Sewing Tips From My Readers

Here are sewing tips from my readers that were posted in the comment section during the 2009 Sew Mama Sew May Giveaway. Thank you to all who submitted a sewing tip. I've enjoyed reading them and have actually learned a few things that I did not know. I am sure your tips will help others. If any of you ever have any sewing tips you would like to share, please feel free to leave them in the comment section of any post. I am always looking for ways to better my sewing.

Amanda said...
My sewing tip is....
Quality cotton is worth it's weight in gold. Don't be tempted to buy the cheap and nasty rolls of $1 cotton from the cheap shop. You will regret it and be forever having to rethread your machine if you do.

jkubenka said...
My favorite sewing tip is keep your scissors sharp! Sharp scissors really help smooth the whole cutting process, no matter what sort of fabric you are working with.

Julia said...
My DD saves her baby food little plastic containers for me to use for all sorts of things. I always keep a bunch of pins on my ironing board in one of them, as well as one next to my sewing machine. I plan to sort all of my buttons by color using them.

McVal said...
My sewing tip is to have a magnetic pin holder. Then you won't accidentally knock it off the table three times per project and have to pick them all up by hand. If they do fall off the table and manage to disengage from the magnet, it's a snap to pick them up.

Laranoelle said...
Always take the time to iron during your sewing projects. Even if it doesn't seem like it would matter.....it always does (and ends up better if you do)! It pays to take the time to do the job right.

Loralynn said...
My favorite sewing tip is to iron your seams flat before opening or ironing to one side. The heat "sets" the stitches taking out any wobbles in the seam.

Karen said...
My most recent personal "revelation" for my sewing room is that I tend to use what I can see in terms of supplies. A couple of years ago I moved all of the fabric out of plastic boxes and organized it by color in stacks on shelves in my craft closet. That opened up all new possibilities to me in terms of combinations for both quilting and sewing. Then I moved my thread out of boxes onto thread spindle holders on the wall, and recently, I moved all of my zippers out of a box and into canning jars, organized by color. I just love seeing what I have so that I can use what is best for each project!

Kristine said...
My tip is for tracing patterns and adding seam allowances easily. Take two pencils (or marking tools of your choice) and place popsicle sticks or strips of corrugated cardboard between them, the width of your desired seam allowance. Tape the pencils and "spacers" all together, and now when you trace the seam line, the cutting line will automatically be marked also!

Jules @ MoonCat Farms said...
I think one of my tips is using fishing tackle boxes to store my notions in. They are kept very organized & I can grab the box and take it with me when I need to.

Baba said...
My sewing tip would be to have a trash bag handy to catch scraps to sort through for other uses later.

Becky said...
My advice is to go slow! No matter how long you have been sewing, no matter how many times you have used a technique it still pays to take your time. And get your sewing machine tuned up yearly - twice a year if you sew every day!

Valerie said...
Just started following! My tip is to use two mil plastic drop cloth sheeting to copy patterns onto to preserve them found in any hardware store. It is see through, and a sharpie marks on it well. DO NOT IRON THEM. You can smooth out wrinkles with your hands. Great for grading as well, and it works just like tissue paper does.

Rhonda said...
My tip would be to store vintage patterns in quart size ziplock bags. Some of the envelopes of mine are torn and this protects them from further damage.
Thanks!

Modest Mom said...
My favorite sewing tip -- slow down! I make far fewer mistakes if I just take my time.

BKelly said...
I don't have a lot of tips as I am new to sewing, but I guess the one that I learned is that it is really important to iron along the way. It actually makes things much easier in the long run.
Heck, the only thing I use the iron for is sewing!

Maesha said...
Hi, Trudy. I'm also very new to sewing, but so far I've seen that one really needs to buy a quality machine. I tried sewing with my grandmother's 75 year old sewing machine, and it was horrid!

Brittany said...
I'm also a homeschooler (both a teacher now and a student then), and I learned to sew the same way: by watching my mother. I figured out the rest myself, so I'm the one who's really in need of some good tips! I guess my tip would be to make a pattern if you're making something new so you won't have to figure it out all over again the next time. Whether I follow my own tip is another matter entirely!

