RANDOM SEWING TIPS FOR THE BEGINNER
Starter Supplies
We'll start with the most basic and necessary supplies you will need for your sewing and crafting arsenal! This list is about what I started out with, and bit by bit I've added to my "tool kit". Every visit to the craft/fabric store I've bought something (or things) and now I've acquired a pretty good collection! It can be expensive, so just buy one thing at a time and pretty soon you've got everything you need in your sewing room! There is nothing better than working on a project and having every thing you need to complete it without having to run to the hobby store!
1) Sewing machine (a basic machine is fine, some well known brands are Brother or Singer. (My husband bought me a Janome for Christmas many years ago, which I am still using!)
2) Good pair of Shears (very important for cutting fabric) These can be fairly expensive but well worth it.
3) Ruler
4) Iron and ironing board
5) Marking chalk or pencil
6) Straight pins
7) Measuring tape
8) Thread
9) Extra bobbins (you can never have too many of these!)
10) Seam ripper
11) Pin cushion
And that's the start of a good tool kit. You'll be ready to roll!
We'll start with the most basic and necessary supplies you will need for your sewing and crafting arsenal! This list is about what I started out with, and bit by bit I've added to my "tool kit". Every visit to the craft/fabric store I've bought something (or things) and now I've acquired a pretty good collection! It can be expensive, so just buy one thing at a time and pretty soon you've got everything you need in your sewing room! There is nothing better than working on a project and having every thing you need to complete it without having to run to the hobby store!
1) Sewing machine (a basic machine is fine, some well known brands are Brother or Singer. (My husband bought me a Janome for Christmas many years ago, which I am still using!)
2) Good pair of Shears (very important for cutting fabric) These can be fairly expensive but well worth it.
3) Ruler
4) Iron and ironing board
5) Marking chalk or pencil
6) Straight pins
7) Measuring tape
8) Thread
9) Extra bobbins (you can never have too many of these!)
10) Seam ripper
11) Pin cushion
And that's the start of a good tool kit. You'll be ready to roll!
SEWING RESOURCES
I'm going to list some resources that have helped me a great deal in learning to sew. Some of you may already use or be familiar with them, but some may not. I personally was having a difficult time understanding and sewing with patterns, so I bought some online instruction videos from Craftsy.com and found that watching and sewing along with the instructor helped a lot. I am very much a visual learner!
1) CRAFTSY has lots of instruction videos, projects, online classes and resources. Most are reasonably priced and some are free.
http://www.craftsy.com/
2) BURDASTYLE has lots of sewing patterns, online classes and video tutorials and resources.
http://www.burdastyle.com/pattern_store?utm_source=msn&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=burda&cid=2301
3) eSewingWorkshop.com is a fabulous resource for online sewing classes and videos. There are a lot of free classes and different levels of membership you can pay for.
http://www.esewingworkshop.com/
4) CRAFTSTER is an online community for crafts and DIY with loads of free projects and ideas.
http://www.craftster.org/
5) YouTube.com (of course!) has TONS of helpful and knowledgeable people with how-to and DIY video tutorials!
I will post more resources as I discover or remember them! But this is a pretty good start.
I'm going to list some resources that have helped me a great deal in learning to sew. Some of you may already use or be familiar with them, but some may not. I personally was having a difficult time understanding and sewing with patterns, so I bought some online instruction videos from Craftsy.com and found that watching and sewing along with the instructor helped a lot. I am very much a visual learner!
1) CRAFTSY has lots of instruction videos, projects, online classes and resources. Most are reasonably priced and some are free.
http://www.craftsy.com/
2) BURDASTYLE has lots of sewing patterns, online classes and video tutorials and resources.
http://www.burdastyle.com/pattern_store?utm_source=msn&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=burda&cid=2301
3) eSewingWorkshop.com is a fabulous resource for online sewing classes and videos. There are a lot of free classes and different levels of membership you can pay for.
http://www.esewingworkshop.com/
4) CRAFTSTER is an online community for crafts and DIY with loads of free projects and ideas.
http://www.craftster.org/
5) YouTube.com (of course!) has TONS of helpful and knowledgeable people with how-to and DIY video tutorials!
I will post more resources as I discover or remember them! But this is a pretty good start.
