Search with ctrl-f or cmd-f or jump to Learning to sew « » General principles
Specific sewing skills: Basting « » Double needle, using « » Hand sewing « » Knots « » Stitching in the ditch « » Tapering and clipping seams
Sew Delicious has a comprehensive post about different kinds of seams, with finishing options. Threads magazine has an extensive how-to archive. Additionally, if you go to “how-to” in the menu bar a drop-down will reveal categories.
Clothing components: Cuffs « » Linings and facings « » Gussets, gores, godets « » Hems, marking « » Hems, sewing « » Pockets « » Thread bars and chains « » Zippers
For making clothing you will also want to know about fabric grain and ease.
Shaping fabric: Darts « » Gathering « » Gathering, lazy « » Pleats « » Tucks
The University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service has a pdf briefly but thoroughly describing darts, ease, gathers, pleats, shirring, and tucks.
Altering clothes: References « » Lengthening « » Shortening « » Letting out « » Taking in « » Alterations for modesty « » Restyling/refashioning « » Limitations to alterations
Mending clothes: General advice « » Darning « » Patching « » Replacing zippers
Creating patterns: Historical clothing « » Making patterns from clothes « » Pattern drafting
Other topics: Sewing machine thread tension « » Caring for clothing « » Fabric grain « » Bags « » Dyeing fabric « » Ease « » Doll clothes
New Mexico State University has a guide to sewing machine maintenance.
Alterations for modesty – Lacy or crocheted insets to low necks do a remarkable job of covering up despite not being opaque. A faux collar or ruffle may be added to cover more. Be open to lowering the original neckline in order to give the additions more room and make them look more natural. Lingerie straps in the shoulders of garments loop under bra or camisole straps and snap again to the garment to keep it from slipping and revealing them; they are made with thread chains. A small snap sewn carefully at the level of the bust point can keep button-down shirts from gaping open. Linings may be added to clothing that is too sheer or reveals too many contours, as in this shirt lining tutorial. See also lengthening clothes.
Alterations references – Ikat bag has a miniseries on alterations (scroll down for links to the other posts). TLC has a lovely and fairly comprehensive article on altering and mending clothes. I use the tag “mending” for all mending and alteration related posts. The most comprehensive books I’ve found for alterations are the following.
- Making Your Clothes Fit by Patricia Burkhart Smith (Dolphin Books, 1979). This assumes you are experienced at sewing and has briefly described fixes for both existing clothing and patterns.
- Wardrobe Quick-Fixes by Jan Saunders (Chilton Book Company, 1995). This book assumes nothing about your sewing skills but that you are competent to learn the basics as needed. It covers mending and sewing, and while the suggestions for alterations and restyling may not be to your taste, it covers a lot of skills you could apply in other ways. It also has the most extensive section on zipper replacement I’ve seen.
- Altering Women’s Ready-To-Wear and Altering Men’s Ready-To-Wear by Mary A. Roehr (self-published, 1999 and 1991 revisions, respectively). These assume you have some familiarity with sewing but are far more detailed than the Smith book above. They cover mending and alterations, to existing clothing only.
Bags, sewing – Bags are a wonderful place to start customizing your sewing since fitting a body is not a factor. Soozs has a post of bagmaking advice, and ikat bag has a series of the same (scroll to the foot of the post for links). Neither includes any bag patterns (bags are also a great subject for your first pattern design); if you’d like to find a free one, Tipnut’s sewing category includes several lists of bag types, including messenger bags and tote bags.
Basting – Basting is stitching intended to be removed, used to either test for fit or to hold pieces together for the real stitching, when pins would be unwieldy. It is done either by hand or with the sewing machine set to its longest stitch. A line of basting may also be used for gathering fabric, where either the top or the bottom thread (but not both) is used like a drawstring for the fabric.
Bias – See Fabric grain.
Caring for clothing – Cleaning clothes in the prescribed manner is good for their longevity. Here’s a chart explaining the laundry symbols found on clothing tags. If you have a linty sweater you can clean it with a razor; I wrote a post on shaving sweaters with tips. Never send a tear to the wash (if you can help it) – see Darning and Patching for more.
Crossgrain – See Fabric grain.
