Ready for this? It’s Learn to Sew time! This is Lesson #1 of the Learn to Sew Series. This series will run for 7 weeks with all free, easy, online lessons to teach you how to sew from the comfort of your own home! You will do projects each week, have opportunities to enter to win prizes and have a lot of fun along the way I hope! This first lesson is a simple one, but a very basic and important one: How to Sew a Straight Line.
Before you read this post please make sure you have Met Your Machine, checked out the Sewing Dictionary and that you know How to Buy Fabric. Also, please read through and commit yourself to our Learn to Sew Series Pledge. THEN you can get started.
How many times have you heard-“This is easy as long as you can sew a straight line?” Well, let’s start with the basics today and learn to sew a straight line.
Sounds easy enough right? Let me just preface this by saying, it takes time and practice to sew a straight line. Your lines may not be perfectly straight to start. They may not be perfectly straight for a while. That’s OK! I promise. Just do your best and keep practicing.
Learn to Sew Series Details:
As this series runs a second time, I want to make this work for everyone. Some of you have done the series before or know how to sew, so I have three options for you all:
#1-For the beginners: Just do the series as it comes! It will teach you the basics, you will have weekly projects and you will learn to sew!
#2-I will post tutorials for some slightly more difficult sewing techniques and you can try those if you are already a master at the lesson we do that week.
#3-Start a bigger project this week-something that will stretch you and make you use new skills and might take a while to work on. Work on it each week and when you have, come back and enter the giveaway. This way you can make whatever works for you count!
Each week the lessons will go live on Monday at midnight Eastern Time and you have a week to complete them. I will have a weekly giveaway that you can come enter as well and I would LOVE it if you share, share, share with your friends who you think might also be interested! Let’s do this! (Giveaway at bottom of the page.)
HOW TO SEW A STRAIGHT LINE:
Get a piece of fabric ready to practice with-just a scrap of something will do. Preferably just a basic cotton-not anything knit or stretchy. It’s going to be easiest if you fold it so that you are sewing through 2 layers of fabric while you practice.
First, thread your machine (including the bobbin of course). Make sure you have your machine set to sew at an average stitch length (your manual will probably tell you what that is). You can take some time to play around with this-testing shorter stitches and longer stitches.
Now, take your piece of fabric and place it under the presser foot. For starters I want you to line your fabric up so that the right edge of your fabric matches up with the right edge of your presser foot as you look at it like I have done in this picture below. Lower the presser foot so that it is holding your fabric in place.
Before you start to sew, use your hand wheel (or up/down button if you have a computerized machine) to lower the needle so that it is all the way down into your fabric: (always do this when you begin to sew)
Now, slowly press your foot pedal down to begin to sew. Stitch forward for 1 inch:
Then push the reverse button or lever to back stitch for 1 inch (sew backwards over what you just sewed):
After you have back stitched over that 1 inch, proceed with a forward stitch again. You have just created a knot so that your stitches won’t come loose. You will do this whenever you sew unless otherwise specified.
Continue to sew forward. As you do, try to keep the edge of the fabric lined up with the edge of your presser foot. This will help you maintain a straight line. (See images above.) Also try to keep a nice steady pace. You can also put a piece of tape on your fabric to use as a guide to practice getting a straight line.
Once you reach the end of your fabric, knot it again. (Sew to the end, back stitch for about 1 inch, then sew forward again.)
Raise your presser foot and gently remove your fabric. Snip the threads that are attached to your fabric. Guess what? You just sewed your first straight line!
But wait-there’s more to learn.
What if you are sewing a straight line and you come to a corner (like if you are sewing a rectangle or square) that you need to turn to continue sewing. What do you do?
Sew almost all the way to the corner, but leave yourself about 1/4″-1/2″ of space between your needle and the very edge of the fabric. Making sure to lower your needle all the way into the fabric (this is very important), then lift your presser foot. Your fabric will stay in place because the needle is holding it, but you can now pivot it so that it is positioned to keep sewing, now in the new direction. Lower your presser foot and continue to sew. (See in the image how I have sewed down the fabric and I am now turning to sew a new direction. My needle is down in the fabric but my presser foot is lifted so that I can turn my fabric while not losing my place):
A couple more things. Sometimes you will be asked to baste. A baste is a long stitch that is much looser than a typical stitch. When you baste you do not knot at the beginning and the end. This is because you will probably be picking the baste stitch out (if it is just there to hold your fabric in place for the time being) or you will be using it to gather (which we will learn about in a few weeks). Here’s a baste:
A hem is when you fold under the fabric twice and sew it in place to create a nice finished edge (like at the bottom of your pants). To hem you will first fold the fabric under about 1/2″ and press (iron) it into place. Then fold it the same amount again, press it again and then do a straight stitch along it:
Here’s a hem being sewed:
And here it is finished:
Here’s an important thing to know when sewing a hem or at other times. If you are sewing a small area, like a pant leg, guess what? You can take off part of your machine to make it easier. See how I can sew that complete loop so easily because the fabric fits all the way around? Give it a try-that part of your machine will come right off and then go back on when you need it back on:
credit: crazylittleprojects.com
Before you read this post please make sure you have Met Your Machine, checked out the Sewing Dictionary and that you know How to Buy Fabric. Also, please read through and commit yourself to our Learn to Sew Series Pledge. THEN you can get started.
