Basics of Sewing

Take the Time to Master Your Machine,

To stitch straight, to be able to pivot on the needle, turn sewing corners and curves with skillful experience.   Learn to use the presser foot to gauge your stitching, the narrow hemmer and adjustable hemmer and so on.  To fully learn and master your sewing machine you should become an expert in operating the machine as well as the attachments.  Think of the attachments as your sewing assistant that helps to make truly customized garments.  Take the time to fully read and practice all that is covered in the sewing machines manual.

Learning to Stitch Straight.  It takes so little time to practice and learn to stitch straight and apply even power.  Your power must be even to allow for smooth starting and stopping of the stitch and not in spurts or abruptly. I suggest the following exercises for beginners or those more experienced who wish to review their basic stitching skills.

Straight Stitch Exercise.  This exercise is best begun with ruled tablet paper and an unthreaded machine.  Practice going back and forth along the lines as shown in Fig. 1., then needle-stitch back and forth while keeping the edge of the wide side of the presser foot on the line; practice using the narrow side of the presser foot as a guide.  Continue this exercise until your eyes can gauge a line and have the presser foot edge follow perfectly.  Just a little practice works wonders to aid you in making a true stitching line that is sewn evenly. 

Learn to Pivot on Needle.  When you have gained experience in eyeing the wide and narrow sides of the presser foot the next exercise is to pivot your work on the machine needle. You may use Fig. 2 as a guide.  This exercise can be done on paper or folded fabric and an unthreaded machine.  Starting on an edge stitch along a side to a corner pivot point as Fig. 2 shows, then on the upward stroke of the needle, but before the needle leaves the paper or fabric, stop the machine, lift the presser foot, and turn the paper or fabric so that you have a true corner in your work.  Put the presser foot down and stitch to the next corner, then lift and turn.  Continue the pivot exercise as shown in Fig. 2.  If you repeat this exercise a dozen or more times you may find that  pivoting during stitching will be as easy as sewing a straight stitch.

Practice to Stitch Along Curves.  After you have mastered straight-stitching and pivoting on a needle it is time to practice curved stitching.  This exercise can be done on paper or folded fabric and an unthreaded machine.  Draw circles with a large coin, cups, bowls and plates on your paper or fabric as shown in Fig. 3, then stitch around the circles keeping your stitch on the lines.  

By now you can see how wonderfully your machine will work for you as long as you give it accurate guidance and are patient while learning to operate your sewing machine.  

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Fig. 1. Straight Stitch Exercise

Fig. 2.

Fig. 3.