Beginners, please add this to your sewing steps repertoire. (If you’re an advanced seamstress, feel free to go read my other excellent posts; or find more of tips by typing “sewing tips” in the search box at the top right of this post).

No, that is not my cutely manicured hand. The image is from the WordPress free image library for bloggers who use their platform.

1. Press your paper pattern.

Yes, ma’am. Iron with a dry iron (no steam, but if there’s some steam it’s okay) to remove all folds and wrinkles on the tissue. They’re a result of being stuffed into that small envelope. Just think, if you let the folds and wrinkles remain, the pattern piece has a chance of being inaccurately shaped, and you’ll cut your fabric the same way.

2. Chain sewing

Huh? That’s what I call this process which I use to save time and effort in the sewing steps sequence. It requires a bit of pre-planning but worth it. The premise behind this is doing one sewing task as much as possible before moving on to the next one. For example, stitching pieces together as long as you’re at the sewing machine — before hitting the seam-finishing and pressing hurdle. If you like to pin the pieces before seaming together, you’ll do as much pinning together as feasible, before sewing. Then you can start the choo-choo sewing train, feeding the pinned seams into the machine, continuing without snipping the end threads, until you’re done with a bunch of “units”. Then, you can snip the connecting threads and proceed with pressing all the just-sewn seams as long as you’re at the iron, then serge-finishing them using the same chain-sewing process. Or, other preferred seam finishing. Try it. You’ll like it.

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I am currently working on this project, and the sewing is slo-o-o-w. Pieces pictured above. It is easy to make but the slowness is totally on me. Sigh….

Have a great summer, everyone.

Samina