Sewing is frustrating to many new hopefuls. I'll try to help with that as much as I can in one blog post.
One really common problem with sewing is organization. It's difficult to keep al the pattern pieces straight. To help with this, keep the pattern pieces pinned to the fabric even after cutting. If you don't want pins all over the place, you can try quilter's safety pins, which are curved to make them easier to use. Yes, the safety pins take longer to put in, but if you will be handling your fabric a lot, it could be worth it to prevent hazardous pins falling out all over the place.
Another problem with starting to learn to sew is understanding of the sequence of operations. What happens is that we get too excited and go a step ahead without checking instructions, causing us to skip steps. This results in costly seam-ripping which is one of the most discouraging parts of sewing.
Also, attentiveness and caution are in order when sewing. Examples:
- Not noticing the grain of the velvet and cutting one piece the wrong direction
- Sewing pieces back to back instead of face to face
- Sewing past a mark on the fabric into an area that was supposed to be left open
- Doing the same thing to both sides when the sides are supposed to be different
- Not marking the waist line carefully so the sides don't match up when the zipper is put in
Basically, unless you have made this pattern before or you're extremely experience, always do a sanity check that everything is copacetic before you press that foot pedal.
Seam ripping must be done extremely carefully. NEVER put the seam ripper between two pieces of joined fabric and push forward. This more often than not leads to disaster. Instead, pick the threads out one by one until you can gently pull the fabric apart (not for chiffon or thin fabrics!) then cut a few more threads and repeat.
After ripping there will be tons of tiny thread bits jutting out that can be really annoying to remove, so here's a tip: duct tape. Yep. Unless you are sewing very fine silk or velvet, just smooth duct tape over the back of the fabric and it should get those annoying thread bits out.
For marking fabric, I use markers. Doesn't that ruin the fabric, you ask? Not if you only mark in places where it never shows and use a pigment marker (similar to paint marker). The reason I don't like the fabric markers they sell in stores is that I'm always handling my fabric a lot and the chalk rubs off. I also can't see the marks well even when they're fresh. So, do this with caution, but as long as you know the marks won't show, it can help a lot. Alternatively, use a safety pin with a small postit note with what the mark means written on it.
Another thing that has helped me a lot in my sewing is that I have one of those flexible cutting mats that goes with rolling cutters. This is so much more convenient and effective than just smoothing fabric out on a table and cutting it with scissors, because the scissors require the fabric to be lifted up from the table, probably wrinkling it or distorting the shape, whereas the rolling cutter lets you keep the fabric flat, making it much easier to see the shape you are cutting. When my youngest child was a baby, I made a sewing apron for myself, mainly for the purpose of keeping the rolling cutters away from her but still accessible to me.
If you have the flexible mat, go ahead and get the clear ruler too if you cut a lot of fabric strips or shapes. It's a great way to be able to see where and how much you want to cut.
Finally, I wish I could make the sewing machine industry repent of making such cheap and flimsy wares. But I can't. All I can do is suggest you go out there and find a working sewing machine you like and which was produced before 1980.
Hope this helps!
--Pam