Raw Edge The raw edge of fabric is the cut edge, and this is prone to fraying or unraveling. Take care to finish off the raw edges.

Selvage (or Selvedge) The selvage is the edge of the fabric. Some selvage edges are printed with information about the manufacturer or company or even offer little dots displaying the colors used in the fabric. The selvages are often more tightly woven and can shrink at a different rate from the fabric, so they should be cut off and not used as part of a project.

Directional Designs If you are working with a print, take a careful look at the direction of the design. Designs can go one way (such as letters), two ways (such as stripes), or in any direction (such as polka dots). The distance from one design to the next is called a repeat.

Nap This is a texture on the surface of the fabric. It is smooth in one direction and rough in the opposite direction. Make sure the nap goes in the same direction when piecing fabric together.

Grain Line The grain line describes the direction in which the fibers line up in the fabric. It’s important to cut out pieces from material in the way the pattern directs, because it will affect how much the fabric stretches. Straight of grain means the cuts are made parallel to the selvage edge, and this will give the strongest piece of material with little, if any, stretch. Cross grain means the cuts are made from selvage edge to selvage edge (the opposite of straight of grain) and has a bit of stretch. Bias means cutting on the diagonal of the fabric (corner to corner), and it has the most stretch.

Pretreating It’s important to wash and dry a fabric before you use it because most fabrics shrink. Less expensive fabrics have a “sizing,” or stiffening agent, such as starch, added to them. Sizing washes out, often leaving fabrics thin and limp and not acceptable for certain projects. Some fabrics may need to be dry-cleaned, depending on the fiber.

Zippers If your project calls for a zipper, it will specify which type of zipper to use. All-purpose zippers (right) do not separate at the bottom, and they come in different weights to suit the project. Separating zippers (left) come apart in two pieces. Zippers like the white one shown have teeth that are intended to be exposed.

You can shorten an all-purpose zipper by creating a new zipper stop at the desired length. Center the closed zipper under the presser foot, set the machine stitch length to 0 and the stitch width to the widest setting. Using your handwheel, zigzag five times over the zipper teeth to create a bar tack. Trim the excess zipper tape using an old scissors.

PARTS OF A ZIPPER

Directions

Notes: For safety reasons, when you are not sewing, keep your foot off the pedal. Sometimes, when you are adjusting your fabric and lining things up, you can accidentally lean on the foot pedal, making the machine run, and you don’t want your fingers to be near the needle if this happens.

1. 1 First, let’s look at posture and machine positioning. Proper posture at the machine is important not only for your body but also for the quality of your stitching. Sit centered in front of the needle so that you can clearly see your seam allowances and more easily direct your fabric. Sit up straight and try not to lean on the table with your forearms or elbows because this limits the motion of your hands and can make your stitching “jerky.” Place your foot pedal a comfortable distance away from you where you can reach it and press without lifting your heel off the floor. Try sewing barefoot or in soft-soled shoes so that you can more easily feel the pedal, and thus have more control over your sewing.
2. 2 With your hands in your lap, practice pressing the pedal to go slower and faster. Keep your heel on the floor to anchor your foot and control your speed better. When you want to take just a stitch or two, rest your foot on the pedal and just curl your big toe. Sit on the edge of your chair if it helps you reach the pedal. If you still have a hard time reaching the pedal correctly, then it is okay to put the pedal on a box. When you feel you have control over the pedal, you are ready to move on to practice on paper.

Directions

1. 1 Copy the straight stitch template here. Lift your presser foot and line up your paper so that the first line is centered at your needle. Lower your presser foot. You will complete this first line without using your hands! Your machine may or may not stay on the line, but that will not matter. With hands in your lap, gently press your foot pedal and sew to the end of the line. Take your foot off the pedal and turn the handwheel toward you until the thread take-up lever and needle are in their highest position. Lift your presser foot and remove the paper. Turn your paper over to see what kinds of holes were made. Your paper should have round, evenly spaced holes where your needle has sewn. This will be your goal when you begin to put your hands on the paper to steer.

2. 2 Line up your paper on the next line. This time put your hands lightly on the paper to steer it. Keep your hands in front of the needle to steer from the front instead of pulling from the back. Keep your eye just in front of the presser foot to make sure you have time to make adjustments if needed. Gently press your foot pedal and stitch from the top of the line to the bottom, trying to stay on the line. No fair lifting your presser foot and moving your paper over if you get off the line! Try to gently steer back on if you drift off. Remove the paper and turn it over to look at the holes. If your hand pressure was good, your holes should be round and even (A). If you have too much hand pressure or are pulling your paper instead of gently steering, your holes will be distorted, uneven, and much closer together (B).