Cuffs, making – These are not so hard provided you follow the right steps. First, decide how wide/tall your cuff should be. Mark how long the pants should end up (see “hems”, below). Mark a horizontal line at the desired finished length, one cuff width below that, and another cuff width below that. Cut the pant leg about 3/4 of the cuff width below this last line and serge or zigzag the raw edge. At this and subsequent steps, make sure the seam allowances are pressed open. Fold in on the middle marked line, press, and pin. Sew the two layers together around the leg (machine sewing is fine; the stitches will be covered by the cuff). Turn the cuff up to the outside of the pants, which is a fold at the remaining two marked lines, and press. Pin on each side and stitch in the ditch through all four layers vertically (in the inseam and outseam of the outermost layer of the cuff). Pictures of a fake cuff.
Darning – Hand darning is a combination of running stitch and weaving, creating a woven patch to cover a hole or simply using running stitch in a way that securely closes a tear (machine darning is an approximation of this useful for tears; I have thoughts on procedure). For most fabrics a simple woven grid will do; for more coarsely knit fabrics the design of the fabric may be mimicked on a foundation of vertical threads. This is called Swiss darning or duplicate stitch. For stretchy fabric, pull over a darning egg, incandescent lightbulb, or other round object before darning to prevent overtightening your stitches. Begin by making horizontal rows of running stitches all the way across the hole starting a few stitches to each side of the hole, with a few rows entirely above and below the hole. The stitches across the hole will simply be long threads. Second, make vertical rows of running stitches, similarly, but instead of having single long threads bridging the hole, weave your needle through the stitches laid down in the previous round. Use no knot – starting and ending a few rows away from the hole gives enough friction to hold the thread. Making each row extend a few stitches outside the hole means the darn won’t tear through the weakened fabric directly around the hole. Use thread that matches the color and weight of the fabric as closely as possible. For a tear, you may need only the rows of running stitches perpendicular to the tear, and you want to alternate whether the thread or fabric is on top at the edge of the tear. However, you’ll need to stitch both ways if the tear is diagonal – always stitch with or perpendicular to the grain of the fabric. For holes, the side away from you when you stitch will be smoother and more attractive – make it the inside when rubbing is a worry (e.g., socks) and the outside when attractiveness is primary (e.g., sweaters). Here’s a good tutorial on woven darning; I wrote a post on machine darning for denim.
Darts – Darting is removing slim stretches of fabric by folding it right sides together, and making a diagonal line that is either at the fold to the inside of the piece and away from the fold (typically by a relatively small amount) at the edge of the piece, or meets the fold at both ends and is away from it at some point in the middle (I will call these “triangle” and “diamond” darts, though they are technically both triangular). They are one important piece in the arsenal of techniques to make flat fabric fit non-flat humans flatteringly. The most common uses of darts are at the waistline (triangle darts for pants and slim skirts, diamond darts for shirts so they will flare back out to accommodate hips) and bustline (as part of the waistline darts below the bust, but also triangle darts aimed at the armholes and sometimes at the side seams just below the armholes). You can curve the dart line to get even finer tailoring. Coletterie has a page introducing dart sewing, and Tilly and the Buttons has some ways to fine-tune your stitching method to improve your darts.
Doll clothes – Sewing even for 18″ dolls presents challenges because of small size, and 11″ dolls can require modifications to the usual sewing order of operations. Sharon Sews has a pair of posts about 11″ doll clothes, one on patterns and fabric and one on pinning and sewing. Craftiness is Not Optional has six tutorials for Barbie clothes, two each of shirts, skirts, and dresses. Adams-Harris Pattern Company has a page of advice on fabrics and trim, and some advice on sewing with knit fabric and sewing specific garments. This page amounts to an ad for Dritz but still has good ideas. Doll-clothing-patterns.com has a small archive of construction tips, but what is covered seems to be done well.
Double needle, using – This is a pair of needles attached at a fixed width from each other to a single shank that fits into the needle housing of a normal sewing machine. Double needles are frequently used to mimic commercial t-shirt hems on home machines; in that situation you want to decrease your thread tension, shorten your stitches, and gently stretch the material as you sew. I wrote a post on hemming specifically, and Bolt Neighborhood has a discussion covering that as well as set-up and other uses for double needles. If you do not have a pin for your second spool of thread, here is a way to DIY one.
Dyeing fabric – This can be time consuming but it is not too difficult. Rit is the most common brand in stores, and here are two pages about mixing Rit to make a rainbow of dye colors. Considerations: bleaching fabric to prepare it for dyeing weakens it, and if it is already weak, may eat little holes in it. Also, most polyester sewing thread is colorfast, meaning it will neither bleach nor re-dye. Consider the contrast you might get between the thread and the fabric when choosing dye colors.
