Sewing small stitches is one of my biggest pet hates. Anyone who sews with tiny stitches in a garment has obviously never unpicked it. I do understand when quilters use small stitching, but it is not necessary in garments. By this I mean sewing small stitches that are 20 stitches per inch (2.5 cm) rather than the normal 8 stitches per inch which I prefer. The problem with sewing 20 stitches per inch (2.5 cm) [...]
Home Sewing! This article might upset some people, and for that I am sorry. However, I have always been known to call a spade a spade, and that means saying it how it is. If only one person reads this and gains something from it, then I have achieved what I set out to do. That is to shock you into good workmanship when it comes to your sewing. So how did this all start? [...]
Top stitching can stop you from taking in the sides of a garment. But there will be times when you have to unpick the top stitching, take in the sides and re top stitch. If the garment is jeans, don’t despair about getting the cotton color right. A lot of domestic sewing machines do not like the thick denim cotton. If your sewing machine will not sew the thick cotton use two cottons to achieve [...]
Accuracy first speed second when altering Accuracy first speed second when altering is how I trained my team in the shops. I think one of the reasons some clothing alterations look bad is because the person was in a hurry and didn't take time to make sure they did the clothing alteration with care. Time is very important, because if you are running your own business you need to work on an hourly [...]
Countries such as India and Indonesia produce a lot of garments that are French seamed or Flat felled seamed. From what I understand it is mainly because the company producing the garments either contracts out the work to seamstresses/machinists who do not have over lockers, or they don’t have over lockers in their factories. I have seen documentaries where villages in remote areas use the old Treadle machines because they do not have electricity. Technology [...]