MaryAnne said...
My sewing tip is to always take time to pin before sewing. I tried to get away without doing that for years, and the mistakes I made always took more time to fix than pinning would have taken in the first place!

Yoga with Gaileee, E-RYT said...
Make sure that you have the proper needle in your machine (opps, unlike me, who had a double knit needle, when I should have used a universal needle), for the appropriate fabric. (sigh)

Sage said...
My favorite tip is for cutting slippery fabrics. I smooth them out over a sheet of brown paper, then pin the pattern and cut through all layers. The paper keeps the fabric from sliding around. This has really improved the ease and accuracy of my cutting when I'm working with slippery fabrics.

thestitchinchicken said...
Hi Trudy! How great that you and your daughter both have blogs! I'm glad that I came by, I need to sew more clothes, and you're an inspiration to keep moving in that direction!

My tip is to get an organizer from the hardware store, that is used to store small nails, screws and other items, and use it on your sewing table. I have one with different sizes of drawers and I made labels for each one so everything stays organized and easy to find.

Agnes Nz said...
My sewing tip is... Use pinking shears to cut your fabrics. It is quick and easy, and you don't have to hem... (yes, I am lazy!)

suesueb said...
Enjoyed reading your blog-the sewing room videos, Betty Hutton song! My tip for you (which I don't think you need) is to read through the instructions first if you don't understand them totally. Then pin or baste so ripping is not so hard.

Tawny said...
Hmm. My favourite sewing tip varies from day to day depending on what I"m doing. Today, it's this: Stretch your fold over elastic a little bit while sewing onto a neckline or lingerie. Makes for a more appealing garment instead of it being all stretched out. I learned this the hard way of course.

A Joyful Chaos said...
My tip would be cut everything with a rotary cutter; so much faster. And then pin before you sew.

Yehudim said...
My favorite sewing tip is not mine, but I found it while browsing all these great blogs! It is an easy way to make your own bias tape. If you are interested in learning here is the link

http://creativelittledaisy.typepad.com/creative_little_daisy/2007/11/diy-version-of.html

Paul Thompson said...
As a beginning sewer, I recommend not putting a project away until it's finished....otherwise, it gets lost in the drawer of unfinished objects!

Ruth said...
A sewing tip----clean up your sewing room after every project and before starting another project. Ha, you should see my sewing room right now. I have piles everywhere. Piles of fabric remains from the past six projects, piles of thread, scraps, sewing tools, you name it. I need to take my own advice, don't I?!!!!

sewfunky said...
Don't use the dollar rolls of thread in your machine; they break easily and can frustrate you to no end!

Ni said...
I would say that measure twice to make sure you got it right.

Tanya said...
I used to give up on anything that needed to be unpicked; now I concentrate not on getting to the end result but on proceeding with patience and enjoying the process and making the best I can. So my tip is to breathe and don't swear at your sewing machine because that doesn't help!

Tammi said...
My favorite tip is- instead of backstitching, reduce your stitch length to very small at the end of your seam, it is a lot neater.

Cassie said...
My favorite sewing tip was for quilting to make sure you use starch as you are ironing your fabric; then when you cut, the fabric doesn't move so much on you. Your pieces will be the right size.

Esther said...
My tip would be don't be afraid to unpick but use a really good unpicker to do it. If you leave things that you aren't happy with, you will be less likely to sew next time. We all make mistakes, but the wonder of fabric is you can generally put it right or use it for something else!

It's A Wonderful said...
Hmmmm...don't spend too much on patterns. Buy lovely fabrics. Cheap fabric is cheap fabric.

Faye Lewis said...
My favorite tip is for buttonholes. To make pretty buttonholes that don't ravel, sew over each button hole twice. For jackets, I sometimes sew over three times. Works out great!

AllyJo said...
My best tips are old school, but I swear by them. I am a pinner...I pin, pin, pin; and I really believe it makes a big difference. Throw the rail road stakes away and invest in good pins. They changed my life. Press as you sew, press as you sew, press as you sew. It also helps to set the seam with some warmth; then press well. It seems to press cleaner if you set the seam.

Prairie Lady said...
Try on as you go so you can make adjustments along the way.