The trickiest bit
about sewing is to be able to stitch in a straight or curved line.
Perfecting this only
comes with practice.
To start with, don't worry about threading your machine or finding fabric to sew.
Fit a needle to your
sewing machine – but no thread.
Set you sewing machine’s
stitch length to 3 or 4 – not too small, or your stitching will just make holes in
the paper.
Set your sewing needle to stop in the downward position when you stop sewing.
This holds your paper/fabric in place when you pause.
Print the patterns below – photocopy
paper is a good thickness, as it won’t tear as you sew.
Sew along the lines,
beginning with straight lines, then waves, then curves, circles and finally a
combination of straight and curved lines.
At this stage, don't worry about starting and finishing right at the end of a line.
The point of this practice is to be able to follow a line.
Slow and steady is the way to sew.
Zooming along makes it difficult to control the paper, making your lines of stitching go wriggly.
When you get to sewing with fabric, you want to try and keep to the stitching lines first up, as unpicking is no fun!
As
you sew along the curves and circles, use your knee lift (if your
machine has one) or the lever at the back of your sewing foot, to raise
the foot slightly and pivot the paper every few stitches.
Keeping your needle down will keep the paper in place as you sew.
You will be able to easily check your stitching, as you should have perforations along each of the lines.
Take a look at Ruffles and Stuff's The first
few stitches and Sewing
straight lines pages, as these have excellent images that show you very clearly how to start sewing.
Patterns
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| Download the Practice Sewing Straight Lines Pattern |
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| Download the Practice Sewing Straight Lines Spiral Pattern |
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| Download the Practice Sewing Straight Lines Diamonds Pattern |
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| Download the Practice Sewing Straight Lines Triangles Pattern |
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| Download the Practice Sewing Straight Lines Shapes Pattern |
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| Download the Practice Sewing Curves Waves Pattern |
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| Download the Practice Sewing Curves Circles Pattern |
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| Download the Practice Sewing Curves Swirls Pattern |
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| Download the Practice Sewing Combination Pattern |
Happy practicing!
These are great! I'm going to be using them with my Grade 11 Fashion students today!!!
ReplyDeleteI have been trying for hours to make copies with no success. All of my info is correct, yet I remain locked out. Very unfriendly website--wonderful patterns. I'm teaching my granddaughter to sew. These would have been useful.
ReplyDeleteHello Hoody,
DeleteYou need to click on Download, then request the document to be Shared, if you would like to reuse the patterns.
Alternatively, write to me at GetSetSew@gmail.com, and I will attach them to the reply email.
Regards, Debra
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteHi Debra,
ReplyDeleteThese seem to be blurry. Is this the only way to download using Google apps?
Cheers
Ally
The reason they're blurry is because she lifted the thumbnails from my site -without attribution I might add. You can find the post she stole these from on my site at https://fashion-incubator.com/training_sewing_machine_operators_pt_2/.
Delete