Whether you would like to learn to sew, or you already know how and want to take it to the next level, you can improve your sewing. Though learning to sew can seem a daunting task, it is one well worth undertaking. Completing a challenging but beautiful garment, and then receiving compliments when you wear it, will give you a great sense of satisfaction.
With only a few simple concepts in mind, you can dramatically improve your sewing in a short period of time.
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1. Choose Projects Within Your Skill Level
When choosing a project, do not be too ambitious at the outset. You want to work on something you know you can complete. The importance of building confidence by seeing your finished work cannot be overestimated.
Have fun looking for a pattern that you love, and take a time to select a great fabric that inspires you. Just make sure you are familiar with most of the techniques required. Don’t worry if your skill level is basic right now; you will improve quickly.
2. Learn A New Technique With Each Project
Think of learning to sew like learning to cook. In cooking, you first have to learn basic techniques like boiling or frying. Then with each new recipe, you try, you can attempt a more difficult technique until you are mastering complicated dishes like Eggs Benedict with the perfect Hollandaise sauce.
Sewing is much the same. You first learn to sew a straight seam, then to stitch a hem, then to install a zipper, et cetera. Try to challenge yourself with each new sewing project you do by adding a technique to your arsenal. Just like in cooking, once you learn a technique, you can use it in any future recipe (or pattern).
3. Finish Every Project Before Starting Something New
When you get stumped or bored, it is easy to cast aside the project you are working on and move on to something else. Especially if you have a creative mind, you may be tempted to flit from this project to that, leaving a stream of half-sewn fabric in your wake.
Make a rule for yourself now that once you start a project, you must complete it before moving on to the next. If you don’t, you will find yourself with a nagging guilty conscience about all the time and money you have wasted on unfinished projects. Finish everything, and you will find your body of work growing more quickly than you would have imagined.
4. Take Photos Of Your Finished Projects
Keep a photographic record of everything you make. When it seems as if you are not making any progress or are bogged down with so many ideas that you’ll never get to them all, take a look at your pictures. Sometimes reviewing all the things you have made in the past months or years serves as encouragement to keep going. Sharing your photos with family and friends is also a great way to rekindle your excitement, as you are likely to receive some nice compliments on your work.
You can improve your sewing in a relatively short period of time by following these tips. Most importantly, make sure you have fun. Focusing on projects you enjoy will keep your passion alive, and that passion (more than anything else) will help you to improve your sewing.
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