Eight Tips and Tricks: Sewing Machines, Pattern and More!
Written By: Chelsie Debes
Below you will find some great sewing tips! Whether you are a beginner, intermediate or advanced sewer, you will find these tips helpful!
Tip #1: ALWAYS research the machine you are interested in purchasing. In addition make sure to research the competitors. While some machines are less expensive, they may not offer all the options you will need or want. Look into a few different sewing machines, read lots of reviews and then make your decision.
Tip #2: When in doubt, clean it out. If your machine is not working, remove the top thread and bobbin thread. Make sure there are no threads stuck inside your machine. If there is thread inside, carefully pull it out and rethread your machine, most of the time the problem will be solved.
Tip #3: Sewing in a straight line might be challenging in the beginning. A helpful tip & trick is to place a piece of tape on the machine, on the seam allowance that you want to follow while sewing. You can change the tape if you need to sew on different seam allowances.
Tip #4: After cutting each part of your sewing pattern and fabric, save your leftover fabric scraps and pattern pieces! The fabric scraps can be used later on to test specific stitches- this will help with trial and error. In addition, you can reuse your pattern pieces and make another project out of different fabric.
Tip #5: If your thread is bunching under your fabric while using a sewing machine, do not pull the thread, cut it. Then remove the top thread and set your machine up again. Also, remove and rethread the bobbin. If there still is an issue check the settings on the sewing machine, adjust the tension and then test it out on a scrap fabric. This should help resolve your issue.
Tip #6: If you are sewing and the machine isn’t pulling the fabric through consistently, the issue is most likely due to something wrong with the feed dogs on your machine. The feed dogs are the ridges that stick up near your bobbin thread. Check to make sure your feed dogs are not broken, then clean around the area. If you try it out and you still seems to be having trouble, feed dogs can be replaced.
Tip #7: If you are sewing and the needle breaks, it’s most likely due to a older or a needle that was in poor condition. Replace the old needle with a new one. Breakage of a needle could also be cause by pulling or pushing the fabric, the feed dogs pull the fabric through so you don’t need to be pulling it or pushing it through.
Tip #8: When buying a new spool of sewing thread, try your best to match the thread color to the fabric color. Prior to sewing, make sure your top thread and bobbin thread are the same color. Also make sure they are the same type of thread to avoid creating unwanted tension.
Sources:
wunderlabel.co.uk
sergerpepper.com
www.singer.com
www.simplysewingmag.com