Sewing is my favourite craft and I've been sewing my whole life (well, as soon as I was allowed to handle scissors and a needle).
To those who haven't fallen in love with this craft yet, it really isn't as inaccessible as it may seem. If you are desperate to sew but a little nervous about where to start and how to go about learning the techniques, fear not! I've picked out the best of the web to get you cutting and sewing in no time.
Buttons
The best place to start sewing is to sew by hand and the easiest thing to sew by hand is a button.
The amount of times I hear 'I can't even sew on a button...' which always amazes me as it's the simplest and easiest of sewing techniques.
As long as you cast on and off securely, you can be sure your button will stay in place. Yes, it's great for your handy work to look pretty, but it really doesn't matter, most people will never see it as it'll be either under the button or on the wrong side of the fabric.
Check out this tutorial from wikihow and you can't go wrong.
Perfected the way of the button? Wicked, now go and make something!
Projects
Once you've got the hang of button sewing, you should start to think of projects that can teach you along the way how to do different techniques.
You may want to learn how to alter your clothes - for example
take up a pair of trousers (tutorial by
PlanetJune) or
alter your favourite dress (tutorial by
Start Sewing).
These would be great starting points and don't seem as scary as diving head first into a make from scratch project.
If, on the other hand, you
like jumping in (like my good self!) then there are a few very good projects around that would be great beginner projects.
The
Infinity Dress pattern by
rostitchery is perfect for beginners - it's quick, has only one seam and looks fantastic!
(Appliqué is the technique of sewing motifs onto a background fabric)
Left: The Infinity dress is easy to make but looks professional.
Using a Machine
If you want to sew more adventurous patterns, or just want to be speedy, you will need to buy a sewing machine.
This can be a bit of a minefield as there are many options and brands of sewing machines out there.
There are two main types of sewing machine - the regular sewing machine and the Overlocker (Serger to our friends across the pond!).
You needn't buy an overlocker unless you want to get really serious. They are notoriously difficult at threading and only really perform one task - sealing the edges of your fabric so that it doesn't fray.
The sewing machine on the other hand can lead you onto creating beautiful things and compared to hand sewing timewise... well, there's no comparison!
When choosing your machine, I would suggest you look for a few key functions. You must be able to sew both a running (or straight) stitch and a zig zag stitch and you need both to be adjustable in length and for the zig zag width.
The zig zag stitch can be used instead of overlocking and can therefore stop the fabric edge fraying. It's also great for sewing up stretchy fabric.
You should also look for a bobbin winder in the machine and be able to adjust the tension in the thread.
Other than that, the choice of 'extras' is totally down to you and your budget.
My personal favourite when it comes to brands has to be
Bernina, but my own machine is actually a
Janome.
Whether you decide to only hand sew or to go for it and buy a sewing machine, I'm sure you'll quickly learn to love sewing and want to make make make! If you do, be sure to leave a comment and let us know what you've made below.
