These are NOTES from sewing class.

Section One

Learning to sew is a slow process and we are always learning.

Here are some suggestions for you

1. Ask us in the group and we will be happy to tell you what we do about it.

2. If you have access to a library, see how many books they have that you can check out.

3. Also the half price book store usually has quite a few on quilting and sewing.

4. The first time you make any pattern is the hardest. Because if you have to "work it out". Reading patterns can seem like a task. Take your time and read the instructions from beginning to end and sorta imagine in your head how to do what they are describing. If you get stuck, type the instruction here and we will tell you what we think. Then read each instruction one step at a time and complete it. Once you have made something from beginning to end, you will have an understanding of how you put that together. My advice, if you like it at all, make it 5 times. If you do not like it at all, find one that you do like and make it 5 times.

For instance, I made 120 Rockabilly Rebel parade suits for little girls size 2T to 6X. The first one I made, I was working out the pattern, by the third one I was beginning to find a couple of short cuts, by the 5th one I was putting my own spin on it and by the 120th one, I could do it blindfolded. LOL well not really, almost. But my point is, if you want to learn how to do things doing the same thing over and over again gives you a chance to completely understand what you are doing and begin to adopt your own style.

5. Be fearless, do not be afraid for something to not work out. I tell everyone I have three piles. A. Success B. The Ugly Pile C. Trash. If it kinda works but I do not like it, it goes in the ugly pile and I save it for later. Sometimes my kids go through the ugly pile and tell me something is good and I should finish it.

6. Realize that NOTHING is perfect. I think that was the hardest for me. I thought everything had to be exactly as they said in the pattern. Well some things might and some things might not. Once you have completed the 5th one of something you know which parts have to be perfect and which ones do not.

7. They have classes at quilt shops. In my humble opinion those are some of the best teachers in the world. And the classes are not expensive. Take a beginners class. I can tell you that I was sewing for 30 years before I learned to quilt. Quilting taught me a whole new dimension to my sewing.

8. There are study guides on the internet and on EBAY. You can do searches for them.

9. I find that many people who work in your sewing centers know how to sew and are helpful. And they know how to operate the machines too. It is important to have a machine that behaves. I sew by hand and by machine. But I had a Sears Kenmore one time that I had to fight all the time, it drove me nuts. Then I got a Singer made for Home Ec teachers $156 special and it had zig zag. It was fabulous. So make sure you know how to operate your machine and if it is fighting you, in my opinion, the frustation is not worth it.

10. There are tools you will need in sewing. Like a seam ripper. Get two. And make sure they are convenient, you do not want to have to walk across the room because if you are like me, you will use this tool a lot.

11. Good thread is important too. And a properly wound bobbin. So if you have troubles with the machine, ask us and we will help you the best we can.

12. Fabric plays an important role in what you are sewing. My advice is to stay with cotton until you are comfortable sewing and feel confident to move to another fabric. No chiffons or slick or heavy ravelie fabrics for a while. No checks, stripes or one way patterns in the beginning. Cottons are easy to handle, there may be other fabrics by cotton and cotton blends including denim are my favs.

This is advanced and if it confuses you, please save it for later and forgive me for saying it now ~~>>You should not handle like a 5 yard piece at a time. Your pattern pieces are not that long. So if the pattern calls for like 5 yards of fabric, you will need to follow the layout on your pattern. BUT you cannot block 5 yards of fabric at one time. So if the pattern calls for 5 yards, buy six. And have some fabric to work with so that you can get your fabric straight before you cut it. I tear a 5 yard piece in half and work with two pieces (maybe one 3 yard and one 2 yard piece or two 2.5 yard pieces), just make sure your pattern pieces will fit on each section you have torn)

I am a ripper, a lot of people are. I learned in couture class that you must rip a woven fabric to find the straight of grain. And you must cut pants, skirts, dresses on the straight of grain. So on one cut end down about 1/2 inch make a cut about 1" long into the selvage and then rip the fabric all the way across. This will give you the straight of grain on a cotton fabric. It has to be a woven fabric for this to work. You are tearing from one selvage side to the other selvage side. This gives you a straight edge. About 1/4 inch will be bruised and ripple a little do not worry about that. Iron the fabric and when you do, fold it over and put those two cut edges together exactly and that will be blocking the fabric at one end. If you do this to the other end, and line both edges up, then you smooth out the middle and iron it, do not worry if the two selvages do not meet exactly, you have a blocked square or rectangle. You can do with with 1 to 2 yard lengths of fabric and if you have questions, ask here.<<<~~~ End the advanced part

That is about all I can think of at this moment. Good luck and have fun. The first garment I completed was a denim A line jumper with red top stitching. I wore that thing out and loved it. I want you to love what you sew too. But if you do not love one thing, that is okay, move on to the next and practice practice practice.
 

