A few tips for sewing...

If you are in a creative mood like I am (see last posts 1, 2, 3 and 4 about that) and you want to make your own beach bag, summer dress, or a nice bed cover for instance, here are a few tips for sewing that might help you.


- First of all, you will need to take your time: in order to make something nice, you have to go slow and be extremely meticulous.
- Always design your pattern first. Draw it on a piece of paper and note down all the dimensions on it (including the borders - I usually count 1 cm more). This way you know exactly where you go and how you need to proceed.
- Calculate how much fabric you need and make sure you have enough. You should do this before going to buy the fabric this way you are sure not to go back home and there realize that you won't have enough: very annoying.
- Cut all the different pieces in the fabric. Take time to apply yourself to do it well. If you cut your pieces well, you will assemble them easily and sew them evenly. You can use a chalk to mark the lines where you need to cut.
- When measuring and cutting your fabric, do not use the pattern of your fabric as a guide line: a lot of times, the patterns are not printed straight, so keep that in mind.
- Assemble all your pieces and pin them together in order to make sure you cut everything right and every piece is in place.
- If you are not a professional, sew slowly. Do not rush and then regret that you have to re-do it all over again. I strongly recommand to use a sewing machine, but if you don't have one, you can still do it by hand: it will take more time and the result won't be as good, but you can still do great things. 
- Iron with care, believe me: ironing well makes all the difference. Iron the wrong side first and then the right side.


If you are a beginner, you can find a lot of free patterns on the Internet, which is a good help when you start. I personally design my own things but I find my inspiration going in stores to see how it's done, or visiting blogs. In the end, I always do unique things but observing is a large part of the process.


I hope this will help. Just remember two important rules: take your time and express your creativity, you'll be proud to say: I did it myself !