Sewing Tips

Hi, I'm Lie Aller. And I'm here to just give you a few of the sewing tips that I use all the time when I'm working with vintage textiles and I wanna pass them on to you. The first one is always use the right needle with the right thread. Let's say you are going to be using clear thread or very fine, uh, like silk thread, 100 weight thread, try and use a needle that has a top stitch eye and that is lighter in weight if you can get away with it. Um, that, that larger eye is easier on this kind of a thread. Another, another thing that will benefit when you're using this thread is to loosen up your top tension just a little bit. For some reason, it, it pulls tight in the machine, so loosen it up just a little bit and I think that your sewing will go more smoothly. Um, an, another tip is when I'm sewing down something that has a lot of curves. My machine anyway, has a free motion foot and I can lower the feed dogs and I can do a free motion zig zag. And I find that's really, really helpful when I'm going all around and I don't wanna have to keep turning my work. I can just kind of keep going in the direction I need to go using a zigzag to get those raw edges down. Um, it's a, it's a great tool. It takes a little practice. I've busted a few needles learning to do that, but a free motion zigzag is really a great tip. Um, another, another tip for basic sewing is use the right foot. Um, as you can see some of these, some of these collage appliques have different, different heights and surfaces. So I like to use some kind of, uh, well, in my machine, it's called the glide foot. It's sort of like a saucer and it helps you go up over bumps and under, you know, up and over. Uh, it helps your machine, sewing go more smoothly if you've got one of those nice feet. So it check out your feet options and try and match the foot to the application. Um Another, another thing I use a lot are sewing gloves. These are, these are, um, a pair given to me by a wonderful student. They're collectors, I guess this edition, their gloves that are sticky on one side. They're like quilting gloves. I like these because they're not quite as heavy, they're a little lighter, but they really help maneuvering when I'm doing all this, moving around of my fabric quilting gloves. Really help. Another thing that I really can't sew without is a stiletto. If I'm going over doily edges and the doilies kind of wanna scooch up under the needle as I'm sewing. I'm always using a, a stiletto as I sew to kind of keep things in place while I'm sewing. So, any kind of stiletto have it next to your machine. You'll find that you use it a lot. Also, a press cloth. It, uh, I've, I've melted, melted too many, um, uh, too many laces that are, um, you know, not cotton, uh, synthetic. I've melted too many. I've melted too many velvet ribbons. So I always use a pressed cloth and this one is actually paper, but you can just use a piece of muslin but have a piece, have a press cloth handy when you're sewing or when you're pressing and sewing. Um, it could save you some, some grief. And then the last, the last tip has to do with using number 12 thread in your sewing machine. This example here, I've used number 12 thread in my buttonhole. It shows up better. It actually matches the embroidery that, that was already on the original table cloth that I built this project on. So I needed to use number 12 thread. I also ended up adding some more embroidery machine, embroidery to this piece. Also, number 12. So when you're using number 12, use the biggest needle. You have, I use a 110, um, I use, uh, uh, the biggest jeans needle that I have. But if I don't have a 110 in jeans, I just use a big, big heavy needle for this heavy thread. And the other, the other tip is to always have a practice cloth before you start on your project. A similar scrap or weight, you know, a little quilt sandwich with a scrap and practice the stitch that you're gonna use this heavy, heavy thread on to make sure you have it the right width and length that you want. That the tensions. Ok. And always, always have a practice scrap nearby before you get on to the real thing. I have, uh, a lot of number 12 thread. I really love to use it because it can mimic, it can mimic hand work very well. And sometimes if you're, if you're doing machine work, uh, and then you add a little hand work next to it in the same thread. The number 12, it's, you're gonna think it was all done by hand. It's a nice trick. So that's what I've learned from experience. I hope some of this will be useful to you.