3. 3 On the next line you will learn how to backtack. Backtacking prevents the beginning and ending stitches from coming loose. To backtack, start down just a bit from the beginning point and reverse two or three stitches, then stitch forward to sew your seam. When you get to the end, backtack by reversing two or three stitches to secure.

4. 4 Line up your needle on the next line and you will learn how to steer with a practice curve. Stitch a short distance, then start to curve off to the right until you touch the line next to it, and then steer back onto your original line. After you have practiced this direction, do a line or two curving off to the left. These are important to practice until you are comfortable with steering to where you want to go. Remember to check your holes on the back of the paper to learn more about your hand pressure and whether you are tugging the paper into position (uneven, distorted holes) or steering it (even, round holes).

These exercises will get you familiar with seam allowances. A seam allowance is the distance from the edge of your fabric to the seam. Seam allowance widths are marked on the throat plate of your machine (see here for details). The most common seam allowances and their general uses are ¼" (6 mm) for quilting, ⅜" (1 cm) for craft sewing, ½" (1.3 cm) for home décor sewing, and ⅝" (1.6 cm) for garments. Please remember this is just a general outline. Your pattern will tell you the actual seam allowance required. For the seam allowance exercise, you will need a blank 5" x 7" (12.5 x 17.8 cm) piece of paper.

Notes: For this exercise, we will be using the edge of the general purpose presser foot as the guide for ¼" (6 mm) seam allowance. On some sewing machines, this is pretty accurate; on others it may be a bit wider than ¼" (6 mm). When you really need an exact ¼" (6 mm) seam allowance, such as for quilting, you may need to purchase a special presser foot.

Directions

Notes: Sewing on paper is great practice, but it will dull the machine needle, so be sure to change to a new needle before moving on to a fabric project. For sewing on paper, use an older needle that is dull but not bent!

1. 1 For this exercise, we will be using the edge of your presser foot as ¼" (6 mm). Line up one edge of the paper with the right edge of your presser foot, just down from the top edge of the paper. Begin the seam by reversing two or three stitches for your backtack, and then continue down the edge of the paper, using the edge of your presser foot as your guide. Your eye should be looking at the edge of the presser foot, not the needle. Backtack at the end of the paper.

2. 2 Choose a different edge of the paper and line it up using the ⅜" (1 cm) seam allowance line on the throat plate, remembering to start down a bit to allow for the backtack. With your eye on the ⅜" (1 cm) seam allowance guideline, stitch down to the end of the paper and backtack (A). Remove the paper and check your seam allowance with a hem gauge to make sure you are staying on the line (B).

3. 3 Repeat step 2 with a fresh edge of the paper for the ½" (1.3 cm) seam allowance and the ⅝" (1.6 cm) seam allowance, checking with the hem gauge after each seam line is sewn. Continue to practice until you are comfortable staying on each seam allowance line.

When you need to change the direction of your stitch line at an angle, you need to pivot. Before lifting the presser foot to turn, it is important to anchor the paper (or fabric) by lowering the needle into it. For this exercise, make a copy of the pivot practice sheet here.

Directions

1. 1 Line up your paper so that you are starting in the middle of a line for the outer box. Begin by stitching down to the corner of the box and stop with your needle down directly in the corner. It’s a good idea to take the last couple of stitches by turning your handwheel toward you so you don’t go too far. Leave the needle down in the paper to anchor it in place as you lift the presser foot.

2. 2 Rotate the paper to align with next line of the box. Lower the presser foot.

3. 3 Continue stitching until you reach the next corner, then pivot and repeat until you have stitched all the way around the box and are back where you started. Take three more stitches over the beginning stitches to secure the beginning and end of the line. Turn the handwheel until the take-up lever and needle are at their highest positions, and remove the paper from the machine.
4. 4 Practice on the inner boxes until you feel comfortable with pivoting.

Directions

1. 1 Make a copy of the slow curve practice sheet (here). Start at the beginning of one line and stitch slowly down the line using your hands to steer. The faster you go, the more difficult it will be to stay on the line. These lines are curved gently enough that you should not have to decrease your stitch length, but as the curves get tighter, a shorter stitch length will help you stay on the line. If you stray off the curve, use a series of small pivets to get back on track.

2. 2 Remember to check your holes on the back after each line to see whether you are pushing or pulling too hard.

Please copy at 200%

Please copy at 200%