Craftsy Class Review: Sew Better, Sew Faster: Advanced Industry Techniques

I've been interested in Janet Pray's "Sew Better, Sew Faster" classes on Craftsy for a while, as I am always looking for ways to make my sewing easier, more professional, and faster.  So I picked up this "Advanced Industry Techniques" class in a recent sale.  I chose this one, rather than her more basic class hoping I would have more to learn from an advanced class.

Well I have to say this is probably to best Craftsy class I've taken.  I've taken some really useful ones in the past on specific subjects (alterations, serging) but this one covered so much useful information on basic sewing techniques.

Sew Better, Sew Faster: Advanced Industry Techniques

The teacher, Janet Pray, has a long history of working in the garment industry and teaching garment industry sewing.  I never realized how different techniques really were from the garment industry to home sewing, assuming it was mostly machinery and repetition that made industry sewers so fast.  But Janet explains that home sewing techniques have mostly been passed from generation to generation and originally came from hand-sewing techniques, while garment industry techniques are about what actually works best and is fastest.

Topics covered in the class are cutting, marking, sewing without pins, interfacing and pressing, zippers, waistbands, buttonholes, and seam finishes.  You can see these are all basic and frequent sewing tasks, and I think I learned at least one really useful thing on each topic, and usually many things.

Janet also covers topics such as tools and ergonomics.  I've already gone out and bought myself a board to make a custom extension for my sewing machine bed since it's vintage and doesn't sit down into my table.  I found myself taking notes throughout the class (which luckily Craftsy makes easy to do within their interface.)  That's something I've honestly never done for any other Craftsy course.  I find myself really eager to try out all the techniques from the class. I put off this review until I had a chance to try out what I learned from the class in practice.  I was able to do that when I made myself some board shorts recently.  I'll admit the idea of sewing without pins was daunting.  I found myself still using one or two pins in places to line things up.  But overall, I found her methods really worked!  I was able to stitch without pins, or using only very few.  I followed some of her advice on topstitching to achieve a more professional looking result.  I was able to cut multiple layers of stretch fabric at one time without it shifting AND without pins.

I think it's safe to say that this class has had the biggest effect on my sewing habits of any I've taken, and I highly recommend it.

Oh and just for the hell of it, here are the board shorts I made.  I used this pattern, which includes built-in swim bottoms.

Tool Review: Seam Allowance Guide

Hey, did you know it's really hard to cut and take a photo at the same time?

Seam Allowance Guide 

I recently discovered this neat sewing tool thanks to Pinterest.  It's a little plastic cylinder that attaches to your scissors with a magnet and measures your seam allowance so you don't have to add seam allowance to your patterns or measure and mark them on your fabric.  I ordered a pair immediately and I've now had a chance to test them out. (They come in a set of two: one for scissors with a flat blade and one for slant-bladed scissors.)

First, why is this tool needed?  Well if you only sew from commercial patterns and don't draft your own, or use patterns without seam allowance, you probably don't have much use for this.  But I find myself working more and more on patterns without seam allowance.  Modifying patterns is much more accurate if done without seam allowance.  Especially with corset patterns, it's important to finalize your pattern without SA for accuracy.

But then you have the problem of how to add SA back when you are cutting.  You can copy your pattern to another paper and add SA in on the paper, but then you have two copies of the same pattern, and it's very time consuming.  With corset patterns especially, I like to mark the stitching line for accuracy, so I trace around the pattern with chalk and then add SA on the fabric.  I've tried a few different ways of marking out the SA and none of them have been ideal.  So this sounded perfect to me.  No measuring or marking necessary!

So I tried it out on the jacket pattern I developed for my Femme Steampunk Darkwing Duck costume.  Because I created the pattern by draping and inventing and adjusting, I had my final pattern pieces with no SA.  I'm not overly concerned about exact stitching lines, so I just pinned my pattern to the fabric and used the Guide to cut the seam allowance.

The guide has two rubber rings that you can move to mark different thicknesses of SA.  I used 5/8" here.  You place the guide on the blade of your scissors and cut by keeping the correct ring along the line of your pattern piece.  It takes a little practice to keep your cutting accurate, since there's nothing keeping you from wobbling all over the place.  You also have to cut with your scissors on the left side of the pattern piece because the guide has to be on the blade above the fabric.

Overall, I'm happy with this, and it saved me a lot of time on this project with HUGE pattern pieces that would have taken forever to mark out the SA on.  My only real complaint is that I wish the magnet was a bit stronger because it is possible for the guide to slip up the blade as you cut, which leads to less accuracy in cutting.

My finished pattern piece.

The Seam Allowance Guide can be ordered from the maker here.  It's $15 for the pair, including shipping from Australia.  It arrived pretty quickly for me, in about a week.

