Nicki LaFoille

Practical Sewing Tips & Techniques 1: Overview

Nicki LaFoille
Duration:   2  mins

Description

Get an overview of the information covered in this course, from tension, elastics, hems and zippers to binding, mitering and pattern alterations.

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The information in this course will allow you to grow your sewing skills, to allow you to sew a wider variety of projects and more easily. We have a lot of information to cover, so let's prime your brain for all of this stuff. First, we're going to go over tension. What is correct tension, and the different adjustments to make to get perfect tension and a balanced seam. And we'll go over elastic, all the different varieties out there.

In the elastic section in the fabric store, there's a wide array, different widths and different kinds. So we'll go over some of the basic types of elastics and how to apply them to different projects. And I'll demonstrate how to insert elastic into a waistband in three different ways. We'll go over hems, which is a really important part of your project, to finish it off and give it a nice, crisp, professional look. So we'll go over different hemming techniques for different projects and different fabrics, such as knits and circle skirts.

We'll go over binding, which is a great way to finish edges, not only on quilts, but on garments as well. So we'll go over different types of binding, how to make your own, the formula for deciphering, how much binding to cut for the edge that you need to bind. We will talk about mitering corners when binding, if you are binding something that has edges. We will demonstrate how to miter those corners to get a nice, crisp, perfect miter every time. And I'll talk about how to join the ends of binding as well.

So binding, start to finish. Next, we'll go over zippers. Like elastics, there's a lot of different zippers out there, different varieties, so we will talk about when to use a certain type of zipper for a certain type of project, and I'll demonstrate how to insert a centered coil zipper and an invisible zipper. Next, we'll talk about pattern alterations, which is one of the most useful skills you can have if you're going to be sewing garments. So I'll talk about the tools you need, some basic pattern alteration techniques and some specific pattern alterations for skirts, bodices and sleeves, both for design considerations and for fit.

And lastly, we'll wrap it up with some general sewing tips, including how to prevent wavy seams and edges when sewing with knits, how to read commercial patterns, deciphering the symbols and figuring out what size to cut out for your frame, and how to blend between pattern sizes. So there's a lot of information to go over, and we're going to jump in with tension troubleshooting.

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