Sewing Ideas part one
I am basically a self-taught sew-er. My mother in law gave me the basics and fueled my love for it, but I have had to learn a lot of things through trial and error. I hate to use paper patterns, so I have formulas and fabric guides that I have come up with and I use to make my harem pants, gypsy skirts, cholis and other stuff.
A few things I’ve learned:
1. My serger is my best friend. I don’t think I would even try to tackle some of the projects I have done without one. Threading my serger was the toughest thing I had to learn, but I’m glad I did even though I now just tie the new thread to the end of the old to thread it instead of completely taking the thread out. My serger taught me patience and that sometimes it is worth stopping something and starting over to figure out what is wrong. Example: I had a serious problem with the tension on my machine. No amount of tweaking would fix it and I was in tears and ready to throw the thing in the swimming pool. After much screaming and crying, I sat down at my machine and changed the threads completely one by one, making sure they were threaded properly. Lo and behold, the machine ran fine. I still don’t know exactly what the problem was, but I know that if it ever happens again I have a starting point to fixing it.
2. Putting a bobbin in the bobbin case correctly will save you a world of hurt. Here’s the trick: when you put the bobbin in and you pull the thread, the bobbin should look like it’s turning the opposite direction that you are pulling.
3. Diaper pins are great for running elastic through casings. They are big enough to grip and, let’s face it, the little plastic duckies and turtles on the end are just cute.
4. If you don’t have a ruffler foot (which I don’t), the easiest way to gather is to zigzag over a piece of crochet thread and use it to pull your gathers. Gather in small sections and tie your thread off in between sections.
More later as I think of them.