Section 2

Opps I meant to say,

Iron the fabric and when you do, fold it over and put those two TORN edges together exactly and that will be blocking the fabric at one end. If you do this to the other end, and line both edges up, then you smooth out the fabric in the middle and iron it, do not worry if the two selvages do not meet exactly, you have a blocked square or rectangle. You can do with with 1 to 2 yard lengths of fabric and if you have questions, ask here.<<<~~~ End the advanced part


ALSO I MEANT TO ADD ~~> I think I iron as much or more as I stitch. Learn to iron everything as you go along. Sew a seam, iron it. Either flat or open or if you have searged it together, iron it to one side. Iron it on the front and on the inside. The iron sets your stitches. And steam is good but steam can also stretch a fabric so learn when to use steam. Realize that if you are using a hot iron and steam and pulling on a piece of fabric, you are stretching the fabric piece a bit. This may not matter. But imagine that you have sewn a 1/4" wide seam allowance on a 2" square and you want to match that exactly to another 2" square you have also sewn a 1/4" wide seam allowance on, if you stretch that, it will make a difference. BUT if you have sewing an armhole facing on and turned it back, you will need steam to make it lay flat and if you stretch something 1/8th of an inch, it will not matter.

I iron everything as I go. My ironing board is set up to my left of my chair and my machines are on my right. My chair swivels. I have a work surface in front of me. I can swivel from my iron over to my machine and back and forth.

I recommend pinning. BUT I recommend removing your pins before you sew over them. Also, I use a thin pin, sometimes called silk pins so that hole in the fabric reseals itself. They are long and thin. I always remove them right before I sew over them to protect my machine.

Section 3

I was thinking today about patterns.

Patterns used to be designed for stick figures. Today we have an awakening especially with Sandra Betzina and Nancy Zieman who teach us how to adjust the fit with the patterns. In my opinion, it is hard for me to sew for myself and fit myself but I can do it. It is so much easier to sew for someone else. That is why they sell adjustable dress forms. I have never owned one but I want one. I think it would make my sewing life easier. I use my measuring tape all the time and measure things like the circumference of an armhole to be sure it is not going to be too tight or too big. And I have a serger so I can serge all seams to a narrow width and that helps with the feel and fit too.

It takes some practice to read the measurements on a pattern and know if the garment is going to fit. Because some of us are long bodied and some are short bodied and some have a high right hip and the next one has a low left hip and someone else is very large in the bust in the front and very narrow in the back. Patterns cannot allow for all those things. A dress form, I think would really help show how the garment was fitting an adult persons body measurements while being constructed.

But anyway, my point is and what I wanted to tell you is. I learned to take my daughters to the store and find the garments that fit them well and myself too and then I would sit in the dressing room and study the garments that fit.

I would study the construction of the sleeve, waistband, the cut of the skirt, the seams, the width of the hem, the collar, the buttons and placket, darts. Everything I could memorize about that garment, empire waist, A line skirt, whatever, I knew that is what would look good on them and me and what we would like. Then we would go shopping for patterns. I did not look at the picture of the finished garment. I looked at the construction, many times taking out the pattern page to see how the sleeve was or the front of the blouse and the darts or whatever.

I still do all this. For instance if you tried on a blouse in the store with a big flowy sleeve and you did not like it, you will not want a pattern with that sleeve.

Now that I know what we liked in the store and now that I have a pattern that is similar to the same construction. I need to be sure I purchase the right fabric. The fabric suggestions on the pattern are important. You do not want to take a pattern that is made for a stretchy knit and make it out of denim for example. So I make sure I have the correct fabric and then I purchase a little extra so I can tear the fabric and have a little left over just so I wont run short.

One time my daughter needed a lot of party clothes. I had to make a lot of them because retail was too high. She found an Ellen Tracy black velvet outfit that cost $600. I studied it, bought three patterns which I combined and made the outfit, you could not tell the difference for $45. No kidding. The only thing different was the rhinestone belt buckle, mine came from Hancocks.

Oh yes, you have to buy all these patterns on sale. Patterns are too expensive now to combine three. I took the sleeve from one pattern, the blouse bodice from another and modified a 6 gore skirt for the skirt and did not need a pattern for the covered belt.

So my advice whether it is kids clothing or adult, go to the store and find what you would like to buy and study it. Then come home and try to make it.

Section 4

Written by Angie a fellow EBAYer and teacher

Ripper here too 

And it bugs me to NO END when I buy something that's been cut off grain. Argh. OOh, wait...it bugs me EVEN MORE when the girls at the fabric table CUT IT OFF GRAIN. ARGH. Our H@ncock's is one that is being closed and they've hired a bunch of teenies to cut fabric. I wanted 4 yards of black crinkle gauze, and I'll be surprised if I ended up with 3-3/4. She was a sweet thing though, and swamped, so I didn't say anything. Any other day tho... LOL.

Jodiann, you just ask away! I teach beginning sewing all the time at the local vo-tech ("career and tech center" now). Margo hit all the high points, and exactly what I tell my students:

1. Know your machine.
2. Have good equipment: Good scissors, good thread (i.e. NOT coats'n'clark). This will make your life SO much easier.
3. Take your time! There's no trophy for who finishes first. Put it aside sometimes and walk away, especially if you're frustrated. It will look better, and be easier tomorrow.
4. Start each project with a new needle in your machine (this + good thread solves a LOT of newbie problems).
5. The fabric glue stick is your friend.
6. Glass head pins are too. (Get a tiny shaft, they slide through fabric like butter.)

Ok, I gotta get in the shower, but you feel free to ask away!

Margo...Yay on the elastic thread! You'll be hooked. I want to shir everything, LOL. I stayed away for a long time because I'm a smocker and was snobby about it. I'm SO glad I came down off my high horse :P

The End