Did you know, one of the easiest ways to get better
me-made garments has absolutely nothing to do with
what you do at a sewing machine?
I know. So in this video,
I want to talk about the top four ways that you
can actually improve your me made garments,
but actually has nothing to do with what you do at the sewing machine.
Welcome back.
My sewing friends.
It is always so lovely to have you here.
Welcome. My name is Evelyn Wood,
and we talk about everything,
garment sewing,
so that you can get better and get better at me
made comments.
That's exactly what we're talking about here today.
If you haven't already do hit the subscribe button down below,
because this is what we do around here.
So what exactly do I mean here?
Let me just clarify.
We're talking about ways that we can get better looking garments,
improve the quality of our garments,
the way they look,
the way they present,
but without actually getting better at sewing.
We think that sewing means what we do at the machine.
I know when I first started sewing,
I thought that getting better at sewing and make better garments meant whatever
I did at the sewing machine,
pushing the fabric through the,
the, you know,
under the needle and following the instruction sheets and just getting
better at that.
I thought that that's all I had to do well.
I'm sure that,
you know, as well,
it doesn't take very long.
You realize that there are all these things included in sewing
that are not those things,
and that's actually most of sewing.
And so the ways that you can improve your garments,
the quality of your me made garments actually has nothing to
do with what you can do under the machine.
And so there's some really,
really easy ways.
These, I know that from experience that these helped me the
most, the easiest things to implement that actually don't involve getting
better at sewing.
So to say,
but you can improve your garments because I know you want
great looking garments that you can really be proud of.
So the first one is pressing and press as you go.
This one is so key.
I know you've probably heard this before.
Some of you will will say,
I've heard that it,
and haven't tried it yet.
And others are absolute converts like me.
If you are,
leave your comments down below and tell us all how important
pressing is,
because I promise you,
it will just pressing your garment and press as you go.
I'll explain that in a second.
We'll improve your garments.
The look,
the quality that how they present a hundred times,
but it will look a hundred times better than if you
didn't press it and you don't have to get better at
sewing. Skillfully pressing makes up for so much lack of skill
at the sewing machine.
It is really incredible.
And so pressing as you go for those of you that
have been around here for a while,
you know what the golden rule of sewing is,
and that is that you,
so your seam,
you finish,
so you finish the raw edges and then you press it.
And then you move on to the next step.
So this is kind of one of those unwritten rules that
is just not really written on the pattern instructions.
They don't tell you this.
And if they do,
you often just glaze over and skip it because you don't
realize how important it is to begin with.
So I have made other videos on pressing the difference between
pressing and ironing.
So do check those out.
I'm going to link all of these videos down below.
So you can go watch those as well to further explore
each of these topics,
but press and press as you go.
So every seam along the way,
it just makes it easy.
All the seam allowances are then folded in the correct direction.
So whether it's folded forwards,
backwards, open,
closed, they're pressed nice and flat.
So when you go to,
so the next seam they're already like,
it's all that seam is already perfectly pressed in.
It's hard to make a mistake when it's already been pressed
into place.
When you keep building on top of each of those seams
so promise pressing will make your garments so much better.
No sewing required.
The next is fabric choice.
I know this one is really quite tricky.
And when you first start sewing,
I remember I would,
this whole world of fabric is just this foreign land.
And it's kind of,
you feel like you're just getting a lucky dip,
right? You read the back of that pattern envelope.
And it says all these names,
they don't mean anything.
You go to the store and you're pretty sure that they're
calling this something else,
but it's the same fabric.
But how do you know?
I know,
and you sort of don't realize how important the actual choice
of fabric is for particular designs.
It is something that you learn as you go through,
but being able to learn the materials that we work with
is really key to improving your quality of garments because the
wrong fabric choice really does hinder a beautiful design,
whereas the right one,
as, you know,
just sets it off and is perfect.
So there are right fabric awaits,
obviously prints and colors that just work and different fibers and
the drape and the handle,
this either structured or draping this oral part of four different
designs, because they'll have certain fabrics in mind,
it will affect the fit.
It will affect just the overall look.
