My Top Sewing Tips

[Excerpt from Guru Kaur's blog on the Be the Woman... Private Online Community for women...]

1. Weary as it sounds, my number one tip is to go forward back forward at the start and finish of every seam for about an inch. It stops them unraveling when you cut the ends off, otherwise you need to do little knots. I lost several skirts to this oversight of my mother. Check the tension is absolutely correct before you do a seam, if it's off either the seam will pucker or undo - neither of which you want.
2. my second tip is be meticulous with every seam if they are supposed to be the same length then make sure they line up exactly. When matching curved edges ensure that you line up the stitching line not the edge of the fabric.
3. press seams open or to the side with steam. If you didn't oversew the edges of the piece when you cut it out (to stop fraying) then you can oversew both the edges together and trim off excess, but still iron and press, iron and press (with a damp cloth tested on a test swatch).
4. only have your foot on the pedal when your hands are in place to guide the fabric otherwise your foot is on the floor. Switch the machine off EVERY time you stand up adn then switch it back on. Leave the iron on, but safe, most of the time, but when you leave the room STOP and go back to turn the iron and the machine off at the mains (my brother managed to start my mother's sewing machine when he was learning to stand up from crawling because it had not been switched off at the mains).
5. be meticulous about what you put in the bin, any obvious rubbish goes IMMEDIATELY into the bin; larger off cuts go IMMEDIATELY into a scraps back; NEVER break this rule. When you have cut out a garment do not take off the paper pattern until you are ready to stitch it unless you have to reuse the paper patter piece again in which case pin a large post-it note to the piece saying what it is, which way up it is, which the right side of the fabric. Always transfer all markings from the paper pattern to the fabric - don't guess.

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