Ease – Ease is extra size added to garments in the design process. There are two kinds of ease: wearing ease keeps your shirt from being a body cast, and design ease is added for stylistic purposes (e.g., slim vs. blousy sleeves). Here are two different charts of the amount of ease added to garments with different silhouettes (from fitted to loose). Garments made of stretchy fabric or that leave the parts of your body you move a lot uncovered (e.g., tank tops) need little to no ease; how well the seams of the clothing match the locations of your joints also affects how much ease you need (an armhole that is too far into your torso makes the sleeve constrict your shoulder joint more). Ease may be added generally, as overall larger pieces of fabric, or locally, in the form of pleats, gathers, and gussets.
Fabric grain – Grain is an aspect of woven fabric. Woven fabric is created with long warp threads criss-crossed by weft threads that reach an edge, make a hairpin turn, and go back the other way. This has several structural consequences, with vocabulary to go along. Grain, grainline, and straight grain all refer to the warp threads; they are the direction along the fabric that is parallel to the warp threads. That is the least stretchy direction of the fabric. Perpendicular to that is the crossgrain, the direction of the weft threads. The crossgrain is slightly stretchier than the straight grain because the weft threads are not as tightly stretched on the loom. However, the stretchiest direction of woven fabric is the bias, which is 45 degrees from both warp and weft (hence bias tape, which is cut in this direction for maximum flexibility). Another related term is selvedge, which refers to the finished fabric edge created by the weft threads turning around to go back the other way. The selvedge is parallel to the straight grain. If you have a selvedge you can always find both straight and crossgrain, but if your fabric has been cut at an angle folding it in half without distortion may be difficult. Coletterie has a tutorial on finding the grain in such a case.
Here are the practical consequences: clothing is usually cut so that the straight grain is vertical. This is especially important in long coats, robes, and dresses, which may sag if cut on the crossgrain or bias and will feel like they are twisting around your body if they are just “off” from the straight grain. If you want to make a tote bag, you’ll want the straight grain to be vertical in it as well. Some clothing is intentionally cut on the bias; full, swirly skirts come to mind. Commercial patterns will give you a grainline on the pattern pieces: a long straight line that may have arrowheads at each end, which is to be placed parallel to the straight grain (that is, parallel to the selvedge).
Facings – see Linings and facings.
Gathering and its relatives – Gathering uses a basting stitch (or one thread of a machine basting stitch) as a drawstring to scrunch fabric evenly. Shirring is intricate, decorative gathering, frequently done with elastic thread but not always (think of the front yoke of a little girl’s summer dress). Ruching can be parallel lines of gathering to create a decorative fabric overlay, such as with tulle for a formal dress, but the term is also used for gathered or pleated trim and for gathers along vertical seams of garments made for a more fitted and flattering line. In this last case it is typically used with stretchy fabric such as in swimwear and t-shirts. Gertie’s New Blog for Better Sewing has a nice post about these three terms.
Gathering, lazy – For real gathering see above. Lazy Gather works best when you don’t have a lot of extra fabric to contend with, or when the gathered part isn’t going to show (such as where the sleeves and shoulders of a coat lining meet). Lazy-gathered fabric must be sewn to something that is not being gathered. Pin the fabrics right sides together, smooth until the ends of the gathered region. Then, pin the halfway points of the fabrics together. Treating each half as an individual region, pin the halfway points together again. Repeat until you’ve spread the extra fabric out sufficiently. I used lazy gather in the shoulder seams of the lining for my peacoat.
General principles – A spot for the odds and ends that don’t fit in another category. If you are choosing between slightly too light and slightly too dark thread, choose the slightly too dark thread. It will be more invisible. I used to say to make all width adjustments prior to making any length adjustments in alterations, but Mary Roehr’s principle is to work from the top down, which is far more comprehensive. Under that you will still take a dress in at the sides before taking it up at the hem, but it covers more cases than my statement. For example, removal of shoulder pads should clearly happen first, but that’s not quite covered by length vs. width.
Grain – See Fabric grain.
Gussets, gores, godets – A gusset is an extra piece of fabric added to allow a garment to move more easily in a specific location. Diamond-shaped underarm gussets are the most common, but gussets at the crotch or knees of pants or the elbows of a shirt are also seen. If a gusset meets the edge of the garment, such as the bottom of a shirt or skirt, it is called a gore or godet. Here is a discussion of gores and gussets with an eye toward Renaissance fashion, and here are gusset instructions from Three Dresses and Burdastyle for vintage and modern clothing.
Hand sewing – Important stitches for non-embroidery hand sewing are running stitch, backstitch, blanket/buttonhole stitch, and whipstitch. Here’s another tutorial, somewhat brief but clear. Neatly made half hitches make clean, sturdy stitching for snaps and so forth. See also thread bars and chains.