So really paying attention and really spending time and effort researching
and learning about fabrics really will improve your garments and understanding
how the different types of the different handle of fabric actually
performs in end garments.
Taking note of this,
you will see a vast improvement in your garments when you
really start looking at the fabric choice and getting better and
better at this.
I know I did.
And I know that you will too.
And I have again,
made other videos on talking about fabrics and fabric choices and
so much because it is such a huge topic in itself,
but I guarantee any time you spend a researching and learning
about this will be time well spent and you'll see it
in the end garments that you make seem finishes.
Yes. Is a really big one.
How good it looks on the inside side,
right? I know.
I remember when I first started,
I would guess so excited.
You're all finished.
Your garment looks amazing and you think,
wow, look at what I've done.
And then you look on the inside and then you're so
unimpressed. And you just think,
I didn't make that dude.
I know I might just hide that one.
So having neat seam the inside,
as well as out to me that makes a really great
garment and something that I feel like I want to wear
and that I can be really proud of is when it
looks beautiful inside and out as well.
It, for me that shows the craftsmanship that I've put into
it. And I know lots of you are the same.
And so paying particular attention to your seam finishes and there
are so many different seam finishes that you can do,
and they all have their different uses.
I have made videos on seam finishes.
Again, it's all linked down below.
So if you want to try something new,
maybe go there.
And that video lists out different seam finishes that you can
try. So,
and I think this is something missed on the pattern instructions
a lot,
right? Like they just don't mention how important it is.
They might just say finish your seams,
but what does that mean?
So paying particular attention,
make sure they're neat.
Try different seam finishes for different types of fabrics,
different places where they are on your design will make a
big, big difference.
And having it neat on the inside will give you that,
just that feeling of just satisfaction in your craftsmanship of your
me made garment.
Another big improvement to my sewing was invisible finishes rather than
visible machine finishes.
That's a bit of a mouthful.
So it's paying particular attention to trying to do some neat
invisible hand stitch finishes.
So things like hems and,
you know,
facings folded over all the finishing stitches,
doing neat invisible stitches by hand makes a huge difference because
rather than just folding over and sewing a hem,
for example,
on your machine,
I believe that the,
a messy hand sewn finish usually invisible hands-on finish a messy
hands-on finish will be far nicer looking on your garment,
then a messy machine sewn him,
for example.
So the same level of skill,
but doing it invisibly by hand,
you have so much more control.
Yes, it takes much longer time,
of course,
but you have more control.
You can get Nita stitches,
you can make it more invisible.
And even when you're not very good at it,
say when you first start,
that will look so much nicer on your end,
the high-end finishings that you don't see,
right. Invisible finishes.
Give it just that.
It's just that little bit extra that just elevates your garments
and looks great.
Whereas on the machine,
it's all visible usually.
And it's quite,
if it,
and it's noticeable,
if you're not quite skilled yet and still learning how to
get straight lines and get everything right,
it's very visible.
And so I think,
well, I know that this helped me have nicer looking garments,
that I was more proud of when I spent the time
to do some Nita hand-sewn finishes that just,
just made it look neater and nicer.
And I didn't actually have to get better at sewing.
It was just doing something different that gave me a better
result that I was after.
And I think that might help you too.
I hear it a lot in Vintage Sewing School as well.
When people,
my students tell me that they take the time to kind
of just slow down and try different finishings and focus on
beautiful, neat things like this,
that it is well worth.
The effort and time spent doing them because the results really
do show if improving your garment,
sewing is absolutely your high priority right now.
I invite you to come join me
at Vintage Sewing School because I share all of these
things are more over there.
So, links down below for that.
Now tell me,
I would love to hear what has been your big game
changes in your sewing?
What are the things that don't involve sewing?
So not physically sort of at the machine or following instructions,
but the things that really made the big difference for you,
it that improved your quality of garments that didn't involve sewing.
So to say so much,
I would love to hear it.
And please remember to read through,
because that is where all of the golden information is that
we can all learn to get better and pick up all
the tips.
So I love look forward to reading all of your comments,
check the description box below for all of the links to
those videos.
And until next time,
my sewing friends,
bye.