A Sewing Project Start to Finish

Overview of a sewing project

Disclaimer:

We tried to make this as generic as possible, but there are exceptions to everything.  Also, we’re still learning, so we don’t know what all the exceptions are. 

Step 0: Equipment

            There are a huge number of tools that are supposed to help with sewing, and a lot of opinions about which ones are most useful, but the things you absolutely need are:

●      An iron + surface for ironing*

●      Something to cut fabric with

●      Something to sew with

            The surface for ironing could be a proper ironing board, or it could be a few layers of towels laid out on a flat surface.  Common setups for cutting fabric are a rotary cutter + a cutting mat, or a pair of scissors + any flat surface. If you’re using a pattern, you’ll probably also want something to hold it in place, such as weights or pins.  Sewing is usually done with a sewing machine, but can also be done with a serger or a hand-sewing needle. 

(At least, those are the recommended options.  If you want to hack your fabric apart with a Bowie knife and connect the seams with staples we won’t stop you.) 

After those, the next most important things are marking tools (chalk, tracing wheel + tracing paper, etc.) and something to hold your seams together before you sew them (pins or clips), although in a pinch you can do without those. 

*Admittedly, this is actually optional with a lot of knit fabrics

Step 1: Decide on a project

The image above shows a Venn diagram. On the left side it says "Projects you want to do." On the right side it says "Projects you are capable of doing". There is an arrow pointing to the center saying "Pick something here."

Step 2: Choose and acquire a pattern

            Depending on the project, this might just require finding one that looks pretty, or it might require an extensive search to find one with the right seamlines to use as a starting point before making modifications.  Either way, it’s worth looking at the line diagrams (generally on the back of the envelope) so you can see exactly where the seams are and how complicated the pattern is.  Some patterns include a difficulty rating.  Most patterns include fabric suggestions; if you know you want to make the garment out of a woven fabric, and you choose a pattern where all the suggested fabrics are knits, there’s a decently high chance of catastrophic failure.

There should be a size chart that lists body measurements next to numbered sizes.  In theory, comparing your bust, waist, and hip measurements to the chart should tell you your size; in practice, pattern companies can have interesting ideas about fit, so their recommended size is just a starting point.  Most modern patterns are multi-size, but only include a certain range of sizes in each envelope (i.e. there’s an envelope with sizes 6, 8, 10, and 12, and another envelope with 14, 16, 18, and 20, etc.), so double-check that you’re getting the size you need before buying. 

Step 3: Choose and acquire fabric

             This is listed after choosing a pattern because different patterns require different amounts of fabric, and it’s useful to at least have an idea of how much fabric to get before you buy it.  That said, sometimes a nifty fabric inspires the whole project, in which case you either make an educated guess about how much you’ll need, or you find a pattern and then come back for the fabric.
 

            There are a huge number of factors that affect whether a fabric is suitable for a given project, depending on your aesthetic, sensory, and thermoregulatory needs, as well as the specific parameters of the project and how you intend to wash the finished garment.  Some fibers are more breathable than others.  Different weaves behave differently.  Double-knits are much easier to wrangle than single-knits.  We should probably write a dedicated post about this sometime, because there isn’t a good way to summarize. 

Step 3.5: Acquire other supplies

            In addition to fabric, you will also want to buy thread, any interfacing the pattern calls for, and any extra bits such as buttons or zippers the pattern calls for. 

Step 4: Pre-shrink your fabric

            This is to make sure the garment doesn’t shrink in the wash after you sew it.  Either wash the fabric or steam the hell out of it. Washing and drying instructions are located in the online item page* or on the sticker on the end of the bolt that has the fabric. It’s a good idea to take a photo of this so you don't forget, because it's a giant pain to attempt to look this up later. 

*Unless the people who made the website are inconsiderate. 

Step 5: Check that the pattern will fit correctly

            There are a variety of ways to do this. 

            Making a mockup out of cheap fabric (such as muslin) is one of the most reliable ways of checking fit as well as a powerful tool for fixing fit problems. It’s also the most time and labor intensive. 

            Measuring the pattern pieces and doing some arithmetic to figure out the finished garment measurements is fairly quick, but not very reliable.  It’s easy to subtract the wrong number of seam allowances, it doesn’t account for the fabric behaving weirdly once it’s on the body, and it only covers the measurements you think to take -- so if you just measure the bust, waist, and hips, you won’t have any warning if the shoulder width or torso length are wonky.  (Note: I have heard rumors that patterns will sometimes list the finished garment measurements, but when these even exist they usually well-hidden and woefully incomplete.  On a related note, pattern companies need to get their act together.) 

