sewing in a straight line

I was walking past my neighbor’s house a few days ago. She was sitting on her porch enjoying the spring weather with a friend and her grandson. We took a few minutes to catch up on what was happening in our families when somehow sewing was mentioned. “You can sew?” she asked. I told her yes. She went on to tell me how she had a new machine, had intended to take lessons but was still a little intimidated. I reassured her that sewing was not as complicated or scary as she imagined. She had learned to set up her machine and thread it, but needed a simple way or place to start sewing. I told her my mother had me start on lined paper.

When you first begin to sew, controlling the speed and direction of your stitches is the first thing to conquer. Set up your machine, but don’t thread it. Leave the bobbin thread out also. Start with a basic sewing needle and a piece of lined paper. Practice sewing over the lines trying to stay on the line as best you can. Control the speed as you go. Start out slow and speed up as your stitches become more accurate.

When my children had a hard time controlling the foot pedal and keeping it slow and steady, I rolled a piece of batting and stuffed it under the pedal. This way they could push hard, but the pedal would not go all the way down and go too fast.

Once you feel you can follow a straight line accurately, you can then practice on another sheet of paper where you have drawn some curvy lines or large circles.

Before you start to practice on fabric, replace your needle with a new sharp needle. Save the old one and mark it, it may come in handy later.

sewing practice Have fun.

Sewing

I love to sew. I have been sewing for as long as I can remember. My mother loved to sew and she taught me how to work with needle and thread when I was very young. She may have been looking for a way to keep me busy while she was sewing. But she passed on her love of creating beautiful things out of fabric and thread.

I have friends that know how to sew a little. Many would like to sew more, learn new things or just keep up with the mending. The problem is finding the time, making room for the mess or just getting an old, grumpy sewing machine to work well enough to get through that hemming project.

I can help with the problem of getting an old grumpy machine to work better.

I have been asked several times, “what sewing machine should I buy, my old machine isn’t working right”. My advice is always – don’t buy a new machine. I think older, simpler machines are easier to clean and repair. Many times the thing that is making a machine persnickety is that it just needs some love and attention.

The first thing you need to do is find the owner’s manual that matches your machine. If this has been lost over the years, you can usually find what you need online by searching for the make and model of your machine. Many times you can print this off or just add the page to your favorites so you can find it later.

With your manual in hand, find the pages that tell you which screws to remove to open up the machine. Dust everything really well with a rag, Q tip or a can of air. This includes all around your needle, inside the top, underneath the machine, around the bobbin case and any other parts that may have threads or lint. Then go back to your book and find the places that it recommends you add some sewing machine oil. Any fabric store or store that sells or services machines will have sewing machine oil. A small bottle will last you forever.20110709_1376

Once you are done with the oiling, put your machine back together. Put in a new needle and sew some practice stitches on a scrap piece of fabric. This will help remove any extra oil and prevent you getting oil on any project fabric.

Next thread you machine with 2 different colors of thread and practice some zig zag stitches. This is a great way to see how well your tension is adjusted. Your handy manual will tell you how to adjust the tension on the top thread and how to adjust the bobbin thread tension. This job can be a little tedious and time-consuming to get things just right. But it is well worth your time. Having a clean machine, the tension adjusted properly, a new needle and using the right needle and thread for the type of fabric will keep you from the frustration of thread balling up under your machine. This will also keep your stitches even, not skipping stitches and make your work look more professional.

I hope this information has been helpful. Now to find some time and space to work and practice what you have learned.

 

Curtains By Design