Hems, marking – Pants that are too short make me crazy. If they are not clam diggers, pedal pushers, capris, or other intentionally short pants, they should overlap with your shoes (this opinion is, sadly, not universal). By how much they overlap is a stylistic choice; Effortless Gent has an article with pictures of different breaks, as they are called. For me, with moderately full-legged dress pants worn with flats or low heels, I like the hem to meet the top of the sole in back, which in bare or sock feet on a hard floor translates to 3/8″ off the ground. For heels of more than 2″ you may want the pants even longer. Another approach is given by a diagram on the back cover of Beyond the Pattern, published for Threads Magazine by Taunton Press, 1995, which gives hem lengths appropriate to different hem widths. To mark hems solo, do a guess and check method: fold them up how much you think is right and pin them. Stand tall, with your side to a full-length mirror, and check them. Adjust as needed. If you are on carpet wear your shoes; this can also help when marking solo because seeing where pants end relative to the shoe is easier to do by sight than a measurement off the floor.
Hems, sewing – You can certainly fold your hem up twice, sandwiching the raw edge inside, and stitch around with a machine. Jeans and other casual clothing are hemmed this way. In the alteration shop we used to keep a wooden mallet for “tenderizing” jeans hems, beating the folds at each inseam and outseam to flatten them a bit and make them go under the sewing machine more easily. You can also buy a thick piece of horseshoe-shaped plastic (such as a Jean-A-Ma-Jig) to even out the thickness under your machine’s presser foot. A very narrow hem, such as on dress shirts or many skirts, is more easily done in two steps: turn the fabric up to a length slightly more than desired, stitch around, and then trim close to the stitching, fold a second time, and stitch again. This ensures you have something to keep a grip on at all stages of the job. Knit fabric is typically hemmed with a double line of stitching, that has a serger-like back thread. You can mimic that on your home machine with a twin/double needle, decreasing your thread tension, shortening your stitches, and gently stretching the material as you sew. I wrote a post on this (if you do not have a second spool pin, here is a way to DIY one). Blind hems are seen on dressier clothing and may be done by hand or machine. With hand stitching, the idea is to catch only a few threads of the outer layer of fabric with each stitch so the stitching is completely invisible from the outside. It’s most easily made as a zigzag type stitch, alternating sewing through the turned-up part with catching threads on the main pant leg or body of the skirt. For sturdiness, make sure the stitches on the outer fabric are about half an inch apart. A lot of advice is to use a “catchstitch”, which is otherwise known as herringbone stitch. For a truly invisible hem, you have to work by hand or with a commercial blindstitch machine, which has a curved needle that scoops the outer fabric and on which you can adjust the depth at which it scoops. However, for a nearly invisible hem, you can likely use your home sewing machine. Here is a very clear youtube video on that process. I have a different machine from hers, but the symbol for blindstitch is the same. If you prefer photos, visit Bolt Neighborhood.
Historical clothing – Fashion-Era covers a lot of time periods (let me highlight the ancient Mesopotamian and Mediterranean section); I was impressed with the specificity of their Assyrian clothing instructions. Reenactment has led to many Medieval and Renaissance resources: Medieval fabrics and sewing from Rosalie’s Medieval Woman, historical re-enactor; Some clothing of the Middle Ages, an archaeological material survey compiled by I. Marc Carlson of University of Tulsa; Medieval clothing from Dame Helen’s Library, medieval re-enactor and professional couturier; The Medieval Tailor’s Assistant is a book recommended by others, though I cannot vouch for it myself; The Renaissance Tailor has “demonstrations” of sewing 16th and 17th century clothing.
Knots – There are a few knots useful in ordinary sewing; I use a few overhand knots to tie a knot in the end of a thread for hand sewing, and a couple of half-hitches to secure the thread when I’m done sewing (the fabric takes the place of the metal rod in the instructions). The square knot comes in handy quite frequently as well. Basic embroidery knots are taught in this post. I will likely add more decorative knots as time goes on, but we’ll start simply with a tutorial for a snail frog closure.
