Sewing is one of those timeless skills that blends creativity and practicality in the most beautiful way. It’s a great hobby that is also incredibly useful. I know that sewing can feel both exciting and a little overwhelming at first. The good news is that everyone starts as a beginner, and every stitch you sew brings you closer to mastering the craft. These sewing tips are here to guide you through as you learn basic sewing skills, and help you avoid common frustrations so you can enjoy sewing your own clothes and other items for a long time to come.
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1. The first thing to learn is how to thread your machine. This might be the most essential step of all. Follow your sewing machine manual instructions exactly when threading your sewing machine and bobbin. Frustratingly, every machine is threaded slightly differently, and if you don’t thread it exactly right, you will be dealing with thread jams, skipped stitches, or no stitches at all. Years ago I bought an antique treadle sewing machine, and the man I bought it from told me very pointedly to insert the sewing machine needle so the eye was sideways, and thread it from left to right. Since most sewing machine needles have the eye facing you, and are threaded from front to back, I totally forgot. My machine would not make a single stitch, even though everything seemed to be working fine. I emailed the man, and he patiently told me to check that the needle was inserted correctly. Once I fixed the needle and threaded it correctly, the machine sewed perfect stitches. Tiny details like this really matter with sewing. I recommend learning how to thread your machine, then practice doing it over and over until you have it memorized. Taking a video of someone threading your machine might help.
2. It’s a good idea to study and learn the basic sewing terms. You can learn as you go, looking up new terms online as you come across them in your sewing instructions. Or, if you’re crazy like me and enjoy reading encyclopedias, get a sewing encyclopedia and browse through it to familiarize yourself with all the terms. You will need to know the names of the parts of your sewing machine, such as presser foot, needle plate, bobbin, and tension dial, as well as the names of techniques, such as “clip curves,” “backstitch,” “transfer markings,” “sew gathering stitches,” and so on.
3. Choose your very first sewing project carefully. Start with simple projects that have few or no curves. Some ideas are aprons, burp cloths, tote bags, hot pads, pillowcases, and pajama pants.
4. Select a pattern that has good reviews. Some patterns have terrible instructions, or even mistakes, so do a little research to find a good pattern. You can find pattern reviews on https://sewing.patternreview.com/ or even Amazon, if it’s a commercial pattern. There are so many different pattern brands. I love Sew Liberated, but I also use major brands like Simplicity and McCall’s.
5. Select the right fabric for the project. This choice can make a big difference in whether you like your final result or not. There are so many fabric types, it can be overwhelming to choose. Most sewing patterns will have suggested fabrics listed on the pattern details. If you try to make a burp cloth out of satin, or a summer shirt out of heavy fabric, you might be disappointed in the final product. After I’d been sewing for a year or so, I made a Western button up shirt. Unfortunately, I chose a thick fabric that was really too stiff. The shirt was heavy and uncomfortable. As a beginner, avoid challenging fabrics that are slinky, stretchy, slippery, super thick, super thin, or unravel easily. Quilting cotton is a perfect beginner fabric, as long as it’s appropriate for your chosen project (it’s a bit stiff for most blouses.)
6. Fabric can be expensive. Practice on inexpensive fabric first. Old cotton bedsheets from thrift stores are great. For your first time sewing, draw a straight line and a wavy line on the inexpensive fabric with tailer’s chalk, and sew along the lines. Spend ten minutes or so doing this. You probably won’t be perfect, but go slowly, and you will see improvement. It takes a minute to get used to the foot pedal, different speeds, how to guide the fabric through the machine, and so on.
7. Prewash your chosen fabric according to how you plan to launder the finished items. This is most important with cottons that shrink after the first wash. You want your fabric to do all of its shrinking before you cut it out and sew it, not after.
8. Transfer pattern markings like darts, notches, and hemlines, onto your fabric. Use a fabric marker or chalk that will wash out. This is a crucial step for knowing how all the pieces are put together later.
9. Measure twice, cut once. Cutting out the pattern pieces is always the most nerve wracking part. You can do it! Go slowly, get all the pieces laid out, check it twice, cut it once. Use fabric scissors -paper scissors aren’t as sharp and you will have a frustrating experience.
10. Read pattern instructions until you understand them. It’s ok to read them all the way through, or just one step at a time, whatever works best for your brain. If there’s a term you don’t understand, google it.
11. If you machine isn’t making stitches properly, try rethreading, changing the sewing machine needle, dusting, and oiling your machine before messing with the thread tension dial. For beginner sewers and those of us with experience, 99% of sewing issues have to do with the needle, the threading, or the fact that the machine needs oil or cleaning. Check your sewing machine manual for instructions on how to clean and oil your machine. Some do not use oil at all. Follow the maintenance instructions and perform regular maintenance carefully.
12. Use pins, clips, and/or basting stitches to hold pattern pieces together before sewing, especially on curves and slippery fabrics. Sewing machines tend to shift the layers of fabric around as you feed them through the machine. Pins/clips/basting help keep everything where it should be. Remove pins right before you sew over them -it’s not good for pins to go under the presser foot.
13. Press seams often with an iron. This is a major part of the sewing process. Pressing is not just to make things look nice or smooth out wrinkles. Pressing has a function to help the seams and curves steam into position. Get yourself a nice big ironing board and iron, and press those seams! You may also want a tailor’s ham for pressing curved areas.
14. Backstitch two or three stitches at the beginning of every seam. This will prevent your seams from coming undone as you work through your project.
15. Follow seam allowances exactly according to the pattern. If you change the seam allowances just slightly, it could make things very difficult to fit together down the line. Attention to detail always pays off in sewing.
16. Don’t force fabric through the machine. It should only need a gentle push. Forcing fabric through the machine can break your needle. Don’t stretch the fabric as you’re sewing, especially curves. Stretching will result in a misshapen final product.
17. Use the right kind of needle. For most projects “universal” needles are fine. There are also ball point needles for stretch fabrics, thicker needles for thick fabrics, and more. One of the most common mistakes I see is neglecting to change the needle. Change your needle after every 6-8 hours of sewing time (roughly every 2-3 projects.) A dull or bent needle will not sew stitches correctly, and can also snag the fabric.
18. Use the right type of thread. Most projects will call for “all purpose” thread, but there are also specialty threads for topstitching, embroidery, quilting, and more.
19. Finish raw edges to prevent unraveling. Check out this blog post about the different options for finishing raw edges.
20. Look at your favorite clothes to learn how they were put together. What techniques do they use? Gathers? Interfacing? Plackets? Pleats? Study your favorite clothes inside and out.
21. Make things that you love. I know I said to start with easy rectangular projects for your first time, such as tote bags and burp cloths. But if your heart really wants to make a Renaissance costume, go for it. Get a good pattern, look up the techniques it calls for on YouTube, and you will learn a lot along the way. Your motivation will carry you far.
Being good at sewing is not a talent -it’s a skill. A skill can be learned through practice. You’ll learn more and improve with each project you make. Your seam ripper will become an old friend as you make mistakes and learn how to fix them. Don’t get discouraged if you make something that really doesn’t turn out well. We’ve all been there. The best advice I can give is to be patient with yourself, celebrate small victories, and never be afraid to ask questions or look things up. Every seam you sew is a stitch toward confidence and creativity.
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