How to Make a Victorian Cravat or Ascot Tie (UPDATED AND IMPROVED) Tutorial

My very first tutorial for this site has proved to be my most popular in the three years since I posted it.  (Three years! Time flies.)  It's my Victorian Cravat tutorial.  But I know more about sewing now than I did then, so I've updated the technique to be a little more attractive and taken all new photos that are hopefully a bit better.

(This updated tutorial also appears in the book Steampunk For Simpletons.)

How to Make a Victorian Cravat

A period necktie is an essential piece of any steampunk gentleman's wardrobe. Many different styles of tie were worn during the Victorian period and the terminology can be confusing because words like "cravat" were used to refer to different objects in different periods. But the good news is that it's not difficult to make a simple cravat that can be tied several ways for different looks. Plus, mine are reversible!

Materials Required:

-About 1/2 yard of fabric or 1/4 yard of two different complimentary fabrics for a reversible cravat (I usually use satins and home decor fabrics from the remnant bin!)

-Matching thread.

-a large piece of paper for making the pattern

Tools Required:

-Sewing machine with a straight stitch

-Ruler and pencil

-Measuring tape

Steps:

1. Measure your neck circumference, or the neck of the intended wearer. Subtract 1/2 inch from this measurement and then divide by two (I will give you the generic measurements I use in a bit if you want to make something that should fit most men.)

Craftsy Sewing Class Giveaway!!

Some of you may remember me posting about the website Craftsy, and their online craft classes.

Since then I've been taking a couple of their classes myself, and I've been really impressed.  Their classes are detailed, clear, and can really take your crafting to the next level.  (If you're interested, the two classes I am taking are Tailoring Ready-to-Wear and Fast Track Fitting.  I highly recommend the Tailoring class if, like me, you have never learned the correct way to make alterations.  I haven't gotten beyond the basics in the second class, but so far so good.)

So I am very excited to offer my readers an opportunity to win a free class.  I even got to pick which class I would be giving away.  I wanted to choose a sewing class that would be useful regardless of your skill level, so I chose:

Now, I haven't taken this class myself, but I've heard good things, and I thought most of my readers would appreciate it.

So, you have two weeks to follow the link below and enter the giveaway.  That's from today, 3/10/14 until Monday 3/24/14.  After that time one winner will be randomly selected by Craftsy and will be notified by email.

Enter to win a Craftsy class

Let your friends know, share wherever!  The more the merrier!



[This post contains affiliate links.  If you purchase a class through my links, I will receive a commission.]

How to Start Sewing Step 2: Actually Sewing

Ok, you've got your hands on a sewing machine (as discussed in Part One.)  No matter what it is that we want to make, when we first start we all find ourselves sitting at a sewing machine with no idea what to do.

The very first step is figuring out the basics of your sewing machine.  You need to learn to put in a needle, wind a bobbin, and thread your machine.  Your manual (or one downloaded from the manufacturer's website) should help you with this.  If you have trouble with this (or really any sewing-related task) the internet is your friend.  You will find a million YouTube videos showing you how to do whatever it is.

I found a really great introduction to a sewing machine the other day on Shrimp Salad Circus.  It shows you all the parts and walks you through threading your machine and sewing a few stitches.  Definitely check it out.

So after you've got your machine threaded, grab some plain, non-stretchy fabric and start stitching.  You're not trying to make anything yet, just make some lines of stitches.  You can try different stitch types and machine settings.  If you're like me, you will quickly discover you have problems stitching in a straight line.  That's ok, just do your best.  I'll talk about this more in a bit.

Troubleshooting:
If you have problems with your machine, if it jams up or your thread is knotting or whatever, there are a few things to check.  First, make sure it is threaded correctly.  If the thread isn't through all the right places it will jam the machine.  Sometimes the thread slips from one of the guides during sewing.  Maybe it wasn't in there securely, but every once in a while it just happens, and usually it takes me way too long to realize what the problem is.

Other sources of problems may be your thread tension.  Try adjusting your tension knob slightly.  Typically I don't mess with mine a lot, but you need to find a good place to keep it set.  Another source of problem could be your choice of needle, thread, or fabric.  You need to have the right needle and thread thickness for your fabric.   Here is a good basic guide to choosing needle size and thread type.

One problem I ran into a lot when I first started was my thread knotting up.  I couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong.  Well, eventually I found out: I had cheap thread.  At some point my mother-in-law game me several spools of 2/$1 Wal-mart thread and so that was what I was using.  I didn't think thread could really vary much in quality.  OMG, IT DOES.  I threw all of this thread in the trash because it was ruining my projects, my sanity, and possibly my machine.  You don't have to buy the really expensive, top-of-the-line thread, but buy a name brand like Coats.  For almost all normal sewing tasks you will use the same type of thread: the kind labeled all-purpose or something similar.  Don't buy "heavy-duty" thread (or other specialty thread) unless you know you need it.