Learning to sew – Burdastyle has an article with projects and tips for beginner sewers, which includes links to other sites. A lot of close-up pictures of sewing machine parts, which are likely similar to yours, are in these posts by Dwell on Joy and Make It & Love It. That latter article is a follow-up to a great tutorial on learning to use a sewing machine, totally from scratch. Online sewing lessons are available from Tilly and the Buttons, and Couturier Mommy has a series of video lessons. Sew Delicious ran a Back to Sewing Basics series with posts on a variety of topics. Sewing.org has a whole set of educational pdfs and The Mother Huddle has an index of sewing tips from around the web. Neither is organized into a curriculum but they are good for looking up specific techniques. I wrote a post with advice on cutting out commercial sewing patterns. More advanced techniques may be found on A Fashionable Stitch. Easy projects include pillowcases, coasters, and unstructured bags. Move on to elastic or drawstring pants or skirts, zippered or pocketed bags, aprons, and potholders. After that try whatever your heart desires! I have seen curtains listed as an easy sewing project, and it seems like they ought to be, but start with something smaller. Although curtains are all straight seams, there is difficulty introduced by their size, and crookedness is pretty obvious in something hanging on the wall.
Lengthening clothing – You may be able to decrease the depth of the hem; if you can get away with a turn-under of at least 3/8″ you can sew hem tape or other lacy ribbon a scant 1/4″ from the edge to augment the amount turned up. If that is not long enough you will have to add fabric; I put ribbon around the bottom of a pair of jeans once and got a surprising number of compliments. Faux cuffs or a ruffle can be added to sleeves or pant legs, the latter shown in this tutorial. A band of contrasting fabric can be added to the bottom of a skirt or shirt, or the bottom of the garment cut off and the band attached between it and the upper portion of the garment. Of course when you do that the seam allowances will be lost to length, so account for them in your band width.
Letting out clothing – Move buttons or other closures, if the overlap is sufficient. Decrease the seam allowances. In modern clothes, you are likely to be restricted to removing a straight line of stitching and letting the seam open to the line of serging, netting you only an inch or so around the whole garment; you may want to run a line of stitching along the inside edge of the serging to strengthen it. If there are darts, pleats, tucks, or gathers, you may be able to add more room by letting them out as well. Add fabric (gussets, gores, godets, bands), but if you can’t match the original fabric exactly, coordinate/contrast and be bold in your additions, as in this upsized dress. Sleeves that restrict motion of the arms might benefit from a diamond-shaped gusset inserted at the underarm, diamond points aimed at seam lines. Pant legs can be flared with a triangular gore inserted into the outseam, a skirt made swingier similarly. Too-tight pants can have a tuxedo style band added to each outseam. Threads Magazine has an article on this.
Limitations to alterations – While a whole lot of changes are possible, some things are either not possible or rarely worth the work required. For example: it is difficult to alter highly constructed garments such as blazers, especially through the shoulders, though not impossible. Collars and shirt cuffs cannot be made larger except by addition of fabric. It may not be possible to make armholes smaller or crotches higher unless you are willing to add fabric – in a few cases you can raise the armhole by taking in the shoulder seam and raise the crotch by taking up at the waist, but there must be enough fabric at the bottom to allow that, and it must be worth the extra work involved (especially if it is pants with a fly). If you are short-waisted, and hence garments fitted through the midsection bunch up at your waist, fixing the problem is likely to require the addition of a waistline seam (try on petite sizes next time you’re shopping for such a garment). Preserving slash pockets (as on many dress pants) when taking a garment in at the sides is a complicated job, and may require reslanting the opening. Jeans are hard to alter because the fabric is heavy and there is typically a good amount of hardware attached. Fine fabrics and knit fabrics (e.g. t-shirts) may show traces of removed stitches, possibly to the point of permanent, obvious holes – and something like vinyl certainly will.
Linings and facings – Clothing and bags are often lined, meaning there is a copy of the outside sewn separately and attached to the interior so that all the seam allowances are between the two layers. The copy may be more or less exact depending on the item; sometimes you literally sew two copies of the same thing, turn one inside-out, and sew them together, as in this skirt lining tutorial. The lining and outer fabric may be placed right sides together, stitched and turned (as in this dress lining tutorial), or may be placed in their final configuration and topstitched. Jackets and blazers are typically lined by a method known as bagging: see Threads magazine for a tutorial with drawings and Grainline Studio for one built around photos. In bags the lining is usually different from the outside, at least in having different pockets and so forth. Futuregirl has wonderful tutorials on creating and installing linings for crocheted bags. A Fashionable Stitch has a discussion about choosing fabrics for your lining.
Clothing is often partially lined, such as a blouse where the torso is lined (for opacity or smoothness) but the sleeves are not. The extreme of partial lining is facing, which is essentially a lining that’s been cut off. Facings can be a whole yoke (as in this tutorial for attaching a lining to a sleeveless dress), or simply a strip of fabric that runs along the inside of a neck or arm opening. They keep the raw edges and so forth from peeking out the opening. The smallest facing you can make is by edging the opening with bias tape.
