Sewing tips

A fork can do so much when you’re creating ruffles. Honestly, this is one of the easiest ways to make ruffles I’ve ever seen. You just fold the material over the fork and sew the other side. It creates perfectly uniform pleats every time. Be careful that you don’t sew your fork, though!

It can be so hard when you are hand sewing to ensure that your stitches are all even. Unless you’re just really gifted, you may notice that some of your stitches are much farther apart than others. You can remedy this by making a mark on your thumb with a sharpie. Just measure how far apart you need your stitches, and you can mark them easily as you sew. Source and more info: boingboing

Fabric tends to fray whenever you cut it, some more than others. You can avoid this by using pinking shears to cut fabrics. Pinking shears are not at all expensive so if you don’t already have them, you can head out to the Dollar Store or Wal-Mart and pick them up. This helps with those fabrics that tend to fray terribly which can cause seams or hems to be shorter.

Why worry constantly about that pattern bunching up or otherwise not staying in place when you can fix it from the hubby’s toolbox? Washers and nuts are perfect for weighing down patterns so that you can easily pin and cut around them. Just strategically place them around the pattern and then trace and pin. Source and more info: burdastyle

Cleaning your sewing machine is essential for many reasons. Obviously you don’t want whatever you are sewing to get all dusty and dirty. It’s also important to clean your machine regularly to keep it operating properly. Pipe cleaners cut and tucked into coffee stirrers are perfect for brushing debris from your machine. They’re also really cute and look like tiny toilet brushes.

Have you ever been sitting at your sewing machine and thought, wow, I would love a nice smelling pin cushion? Well anyway, if you don’t have a pin cushion handy, and you need one in a pinch, a bar of soap works wonderfully. This is an especially good idea for when you’re on vacation and you just didn’t think to bring your pin cushion along with you.

If you’re in a pinch for time and the hem on your favorite skirt has come out, you can create a fake hem with some bias tape. The tape will hold the material together perfectly until you can officially sew the hem back into place. In some cases, you may be able to do away with the sewing altogether and just use your fake bias tape hem instead.

When it comes to certain clothing, like dress clothes, there’s only so much you can take them in before they just don’t look and fit right. You have to be very careful that you aren’t altering the design or the way the shirt is supposed to fit, even if you need to reduce the size a bit. You can take those shirts in, as long as you follow certain protocol to ensure that you don’t mess with the style. Source and more info: indigorchid

Have you ever been just sewing away and then suddenly couldn’t find your scissors? I do this all the time when I’m gift wrapping, and it can be very frustrating. Well, there’s a hack for that. You can create a great scissor necklace that holds those scissors right there on you, so you’ll always know where they are. The best part? You only need a long piece of ribbon to make it. Source and more info: feathersflights

Thick fabrics like leather and denim can be difficult enough to sew, without worries of how you are going to hold it all together. I’ve actually broken pins trying to stick them through some heavier fabrics. Instead of pins, use small binder clips to hold those fabrics together. You can get these really cheap at the Dollar Store and they’re perfect for larger, bulkier fabrics. Source and more info: thesewingloftblog