You don't really need to worry about doing anything complicated at this point.  You need to be able to stitch a relatively straight line by using the seam guide on your machine.  Just doing that will get you through most beginner projects.  If you (like me) have a hard time sewing straight, I recommend a Magnetic Seam Guide.  I used one of these for almost a year until I was confident in my ability to sew an accurate seam.

Practicing/beginner projects:
Ok, so you've got your machine working and you know how to make a basic line of stitches on your machine.  Now what?  Well, you need to start with something that will hopefully be fun, make something you want to make, but won't cost a lot or break your heart if you mess up and have to throw it out.

How to Start Sewing Part One: Buying a Sewing Machine

I talk a lot about how I had never used a sewing machine before two years ago. It's something I point out whenever people tell me I'm "such a talented seamstress." Not because I'm bragging, but because I want people to know that it doesn't take that much or that long to do what I'm doing. You can do it, too! So I figured I'd finally write out some advice for how to go from a non-sewer to a sewer.

Step One: Get a Sewing Machine

I know that a lot of people who have not used a sewing machine before are kinda afraid of them. I was. I thought, well I can just hand-sew something if I need to. Nevermind that I hate hand-sewing and am really bad at it. I still somehow imagined it was easier than using a sewing machine. I was SO WRONG.

So yes, you need a sewing machine. You might already have access to one. Maybe a relative or friend has one you can borrow (or have?). If so, great.  Free is good.  But if someone says, "You can come over to my place and use mine," I, personally, would hesitate.  I am much more stressed out by making mistakes when someone is looking over my shoulder.  And I learn best by figuring things out for myself rather than having someone teach me.  YMMV.

Buying something new and cheap?
Ok, let's say you need to buy a sewing machine.  Easy, right?  Go to your local Wal-mart or other discount store and buy the cheapest one, right?  WRONG WRONG WRONG.  Seriously, don't do this.     Low end sewing machines are VERY low-end.  They are made with plastic internal parts, which will break under stress.  No matter how cheap you think that sewing machine is, you are basically throwing your money away.  The machine will break with use, and it won't be worth it to get it fixed.

Don't necessarily believe that just because a machine is a certain brand that you've heard is good that it means it is a quality machine.  Singer, for example, was a byword for a quality sewing machine for probably a hundred years.  Not anymore.  I don't know about their high-end machines, but the low-end ones are crap.  They trade on their name by selling really cheaply made machines.  Brother also makes a bunch of cheap machines.  If you are trying to decide if a machine is decent quality, try picking it up.  It should be heavy.  If it is light, it has plastic parts.  You want a heavy machine because you don't want it to walk itself across your table while you are sewing.  It should stay in place on its own.  Alternatively, if you are buying online, make sure you read the specs and get a machine with all metal internal parts.

Picking up a vintage machine for cheap?
So, if we don't want to go buy a cheap, brand-new machine, then we should start looking for old machines, right?  I mean, we all know that old sewing machines were made to withstand nuclear blasts and are awesome, right?  We should be looking at garage sales and thrift stores, right?

Well, I actually have a problem with this sewing-machine-buying-philosophy as well.  I once had a sewing machine from a garage sale.  It was a heavy duty old Singer, something I'm sure hipsters would fall over themselves for.  But I couldn't figure out how to use it.  There was no manual, no instructions.  How do you even thread it?  Are all the parts there?  How do I know if there's something wrong with it?  I maintain there was something wrong with that machine, but since I had never used a sewing machine before, I had no way to know if that was the case or what to do about it.   There are a lot of small things that can go wrong with a sewing machine, and it is nearly impossible to tell if there is something wrong if you're not familiar with them or how sewing should work.

So I'm not saying DON'T buy an old machine at a garage sale or thrift store, but I don't think it's the best option for someone entirely new to sewing.  If you have a super knowledgeable friend to go with you and help you figure out how to use the thing afterwards, great.  If not, maybe consider option number three.

Factory Refurbished
So what does that leave?  Don't buy a cheap new machine and don't buy an old used one?  What do I buy?  My personal recommendation is that you buy a factory refurbished machine.  A factory refurbished machine has the best of all worlds.  It's guaranteed to work.  It comes with a warranty.  It comes with all the parts, and hopefully a manual (if not, you should be able to download one for your model on the company website).  It is used and therefore more environmentally friendly and a much better bargain than a new machine.  You get all the features that an old machine doesn't have.  It's probably not a cheap piece of crap because those are not even worth refurbishing.