Dr Cindy's Feelgood Tips and Tricks!
Make your sewing even more therapeutic by making your projects quicker and easier.
These tips and tricks are bound to help!
Fusible thread.
Nancy Williamson comes back with this handy gem:
If you run out of fine fusing tape at just the time you need to fuse the hem of your garment down so you can stitch it, put fusible thread in the lower looper on your serger and serge the edge of the hem (right side facing up). Then press the hem in place and sew it down.
The same trick works on your sewing machine too - just wind a bobbin with fusible thread.
Tip of the moment: Interfacing.
Do you need support?
Posted by: Cindy, of course!
The right interfacing is crucial when you're sewing garments – it supports your construction in all the right places, so your piece hangs just right and gives you that designer look. Or it can give your fabric a little body all over.
The most obvious places to use interfacing are in collars, cuffs, facings and plackets. You can use sew-in or fusible (my favorite); it really depends on the fabric.
Interfacing choices are always expanding.
There's one that's perfect for your project!
We just got in some new interfacings the ready-to-wear industry has been using.
We have two lightweight fusibles; white, black and crème weft fusibles; red, blue, gray, black and crème knit fusibles; and white and crème fusible cotton.
What do the Feelgood Fabriholics
around the store (our staff) like to use?
Vicki, The Monday Girl.
Not being an interfacing expert, I usually learn by trial and error.
But I DO know what I like, and I've found that even the most casual fabrics benefit from interfacing around the neck or collar area, center-front edges and especially under buttonholes.
If I had only one to choose, it would be the fusible knit interfacing that Cindy got from the garment industry. It fuses easily and evenly, and I haven't noticed any shrinkage. Plus, it comes in several colors. I will almost always reach for this one first.
A tip from Louise Cutting:
When you're working with soft drapey or casual fabric, cut fusible knit interfacing so the stretch in the interfacing runs up and down the body, following the straight of the grain, so the fabric can relax. In other words, cut the interfacing on the crosswise grain.
Try it. It works!
Marty, The Tuesday Girl.
I like the knitted fusible interfacing, because it lets knits stay flexible, but makes them more stable. I also like it for woven fabrics, like rayon, where you want to maintain the drape of the fabric.
Dawn, The Sometime Saturday Girl.
I use fusiknit interfacing when I make shirts. It's a good weight for collars, cuffs and plackets. It gives good body, and these parts of the shirt topstitch nicely.
Cindy, The Everyday Girl and your Chief Sewing Therapist:
I like the knit interfacing for sewing on lightweight fabrics. When I'm using it on knits, it can add body if I fuse it so the stretch goes the same direction as the stretch in the fabric, or it can add stabilityif I fuse it so the stretch goes in the opposite direction of the fabric. Either way, it's lightweight and doesn’t make your fabric feel bulky or stiff.
I also like the weft fusibles for jackets. The interfacing itself feels lightweight, but it adds good stability in the collar and facings.
The best way to pick an interfacing:
Come in the shop and see our samples of different interfacing on different fabrics. Then, choose the one that’s right for your project.
Easier needle-threading.
Instead of licking the end of the thread, lick the eye of the needle! Note: On a sewing machine, we assume you were already going to use your finger to moisten the needle - and take your foot off the pedal, just in case, right?
A neater floor, without a lot of bending - or the vacuum!
Stick a lint roller on a long-handled paint edger - not the big roller, but the little edgers they sell next to the big paint rollers. Roll the edger around to catch all the little threads and scraps, and your area's neat as a pin!
Easy seam-allowance guide.
Whatever your most common seam allowance - whether 5/8", or some people like to use a full inch, stick a few layers of painter's tape that distance from your needle on your machine. Not only will you have a visual reference for where the edge of your fabric should be - the extra height of the tape will help you keep your seam straight.
Want more tips? Check the full tips archive!