Sewing Tips for Beginner - Part One

Part One - Sewing Straight Line



Promised some mommies in the MC group that I will blog on tips on sewing. As I have said over and over again, sewing is easy.  What is difficult is to pass up a good or considerable piece of workmanship. For the Part One here, I will blog on how to sew a straight line using the sewing machine.

The easiest way to sew a straight line is to first cut the fabric straight.   Once the fabric is in place, you just need to align its edge to the guides at the sewing machine and voila, a straight line is sewn!  Sounds easy right?  Well, it is!  One can always opt to sew according to the guides at the sewing machine but I personally prefer to follow the sewing feet as the guide.  It is much easier to see, rather than straining one's eyes to look at the guides.




Using the sewing feet as guide






Using guide at the sewing machine : 2cm seam allowance

 Another obvious way to sew a straight line is, of course, to draw a line at the fabric prior to sewing. 


There is yet another way to sew a straight line, provided that your seam allowance is not more than 1/4 inch.  All you need to do is to attach a blind stitch foot to your sewing machine, align the edge of your fabric to the guide of the foot and sew.  The guide of the blind stitch foot is adjustable, so you can adjust it to your desired seam allowance, provided it is not more than 1/4 inch.  This is particularly good for top stitching where it will create even and nice stitching. 





Blind Stitch Foot




Using Blind Stitch Foot as guide

 I have outlined 3 methods to sew a straight line : 1) draw a line prior to sewing  2) using sewing feet / guide at the sewing machine and 3) using a blind stitch foot.  I personally swear by the blind stitch foot method.  Do try it out and oh... practice, practice and practice.

Good luck and happy sewing!!

Eggless Tiramisu

I like Tiramisu, but feel a bit eerie about consuming raw eggs.  Got this eggless tiramisu recipe from a friend years ago.  It always score a full point with my husband.  Here it is :

Ingredients :

2 cups mascarpone cheese
1cup whipping cream or cream cheese
1 cup strong black coffee (sugarless), room temperature
3 or 4 tsp rum
30 ladies fingers
Sifted cocoa powder


Method :

1.  Whip the whipping cream till stiff.
2.  In another bowl, beat the mascarpone cheese and rum till well mixed.  You may also add some sugar if  you fancy sweeter taste. I don't.
3. Fold in the whipping cream to the mixture of mascarpone cheese and rum.
4. Dip the ladies finger one by one into the coffee and arrange them on the plate, side by side.
5. Spread a layer of the mixture of whipping cream and mascarpone cheese on top and try to level the surface as much as possible.
6. Spread some sifted cocoa powder over the whipping cream if desired.  There is no need to cover the whole surface.
7. Arrange another layer of dipped ladies fingers on the whipping cream.
8.  Spread another layer of whipping cream on top.  Level the surface.
9. Spread sifted cocoa powder over the top, covering the entire surface.
10. Chilled for at least 6 hours before serving.

Note :  Some people prefer to spread the top layer of cocoa powder only when it is ready to serve.  Spreading the cocoa powder before chilling will caused it to be 'wet'.

Enjoy!!

Birth Story in BabyTalk March 2012

Selecting a Sewing Machine

For someone who would like to start sewing, often, the first question would be 'which sewing machine should I get?' or 'what features should I look for in a sewing machine?'  Well, here are my thoughts on what should a beginner look for in selecting a sewing machine, in no particular order.

1)  Number of stitchings

Most sewing machines these days come with lots of stitchings. To name a few, straight, zig zag, blind hem, etc.  Some even comes with functions such as alphabets and numbers.  While these functions are good, however, I would say that for a beginner, the basic straight stitch would be more than sufficient.  I, myself have a Brother NV50, which comes with more than 50 types of stitches, but very very rarely do I use any of those stitches.   Having said that, the number of stitchings that comes with the sewing machine is not as important as the type of stitching it is capable of sewing.

2) Types of Stitchings

For a beginner, the straight stitch is more than sufficient for easy projects.  However, as one's skill advances, having the extra types of stitchings really do make a difference.  You wouldn't want to get stuck with a sewing machine that can only do a straight stitch and nothing else.   So, what are the stitchings that are normally needed?  Let's see.... straight, zig zag and overlock.

Straight stitch is for normal sewing.  It is just, well... straight.  A zig zag stitch is one that looks like a continous w.  The zig zag stitch is needed to sew button holes in sewing machines that do not have the button holes function.  Other than that, it is also used to sew overlock stitches, to prevent the edge of the cloth from fraying in sewing machines that do not comes with overlock function.  More about button holes and overlock later.

Top : Zig zag stitch
Bottom :  Straight stitch

04 - 07 : Zig Zag Stitch
09 - 12 Overlock Stitch

3) Button Holes

A mechanical sewing machine does not usually comes with a one step button hole function.  In order to sew button holes manually, one have to measure the size of the button, mark it at the place where you wish to place the button hole and sew it using a zig zag stitch.  This is often called 4 steps button hole. 

One step button hole is where you just need to put the button in the slot allocated in the special button hole foot and the sewing machine will sew the button hole according to the size of the button.  You just sit back and let the machine does its work.  Really easy and convenient.

However it goes with saying that a one step button hole function is convenient, but not essential.  One can always sew the button holes manually.

Foot for one step button hole sewing

42 -51 :  Types of one step button hole sewing for NV50

4)  Overlock Stitch

Most home sewing machines these days come with overlock stitch function or serging.  The overlock stitch is done to prevent the edge of the cloth from fraying.  The overlock stitch needs a special overlock foot for it to work, which usually comes with the sewing machine when you purchase it.  Otherwise, one can easily purchase the foot separately. 

