Republic of the Philippines
DON HONORIO VENTURA STATE UNIVERSITY
Bacolor, Pampanga
9 Sewing Skills
1. Pressing
Pressing is different than ironing: It sets and blends stitches for nice, crisp seams. Just place
your iron on the fabric, leave it there for a few seconds, then remove it. Try not to wiggle your
iron back and forth (the way you would when ironing a shirt), as that can stretch the fabric.
2. Staystitching
Whether you’re sewing straight or curved edges, staystitching is your BFF stabilizer; its purpose
is to prevent stretching and distortion on the bias edge. To staystitch, set your stitch length to
1.5 and make sure the stitch is ⅛” from the sewing line. Make sure not to move the fabric
around too much; even a little can cause distortion.
3. Clipping Corners and Curves
Seams can get bulky when you have lots of corners and curves, and that can make it tough to
lay your items flat. But if you clip a corner at a diagonal, as close to the seam as you can, you’ll
get a crisp corner when you turn it right-side out.
The same principle applies to curves : Remove some of the bulk for a flatter seam. Curves that
look like mountains should be notched while curves that look like valleys should be clipped.
4. Finishing Seams
After you sew a seam, finish it to prevent unraveling and to keep the inside of your clothes
looking just as nice as the outside. Usually, you can pink the seams with a pair of pinking shears
to finish them, though it all depends on your fabric and garment.
5. Hemming
Well-done hems give clothes a polished look, whether you sew a rolled hem or a blind one . Just
make sure the type of hem is right for your pants or shirts.
6. Rotary Cutting
A rotary cutter can be your sewing bestie — you'll be amazed at how much faster you can cut
out a pattern. Keep your blade sharp and stock up on extras that can be swapped in when one
gets dull. Then get a cutting mat so you can keep surfaces from getting nicked.
7. Fussy Cutting
This is an easy way to create appliqués for clothes or cushions out of patterned fabric. Roughly
cut around the motif you want, leaving plenty of extra room. Trim the motif, making sure to
Republic of the Philippines
DON HONORIO VENTURA STATE UNIVERSITY
Bacolor, Pampanga
leave space to sew your seams. Then place the motif on the fabric, using a spray adhesive to
keep it in place as you sew a satin stitch around it.
8. Bar Tacking
Bar tacks reinforce areas that get a lot of stress, like pocket openings. These can either be sewn
by machine ( with a zigzag stitch ) or by hand (with a whipstitch). They are usually 1/16 to ⅛” in
width and ¼ to ⅜” in length.
9. Reinforcing Patch Pocket Corners
Adding small triangles to the corners of your pockets reinforces them (it’s known as dog earing
in quilting), preventing ‘em from pulling away from your pants. All you have to do is stitch a
short diagonal line in the upper corners after you have attached the pocket, making sure to
bartack a couple of times.
REFERENCE:
https://www.mybluprint.com/article/wanna-be-a-sewing-master-first-you-gotta-nail-these-9-skills