            Doing a tissue-fitting--that is, pinning all the darts and seams on the paper pattern so that you end up with half a garment--gives more complete information about the three-dimensional shape of the garment than just measuring the pattern pieces does, while being much faster than making a mockup.  It doesn’t tell you how the fabric will actually hang, though, and when I tried to use it with a princess-seamed dress pattern it was a crinkly, uninformative nightmare.  I think it works best with patterns that use darts. 

            Doing a basted fitting--that is, cutting out your final fabric and basting all the seams together--gives you very good information (even better than a mockup, because it’s not just a similar fabric, but the exact same fabric), but limits your options for fixing fit issues because the fabric is already cut.  It’s great for patterns that you think will need only minor adjustments. 

            Any of these methods can be combined--for instance, I made a skirt recently where I started by measuring the pattern pieces and then did a basted fitting before sewing it properly. 

Step 6: Cut out fabric

This always takes about five times longer than I think it should, probably because I think of it as “cutting out fabric” instead of the more accurate description of “ironing pattern, ironing fabric, laying out fabric, laying out pattern on top of fabric, marking fabric, and then cutting fabric.” 

The basic strategy for cutting that most sewing patterns seem to expect is:

1)     Lay pattern on fabric

2)     Secure with pins

3)     Cut through pattern and fabric simultaneously

The strategy we prefer is:

1)     Lay pattern on fabric

2)     Secure with weights

3)     Trace over the size you want with transfer paper and a tracing wheel

4)     Remove pattern

5)     Cut fabric only

It takes longer, but it means that a multisize pattern can be used multiple times to make different sizes.  (For vintage patterns I lay tracing paper on top of the pattern, carefully trace with a pencil, and then put the original away and work with the tracing; this is easier on the old pattern paper than rolling a tracing wheel over it.) 

Step 6.5: Add tailor’s tacks and stay-stitching and stuff

            How important this step is depends on the project.  Tailor’s tacks are little thread X’s that you add with a hand-sewing needle, to mark the location of dots on the pattern.  Stay-stitching is a line of either hand-stitching or machine-stitching right next to where the seam will be sewn, to prevent the fabric from stretching out while you’re handling it. 

Step 7: Sew a seam

            Usually the procedure is to grab the two pieces of fabric you’re going to connect, line up the edges (paying attention to notches), stick a few pins in and then sew away.  However, I have heard at various times:

• You shouldn’t use pins because they distort the fabric
• You should use ALL the pins, ALL the time
• You should use clips instead of pins

and I recently finished a project where the only way to make the fabric behave was to baste every seam by hand before bringing it anywhere near the sewing machine.  I’m currently of the opinion that different methods work best for different situations.  Pins are a good default option though. 

Step 8: Press the seam

            It’s important to do this before you sew seams that intersect each other; for some projects that means pressing each seam right after you sew it, and for other projects you can sew several seams in a row and then press them all at once. 

Step 9: Finish seam allowances

            This is to stop the edges from fraying so much*.  There are a bunch of methods; the ones I know are:

• Trim the edges with pinking shears
• Run a zigzag stitch near each edge
• Serge the edges
• Hand-overcast the edges
• Fold the edges under by about 1/8th inch and stitch the fold in place
• Bind the edges with bias tape
• Bind the edges with seam binding
• French seams (this one requires that you plan ahead before sewing your seam)
• Sew a second line of stitching right next to your first line of stitching, then trim the seam allowances very short

This is a really important step for garments you’re going to toss in the washing machine repeatedly.  It’s considerably less important for cosplay or special occasion garments. 

*So if you have a super nifty fabric that doesn’t fray (like many doubleknits) you can skip this step. 

Step 10: Repeat steps 7-9 until all seams are sewn

            There are probably also some buttonholes to make or zippers to insert.  Bound buttonholes have to be started before the garment is finished; regular buttonholes can be done at the very end. 

Step 11: Hem the edges

            There are a lot of ways of doing this, and a single garment might use different methods for different edges.  Ways I know of include:

• Fold the fabric twice so that the edge is enclosed, then stitch in place (either by hand or by machine)
• Rolled hem (which is like the above method, but narrower)
• Shaped facings
• Bias strip facings
• Bias-bound edges (requires no seam allowance)
• Do a satin stitch where you want the edge to be, then trim away the extra fabric very close to the satin-stitching

Step 12: Sew on any buttons

            Traditionally done by hand, but with some buttons you can use a machine zigzag stitch--set the stitch width equal to the distance between the holes, and the stitch length equal to zero (or whatever the minimum is on your machine), and hold the button in place with a piece of scotch tape.

Step 13: Final checks

            Trim off loose threads. Check your sewing instructions again, and do anything else that still hasn’t been done. Clean up your workspace. Put on your new snazzy garment and enjoy, or breathe a sigh of relief that the project is DONE. Take photos!  (Enthusiasm aside, photos are completely optional.)