Underlining, or what we called in the costume shop flat-lining, is not quite the same. It means to make each piece of the pattern a double layer, basted together along the edge, prior to any assembly. You would underline to give more sturdiness to delicate fabrics or add opacity to sheer fabrics in such a way that the seam allowances can’t show through as easily. Interlining is yet a third thing, a layer of fabric or batting added for warmth, often between the outer fabric and a lining, sometimes installed as an underlining.
Mending advice – I’ve made a couple of posts with mending advice: jeans mending advice and To Mend Or Not To Mend.
Patching – Patches may be put on the outside or inside of the garment with edges of patch and hole raw, whipstitched, or turned under. They may be ironed on, sewn on flat, seamed in, or darned in (with no overlap of fabric in the darned case). Seaming and darning are the most invisible, provided the fabric matches the original. When patching the underside of a placket for a better base onto which to sew a button, make the patch wide enough that you can sew along the vertical seams of the placket and catch the patch edge, for extra strength. Thin material with the desired look may be fused to heavier fabric for a sturdy patch. For attractiveness, consider patching more than just the hole (either multiple spots or a large patch such as a strip the length of a sleeve, repeated on the other sleeve), or adding embroidery, as in this lovely post. Here is a tutorial for reverse applique, a technique for patching on the underside and letting it show through a hole you’ve cut to a decorative shape. One example of reverse applique with topside applique is this monster knee patch for jeans. I love this sweater repaired with moth applique patches; here are tutorials for three more stain- and tear-covering appliques. A non-sewn alternative is filling holes in woolens with crochet.
Pattern drafting – If you want to create your own patterns from scratch, ikat bag is your best resource. In addition to regularly posting detailed deconstructions of specific garments, under her drafting label, she has a introductory drafting series and looks to be starting a “subtleties of drafting” series, though as of this writing it is just one (fabulous) post on sleeve set-in angle.
Patterns from clothes – If you have a clothing item you love and want to replicate, or something that is dying that you want to replace, you can use the original piece to make a pattern. If you want to retain the original piece, Missy Meyer has a lovely post about using masking tape to make a pattern. Threads magazine has an article with a more traditional method that may suit you better. If you are not going to keep the original, you can cut it apart at the seams (cutting off the old seam allowance, which may not be a standard width if serging on the edges scrunched the fabric), pin the pieces to paper, and draw a new (known width) seam allowance around the outside. I have pictures from when I did just this in replacing a coat lining.
Pleats – A pleat is just a fold in the material, stitched in somehow but loose below the stitching. An ordinary (knife) pleat has the fabric in a Z shape, and has direction: the extra material in the pleat is pressed to one side or the other. In a box pleat, you have symmetry: half of the extra fabric is on each side of where the points meet, putting the fabric in a sort of squashed capital Omega shape. Box pleats are my go-to when I need to take width out of fabric at an edge but leave it free away from the edge, such as in the top center back of a coat lining. If I have two points at which I am taking out width I may do two mirror-imaged knife pleats, which is like a spread-out box pleat. Technically a box pleat has the fabric folds that meet each other on the wrong side, and if they show, it is an inverted pleat, but I use “box pleat” for both. Pictures of box pleats. Multiple pleats made on narrow fabric can give a ruffled look. See also tucks, as they are often grouped with or mis-termed pleats.
Pockets – You can add internal pockets to any seam and patch pockets to any face of a garment easily. In fact, while it is often easier to add pockets in construction, there is always a pocket for any location even for existing garments. A compendium of pocket tutorials is accessible from this page from ikat bag; the most widely applicable are the inseam pocket and the classic patch pocket. There are a lot of other options, including fancier versions of each of those and internal pockets with openings cut into a fabric face rather than at a seam. Remember also that virtually the only limitation on patch pocket style is your imagination. A pocket in the shape of the Eiffel Tower is not going to work well, but any more square shape should be workable.
Restyling clothing – I don’t do much of this but I love the idea and have some links for you. Janome sewing machine company has a few tips for getting started with restyling. There are a lot of blogs around about thrifting, restyling, and sustainable fashion. Four I think are dense with ideas are ReFashionista, new dress a day, Refashion Co-op, and So, Zo… What do you know?. Pinterest is an endless rabbit hole of ideas; three users with nice boards for restyling are landart, themerrymagpie, and dorinepc. I found two good t-shirt refashion and reuse compendia from Saved By Love Creations and Cathie Filian, and bonus tutorials for weaving a vertical ribbon into a t-shirt, creating a braided detail on the neck of a t-shirt, and layering two t-shirts with a design cut out in the top one (though I would bleach and sew before cutting out the design, though it requires care not to nick the bottom layer). Here is a post about using embroidery to personalize a wool coat.
