sewing/clothing tips

sewing starter kit | links

WHY YOU SHOULD LEARN TO SEW

lets start with basic hand sewing. you can pick up a basic sewing kit for like £2 if you go somewhere like the works, asda, range, etc just to start. u can probably buy online too. though id reccommend investing in better sturdier and mostly metal tools. but you want the basic kit to have these items:

for thread, avoid buying starter kits with the whole rainbow as you will hoard this forever. i like going to charity shops to find individual spools of threads

for thread, this is the sort of thing that can become overly easy to hoard. you can find individual threads in charity shops for example or i would suggest the works but LOL thats gone idk where id even go anymore

threading a needle is the most painful part of the process. if youre finding it hard, sometimes the thread needs to be trimmed. make sure the thread isnt too big for the needle.

mending a seam by hand
this is extremely easy to do. its advisable to learn the straight stitch but if youre a nutcase like me i just poke the needle around until the hole is shut tight.

a lot of the time, especially with machine work, you need to turn the garment inside out and do the stitching that way. this is because the stitching will be on the inside. you can look at the stitching in the garment and try to match the pattern of stitching used. sometimes, there are numerous types used, so try to mimic these. this helps to make the mending more invisible and seamless, as if done haphazardly can be quite obvious.

for resizing clothes or more complex adjustments, things like this can be done by hand but it is incredibly time consuming and what you will do by hand in 2 hours could be done in 5 mins with a machine. if you like sewing enough getting a machine is definately worth it :)

sewing buttons
i remember this being one of the first sewing lessons i was taught at school. it is very simple.

here is a video showing how.

back to top