You’re the master of the straight line now, right? Well, now you get to practice it a little more. In this video you’ll learn how to turn a hem and stitch it in place.
This is a basic, double-turned hem on a straight edge – used for casual clothing and lots of craft projects. There are fancier ways of stitching invisible hems on more elaborate clothing but this is a good, easy technique for a basic hem.
Happy sewing!
Best,
Wendi
Here it is – the moment you’ve all been waiting for – sewing on the machine! We’re going to start with straight lines and then we’ll have a separate lesson on sewing curved lines. In the video you’ll see me sewing on a piece of paper. You can download that sheet here.
One thing I don’t think I emphasized enough in the video – you have to backstitch a few stitches at the beginning and at the end of all sewing. The backstitching works as a knot and keeps your stitching from unraveling – so don’t forget that step.
Ready? Let’s sew!
Best,
Wendi
I know everyone’s eager to get on the machine – but sometimes you have to do a bit of handwork and this is the most basic hand sewing stitch there is. It’s not tricky and it actually goes much faster than you’d expect. And once you get the hang of it you can sew ANYTHING ANYWHERE. Really. Clothing, quilts, toys, repairs – you can do it all with just a needle and thread.
Just grab a scrap of fabric and a needle and thread and practice some hand sewing. Once you get a feel for the stitch – try to make something! You can sew any pattern by hand. 🙂
Happy sewing!
Best,
Wendi
I know it seems silly to record a video about how to tie a sewing knot – but this knot is so awesome it’s worth teaching.
When I’m sewing in public and strangers see me tie this knot – they stop and ask me how I did that. Yes – it’s that cool.
And it’s easy. 🙂
With just a little practice you can look like a sewing superstar.
I’ve heard it called a tailor’s knot and a quilter’s knot – but I just call it my favorite knot. 🙂
I use it for any and all hand sewing that I do – sewing, embroidery, hand quilting, you name it. If it calls for a needle and thread, with a knot in the tail of the thread – this is the sewing knot I use.
Here are all my posts about knots.
Before you knot that thread you need to know how much to use, so here’s one more post that doesn’t really have a better place to live. 🙂 How Many Strands of Thread Should I Use?
Return to the Learn to Embroider main Table of Contents.
Move on to the lessons for the four most basic embroidery stitches.
In this video I give you an introduction to some pattern cutting basics.
When I say basics I do mean basics. This isn’t about transferring complicated markings from garment patterns to your fabric. This is very basic stuff about how to lay out a pattern piece and cut around it.
It may seem like I’m overemphasizing the “lay your pattern out as close to the edge of the fabric as you can get it” stuff – but every time I teach a sewing class I come home with at least one large piece of fabric with a small hole cut smack out of the middle of it.
Like this one. 🙂
Here’s the video. . .
So there you are – a simple introduction to pattern cutting. If you want to get just a tiny bit more advanced, check out this post about fabric grain. Happy sewing!
Best,
Wendi
You’ve got your machine and all your tools and you’re ready for the fun part – picking out the fabric. Woo hoo! What you might not know is that some fabrics are a dream to work with – and some are a nightmare.
This video gives you some tips on how to choose fabric for a beginning sewist. Hint: It’s not the velvet and satin! At least not for beginners. After you have some of the basics under your belt we’ll have a few special lessons on working with all the “tricky” fabrics I mention. You will learn to sew with velvet – just not for your first project. 🙂
Want to jump ahead to working with some of those “fancy” fabrics? Here are links to some lessons. . .
And I have a whole bunch of info about working with felt – one of my favorite fabrics.
If you’re looking for specific info about choosing fabrics (and colors) for a quilt, here are some helpful posts for you.
Now that you know how to choose fabric that will be easy to work with – pick a project and start sewing! There are a bunch of free patterns here.
Happy sewing!
Best,
Wendi