Selvedge – See Fabric grain.
Shortening clothing – Of course you can increase the depth of the hem (see the entries on marking and sewing hems). Some other ideas: add a drawstring to an overly long, blousy top. Shirr a long sleeve with a U or a few parallel lines of running stitch; likewise with one line of stitching on the side seams of a shirt, to ruche it. In extremely long pants you may be able to create a cuff.
Stitching in the ditch – If you need to get a collar or facing to turn more smoothly (have a sharper edge where it meets the body of the garment) or if you need to tack down such a facing or a turned-up cuff, you want to stitch in the ditch. This refers to stitching along the seam; for turning, it would be the seam that attaches the facing or collar, and for tacking, it is a seam that runs perpendicular to the facing or cuff, such as the shoulder or inseam. Pull the fabric on each side of the seam you are stitching on away from the stitching, so you are sewing between the two sides as much as possible. When you finish and release your hold on the fabric, it will bounce back and hide your stitches. For turning, this gives the pieces more of a “hinge”, and for tacking, it is a way to keep pieces in place without a lot of invisible hand sewing (though of course that is not always avoidable).
Straight grain – See Fabric grain.
Taking in clothing – Move buttons or other closures, provided the size change is not large. Increase seam allowances. Note that every horizontal change produces a vertical change, and to keep from warping the hem line your changes should be spread out. If you want to remove more than 4 inches from the circumference, separate it into at least three locations. These may be the side and back seams, or you may want to add darts or increase those already present. Add darts, tucks, or pleats. Darts should point at larger spots: from the armhole to the bust point (difficult to add to finished garments with sleeves), from the waist to the bust point and/or hip, from the waist to the center of each buttock. Highly fitted garments may have darts pointing at the peak of each shoulder blade, as well. A fold-over “placket” can tighten a loose sleeve; make a pleat with some topstitching and add a button and loop. Add gathers, elastic, a drawstring, or belt loops. A truly outsized garment may be cut into pieces to sew into a new version entirely, as with Lil Blue Boo’s fitted sweatshirt or see kate sew’s sweatshirt liposuction.
Tapering and clipping seams – Fabric will want to lie in the same curve as the seam is stitched. That means, if you don’t want a corner in your fabric, you don’t want a corner in your seam. This comes up most when making alterations, such as taking in pants at the waist. Gradually curve your new stitch line to meet the original line at a very gentle angle. You should also trim your seam allowance to a reasonable width and clip curves to allow the seam allowance to lie smooth. If seam line is curving to get closer to the fabric edge, you need only snip the seam allowance perpendicular to and not quite all the way to the seam. If it is curving away, you need to snip out a little triangle of fabric, pointing at the seam line. Pictures of different angle seams, and clipping.
Tension, sewing machine thread – This has a reputation for being more mysterious than it really is. I wrote a whole post on this, which includes some pictures. The tension on a sewing machine adjusts how easily the machine allows the top thread to move (in many machines, it controls how tightly two or three metal disks press against each other). For 90% of projects, tension is “set it and forget it”. Start with your tension set to its middle value. Load top and bobbin threads of two different colors into your machine and sew a straight stitch at your usual stitch length on a double-layered fabric of a third color. Choose the fabric to be representative of your usual sewing – I set my tension using calico or muslin. If the stitches look taut or the bobbin thread pulls through the fabric, decrease the tension. If the stitches look loose or the top thread pulls through the fabric, increase the tension (the top thread pulling through is not much of a problem in most situations, though). The stitching should look the same on both sides of the fabric. The bobbin thread has its own tension setting, but that is via a screw inside the bobbin case and is designed to be adjusted only by those trained in repair.
Thread bars and chains – These are both a line of thread made sturdier. A thread chain (finger knitting) is a handmade, tight crochet chain, and a thread bar (French tack) is several lines of thread covered with buttonhole stitch (tight blanket stitch). A French tack must be made between two ends; finger knitting can be done with only one end attached. I have a tutorial link for thread chains, but none for thread bars, since they are fairly self-explanatory. However, a link I found that made me think “of course, why didn’t I think of that?” is this one on a machine-stitched faux French tack, in which you zigzag over six taut lengths of thread and use the resulting bundle to stitch your bar or chain. Thread chains and bars are used for swing tacks, which connect linings to outer layers of garments such that they can move, but can’t get too far away from where they are supposed to be. A thread chain that ends in a snap may be a lingerie strap, in the shoulders of garments to keep the garment from slipping and revealing bra straps; they typically have their snap at the end closer to the neck. A French tack might be a belt loop that is meant not to show; using heavier-weight thread means these can still hold reasonably heavy belts. Thread bars may be replacements for buttonholes at the edge of fabric or eyes for hooks anywhere. Small tacks in matching thread are nearly invisible and so can be used for adjustable garments, such as trains to be worn bustled or unbustled.
