Here are 11 things I wish I'd known
when I started sewing 9 days ago. I probably wouldn't have bled as much and I definitely would've been less frustrated. Hopefully this list will help you out if you want to start sewing. Think of it as a cheat guide to that game you want to finish except the end boss always kicks your butt.
1. Be the Rainmain.
If you don't already have a mild form of some
obsessive-compulsive disorder, go get one. By this I mean, develop rituals or checklists that will help you do the ordinary stuff until it becomes second nature. Do weird things if it helps you remember to do the important things. For example, here's my "Getting Ready to Run the Sewing Machine" ritual. It's exaggerated, sure, but it helps me remember to do everything -- and to do it safely.
- Turn on the machine.
- Check stitch type, length, width, and tension.
- Line up the fabric under the needle area.
- Hand crank the needle into the fabric, about 1/2" into the line I want to sew.
- Drop the presser foot.
- Do a quick re-check of the above steps.
- Hold down the reverse button and press the foot pedal to sew some backstitches.
- Let go of the reverse button and stitch forward.
Hey, if checklists got astronauts to the moon, they can surely help you.
2. Pins FTW!
Get some
pins with knobs on the end.
Trust me on this. I started off with regular straight pins and not only did I waste time fumbling to get them in and out of the fabric, but I pricked myself from not noticing which end was which. Get the knobby kind and you'll make your life a lot easier.
3. You are Ironman.
Your iron is a newbie sewer's best bud. Iron everything! You can use your iron to mark a fold where you're going to cut, iron hems to stay in place before you pin them, and lots of other things. Also important is your ironing board if you're like me and don't have a Seriously Special place for your sewin area. You can measure and pin things on your ironing board and it's like having an extra table.
4. One word: Cortaid.
See item #3. If you're going to use your iron a lot, chances are you will get burned from time to time. I don't care what your mother said about running your finger under cold water, soaking it in ice, or putting butter on it. All that stuff is pure HOOEY, my friend!
Cortisone cream is burnt-hands-down the best treatment for light burns there is. (Source: My husband's
1991 Healthnet First Aid book.) If you put it on quickly, in about an hour you won't even remember you burned yourself -- and even if you do, you won't be able to find the spot you burnt.
5. This is not the Autobahn.
Faster is not necessarily better. Your presser foot is not an
Indy 500 accelerator. You don't need to floor it to prove you can sew. Sew slowly and let your ego work out its road rage in a more appropriate setting -- like the freeway.
6. Acquire hand-foot coordination.
It's this simple: the closer your hand is to the needle, the further your foot should be from the pedal. Basic safety stuff here.
7. RTFM.
Read your machine's manual. Don't be the person who's cussing because you are a
PEBKAC.
8. Act like a carpenter.
An old carpenter's adage is "Measure twice, cut once." Be warned, if you don't adopt this motto yourself, you'll be spending lots of money rebuying fabrics.
9. Find a friendly fabric store.
When you fail to heed item #7,
don't go to Joann's. Find a
mom-and-pop store near you where people will actually care that you're a new sewer.
10. This is not the tracing wheel you're looking for.
Did you get a
tracing wheel in your little sewing newbie kit? I did. This is really more of a funny story than a tip. I had no idea what this thing was for. Does it cut stuff? No. Oh, maybe I can trace the line I want to cut and it will stay indented so I can cut it! Um... no. Yeah, just put this little gizmo aside. You won't need it right away, trust me.
11. It's supposed to be hard.
While we're talking about misusing sewing gadgets, don't get all nuts and start buying patterns and junk right off the bat. This stuff will intimidate the bejeebus out of you. Despite being the butt of housewife jokes, sewing is actually pretty freaking complicated. There's math involved, there are dangerous tools, the lingo is baffling, and there are a million ways to get it wrong. Be okay with that
right now. Just learn one tiny thing at a time. Of course, it's great to have a goal you're working toward (e.g., make that $90 skirt you saw for only $20, or whatever), but accept the Zen of the situation: you'll need to practice and practice takes time. If you remember this, you'll be a lot less frustrated and you'll have much more fun sewing.
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I've seen a few amazing stories this week about dogs who were rescued from shelters. My favorite one has to be about Myron, the blind dog from Australia. He is so full of life and love that watching his videos just fills me with joy. Of course not all rescue dogs have special needs, but I picked Myron as an example of how much love a rescued dog has to give. I confess to having an ulterior motive for writing about rescue dog adoptions. You see, for every blog post about rescue dogs until midnight tomorrow night (Sun. 9/19), Pedigree will donate a 20lb bag of dog food to a shelter so I decided that helping a dog was worth a few words of my time -- and yours (since you're reading this). The cynical among you may believe that what Pedigree is doing is self-serving. I won't argue with that. Social marketing has always been about good PR for the company doing the charity work. However, just because a company benefits from goodwill for their actions doesn't mean there's no value to these actions and that good deeds should go unrewarded. Do you think a rescued dog who finds his or her forever-home is going to give a flip about how it happened? No. And what about you? You have a chance to do something good for another life on this world. There's no religion that doesn't reward compassion towards those in need, regardless of species. Do what you can: adopt, donate, volunteer... or write a blog post. That's what I did.