Although a home sewing machine is able to do the overlock stitch, one should bear in mind that the stitches done will not be as smooth and neat as those done using a serger.  It serves its purpose although the outlook is not as nice. The home sewing machine uses only one thread for the serging while a serger usually uses 3 or 4 threads.  Although I can easily sew the overlock stitch using my NV50, nevertheless, I often send my cloth to be serged in the shop as I prefer smooth and neat serging.  It is only when I am lazy to go out or I need something done desperately that I serge the edges myself.   

Top :  Serging by serger
Bottom : Serging by overlock function

5) Mechanical or Computerised?

A mechanical sewing machine is one where the machine works by the pressing of the foot press.  The speed of the sewing machine depends on how hard or soft one presses the foot press.  For a beginner, this is a bit tricky to control resulting in uneven stitches.  However, with practice, one gets better with time.

A computerised sewing machine is God send for beginners.  It comes with a foot press and a button to start / stop the machine. One can opt to sew using the foot press.  Otherwise, you can start or stop the sewing machine by the press of a button and let the sewing machine runs its own course.  The stitching done will be nice and even, provided you do not pull the cloth as it sews. 

It is easy to differentiate a mechanical from a computerised sewing machine.  A computerised sewing machine comes with an LED screen as below :

LED Screen of NV50



Brother NV50, Computerised Sewing Machine



So, those are my thoughts on criterias in selecting a sewing machine.  My first sewing machine was a mechanical, non branded one.  It served me well but ever since having the Brother NV50, I will never ever go back to using the old one.  

In Malaysia, the most common sewing machines are the Brother or Singer.  Both are equally good.  Spare parts are easily attainable too.  I will not go to recommend which over which.  It depends on individual preference.  But do keep in mind of the above points when purchasing your first sewing machine.

Will blog on the different types of sewing feet and tips for sewing next.  Stay tuned....

Simple Sewing Project

Have some leftover checked fabric which I like very much.  It is just enough to turn a t-shirt into a dress.  So here it is.

Materials needed :

A t shirt
Cloth in pattern of your choice
Thread
Pins



Step 1:

Cut 2 strips of cloth with the width at least double the width of the t shirt.  Remember to serge the edges of the cloth to prevent it from fraying.

Step 2:

Put the 2 strips of cloth together with the right side facing each other.  Sew the edge of the cloth.

Step 3:

Turn the cloth inside out so that the right side is now facing out.  Align the seam of the cloth with the seam of the t-shirt.  Hold it in place with a pin.  Repeat at the other side.

Step 4:

Make pleats with the cloth.  Hold them in place with pins.  Adjust the width of each of the pleats so that they are well balanced.  After you are happy with the pleats made, you are now ready to sew them.

Step 5 :

Sew along the original stitching of the t-shirt.  There is no need to remove the pins as you sew.

Step 6:

With the wrong side of the cloth facing out, fold about 2cm of the cloth and sew them.  This will be the hem of the dress.  The dress is now done.

DIY Soft Structure Carrier

I have no idea what did I got myself into when I announced that I will DIY a soft structure carrier (SSC).  

An SSC is a baby carrier that can be used for both front and back carry.  Although I like my Moby Wrap due to it being very comfortable, the ease of use of an SSC caught my attention and interest.   Basically SSC is like a Mei Tai, the traditional baby carrier Asian mothers used to carry their babies around.  Only that SSC has buckles, rather than having to tie the knots as in the Mei Tai.    There are many brands of SSC around.  The popular ones are the Ergo and Boba. Since my two girls are almost past the age and upper weight limit for an SSC, I don’t think investing in it at this point of time is a good idea.  That is when I get the idea of sewing one instead.

I got a set of heavy duty buckles the moment I announced that I am going to sew one.  Good buckles are essential in SSC as they are the support which hold whole piece together.  Next to source are the durable foam for the waist band and fiber for the straps padding.  Choosing the fabric for the body piece is no less difficult as they are just too many nice prints and designs to choose from.  Finally, I settled on a nice big floral print and for the inner piece, I got myself a blue tiny floral print.

Spent a full day working on it.  It could have been done sooner if not for me having to remove the stitching of the straps.  They just didn’t seem right.  Managed to get them right the second time. Reinforcing the seams is very important as we do not want the seams to break apart while carrying a baby.  Assembling and sewing the body piece came next.   The padded straps really got in the way when sewing the body piece.  This is where the tricky part is as it is very difficult to handle the many layers of the body piece fabric and at the same time, getting the straps out of the way.  Finally managed to breathe in relief after the body piece is done.

The final part is to sew the waist band and attach it to the body piece.  This is also another tricky part as the waist band is very thick.  One have to sew very carefully to avoid the breakage of the sewing needle.   Finally, the SSC is done!  Some features of the SSC are :

1. Reversible body piece, meaning it can be worn inside out
2. Front pocket to put items such as handkerchief, etc
3. Side pocket at waist band for small items such as handphone, money, credit cards, etc.
4. Shoulder strap to prevent handbag from falling off
5. Slidable chest / back strap for front / back carry
6. Elastic band for straps to prevent straps from dangling

It is too big for an infant though.  Many mommies advised that I should use it with an infant insert.  However, with my 2.5yo girls, there is no need for the insert.   The SSC is very comfortable to wear my girls with.  Didn’t feel the weight at the waist or the shoulders at all.   Overall, I am very pleased with the outcome.  To think that I can actually DIY an SSC!!!