Some Basic Sewing Types

Sewing doesn’t have to be a painful task. With a little bit of guidance even the most unskilled sewer can learn to darn socks, hem pants, sew on a button and those kinds of sewing basics. Having these basic sewing skills at hand can really help out around the house. Instead of pestering friends or relatives you’ll be able to pull off all these basic sewing tasks for everyone in your family.

The following is a description of some basic sewing techniques and tips:

• Invisible Hand Hem – Press the hem in place and roll back the edge of the hem about one quarter inch. Use horizontal stitches working from left to right. Then use a small stitch to move ahead about one-third inch and use a small stitch in the hem fabric. Continue
  
  
  
  this process until the hem is complete. Take care not to pull too tightly and you’ll do fine.

• Pattern Notches – These are small triangle portions of fabric along the outer edge of the pattern cut line that are for matching pieces. You should remember to cut around the notches. If there is only one notch cut around the outside edge of he entire set, not each individual triangle.

• Making Patches – Save some money by making your own patches. You can create a softer and fusible patch with fusible webbing and a lining material. Then you have a large patch from which you can cut the exact sizes and shapes as you need patches.

• Buttonholes – It’s a good idea to mark buttonhole placement well. This insures that they are evenly spaced and straight. It can also help to read the directions in your sewing machine manual for buttonhole instructions. Practice using the same number of layers of fabric. It’s a wise choice not to cut any open until all are sewn so you are sure of proper placement.

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