined overtop in the closest thread I had.

My roommate's partner's pet got ahold of some jeans and tore a raggedy hole in the important part. I trimmed down the edges, found my closest fabric, and machined all around the edges with my closest thread. The mend is still visible, but he usually wears flannels so it shouldn't be obvious. And, as I told him, "If someone does notice, you're legally allowed to kick them."

The final three projects were all for me. First up were these work pants. A couple years ago I started doing the DIY ripstop but didn't finish (time? thread? machine issues? ADHD? idk). I just had the vertical threads. They wore on each other as I walked and started tearing out really quickly. I unpicked all that old thread a while back and re-did the vertical threads, then got sidetracked (yes, again.) So today I did the rest of the ripstop. There!

I also did all the ripstop for these black summer shorts.

Finally, my Christmas break project was adding cargo pockets to all my pants. These less-used jeans have had pockets cut out and pinned on since then, so today I dug out fun aquamarine thread and sewed them down.

I spent the end of the day messing around with my new pillowcases, but I'll drop those when they're done. :) And, most importantly, I slept in, ate well, took my meds, didn't berate myself for lack of progress, and took a nap. All in all, a really good sick day!

[devynconstance]

How to Get Straight Stitches when Sewing

The first thing you should look at when it comes to getting straight lines while sewing is your seam allowance. This is the distance between the edge of the fabric and where the thread sews the two pieces of fabric together. For commercial patterns (store bought patterns) the most common seam allowance to have is 5/8" which has to do with the guide plate on most sewing machines.

This is the guide plate.

And this is the 5/8" guide line that those sewing patterns what you to follow

So for example, when your sewing, you want the edge of the fabric to stay against this line as evenly as possible to keep the seam straight which would look like this.

This can be hard for beginners, especially when going around a curve so some people prefer the help of a sewing guide. The most common one ive seen is a magnet that will sticks directly to the guide plate and looks like this.

If you are using indie patterns (digital downloads from independent pattern makers) the seam allowance might be different. If such a seam allowance is smaller than 5/8" the pressure foot has notches as additional guides.

They're also good for making multiple lines in a row without having to remeasure every time (for example if you were doing something like shiring which is the stretchy back panel on this dress).

It's also an option to use the edge of the pressure foot as a guide which is my prefered method when making my own patterns.

Another option for getting straight sewing lines is to mark the sewing line directly onto your fabric. I prefer a heat erasable pen such as this one. (Please remember to test this on scrap fabric first not all erasable pens actually work)

But there are many other options to pick from such as tailors chalk or a tailors pencil just to name a few.

Use a ruler to measure in from the edge of the fabric and mark the seam allowance and connect the dots to get a solid easily seen line to follow. Now when it's under the machine the needle should follow this line and you won't have to worry about keeping track of which guide line you were supposed to be following.

I also recommend drawing the line directly onto the fabric if you are hand stitching the seam instead of using a machine since there is no machine guides to follow in that instance.

Further tips from my friend thats learning right now

- it's almost easier to keep the fabric straight when sewing at a medium speed. Too fast or slow and the fabric wants to move around a lot under the machine.

- It's best to keep in mind that certain fabrics (such as anything silky or stretchy) are a lot harder to sew then say a cotton, linen, or flannel becuase they move around a lot more or they stretch out funny while you're sewing. Doesn't mean to avoid them, just know that it will require more patience and learning.

- Iron your seams. If your seams still aren't coming out right, it might not be that they're uneven, it might just be that they're unironed. It makes a huge difference even if it sucks sometimes.

- don't push the fabric under the sewing machine, there's feeders that will pull the fabric in for you so all you have to worry about is keeping the fabric lined up and straight while sewing.

- use matching thread (or a light grey thread, seams to blend in with most colors). A little wobble in the seam is not a big deal and most of the time won't be noticed if using a thread color that matches the material. The only time an uneven seam might be really noticeable is if you have multiple lines close together like you would see on a corset with boning channels where the lines are a visual staple of the garment.

Other than that it really comes down to practice and time. If anyone has any further tips they want to add please feel free and if anyone has any questions or wants anything further explained please let me know. Its been a few years since i was a beginner so i could be forgetting something and I know it's a lot of information all at once.

Happy sewing everyone!

[mokutone]

I have a Ko-fi!

okay so a little while ago I started building a Ko-fi so that if anyone liked my work and wanted to toss a coin my way, they could!

I also liked the idea of doing little informal thank-you doodles, so if you tip me $6 or more, i will try to do a little doodle of a character that you name (the guidelines for all this are written down on my kofi page)

the thank you doodles aren't commissions, they're just tiny little heartfelt little "hey! thank you for supporting me!" drawings

[postmanlinksbootyshorts]

was gonna be a bum ass fujoshi and drink and get high while playing paradise but actually i will not. i'm gonna hone my skills and continue my quest to get so good at sewing that i start sewing my wardrobe

[mushrooms-n-frog]

made my first item of clothing this week. third ever project and i had to look up like half the words in the patterns cus it was advertised as advanced but im an idiot

[bevanne46]

Machine Embroidery for Beginners 2021 - #4 Design Placement or Positioning by Ballyhoo Creations https://youtu.be/JnI-tW_dYa0?si=OlgUBkhghxNmCNvA

[unopenablebox]

in theory there is a series of next classes on sewing machine use to take, featuring instructions on various techniques

but as far as i can tell learning to assemble a tote bag has taught me everything i need to assemble drawstring project bags, which is what i actually got into this to learn to make in the first place

so im just going to book sewing machine time for next week, pre-cut some fabric i already have at home according to a drawstring bag pattern i found, and just. try making things?

[anielskaaniela]

How to Sew Own Clothes for Beginners - Free Sewing Patterns

In this post, you will learn how to sew own clothes as beginner. Love what you see ? Support me by snagging some cool items from my shop! Every purchase helps me bring you more awesome content. Thank you! Shop Now Why Sew Your Own Clothes? Sewing your own clothes is a fantastic way to express your personal preferences and style. It offers the freedom to create unique pieces that fit you…

[mootmead]

Hobby journal : it is done !! So I got this pyjama pants and thought it could be cool to make something wearable out of it. Making it my size was quite easy. Adding pockets was a real struggle. There are quite a lot of flaws, bit for a third wearable piece of clothing that is quite OK

[tiktok-singularity]

How to turn an oversized button up shirt into a stylish top

[kieraoonadiy]

Has anyone ever struggled with large spools of thread but not sure how to use it on your sewing machine?

Here's an important tool tip for you. Thread Stands!

[running-in-the-dark]

over the past few days I've switched from watching lots of cleaning videos (which was good because they made me want to clean - though that effect is still there for now) to sewing videos (which is very very bad because now I want to sew more and get a sewing machine that actually works right (I got mine used for like 50€ and it's very basic and a lot of things just keep breaking/not working (which is probably at least in part because I don't know enough about using it correctly)))

[becca-alexa]

my sewing machine arrived!!!!

[pagesofkenna]

people in the sewing subreddit will ask 'what's wrong with my machine i've never had it do this before' and then post a picture of bad thread tension that's so common it could be a stock photo