Tucks – Tucks are often grouped with pleats but are more like inside-out darts: long folds of fabric sewn at a distance from the fold. Tucks are typically sewn parallel to the fold from one end of the fabric all the way to the other, and always the fold is on the right side of the fabric. Pintucks are the narrowest, 1/8″ wide or less, and are sometimes seen on women’s dress shirts, either parallel to the button placket or around the sleeves (My Happy Sewing Place has a survey of the use of tucks in vintage patterns). Pintucks may be sewn with a double needle on flat fabric, as shown at Bolt Neighborhood. The fold of any tuck may be sewn flat to the fabric, only at the ends (as for pleats), all the way along the length, or in multiple lines perpendicular to the fold. Narrow tucks are typically left unsecured. A look that is much fancier than it is difficult comes from wave or twisted tucks: multiple lines of stitching perpendicular to the fold, pressing the tucks in alternating directions. Wave tucks are explored in depth at Sew4Home and Daisy Janie. This tutorial for a mock smocking technique also uses wave tucks.
Twin needle – See Double needle.
Zippers, general information – Zippers come in three basic kinds: standard, invisible, and separating. Separating zippers are found on jackets and sleeping bags, invisible zippers on some skirts and dresses, and standard zippers most everywhere else. Typically the teeth of a separating zipper are exposed when it is closed; if they are covered it is usually by a separate strip of fabric. Invisible zippers are designed so that not only does the fabric cover the teeth, there is no seam line on either side of the zipper. They are usually installed using a special invisible zipper foot on your sewing machine to open out the teeth from the tape and stitch in the crevice between them, so when you finish the zipper will roll back up and pull the two fabric edges together. You can install them with a standard zipper foot but that may require practice to get right (I did this on a pillow and while it is less visible than a standard zipper it is not invisible). Standard zippers are installed in many ways: centered on seam with teeth exposed, centered on seam with teeth covered by fabric, off-center from seam (lapped) with teeth covered by fabric, and in a fly closure. To shorten a zipper at the bottom end, stitch around and around the teeth to make a new pull stopper. Cut the zipper about a half inch below that point. To make a zipper less sticky, you can rub the teeth with a pencil (graphite is a good enough lubricant that it is sold in spray cans in hardware stores) or, for a less dirty solution, clear wax. I have a clear wax crayon saved from a Paas Easter egg decorating kit for that purpose. Zippers on bags are often installed with one or both ends extending past the edge of the bag, covered with a tab; Dog Under My Desk has a tutorial for such tabs.
Zippers, replacing – The idea behind zipper replacement is just to undo the stitches holding in the broken zipper, change it for a new one, and redo the stitches in the opposite order. If you keep good records (digital cameras are good for this) you can change a zipper on anything. Here is an extremely detailed set of instructions on replacing a jeans zipper, and a great post on replacing a non-jeans fly front zipper. Some tips: Before changing the zipper on a multi-layer jacket, baste through all layers an inch or so away from the edge of the opening. This holds them together and aligned properly while you sew in the new zipper. Before sewing in a zipper which is centered and covered by fabric, baste the fabric together where it will meet over the zipper. Lay the zipper down on the back and sew it to the fabric from the bottom most of the way up before undoing the basting. Unzip the zipper and finish sewing to the top edge. Make sure to sew crosswise to the zipper over the zipper tape below the bottom stop for security. Most fly fronts are constructed in the same way: one side (on top when zipped up) has a facing that the zipper is sewn to, not all the way through to the outside layer. When replacing the zipper that side is sewn first. The other side, underneath, has a separate placket between the zipper and the body, and the stitching goes through the outer layer of fabric, the zipper, and that placket; that side is sewn second. I have seen advice to avoid removing jeans topstitching because it is hard to replicate, and to stitch the facing side of the zipper by hand (you can still sew the placket side by machine). That is a good idea if possible, but some topstitching may be through the old zipper. In that case you can cut the inside thread only and stitch with same-color thread over the outside to keep the topstitching from pulling out.