How many times have you heard-“This is easy as long as you can sew a straight line?” Well, let’s start with the basics today and learn to sew a straight line.
Sounds easy enough right? Let me just preface this by saying, it takes time and practice to sew a straight line. Your lines may not be perfectly straight to start. They may not be perfectly straight for a while. That’s OK! I promise. Just do your best and keep practicing.
Learn to Sew Series Details:
As this series runs a second time, I want to make this work for everyone. Some of you have done the series before or know how to sew, so I have three options for you all:
#1-For the beginners: Just do the series as it comes! It will teach you the basics, you will have weekly projects and you will learn to sew!
#2-I will post tutorials for some slightly more difficult sewing techniques and you can try those if you are already a master at the lesson we do that week.
#3-Start a bigger project this week-something that will stretch you and make you use new skills and might take a while to work on. Work on it each week and when you have, come back and enter the giveaway. This way you can make whatever works for you count!
Each week the lessons will go live on Monday at midnight Eastern Time and you have a week to complete them. I will have a weekly giveaway that you can come enter as well and I would LOVE it if you share, share, share with your friends who you think might also be interested! Let’s do this! (Giveaway at bottom of the page.)
HOW TO SEW A STRAIGHT LINE:
Get a piece of fabric ready to practice with-just a scrap of something will do. Preferably just a basic cotton-not anything knit or stretchy. It’s going to be easiest if you fold it so that you are sewing through 2 layers of fabric while you practice.
First, thread your machine (including the bobbin of course). Make sure you have your machine set to sew at an average stitch length (your manual will probably tell you what that is). You can take some time to play around with this-testing shorter stitches and longer stitches.
Now, take your piece of fabric and place it under the presser foot. For starters I want you to line your fabric up so that the right edge of your fabric matches up with the right edge of your presser foot as you look at it like I have done in this picture below. Lower the presser foot so that it is holding your fabric in place.
Before you start to sew, use your hand wheel (or up/down button if you have a computerized machine) to lower the needle so that it is all the way down into your fabric: (always do this when you begin to sew)
Now, slowly press your foot pedal down to begin to sew. Stitch forward for 1 inch:
Then push the reverse button or lever to back stitch for 1 inch (sew backwards over what you just sewed):
After you have back stitched over that 1 inch, proceed with a forward stitch again. You have just created a knot so that your stitches won’t come loose. You will do this whenever you sew unless otherwise specified.
Continue to sew forward. As you do, try to keep the edge of the fabric lined up with the edge of your presser foot. This will help you maintain a straight line. (See images above.) Also try to keep a nice steady pace. You can also put a piece of tape on your fabric to use as a guide to practice getting a straight line.
Once you reach the end of your fabric, knot it again. (Sew to the end, back stitch for about 1 inch, then sew forward again.)
Raise your presser foot and gently remove your fabric. Snip the threads that are attached to your fabric. Guess what? You just sewed your first straight line!
But wait-there’s more to learn.
What if you are sewing a straight line and you come to a corner (like if you are sewing a rectangle or square) that you need to turn to continue sewing. What do you do?
Sew almost all the way to the corner, but leave yourself about 1/4″-1/2″ of space between your needle and the very edge of the fabric. Making sure to lower your needle all the way into the fabric (this is very important), then lift your presser foot. Your fabric will stay in place because the needle is holding it, but you can now pivot it so that it is positioned to keep sewing, now in the new direction. Lower your presser foot and continue to sew. (See in the image how I have sewed down the fabric and I am now turning to sew a new direction. My needle is down in the fabric but my presser foot is lifted so that I can turn my fabric while not losing my place):
A couple more things. Sometimes you will be asked to baste. A baste is a long stitch that is much looser than a typical stitch. When you baste you do not knot at the beginning and the end. This is because you will probably be picking the baste stitch out (if it is just there to hold your fabric in place for the time being) or you will be using it to gather (which we will learn about in a few weeks). Here’s a baste:
A hem is when you fold under the fabric twice and sew it in place to create a nice finished edge (like at the bottom of your pants). To hem you will first fold the fabric under about 1/2″ and press (iron) it into place. Then fold it the same amount again, press it again and then do a straight stitch along it:
Here’s a hem being sewed:
And here it is finished:
Here’s an important thing to know when sewing a hem or at other times. If you are sewing a small area, like a pant leg, guess what? You can take off part of your machine to make it easier. See how I can sew that complete loop so easily because the fabric fits all the way around? Give it a try-that part of your machine will come right off and then go back on when you need it back on:
credit: crazylittleprojects.com
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